David Gaudu discussion thread

[Bolder]

Re:

This guy is looking to be better than Bardet and Pinot IMHO.

At the moment, yes. but note Tonton's post about pressure here. The moment he gets a solid Top 10 in a GT or wins a queen stage, he'll be expected to win the TdF -- for a French team, of course -- and criticized if he doesn't. Pinot and Bardet are hardly "failures" in almost anyone's eyes, and yet there's always a whiff of disappointment that neither has won a GT. And don't get me started on Warren B...

France desperately needs a French TdF winner, if only because it would ease the burden of expectations on up and coming riders.

 

[yaco]

I suspect the French public want to see any French winner of the TDF or any GT - Whether they ride for a French team is irrelevant.

 

[fauniera]

Would Sivakov be good enough for the French public? Or not French enough?

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

Would Sivakov be good enough for the French public? Or not French enough?

He rides around with a Russian licence. Born it Italy.

Yeeeeaahh

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

Would Sivakov be good enough for the French public? Or not French enough?

He rides around with a Russian licence. Born it Italy.

Yeeeeaahh

.....

ON TEAM SKY (INEOS)

heeeeeel no

 

[Mayomaniac]

Re: Re:

Would Sivakov be good enough for the French public? Or not French enough?

He rides around with a Russian licence. Born it Italy.

Yeeeeaahh

.....

ON TEAM SKY (INEOS)

heeeeeel no

He speaks French, has a French passport and has said before that he's at least as French as he's Russian.
Besides that, beggars can't be choosers.

 

[Laplaz]

Gaudu's skillset looks quite similar to Bardet's. Maybe Gaudu is a bit more punchy, but still.

 

[Tonton]

Great win for The Dave! Against some serious customers, he kept his cool, and that was a very nice punch to the line.

Between him, Alaf' of course, Bardet, and even Pinot, will ASO come up with early 2010s Vuelta-like designs in the near future ?

...but then, Valverde could win it...bad idea...

 

[JosephK]

So Dave is just 22? He looks very strong on the hills. Also, he seems to be really enjoying his sport. Hope he can hold on to that and build on it. He doesn't appear to be feeling any pressure, yet. Very promising for French cycling.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

My concerns have been put to rest. Very excited to see him over the summer. What's his program?

 

[Salvarani]

Re:

My concerns have been put to rest. Very excited to see him over the summer. What's his program?

TDF to support Pinot I guess, so probably going to Switzerland or Dauphine before maybe?

In this form he should be one of the favorites for the White Jersey in TDF.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Thanks.

 

[Tonton]

It's going to be an interesting thing to see how the Madiots manage this: Pinot at the '12 TdF wasn't planned and it turned out to be a charm and a curse. Gaudu needs to build up.

The Dave needs to stay in the shadows some more, the TdF lineup for GFDJ shouldn't be mountain heavy: the TTT is the big thing: not losing a minute early with a substantial ITT in the end. We saw with Movistar that train fighting is a lost cause. Guerrilla can work.

Helping Tibopino at the Tour is possible (first half then have Seb do the work), then a run at the Vuelta is my bet.

Anyways, The Dave had a great Romandie.

 

[Chrispol]

It's going to be an interesting thing to see how the Madiots manage this: Pinot at the '12 TdF wasn't planned and it turned out to be a charm and a curse. Gaudu needs to build up.

The Dave needs to stay in the shadows some more, the TdF lineup for GFDJ shouldn't be mountain heavy: the TTT is the big thing: not losing a minute early with a substantial ITT in the end. We saw with Movistar that train fighting is a lost cause. Guerrilla can work.

Helping Tibopino at the Tour is possible (first half then have Seb do the work), then a run at the Vuelta is my bet.

Anyways, The Dave had a great Romandie.

TDF was always planned for Gaudu.

However after a strong, and fairly heavy in term of racing, start of the season, no chance at all that he'll race the Vuelta. He can (and Pinot said so) target the White jersey at the Tour (Bernal tho...), and after rest for the Italians classics where once again he'll try to help Pinot, and maybe snatch Milan-Turin.

 

[yaco]

Next year Gaudu should have a full on crack at the Giro or the Vuelta - Of course this will be dependant on Pinot's plans.

 

[Tonton]

Re:

Next year Gaudu should have a full on crack at the Giro or the Vuelta - Of course this will be dependant on Pinot's plans.

Not so dependent on Pinot's plans: Madiot to some extend and the sponsors will decide. What the designs look like will play a role. I'd like to see Tibopino race Giro-Vuelta and Gaudu do Le Tour, but the team lacks the depth to be strong on all three.

White jersey? That would mean lead Thibaut as far as possible in the mountains, maybe lose a little in the final kilometers. Not the best shot if another rider is a team leader. Good news: Bernal will be doing the same.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Re:

Next year Gaudu should have a full on crack at the Giro or the Vuelta - Of course this will be dependant on Pinot's plans.

I'm not sure how he will fare over the course of 3 weeks yet, but if there is a chance that he might pull it off without an off-day, honestly, i think they should use him as an ace up their sleeve. FDJ won't have to control the race, they need to disrupt it. I think they (and Pinot) might have a better shot at actually breaking the train, if they don't use Gaudu as a mule for Pinot, but as a decoy. Which means, if the opportunity arises, to let him ride his own race. But i just don't know if he's ready to keep it up for three weeks (or long enough for him to play his part).

 

[barmaher]

Can one of you Frenchmen or Frenchwomen confirm how Gaudu is pronounced? I assume it is "Gaw-doo"

Carlton Kirby on Eurosport pronounces his name as if it is spelled Godot, so "God-oh". It irritates the hell out of me.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

Can one of you Frenchmen or Frenchwomen confirm how Gaudu is pronounced? I assume it is "Gaw-doo"

Carlton Kirby on Eurosport pronounces his name as if it is spelled Godot, so "God-oh". It irritates the hell out of me.

Maybe more like Gudy? I have no clue.

 

[Sestriere]

Go-düh.
The last vowel is pronounced like 'ü' in German (e.g. kühl) or just like the u in French (e.g. sucre, tu ...) I can't really think of any sound like that in English.
Google translate does a reasonable job with the pronounciation too.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Re:

Can one of you Frenchmen or Frenchwomen confirm how Gaudu is pronounced? I assume it is "Gaw-doo"

Carlton Kirby on Eurosport pronounces his name as if it is spelled Godot, so "God-oh". It irritates the hell out of me.

From the way you're describing it, i'd say Kirby is much closer to pronouncing it correctly than you were

Like Sestriere said. More like Go-Dü.

 

[Ruudz0r]

Here he says his name around 7-8 seconds into the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cc4mK7zBUmw

 

[barmaher]

That's way closer to my way

 

[armchairclimber]

He's quite a character isn't he. He has "poster boy of French cycling" written all over him.

 

[Chrispol]

He really upped his game this year.

Nice showing today, I hope he can stay at this high level all the race and maybe be allowed to contest the victory from a break in the alps !