Emanuel Buchmann thread

[CheckMyPecs]

So, what do we know of Emanuel Buchmann? From what I've read on the forum, he's much derided for setting a Tour top 20 as his objective, but he's just 23 years old and it looks like a perfectly reasonable goal at this age unless your name is Andy Schleck.

Could this guy be Klödi reborn?

 

[Cannibal72]

Backlash coming in 3, 2, 1...

 

[Hakkapelit]

Prepare yourselves for #Buchmania

 

[Tych23]

He is one of the few German climbers and I support his goal to see how he can keep up over three weeks. It is his first attempt riding for the GC and only his 2nd Grand Tour so a top 20 would be a great result. He won't win a Grand Tour, but he might be around in the mountians for years to come which is good from the German perspective.

He is a diesel and not at all explosive so going into groups and succeeding is difficult, but in an interview he stated that he wants to try to get into a group in the Alps to make up some time - we will see.

 

[Bye Bye Bicycle]

There's not a lot you can discuss about this rider. He's a nice, shy guy without any celebrity appeal or superstar ambitions. A Haimar Zubeldia in the making.

Targeting a top 20 this year is absolutely fine. He's in his second pro year, give him time to develop.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

I don't think he's "much derided" for aiming for a top 20. At least on this forum it was mostly me giving out about that target, and I was irritated because I like him as a rider and would rather see him trying to get into the break on mountain stages.

He's young and has sometimes shown notable ability although without ever being one of the real standout prospects with future GT contender tattooed on their forehead. He is already good enough to be a WT climbing domestique and he has plenty of years to improve, so we will see how far he goes.

 

[May0maniac]

The team said that they'd value a stage win higher than a top 20.
I wouldn't compare him to Klödi, he's more of a pure climber, that's also the reason why nobody in Germany wanted to sign him when he turned pro, Bora said that they'd only sign him if he did well in the 2014 Tour de l'Avenir, so he had to deal with a huge amout of pressure and finished 7th on gc.
Bora really have a few interesting, young, German speaking riders and right now Buchmann and Konrad are the most interesting.
Tych23 already said that Buchmann is a diesel and probably a guy for the high mountains, Konrad on the other hand is pretty explosive and seems to cope well with the heat (10th on gc in the Abu Dhabi Tour as a neopro), he's the kind of rider that could ride of top 10 on gc in the Vuelta in 2 years.
Buchmann is an interesting rider and with the team going WT I'd like to see him riding the Giro next year.

 

[Sestriere]

So, what is the plan from him and the team this Tour? He sits currently in 17th overall some 20 min back. He was 21st last year so I can't imagine that it would be a huge step forward if he retains that position.
He and the team stated multiple times they would go for a stage after Majka crashed out but he wasn't on the offensive once since then. You only see him getting dropped from the group of favourites every now and then. I thought today would have been a good stage for him with the climb in the beginning and was kind of surprised/disappointed to not see him there.
Maybe I was just expecting too much after his great Dauphiné (secretely hoping, he could trigger a new cycling hype in Germany )

 

[May0maniac]

Re:

So, what is the plan from him and the team this Tour? He sits currently in 17th overall some 20 min back. He was 21st last year so I can't imagine that it would be a huge step forward if he retains that position.
He and the team stated multiple times they would go for a stage after Majka crashed out but he wasn't on the offensive once since then. You only see him getting dropped from the group of favourites every now and then. I thought today would have been a good stage for him with the climb in the beginning and was kind of surprised/disappointed to not see him there.
Maybe I was just expecting too much after his great Dauphiné (secretely hoping, he could trigger a new cycling hype in Germany )

The plan for him was to ride for himself in one week stage races like Trentino, Romnadie and the Dauphine and it really looks like he peaked for them, his role at the Tour was to support Majka as a climbing domestique.
He was training hard in the Dolomites durning the Giro , I saw the rest of the Bora squad that wasn't at the Giro in California in Toblach one or two days before the first rest day of the Giro.

 

[Sestriere]

Re: Re:

So, what is the plan from him and the team this Tour? He sits currently in 17th overall some 20 min back. He was 21st last year so I can't imagine that it would be a huge step forward if he retains that position.
He and the team stated multiple times they would go for a stage after Majka crashed out but he wasn't on the offensive once since then. You only see him getting dropped from the group of favourites every now and then. I thought today would have been a good stage for him with the climb in the beginning and was kind of surprised/disappointed to not see him there.
Maybe I was just expecting too much after his great Dauphiné (secretely hoping, he could trigger a new cycling hype in Germany )

The plan for him was to ride for himself in one week stage races like Trentino, Romnadie and the Dauphine and it really looks like he peaked for them, his role at the Tour was to support Majka as a climbing domestique.
He was training hard in the Dolomites durning the Giro , I saw the rest of the Bora squad that wasn't at the Giro in California in Toblach one or two days before the first rest day of the Giro.

Yeah, it certainly looks like that, and you have to say that he really made a step forward this season, also regarding TTs. I like it, when riders show a gradual development; wonder, how good he can get?

 

[Laplaz]

So, what's up with him? I think he has a shot at a Top5. La Vuelta is his first GT this season, and the form looks good.

 

[tobydawq]

Re:

So, what's up with him? I think he has a shot at a Top5. La Vuelta is his first GT this season, and the form looks good.

I think so too. He seems to be the only rider of all to have had the Vuelta as the primary goal of the season and fortunately he has hit a good form.

 

[MuskyOurSaviour]

Re: Re:

So, what's up with him? I think he has a shot at a Top5. La Vuelta is his first GT this season, and the form looks good.

I think so too. He seems to be the only rider of all to have had the Vuelta as the primary goal of the season and fortunately he has hit a good form.

De la Cruz as well.

 

[May0maniac]

Re:

So, what's up with him? I think he has a shot at a Top5. La Vuelta is his first GT this season, and the form looks good.

Yes, he already said a few months ago that top 5 at the Vuelta is a big goal for him.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re: Re:

So, what's up with him? I think he has a shot at a Top5. La Vuelta is his first GT this season, and the form looks good.

Yes, he already said a few months ago that top 5 at the Vuelta is a big goal for him.

I hope that a podium is achievable for him and that he is in some kind of serious contention for the win. That would be a huge step forward, obviously, but he has been progressing in his level year on year and he should have a firm advantage over many of the other GC hopefuls.

 

[Simurgh]

Had an amazing start to la Vuelta, but has since been a level or rather two levels below the best (Uran-level), which was expected, I guess (though a bit sad, ‘cause of the short-lived hype). Doubtful that he can turn it around, but perhaps he can get a stage win a la Pinot, while hanging on to his 10th spot. How is he expected to fare in the time trial?

 

[May0maniac]

Re:

Had an amazing start to la Vuelta, but has since been a level or rather two levels below the best (Uran-level), which was expected, I guess (though a bit sad, ‘cause of the short-lives hype). Doubtful that he can turn it around, but perhaps he can get a stage win a la Pinot, while hanging on to his 10th spot. How is he expected to fare in the time trial?

Not great, but decent, he's a pure climber, not your typical German gc rider who usually is a TT specialist with a great power to weight ratio, but he has improved.
Yes, I also had higher expectations for him, I'd still prefer to see him as the leader for the Giro and Konrad as the leader for the Vuelta, but it wouldn't surprise me if Konrad would end up as the top dog among their gc riders and would be the gc rider for the Tour.

 

[WKA311]

Yeah, the hype was definitely a bit unnecessary. But it is also worth considering that he crashed on the same descent Kwiato did and was feeling that the days after. Not sure if he is still held up by that though. Also the super steep stuff, especially when short like the last days, is not his favoured terrain. He likes long, gradual climbs and did already do better today.
I think he is actually best suited to riding the TDF. But of course he hasn't got the level to demand leadership there. In the Giro the climbs would be better for him but he doesn't perform as good if the weather is ***, which ofc is a high possibility in the Giro. He likes the heat.

 

[Earns1985]

2019

Until now, he rides a really good season.
2 wins already, a 4th overall place in the UAE tour, a 3rd overall place in the Itzulia Basque Country and yesterday he performed quite well in the Tour de Romandie. It will be interesting to see how he will perform in this years Tour de France. His goal is Top 10, I think this will be possible. He made a step forward this winter.

 

[WKA311]

Time to dig this one up. Showing the balls to accelerate when everybody else was riding along. Missing the explosiveness ofc but still. Said he learned from mistakes made at the Vuelta last year nutrition wise and seems to be in stellar shape. German media will ofc hype him to death now but he seems very down to earth and like he should deal with that fine.

 

[Bardamu]

Is Germany getting hyped for him?

 

[WKA311]

Re:

Is Germany getting hyped for him?

ARD, national public television broadcaster, certainly is. Every second sentence on the tourmalet was about him. It's been 10 years since we had Klöden so they are very excited.

 

[Simurgh]

He can/will certainly top-5, unless he fades, but I don't except that to happen. It seems as though 7th to 10th (Uran, Fuglsang, Valverde and Mas) are a notch below top 6 - there is also 1'12'' between Pinot in 6th and Uran in 7th, so his top-5 prospects look very good indeed!

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Re:

He can/will certainly top-5, unless he fades, but I don't except that to happen. It seems as though 7th to 10th (Uran, Fuglsang, Valverde and Mas) are a notch below top 6 - there is also 1'12'' between Pinot in 6th and Uran in 7th, so his top-5 prospects look very good indeed!

Nothing certain about it imho.
Thomas, Bernal, Kruijswijk, Alaphilippe, Pinot... That's 5.

 

[Faserr]

Re: Re:

Is Germany getting hyped for him?

ARD, national public television broadcaster, certainly is. Every second sentence on the tourmalet was about him. It's been 10 years since we had Klöden so they are very excited.

The commentator certainly is, yes I don't think "germany" is really interested in the Tour de France.
I began watching cycling with Ulle and that is way I am getting a bit hyped for Buchmann. He really seems relaxed and chilled. His interviews are funny, because he only answers in really short sentences.
Today the interviewer asked something like that shortly after finish: "You attacked two times shortly before the finish. Have you thought about winning the stage?"
And he just sad:"My feeling was good and they were going not so fast at the moment thats why I attacked".
Interviewer:"Did you notice that Thomas was fading?"
"I heard that. And thats nice to here"
"I was feeling good and I am looking forward to the next days".

https://www.sportschau.de/tourdefrance/videos/vierzehnte-etappe/video-buchmann-am-col-du-tourmalet-sind-da-gerade-nicht-so-schnell-gefahren-100.html