Dennis Menchov

[rzombie1988]

So far, it has really not been a good year for Dennis Menchov and right now he is on track to having his worst year since 2003. I know the Vuelta isn't over yet but I don't see him winning it. What does everyone see in the future for Menchov? Does he try to make it work on GEOX or does he transfer? The GEOX move is looking pretty disasterous but he hasn't really given the results that he should have in all fairness. Is his less than stellar season all to blame on GEOX or is Menchov starting to lose it?

 

[RipTRAIN]

The Saunier Duval curse continues...Menchov is a usually due for one good GT ride a year but this team truly is snake bit (get the cobra reference??) Maybe he's suffering from trying trying to peak for the tour and when Geox got snubbed he really couldn't get back his mojo. If I were Menchov and I only had a few years left to try to pull off another GT win I'd head for greener pastures.

 

[gregrowlerson]

He isn't that old yet. It could just be a bad year. I'd still consider him a GT podium contender for 2012, especially if there is a return to more ITT.

 

[Swede1]

He still could pull off a good Vuelta. We haven't seen how he can climb yet. If he doesn't win a stage or podium, I think he should consider switching teams, unless Geox sign some good riders. Maybe without Tchmil at Katusha they will try to sign him, and pay out his contract.

Otherwise, I think Geox will get a Tour invite next year and he will maybe have the motivation to ride hard in the Tour.

 

[gustienordic]

I don't remember hearing if there was any interest in Menchov from Katusha last year, but doesn't that seem a logical place for him to go? Aside from Rodriguez, Katusha does not have a grand tour contender. I can see Menchov podium at the TDF, as he can climb and tt. JR is better suited to the Giro and Vuelta, which often feature steeper climbs which play to the advantage of Menchov. Just a thought.

 

[jens_attacks]

only thing that matters for menchov in cycling now is le tour.he won the two others and he no longer cares about them.

 

[auscyclefan94]

I think it is partly to do with Geox and partly to do with menchov with his troubles this year.

 

[Mrs John Murphy]

I don't remember hearing if there was any interest in Menchov from Katusha last year, but doesn't that seem a logical place for him to go? Aside from Rodriguez, Katusha does not have a grand tour contender. I can see Menchov podium at the TDF, as he can climb and tt. JR is better suited to the Giro and Vuelta, which often feature steeper climbs which play to the advantage of Menchov. Just a thought.

Menchov has lived in Spain for a number of years, the impression I get is that he isn't 'Russian' enough for Katusha. For example I don't think he's ever entered the Russian national championships.

Astana were also supposed to be interested but I think Menchov was wise to avoid that trainwreck.

There is also the clinic dimension to it all.

 

[Duartista]

I think this thread could look a little premature in a couple of weeks.

 

[clipperton]

I don't remember hearing if there was any interest in Menchov from Katusha last year, but doesn't that seem a logical place for him to go?

i think the general vibe from their negotiations was that menchov was slightly put out that katusha had rolled out the red carpet but forgot to get it steam cleaned like they should have given his standing as russia's best gt contender.

 

[Sylvester]

I think this thread could look a little premature in a couple of weeks.

Indeed. He lost time in the TTT and due to a mechanical. Hardly a sign of very weak form. He was with the favourites at the Sierra Nevada and did well on Valdepeñas de Jaén. He's not the Menchov of the 2009 Giro, but he has not lost this Vuelta yet.

 

[Stingray34]

Denis is quitting cycling and starting a Spanish/Russian Beatles tribute band.

He's got the hair, the nose, and the lips, but has he got John's rhythm chops?

 

[movingtarget]

I think this thread could look a little premature in a couple of weeks.

I don't think Menchov can be written off completely just yet, unlike Anton.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Denis Menchov has formerly been at the top end of GTs many a time. He's not the luckiest of cyclists, nor is he the most charismatic. He's 33, and potentially having his poorest season in the Grand Tours in years, for what's essentially a new team (in reality, a couple of stars supplanted onto a team mostly of youngsters, prospects and journeymen).

The last time we had a 33-year-old GC contender having a weak year in the GTs with such a team, they won the Tour the next year.

 

[Magnus]

The last time we had a 33-year-old GC contender having a weak year in the GTs with such a team, they won the Tour the next year.

Who?


......

 

[killswitch]

Who?


......

Cadel Evans.

 

[Magnus]

Cadel Evans.

...

When LS wrote such a team I was thinking shady-clinic-related-past, but couldn't get the age right...

Besides: Cadel won the Azzuri d'Italia classification in GdI in 2010. Clearly that's not a weak GT-year

 

[Libertine Seguros]

...

When LS wrote such a team I was thinking shady-clinic-related-past, but couldn't get the age right...

Besides: Cadel won the Azzuri d'Italia classification in GdI in 2010. Clearly that's not a weak GT-year

5th in the Giro when he went in with the #1 on his back and went in to win was disappointing.

 

[Michielveedeebee]

5th in the Giro when he went in with the #1 on his back and went in to win was disappointing.

I call illness

 

[Magnus]

5th in the Giro when he went in with the #1 on his back and went in to win was disappointing.

Maybe disappointing but with his spring campaign hardly surprising.
I guess I'm dragging this off-topic. Sorry 'bout that...

On-topic:
I think it's premature to draw conclusions on Menchov's season. He could still podium and win a stage.

 

[The Hitch]

Cadel was the third best rider of the Giro that year, and came away with one of the better stages and came 2nd in 3 other stages. He also wore the pink jersey and came away with the points.

Hardly comparable to Menchov being seen once all Giro and coming 8th.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Cadel was the third best rider of the Giro that year, and came away with one of the better stages and came 2nd in 3 other stages. He also wore the pink jersey and came away with the points.

Hardly comparable to Menchov being seen once all Giro and coming 8th.

No, but then I'm not saying that Menchov will win the Tour. I'm saying that it's a bit early to write him off, since people in VERY recent memory have gone on to their greatest successes after people have become convinced that they no longer have it, and after a year of GT performances tailing off.

(5th in the Giro was a great performance, but after 2nd at the Tour & 4th at the Vuelta in '07, 2nd in the Tour in '08 and 3rd in the Vuelta in '09, 5th in the Giro and another poor Tour - though injury was the reason, if anybody thought he was being a major factor in the 2010 Tour after that Giro they were mistaken - meant many thought his powers as a GC rider were waning)

 

[The Hitch]

No, but then I'm not saying that Menchov will win the Tour. I'm saying that it's a bit early to write him off, since people in VERY recent memory have gone on to their greatest successes after people have become convinced that they no longer have it, and after a year of GT performances tailing off.

(5th in the Giro was a great performance, but after 2nd at the Tour & 4th at the Vuelta in '07, 2nd in the Tour in '08 and 3rd in the Vuelta in '09, 5th in the Giro and another poor Tour - though injury was the reason, if anybody thought he was being a major factor in the 2010 Tour after that Giro they were mistaken - meant many thought his powers as a GC rider were waning)

You of all people know that coming away with a stage win and a points jersey makes a gt performance all the more impressive.

And Cadel may have come 5th, but everyone knew and saw that he was the 3rd if not 2nd best rider of that race, losing to Nibali only because of a ridiculous ttt.

Agree it doesnt match up to his 2nd in the Tours, but its hardly tailing off. A Giro with the stage and the jersey, then a Tour with a day in yellow before getting injured.

Better than his 09 gt season.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Again, I wasn't being critical of Evans. I'm just saying that a lot of people saw his 2010 season as a sign that he was getting older and no longer able to win a GT. I certainly felt that his transition to a more aggressive and tactically astute rider had come just too late for him and that he'd just missed his physical peak; in the end it turned out he timed it just right, and hit it perfectly when he was presented an opportunity to win the Tour, one that many including myself thought had passed him by.

Is Menchov going to win the Tour next year? Probably not. But this time last year we were having "Evans vs. Menchov" threads, based on the belief that Evans' time had probably passed and he would retire with 0 GTs to Menchov's 3, despite being considered to be comparable talents in a GT sense, with Evans slightly ahead (and a long way ahead in terms of short stage races and one-day races of course!) - a lot of the opinions in that thread are having to be revised because Evans proved a lot of us wrong. If the 34-year-old Evans could turn the tide, Menchov still has time to. He may not make it to the same level as Evans (and certainly he has a tendency to achieve his results in a more under-the-radar style), but the last time we wrote off an ageing GT rider on a relatively weak team, he came storming back to pick up the best results of his life.

 

[jsem94]

It's a shame Menchov has lost time in stupid ways already. He needs a killer ITT. Like those he used to be able to pull off.