First Timers in GC Top 10 - Grand Tours

[Parker]

Re:

So, barring anything strange happening on the final stage:

Carapaz, Bilbao, Konrad, Oomen.

In retrospect it was a bit odd that Oomen wasn't in the original poll as he's big tipped for big things.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Nah its a hype / time thing. By the time the poll was started people had forgotten he got ill in the vuelta when he was near top 10 and eventually had to abandon as well.

 

[Red Rick]

Oomen is so underhyped cause Dutch cycling has kinda been an embarrasment of riches lately.

When Gesink rode his first Vuelta, the slightly older prodical son had just popped a positive, and we'd had absolutely nobody between Michael Boogerd and Thomas Dekker.

Then Gesink, Mollema and Kruijswijk came along and at least we had some depth to our climbers and now it's really reached the point where Dutch riders are competing for big wins at all terrains and it's gotten kinda normal.

I think it's very good for Oomen to ride his first GT GCs like this. Dumoulin can handle all the hype.

 

[PremierAndrew]

Re: Re:

It's weird to think Thomas has never top 10'd especially when you consider he was one of the top favourites for last year's Giro before the blockhaus moto got involved

He certainly wasn't outside of the British tabloids for the reason you just stated yourself!

He was more fancied than Dumo before the start, after Quintana Nibs and Pinot

Like I said, in the British tabloids!

Dumoulin actually already had a Vuelta top 10, while wearing the leaders jersey until the penultimate day, to his name.

Thomas hasn't even won the Tour of Switzerland like Giorgio Furlan! I'm pretty sure Furlan wasn't one of the hot favorites for the 1994 Giro d'Italia either.

So just Roglic and Thomas from the Tour to add to Carapaz, Bilbao, Konrad, Oomen from the Giro

Four of the six not in the poll interestingly

 

[alexix7]

So we can add Enric Mas and Ion Izagirre.
Buchmann proved that he is not a man for 3rd week in GTs. Also nice try by Tony Gallopin, good to know he is capable of doing good 3 weeks of racing.

 

[skippo12]

Re:

So we can add Enric Mas and Ion Izagirre.
Buchmann proved that he is not a man for 3rd week in GTs. Also nice try by Tony Gallopin, good to know he is capable of doing good 3 weeks of racing.

Not really sure about Buchmann. Before his crash he was able to follow Yates and distance MAL on a mountain finish. Without the crash he most likely finishes higher up in the GC.

 

[Gigs_98]

The poll options seemed reasonable to me at the beginning of the year but boy the OP missed a lot.
In that sense it was a very unpredictable year.