Domenico Pozzovivo appreciation thread

[RedheadDane]

Gotta love a guy who spends the night after a potentially very dangerous crash, in the hospital planning his next move.

 

[TheGreenMonkey]

It looked far, far, far worse than it has turned out to be which is the greatest thing possible. We are all aware of what can happen after events in recent and more distant times, it is just so great that this was not even close to that. Will be very good to see him racing again.

 

[valentius borealis]

Re:

Gotta love a guy who spends the night after a potentially very dangerous crash, in the hospital planning his next move.

It reminds me of when Jens Voigt declared himself fit to race again just days after having his face smashed up in a similar crash on a descent in the 2009 Tour.

 

[Escarabajo]

Good news!
Get well soon Pozzo.

 

[RedheadDane]

Re: Re:

Gotta love a guy who spends the night after a potentially very dangerous crash, in the hospital planning his next move.

It reminds me of when Jens Voigt declared himself fit to race again just days after having his face smashed up in a similar crash on a descent in the 2009 Tour.

He was angry/disappointed he couldn't get to the Tour of Denmark.

But I think there was a lot less time to work with then. There's plenty of time from now to TdS.

 

[Master50]

It is never good to lose riders to crashes especially the guys who would animate the race. Glad he will be OK.

 

[MellowJohnny]

Re: Re:

Interesting to see in the footage today, one of DP's teammates staying with him, despite his teammate being motionless on the road still managed to put his bike down with respect, unlike Wiggins who constantly used to throw his against the wall. I don't want this to turn into anything other than good wishes for DP but I thought that was interesting none the less.

You say that you "don't want this to turn into anything other than good wishes for DP", but in fact your post seems to serve no purpose other than to extrapolate from one scarcely comparable incident to draw a generalisation about a rider entirely unconnected to this event. Possibly the single most reprehensible, ill-judged and poorly-evidenced hater-post I have ever noticed on this forum, and on this forum, that is no mean feat. You should be ashamed of yourself for twisting a near-catastrophe for such purposes.

Great to hear that he is confident of a rapid recovery.

Seriously get a grip

 

[Velolover2]

He will resume his training in a few days. Not only is he planning riding Suisse, but also Tour De France. The little guy must be in the shape of his life.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/giro-ditalia-news-shorts-pozzovivo-heads-home-formolo-restores-italian-pride

 

[sir fly]

Re:

He will resume his training in a few days. Not only is he planning riding Suisse, but also Tour De France. The little guy must be in the shape of his life.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/giro-ditalia-news-shorts-pozzovivo-heads-home-formolo-restores-italian-pride

When I've heard he'll leave the hospital quickly, I thought about him at the Tour, but couldn't be sure considering his season has been built around the Giro.
He should be a fine addition to the Tour.

 

[Velolover2]

Yep. But I hope that he will take of himself on the cobbles. If we took out the costal stage and pavée, the Tour would suit him even better than the Giro.

It's hard to say who is the strongest, Peraud, Bardet or Pozzovivo.

 

[sir fly]

Re:

Yep. But I hope that he will take of himself on the cobbles. If we took out the costal stage and pavée, the Tour would suit him even better than the Giro.

It's hard to say who is the strongest, Peraud, Bardet or Pozzovivo.

The thing I like about French teams is - there's no strict hierarchy... High level of freedom for the riders. That's what brought them the result last year.
Pozzo will surely be their man from the shadow.

 

[PeterB]

So Domenico held to not exactly groundbreaking but respectable 10th on the GC before the final mountainous stage of the Giro, in which however, while other GC riders battled it out to improve their placements, he finished with the last group on the road in the company of sprinters, 45 minutes down on the winner, and slipped to 20th on the GC. I could not find any interview or news article explaining what happened - does anybody know? Is it possible that he suddenly did not have his climbing legs, or is there some other story behind?

 

[carolina]

I think he crashed, but I'm not sure.

 

[liamito]

Re:

So Domenico held to not exactly groundbreaking but respectable 10th on the GC before the final mountainous stage of the Giro, in which however, while other GC riders battled it out to improve their placements, he finished with the last group on the road in the company of sprinters, 45 minutes down on the winner, and slipped to 20th on the GC. I could not find any interview or news article explaining what happened - does anybody know? Is it possible that he suddenly did not have his climbing legs, or is there some other story behind?

<<Ho la bronchite e ho dovuto fare gruppetto: una umiliazione>>

No need to translate I guess?

 

[Tonton]

Overrated? I keep watching him, hoping that he lives up to the hype, and he always falls flat. The problem for AG2R is that they have a bunch of 2nd tier guys like him, but no one stands out. If they had a solid leader, that would be a great supporting cast. But no one stand out. Do I make sense?

 

[TMP402]

Overrated? I keep watching him, hoping that he lives up to the hype, and he always falls flat. The problem for AG2R is that they have a bunch of 2nd tier guys like him, but no one stands out. If they had a solid leader, that would be a great supporting cast. But no one stand out. Do I make sense?

You do. Maybe he can join Aru or Nibali next year. Or perhaps the ever-leaderless Lampre.

 

[Brullnux]

Overrated? I keep watching him, hoping that he lives up to the hype, and he always falls flat. The problem for AG2R is that they have a bunch of 2nd tier guys like him, but no one stands out. If they had a solid leader, that would be a great supporting cast. But no one stand out. Do I make sense?

2014 was his best year, then he crashed just before the Vuelta. In the races leading up to the Giro he looked good, even a podium at Catalunya, then a really bad crash on Stage 2. I feel he's never really recovered from those two, especially the second one.

 

[SafeBet]

Age probably taking its toll as well.

 

[Arredondo]

Re:

Age probably taking its toll as well.

I don't think it's age. He's not that old.

I think it all has to do with his big crash in the spring of 2014. And maybe also his crash in the Giro of '15. He never showed the same level after his first crash he did before.

 

[CheckMyPecs]

Pozzovivo has a degree in Economics.

 

[Billie]

Re: Re:

Age probably taking its toll as well.

I don't think it's age. He's not that old.

34 is quite old already. And don't forgot he was already one of the best climbers in 2008 Giro. He peaked 3-4 years ago. He's on the decline. Would have liked to see him being more aggressive this Giro.

 

[Arredondo]

Re: Re:

Age probably taking its toll as well.

I don't think it's age. He's not that old.

34 is quite old already. And don't forgot he was already one of the best climbers in 2008 Giro. He peaked 3-4 years ago. He's on the decline. Would have liked to see him being more aggressive this Giro.

But again, i don't know if the age is the clear reason. People tend to use the 'he's too old' argument really quick when someone doesn't perform. I still think his two big crashes are the main reason for his decline.

 

[SafeBet]

I don't think he's so much worse than a couple of years ago honestly.
Take away the last stage (apparently sick) and he would probably be in the top10. His best result in a GT is 5th. Doesn't look like a steep decline to me.

 

[CheckMyPecs]

He also speaks fluent French.

 

[Arredondo]

And Italian as well.