Descending -The Underrrated Art!!?

[mrhender]

A very good piece here:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB12268843614978254751404581042321720914358

I reckon it may be the maker and/or breaker of dreams in every GT..


So who will benefit the most of supreme descending skills in the upcoming TDF?

Plenty talk of cobbles/tt's and mtf's but the key to success or failure may might as well lie here?

 

[SeriousSam]

I think Pinot and Andy are going to rip it up down the hill

 

[Gigs_98]

Re:

I think Pinot and Andy are going to rip it up down the hill

your name suits your comments so well

 

[rainman]

It wont be Nathan Haas, he descended like a novice in that film. Nibali obviously, but Cance is the best descender I have seen of the current riders.

 

[Bushman]

Re:

It wont be Nathan Haas, he descended like a novice in that film. Nibali obviously, but Cance is the best descender I have seen of the current riders.

Sagan surely is one of the best in the peloton as well if not the best.

 

[Kwibus]

Re: Re:

It wont be Nathan Haas, he descended like a novice in that film. Nibali obviously, but Cance is the best descender I have seen of the current riders.

Sagan surely is one of the best in the peloton as well if not the best.

The best descenders are usually not the best climbers.
They are usually in the grupetto.

 

[HelloDolly]

Sammy Sanchez is the best for me . He goes down like a stone

 

[46&twoWheels]

Nibali,Valverde,Sagan

----

Savoldelli won two Giros also thanks to his descending skills...(from 58:17, Dutch commentary, He is in pink)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9vRjJXk6Jk

 

[Kwibus]

Oh and it's definately an underrated part of cycling these days!

 

[rainman]

Re: Re:

It wont be Nathan Haas, he descended like a novice in that film. Nibali obviously, but Cance is the best descender I have seen of the current riders.

Sagan surely is one of the best in the peloton as well if not the best.

Yes and Sagan of course.

 

[carton]

Nibali is the only GC guy who can really gap guys downhill. Contador and Valverde can gain definitely time if they already have a gap.

Holding a wheel downhill isn't really all that hard, unless the guy in front is just a massively better bike-handler than you are. Andy Schleck followed Monfort's (underrated in all aspects, particularly descending) wheel just fine. Still, Cauterets will be a nice test, particularly with 16-17-18 offering up some chances for the divers.

Cancellara and Sagan could both win stage on a downhill attack, the thing is, most of those stages have too big of kick before and after the descent for them to have a shot. Kwiato (for stages) and Nibali (for the GC) are the two guys who could profit the most from the descents, IMHO.

 

[Billie]

Re:

Nibali,Valverde,Sagan

----

Savoldelli won two Giros also thanks to his descending skills...(from 58:17, Dutch commentary, He is in pink)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9vRjJXk6Jk

Finestre descent was nothing special. It's not that hard actually.

Fauniera and Duran were the two best he did.
This is where he won that Giro:
https://youtu.be/fuTrtyF-rAw?t=616

 

[carton]

Re: Re:

Nibali,Valverde,Sagan

----

Savoldelli won two Giros also thanks to his descending skills...(from 58:17, Dutch commentary, He is in pink)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9vRjJXk6Jk

Finestre descent was nothing special. It's not that hard actually.

Yep, a lot of false flats. Ardila was actually pacing him during a big chunk of that descent (actually got a little antsy and tried a aborted insane overtake on a really tight switchback). And up Finestre. And up Sestriere. I'm guessing he got a little more than a thank you out of it.

 

[Billie]

Re: Re:

Nibali,Valverde,Sagan

----

Savoldelli won two Giros also thanks to his descending skills...(from 58:17, Dutch commentary, He is in pink)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9vRjJXk6Jk

Finestre descent was nothing special. It's not that hard actually.

Yep, a lot of false flats. Ardila was actually pacing him during a big chunk of that descent (actually got a little antsy and tried a aborted insane overtake on a really tight switchback). And up Finestre. And up Sestriere. I'm guessing he got a little more than a thank you out of it.

Van Huffel and Ardila were the only two domestiques Il Falco had that Giro
Michel Wuyts watched that stage in the Lotto team bus after the Belgium Tour. The team was ashamed of what was happening he later wrote in a book.

 

[May0maniac]

Fun fact: Savoldelli was asked who's the best descender that he has ever seen and his answer was Cipollini.

 

[46&twoWheels]

Re: Re:

Finestre descent was nothing special. It's not that hard actually.

Fauniera and Duran were the two best he did.
This is where he won that Giro:
https://youtu.be/fuTrtyF-rAw?t=616

Not that hard but extremely important for him, he had temporarely lost the pink jersey, those 30" he gained descending were fundamental (He won the giro exactly by 28" seconds!!)

the descent you posted is way crazier

 

[Fernandez]

Bahamontes best descender ever!!!!

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Descending has never been underrated, but these days its not used enough by race organizers nor riders.

Only cobbles comes close to action on a descent.

 

[Gigs_98]

Re:

Descending has never been underrated, but these days its not used enough by race organizers nor riders.

Only cobbles comes close to action on a descent.

The problem is that there is about one difficult downhill finish per gt nowadays, so you can hardly decide a gt with your descending skills.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Re: Re:

Descending has never been underrated, but these days its not used enough by race organizers nor riders.

Only cobbles comes close to action on a descent.

The problem is that there is about one difficult downhill finish per gt nowadays, so you can hardly decide a gt with your descending skills.

I want variance. Itt, descending, climbing, crosswind, cobbles, hills, bunch sprints etc.

But, anyway I agree race organizer doesn't include enough descent finishes.