Esteban Chaves Discussion Thread

[SafeBet]

I'm impressed. I also thought he would struggle in such a long and hard stage but he was amazing. I think the podium is locked barring crashes or sickness.

 

[Jspear]

"The truth is I am feeling good. Who knows? Now we will try to win this Giro."

"I can't say where because there is still a long way to go but for sure I can win. Anything is possible. Mathew Hayman won Paris-Roubaix and broke his arm five weeks before."

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/chaves-now-we-will-try-to-win-this-giro-ditalia/

I like his attitude. At least he's not just content with a podium...one can dream.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Re:

He can win a GT in the future for sure.

he can already win this gt.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Re:

Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Chaves has been very good at the start and very poor at the end of GTs in the past. Seems to have poor recovery. Let's wait for his performances in the 3rd week before touting him as a future GT winner

lol wtf are you smoking? last years vuelta he was very strong in the final week

 

[jens_attacks]

always thought that he will win tour and vuelta. but honestly i was afraid for him in il giro because of the bad weather. so far so good. he can win this.

 

[jaylew]

Cracks me up that he and Nairo are the same age. One looks 16, the other 45.

 

[PremierAndrew]

Re: Re:

Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Chaves has been very good at the start and very poor at the end of GTs in the past. Seems to have poor recovery. Let's wait for his performances in the 3rd week before touting him as a future GT winner

lol wtf are you smoking? last years vuelta he was very strong in the final week

He was strong yes, but relative to his first week, when he was possibly the strongest, he was weak.

To use another recent example, that's like saying Froome was strong in the 3rd week of the Tour last year. He was still one of the top 3 climbers in that 3rd week, but it was a fraction of his strength at PSM, and hence you could say he was very poor in the final week.

I have no doubts that he will podium this Giro barring a crash or some other shitty luck, but let's wait for him to prove he can keep his form over 3 weeks before definitely declaring him a future GT winner

 

[Inquitus]

Looking at the remaining stages and their composition, the number of flat sections between climbs, I am not sure Esteban has a strong enough team to allow him to take back 2 minutes, if he was in Astana or Movistar he might be able to shift kruijswijk on one of the penultimate climbs and bridge to a couple of team mates to help him across the false flats or valleys and then launch solo on the final climb. I think to win he needs to be reliant on Valverde or Nibali dropping kruijswijk and being able to leverage their team mates, but looking at form so far its hard to see kruijswijk being dropped by either of that pair. I'd love to see him win, but it looks a tough proposition for OGE to do the necessaries.

 

[pink_jersey]

Great second part for him today. Second best after Foliforov. He's my favourite for tuesday, friday and saturday if the break doesn't make it. Still, he'll not drop Kruijswjik but rather outsprint him.

 

[Pricey_sky]

This is where having a weaker team really hurts you. He needs a massive performance to take back over 2 minutes in the 3 tough stages that are left.

A strong team could drill it on the front and make it as tough as possible from the get-go, or send strong climbers up the road in the break for Chavez to join up with later in the stage. Sadly Orica don't have the firepower to do this. His best chance is maybe an alliance with Nibali and Astana if they go early to try and drop Kruijswijk.

 

[diego721]

DIOS MIO

I think that Esteban could win a GT in the future, but having him contesting for one now is unbelievable.
May be he can take advantage of Astana's train and well who knows haow Kruijswijk will manage the pressure to be the leader with a whole week ahead.

 

[Escarabajo]

Re:

This is where having a weaker team really hurts you. He needs a massive performance to take back over 2 minutes in the 3 tough stages that are left.

A strong team could drill it on the front and make it as tough as possible from the get-go, or send strong climbers up the road in the break for Chavez to join up with later in the stage. Sadly Orica don't have the firepower to do this. His best chance is maybe an alliance with Nibali and Astana if they go early to try and drop Kruijswijk.

He will use Astana. He has the advantage of not being in pink.

 

[Escarabajo]

PremierAndrew he was good in last year's Vuelta. Even in the third week. You don't have to explain that one.

The previous 2 GT's were a disaster in the third week. Whatever it was. Heat, cold, sickness. He just had poor recovery. I believe it was more related to coming back from a very bad injury than anything else. He needed more kilometers and experience in order to make it back. He always had the talent. Last Vuelta was the first proof of him being able of putting it together for 3 weeks. Not of his talent because we knew he was very talented.

This Giro was very important to proof that he could follow up 1 good GT with another. Something that Landa was trying to do as well.

 

[movingtarget]

He is looking better in this race than the Vuelta. The leader looks very solid but one bad stage in the mountains is all it takes even though he has a good lead. Astana will put a lot of pressure on him. OGE don't have to do anything unless it is the pink jersey doing the attacking. After his disastrous TT Nibali won't be settling for the podium.

 

[Kampy]

I hope the Colombian Kangaroo wins this Giro!

I'm very impressed with Orica-GreenEdge considering this is the first time they've prepared for a Grand Tour as a GC-contending team from start to finish. (I think that even at last year's Vuelta, they went into it focused more on stage wins than taking Chaves to the end).

 

[Kampy]

Re: Re:

He will use Astana. He has the advantage of not being in pink.

I agree. He has gotten far by letting OGE protect him as long as they can, then shadowing Valverde or Nibali at the end. He should keep doing that! Let Astana break the wind at the end, then hop around them

 

[Beech Mtn]

Hopefully his countrymen from other teams without much of a GC hope will help a brother out when the time comes.

 

[The Hegelian]

Question is: let's say he and Kruijswijk more or less maintain their form (i.e. don't get sick or majorly blow up). Can Chaves put in one or two serious digs to make up the deficit?

Can he drop Kruijswijk, and if so, can he put enough time into him to get the win?

I reckon measure for measure, on a steep finale Chaves could drop Kruijswijk. I doubt he could gain enough time though - Kruijswijk has enough buffer to ride defensively.

Seems then that the only real path to victory is if Astana and Movistar go all out to destroy Kruijswijk, and Chaves rides smart to benefit.

 

[boasson]

Re: Re:

He will use Astana. He has the advantage of not being in pink.

I agree. He has gotten far by letting OGE protect him as long as they can, then shadowing Valverde or Nibali at the end. He should keep doing that! Let Astana break the wind at the end, then hop around them

At the end its allways a matter of legs and strength and not tactics. You can loose it with a poor team or poor tactics, but only when you have bad legs. So Astana, Movi etc. can do what they want if Krujse has still the best legs of all, they will not win it.

When Chaves want to win this Giro, he must be the best rider in the 3rd week. It's that simpel.

 

[movingtarget]

Maybe rest day syndrome got him yesterday. One of the GC riders always reacts bad to the rest day. Short stages are always unpredictable that's why they are fun to watch but I don't think this is the beginning of a slide backwards. Other stages will suit him better.

 

[Irondan]

Re:

Question is: let's say he and Kruijswijk more or less maintain their form (i.e. don't get sick or majorly blow up). Can Chaves put in one or two serious digs to make up the deficit?

Can he drop Kruijswijk, and if so, can he put enough time into him to get the win?

I reckon measure for measure, on a steep finale Chaves could drop Kruijswijk. I doubt he could gain enough time though - Kruijswijk has enough buffer to ride defensively.

Seems then that the only real path to victory is if Astana and Movistar go all out to destroy Kruijswijk, and Chaves rides smart to benefit.

I agree, Chavito can drop Kruijswijk but not make up enough time to win.

The Dutchman is riding very strong and with a lot of confidence. OGE would have to blow the race apart but they're not as strong as a team like Astana making them incapable of doing what Astana and even Movistar's built to do. He sure is riding well though, I think he can hold on for a podium position if he rides smart for the last few stages.

Chavito's day's coming, maybe not this Giro but a GT in the future will have his name on the top of it, as long as OGE gives him decent support.

His class, infectious smile and easy going attitude has made a fan out of me.

 

[yespatterns]

One good crack can seriously dent the pink jersey, so I agree with others he probably needs to bide his time and let other teams do as much work as possible. In any event his future seems really bright and this experience is only making it brighter.

 

[gospina]

Chaves made a tactical mistake. He had the legs, which is how he was able to save some time and almost make it back. He stated that on the penultimate climb, he saw the leaders go and said to himself "It will regroup on the descent. I'll reserve some energy now". It never did, so he had to work hard to catch up. He's got 2nd solid IMO

 

[Escarabajo]

I believe he had some problems in the first climb. For a guy who has been so attentive the first two weeks there is no way that, being in second, he would have let them go. He started slow. In the TT he lost 40 seconds in the first 4 km according to the charts. He starts slow. Hopefully it should be OK on the last 2 mountain stages.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Re:

I believe he had some problems in the first climb. For a guy who has been so attentive the first two weeks there is no way that, being in second, he would have let them go. He started slow. In the TT he lost 40 seconds in the first 4 km according to the charts. He starts slow. Hopefully it should be OK on the last 2 mountain stages.

chaves is a fast starter. he made a bad judgment call yesterday.