Susan Westemeyer said:Calm down. He has a right to express his opinion, too.
Susan
It is hardly an opinion. It is just trolling. Nothing to do with the thread topic. Just an insult.
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Susan Westemeyer said:Calm down. He has a right to express his opinion, too.
Susan
The Hitch said:http://forum.cyclingnews.com/poll.php?do=showresults&pollid=285
15 votes from posters saying that if ANdy Schleck were to have an accident or underperform, Gesink would beat everyone else. THis was before Menchov got taken out, and assuming Nibali rides.
Francois the Postman said:Hitch, how does a poll about the TdF 2011, if Andy and Alberto don't compete, relate to a challenge by Dekker_T to Gallic Ho to substantiate Gallic Ho's claim that "I remember one or two of the Dutch declaring Gesink would have won the Vuelta if he didn't put a hole in his leg"? [bolded]
The 2009 world champion estimates that he will reach July with around twenty days less racing in his legs than he did last time around
auscyclefan94 said:It's odd as in a recent interview Cadel said he would be doing around 20 less race days in a recent Cyclingnews article.
But from what he has said on Twitter, on his blogs and a recent interview with him that has been put up on the Cycling Central site he has said that he will be starting at Giro de Friuli, Strade Bianche, Tirenno Adriatico, Classics, possibly the Tour of Romandie and Tour of Catalunya.
That is 21 race days there including Romandie. So I guess the dauphine might be getting the flick.
Cadel Evans Interview
Santaromita has been confirmed in the TDF team.
Denkoff said:Evans looser
The Hitch said:Sorry Galic, but wikipedia was not wrong
This is a copy of the wikipedia page on Monte Zoncolan from October 2008 - over 2 years ago
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Monte_Zoncolan&diff=245130851&oldid=245130797
This sentence has been there since 2008 so wikipedia can not have given you wrong information on this subject
La Pandera said:If one is going to talk up the weak field in the 2010 Giro then it has to be applied both ways. Evans had an impressive stage win in extremely trying conditions on what one could call an Ardennes classics like parcours, only with wet dirt/gravel roads added, but versus a "weak" field of competitors-in comparison to the Vuelta 2010 field. This by the estimation of a few posts here. Of course ultimately Evans was thwarted not by the might of his opponents but by a virus that sapped his strength, leaving him less than his best. Was anyone aware that Basso had a virus during the Tour? I'm just reading about this almost 7 months after the fact. In the course of a grand tour everyone is suffering in some way shape or form, it's just that not everyone (and not all of their fans) offers it up as an excuse for not winning.
Libertine Seguros said:If he does all of those races and then does nothing through to the Tour, then that is no racing between the start of May and the start of July. Seems like an odd way to prepare for the Tour. I'd imagine that if he's doing Tirreno and Catalunya then heading to the Ardennes, that's a sensible calendar, then Romandie should get the flick as obviously he'd be peaking for the Ardennes and hitting Romandie on the comedown, then he could use the Dauphiné to warm up for the Tour. The usual Evans problem is that he's too much of a competitor, and if he sniffs a chance to win something he will go deep to do so, hurting his chances elsewhere (see Dauphiné '09 for the most obvious example) - however, now that he actually has big wins on his palmarès hopefully he can realise at a race like the Dauphiné that he has bigger fish to fry (though '09 was an unusual set of circumstances with Valverde not being able to ride the Tour so being more focused on the Dauphiné than Evans would have been) and so hit peak form for the Tour.
The difference being that no-one claims that Basso was anywhere near his best shape in the Tour. He's not autobus material, although he did alright in the first couple of mountain stages, I don't think he was too far off his top form then. And yes, I knew that he got some kind of food poisoning or whatever midway through the Tour.La Pandera said:If one is going to talk up the weak field in the 2010 Giro then it has to be applied both ways. Evans had an impressive stage win in extremely trying conditions on what one could call an Ardennes classics like parcours, only with wet dirt/gravel roads added, but versus a "weak" field of competitors-in comparison to the Vuelta 2010 field. This by the estimation of a few posts here. Of course ultimately Evans was thwarted not by the might of his opponents but by a virus that sapped his strength, leaving him less than his best. Was anyone aware that Basso had a virus during the Tour? I'm just reading about this almost 7 months after the fact. In the course of a grand tour everyone is suffering in some way shape or form, it's just that not everyone (and not all of their fans) offers it up as an excuse for not winning.
Bike Boy said:Does it always have to be blamed on food poisoning? He always use that excuse....
Libertine Seguros said:He doesn't have as much experience of making excuses for not winning as Evans, so he doesn't have as many in his repertoire.
Evans suffered an elbow injury in a crash at the Tour last year (but he definitely wasn't on his own in that regard). It was 2009 when he was troubled by a virus.La Pandera said:Of course ultimately Evans was thwarted not by the might of his opponents but by a virus that sapped his strength, leaving him less than his best. Was anyone aware that Basso had a virus during the Tour? I'm just reading about this almost 7 months after the fact. In the course of a grand tour everyone is suffering in some way shape or form, it's just that not everyone (and not all of their fans) offers it up as an excuse for not winning.
valentius borealis said:Evans suffered an elbow injury in a crash at the Tour last year (but he definitely wasn't on his own in that regard). It was 2009 when he was troubled by a virus.
As for Basso, he finished in the grupetto on the stage to Pau due to the effects of the virus that you mentioned. There was doubt at the time that he'd even make it to Paris.
Of course. That virus went through both the BMC and Astana teams, and forced a number of riders to abandon.La Pandera said:I should have been more clear. My reference to Evans' virus was during this year's Giro and is the reason many have given for his not winning. I and everyone else are likely aware of Evans' elbow injury in this year's Tour and his valiant struggle to finish the race inspite of it.
Moondance said:Reasons why Cadel will not win le Tour:
1. Andy Schleck
2. That is all...
Potomac said:2009 - 30th
2010 - 26th
2011 - ??th
That's what the Aussie media would like us to believe, but when you look at the facts... VDB, Horner, Popovych, Aerts, Vansummeren all rode in support of Evans at Lotto. All of them have done better when Evans was not on their team. Why is that? Is it because they temporarily lost their talent, or could it have something to do with lack of motivation to ride for a difficult character like Evans? There's always two sides of the coin. Sergeant may have been a little naive when he signed Kohl and Dekker, but don't say he didn't commit when he signed a TdF podium finisher and one of the biggest stage racing talents to support Evans.eatyourvitamins said:Redant and Sargeant must be close to mentally ***. They always promised much and NEVER delivered as far as extra support for Cadel. They tried to juggle too many balls without enough hands and still found a way to imply fault on Evans when he couldn't deliver. They never fully committed.
eatyourvitamins said:http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/evans-rates-schleck-and-basso-as-top-tour-de-france-rivals
He makes some fairly clear quotes in this article that support what many have discussed in this thread regarding his past racing schedules and penchant for trying to win when he gets a 'sniff'. It seems that at lotto especially, it was a mix of his natural approach to 'race to win' and pressure from the team for him to race and win at smaller races. I mean lets face it, as soon as Mcewen left (and he had been plagued by form/injury issues for awhile before that if my memory serves me right), Lotto really had no-one but Cadel to give there sponsors or fans anything to cheer. He was their only card for a few years until Gilbert later on and then JVB much later on just before cadel left. He should have left that team at least 2 seasons earlier. Redant and Sargeant must be close to mentally ***. They always promised much and NEVER delivered as far as extra support for Cadel. They tried to juggle too many balls without enough hands and still found a way to imply fault on Evans when he couldn't deliver. They never fully committed. Evan's career suffered in the later years at lotto. They were only a good fit earlier on when they gave him the chance he had been denied at other teams.
Anyway. I like the race-hard-all-year approach. How many guys do you see doing that? Everyone gets so caught up with winning the tour/s. But Evans loves racing. He is a professional cyclist. It is good to see someone who can't help trying to win. But if he wants even a chance of winning a GT he needs to curtail that impulse. Looks like he is attempting that this year. It could well be far too late though... I hope not.