Re: Re:
noddy69 said:
Brullnux said:
noddy69 said:
Dekker_Tifosi said:
He was already 3rd in Fleche Wallone. No surprise he can win if he's giving leader position and in weaker field as well.
Poland wasn't a weak field by any stretch of the imagination.
Top 10:
1.Teuns
2. Majka
3. Poels
4. Kelderman
5. A Yeats
6. Pozzovivo
7. Oomen
8. Nibali
9. Costa
10 . Zakarin
Its a huge leap to win one tour from a relatively poor career to date apart from outlier of 3rd in La Fleche- he won three in a row and in Poland beat a good field. Strikes me as a sudden change in fortunes and a flag something changed.
1) he was on the limit, and at times dropped, twice in the last two stages. And everyone else around him was using the race as a prelude for something else, while Teuns seemed in peak shape.
2) apart from an annus horribilis last year, this isn't out of sync with his career path so far, especially when you look at past winners of the Tour of Poland.
Its completely out of synch in my opinion and the Tour of Poland in previous years had weaker fields/routes.
First of all while the field might have been better this year, the route suited Teuns infinitely more than recent years. No mid length flat TT, no high mountains in Italy for whatever reason, and and an added short puncheur stage in which he effectively won the race - the very thing he excels in.
Secondly, let me recount some of Teuns' results from the last few years.
4th at the Tour of Belgium, at the age of 23, while helping out Greg Van Avermaet win it. Only Benoot and Bille better - he beat the likes of Elmiger, Naesen and Kuznetsov. 13th at Fleche the same year. 6th up the Kitzbuheler horn while working for Hermans. 3rd in a sprint in Luxembourg while leading out Gilbert. 3rd at Volta Limburg. 6th at the Wallonie GP when he was 22, and several top tens at the Tour of Britain a week prior to that. A stage win at the Avenir; a podium at Piccolo Lombardia (beaten in a sprint by a certain Gianni Moscon), after they and Latour crushed the rest of field; a stage win in Aosta; 3rd in Gc at the Isard; podiums in some 2.2 races whne he was barely turned 22; a win at junior Omloop - a 2nd place at u23 Omloop; a top 5 at Liege u23, and a 2nd place too; as well as several good performances in Utah. Sure, this a drastic improvement to that, but all those (bar one) are either two years ago or more. If you'd told me two or three years ago that by 25 he'd be winning GC in Wallonia and Norway, it would not at all have been a surprise. Perhaps his Poland win would have been, as at that time I'd have expected a TT, but it's lack of it would have made it plausible.
Here is his CQ graph:
Right now, the anomalous point seems to be last year, and it should have been around 400-500. We will see next year if these performances continue, but right now it seems a case of young rider with noted improves with age. Sure, he is doping (he rides for BMC after all) and yes it is a big improvement, but it is hardly Froome. If he wins both Canadian Classics and/or Lombardia, I'll change my mind. But as of yet, nothing major.
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