Davide Formolo discussion thread

[SafeBet]

I strongly believe he's a better one day racer and stage hunter than GT rider.
He should focus on that, improve his power and sprint, even if that means adding a couple extra kgs.

 

[Leinster]

Re:

I strongly believe he's a better one day racer and stage hunter than GT rider.
He should focus on that, improve his power and sprint, even if that means adding a couple extra kgs.

Not that I'm saying you're wrong, but what one-day races other than LBL are you basing that on? And bare in mind that Liege has pretty much always been the monument most friendly to stage-race riders.

 

[SafeBet]

Re: Re:

I strongly believe he's a better one day racer and stage hunter than GT rider.
He should focus on that, improve his power and sprint, even if that means adding a couple extra kgs.

Not that I'm saying you're wrong, but what one-day races other than LBL are you basing that on? And bare in mind that Liege has pretty much always been the monument most friendly to stage-race riders.

Check his results as a neo pro.
He was beaten only by Nibali in a tough NC at 21 years old, battled with Adam Yates in GP Larciano a month later, made the final selection in Giro dell'Emilia, top20 in both Canadian WT classics.

Then Cannondale probably told him to focus on stage races, made him lose some weight, but he still got decent results in his first Ardenne campaign. He has only raced a few one day races from the on and never in peak shape.

I believe he has what it takes to be competitive in most hilly classics: San Sebastian, Montreal & Quebec, italian fall classics, Ardennes. But he needs to focus on them.

 

[Laplaz]

A better sprint would help if he wants to compete in the hilly classics. For the GT's I'm not sure... Maybe stage hunting would be better than focussing on GC.

 

[Mayomaniac]

There's an old post that I made about his weight on the first page of this thread, it explains the evolution of his racing weight.
I agree that he should focus more on one day races, shorter stage races and stagehunting in gts.

 

[SafeBet]

Finally unleashing his potential in one day racing, which was looming since his very first year as pro. Hopefully he focuses solely on Classics and stage hunting from now on.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Apparently he had cramps in his arms and hands durning the final. He said that coming down from altitude too late and not being used to the heat was a mistake. Bettiol on the other hand came back home earlier and always trained around noon to get used to the heat.
Source: https://www.tuttobiciweb.it/article/2020/08/02/1596318040/formolo-grande-caldo-strade-bianche-uae
Still, he won the NC RR with similar temperatures last year when he went on a long solo attack, so the heat is not a problem for him when he's used to it.

 

[SafeBet]

I'm still disappointed he won't race Lombardia in this kind of shape but winning a stage in the Dauphine partially makes up for that.

Great effort. Hopefully he'll be given the freedom to be in a few breakaways during the Tour as well.

 

[RedheadDane]

One question; why does his helmet only have national champion colours on one side? Does he have a side of his face he prefer being filmed on?

 

[Escarabajo]

Chapeau Davide!

 

[johnymax]

I'm still disappointed he won't race Lombardia in this kind of shape but winning a stage in the Dauphine partially makes up for that.

Great effort. Hopefully he'll be given the freedom to be in a few breakaways during the Tour as well.

What would you say is a better result generally speaking and for him, a top 5 in Lombardia but without winning or a stage win in CdD?

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

What would you say is a better result generally speaking and for him, a top 5 in Lombardia but without winning or a stage win in CdD?

He himself will take the win in CdD for sure. Guys like him don't win too often. For the spectator he would have been a welcome addition to the IL roster, but on the other hand, if he weren't at the Dauphiné, today's stage would have been überboring.

 

[Leinster]

What would you say is a better result generally speaking and for him, a top 5 in Lombardia but without winning or a stage win in CdD?

There's an element of hindsight to that; nobody knew a week ago that he'd get the leeway to win today, and you don't know that he wouldn't have won Lombardia.

 

[Tonton]

The jersey sucks, but the win is big. Guts and glory. Bravo!

 

[SafeBet]

There's an element of hindsight to that; nobody knew a week ago that he'd get the leeway to win today, and you don't know that he wouldn't have won Lombardia.

Yeah I agree with this.
Winning a stage in the Dauphine is obviously big for a rider who wins so little but there was no guarantee he'd be able to do it.

Clearly he wouldn't trade it for a top5 in Lombardia.

 

[Mayomaniac]

He always looks like he went to the Weening school of grinding huge gears at low cadence.
He clearly has the engine for long solo moves, this one, that Catalunya stage and his win at the Italian NC were all the result of it.
According to La Gazzetta he couldn't sleep after MSR because he got caught with his pants down before the Poggio and was way too far back when Ala attacked.

 

[tobydawq]

He always looks like he went to the Weening school of grinding huge gears at low cadence.
He clearly has the engine for long solo moves, this one, that Catalunya stage and his win at the Italian NC were all the result of it.

Also his Giro stage win.

And that's all his wins.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Today was a bit meh, he could have been there fighting for the win in Como, but the team wanted him to ride the Dauphine...

 

[johnymax]

Today was a bit meh, he could have been there fighting for the win in Como, but the team wanted him to ride the Dauphine...

He's got his stage win yesterday. He wouldn't have won Lombardia. No chance he could be stronger than Fuglsang, Bennett and Vlasov today.

 

[Mayomaniac]

He's got his stage win yesterday. He wouldn't have won Lombardia. No chance he could be stronger than Fuglsang, Bennett and Vlasov today.

In the end he was stronger than Fuglsang in Strade Bianche, you never know...

 

[johnymax]

In the end he was stronger than Fuglsang in Strade Bianche, you never know...

I don't think he is that good of a climber. He showed weakness also in Dauphine before his stage win. But in the end you are right, you never know.

 

[Leinster]

20/20 hindsight and all, but I think he would have made the split on Sormano.

 

[SafeBet]

Formolo's problem is recovery, not climbing. That's why he's hit or miss in stage races. And that's why he finally decided to focus on Classics and stage hunting (which obviously requires letting go in some stages, so you can join the break in others).
He would've been there with the best on Civiglio.

 

[Roku]

Formolo's problem is recovery, not climbing. That's why he's hit or miss in stage races. And that's why he finally decided to focus on Classics and stage hunting (which obviously requires letting go in some stages, so you can join the break in others).
He would've been there with the best on Civiglio.

I have to disagree. His problem is indeed climbing. Generally speaking, he is unable to handle the real hard mountain stages or extremely long climbs. If you check his results in the Giro or Vuelta, he does not have a problem with recovery (this kind of riders falter after 10 stages), he has a problem with hard mountain stages.

 

[SafeBet]

I have to disagree. His problem is indeed climbing. Generally speaking, he is unable to handle the real hard mountain stages or extremely long climbs. If you check his results in the Giro or Vuelta, he does not have a problem with recovery (this kind of riders falter after 10 stages), he has a problem with hard mountain stages.

I never looked at him this way but after checking his results I gotta admit there's some truth in your statement: he tends to struggle in hard mountain stages (although there are exceptions).
On the other hand his recovery (let's call it consistency if you wish) looks questionable too. He never managed to contend even in short and relatively easy short stage races like TA.

He's much better on hills than long climbs, that's for sure. Which brings us to the point I was trying to make: he's a good enough climber to make the cut on Sormano, Civiglio and so on. We're not talking about a multimountain Giro stage in the Dolomiti.