Teams & Riders Geraint Thomas

[ILovecycling]

Great way to again silence his carreer, bravo Sky

 

[BigMac]

Cool guy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoWo4yHq7IY

Funny reference to Barguil @ 1:35.

 

[oldcrank]

Congratulations to Geraint and Sara.
Health, happiness and harmony to
the lovely couple.

 

[GdaG]

http://www.teamsky.com/teamsky/home/imagegallery/70990#8

Looking remarkably lean for January!

 

[DBotero]

Maybe Contador won a battle but this man won the war.2nd win in a row in Algarve.Too bad he doesn't care about the Classics anymore.

 

[Bushman]

I'm really pissed off at Sky because of Geraint Thomas. Here is a rider who, god forbid, shows great potential for the classics, so lets turn him into the next GT robot. How boring can it be?

Thomas could have been a really interesting rider, a bit Cancellara/Van Avermaet like (not that these two are similar) who could race in the northern classics, MSR and maybe Amstel, win short tt's and prologues and hunt stages in medium mountains and hilly routes. Now he is just another rider who can go up a climb really fast and ride a good tt.

I still like him and he was great in last year's Tour, but I can't help feeling a strong dislike for Sky and their desire to turn EVERYONE into a GT rider. I reckon Moscon is the next allround, exciting talent to be turned into the next Chris Froome.

 

[HelloDolly]

Re:

I'm really pissed off at Sky because of Geraint Thomas. Here is a rider who, god forbid, shows great potential for the classics, so lets turn him into the next GT robot. How boring can it be?

Thomas could have been a really interesting rider, a bit Cancellara/Van Avermaet like (not that these two are similar) who could race in the northern classics, MSR and maybe Amstel, win short tt's and prologues and hunt stages in medium mountains and hilly routes. Now he is just another rider who can go up a climb really fast and ride a good tt.

I still like him and he was great in last year's Tour, but I can't help feeling a strong dislike for Sky and their desire to turn EVERYONE into a GT rider. I reckon Moscon is the next allround, exciting talent to be turned into the next Chris Froome.

I agree re Thomas...he is such a strong rider , with a great TT ..He is a natural for Flanders and PR
Its the way he is built. His outstanding performance in the Tour 2015 is based on first 10 stages which were a selection of hills, cross winds & cobbles...he can climb no doubt about it but look at him...Even at the height of his form will he beat Quintana or Aru on the long climbs in final week of the Tour. I doubt it...Best he can attain is probably a top 5 in the Tour , maybe a podium in another GT if there is alot of TT and all his ducks line up
But in fairness to SKY its the riders who are pushing this , just like Kwaitoski they want to be GT champions....Its the press , the fans and the hype
During the Tour in 2015 the British press spent all their time talking about G and a Tour de France win...It was like Chris Froome barely existed

Moscon is also a biggish lad and would make a great classic rider ....hope someone has a word in his shell like

 

[rick james]

It's G that wants to do stage races, it's him that wants to take the step back for the classics

 

[kenk09]

And he's 29 now. It's not like he hasn't had a decent crack at the classics; and he will continue to do so - but more the hilly variety than the cobbly.

 

[Cannibal72]

Re:

I'm really pissed off at Sky because of Geraint Thomas. Here is a rider who, god forbid, shows great potential for the classics, so lets turn him into the next GT robot. How boring can it be?

Thomas could have been a really interesting rider, a bit Cancellara/Van Avermaet like (not that these two are similar) who could race in the northern classics, MSR and maybe Amstel, win short tt's and prologues and hunt stages in medium mountains and hilly routes. Now he is just another rider who can go up a climb really fast and ride a good tt.

I still like him and he was great in last year's Tour, but I can't help feeling a strong dislike for Sky and their desire to turn EVERYONE into a GT rider. I reckon Moscon is the next allround, exciting talent to be turned into the next Chris Froome.

I absolutely agree with everything you say. Yes, it's partially Thomas' choice, but maybe if Sky valued the classics more/at all, he wouldn't have been inculcated with this 'only GTs matter' attitude that leads him to ignore his potential as a classics rider and doggedly pursue a pipe dream of the giddy heights of a Tour top 10. If they do the same with Kwiatkowski - who seems worryingly blinkered as well, judging by his comments about EQS not supporting him enough going for GC - I'll be spectacularly disappointed.

 

[Mr.White]

Re: Re:

I'm really pissed off at Sky because of Geraint Thomas. Here is a rider who, god forbid, shows great potential for the classics, so lets turn him into the next GT robot. How boring can it be?

Thomas could have been a really interesting rider, a bit Cancellara/Van Avermaet like (not that these two are similar) who could race in the northern classics, MSR and maybe Amstel, win short tt's and prologues and hunt stages in medium mountains and hilly routes. Now he is just another rider who can go up a climb really fast and ride a good tt.

I still like him and he was great in last year's Tour, but I can't help feeling a strong dislike for Sky and their desire to turn EVERYONE into a GT rider. I reckon Moscon is the next allround, exciting talent to be turned into the next Chris Froome.

I absolutely agree with everything you say. Yes, it's partially Thomas' choice, but maybe if Sky valued the classics more/at all, he wouldn't have been inculcated with this 'only GTs matter' attitude that leads him to ignore his potential as a classics rider and doggedly pursue a pipe dream of the giddy heights of a Tour top 10. If they do the same with Kwiatkowski - who seems worryingly blinkered as well, judging by his comments about EQS not supporting him enough going for GC - I'll be spectacularly disappointed.

Sky would value the classics more only if they could win some.. . They will turn Thomas, and Kwiat likely, into familiar GC robots, only thing they know..

 

[kenk09]

It's good to be back in 2012.

 

[Pricey_sky]

Re:

I'm really pissed off at Sky because of Geraint Thomas. Here is a rider who, god forbid, shows great potential for the classics, so lets turn him into the next GT robot. How boring can it be?

Thomas could have been a really interesting rider, a bit Cancellara/Van Avermaet like (not that these two are similar) who could race in the northern classics, MSR and maybe Amstel, win short tt's and prologues and hunt stages in medium mountains and hilly routes. Now he is just another rider who can go up a climb really fast and ride a good tt.

I still like him and he was great in last year's Tour, but I can't help feeling a strong dislike for Sky and their desire to turn EVERYONE into a GT rider. I reckon Moscon is the next allround, exciting talent to be turned into the next Chris Froome.

In a Q+A with Thomas last year he answered my question as to wether he could see himself playing a part in both classics and GT's in the future. He said that he see's himself getting stronger as a GC rider and that's what he wants to focus on, despite enjoying himself in the one-day races his performance in the Tour has opened up new possibilities. I don't think it was Sky's choice at all, sorry to disappoint you.

 

[Cannibal72]

Re: Re:

I'm really pissed off at Sky because of Geraint Thomas. Here is a rider who, god forbid, shows great potential for the classics, so lets turn him into the next GT robot. How boring can it be?

Thomas could have been a really interesting rider, a bit Cancellara/Van Avermaet like (not that these two are similar) who could race in the northern classics, MSR and maybe Amstel, win short tt's and prologues and hunt stages in medium mountains and hilly routes. Now he is just another rider who can go up a climb really fast and ride a good tt.

I still like him and he was great in last year's Tour, but I can't help feeling a strong dislike for Sky and their desire to turn EVERYONE into a GT rider. I reckon Moscon is the next allround, exciting talent to be turned into the next Chris Froome.

In a Q+A with Thomas last year he answered my question as to wether he could see himself playing a part in both classics and GT's in the future. He said that he see's himself getting stronger as a GC rider and that's what he wants to focus on, despite enjoying himself in the one-day races. I don't think it was Sky's choice at all, sorry to disappoint you.

But if Team Sky had a culture that appreciated the classics, then he wouldn't feel the drive to convert himself into a GT rider. I don't think you can blame Sky for this entirely - any young British boy who becomes a pro cyclist dreams of winning the yellow jersey - but they could have done a lot, like not relentlessly focusing on the Tour.

 

[Pricey_sky]

If a rider has his focus on something then a team holding him back and dictating his schedule is not the answer, the last thing Sky, or any team for that matter wants is to annoy a good rider. When G's contract was up for renewal last time he was not short of offers, I imagine next time round there would be even more.

 

[Kwibus]

Thomas indeed made it clear he wanted to go for the GT's. Unfortunately.

 

[JRanton]

Re:

Thomas indeed made it clear he wanted to go for the GT's. Unfortunately.

The problem for Anglophone riders is that in their countries the Tour de France is the be all and end all. When Cavendish won Milan San Remo there was barely a mention of it in the press because it meant nothing to the wider sporting public in the UK. A Flanders or Roubaix win might generate a bit more coverage and interest but I'm afraid it's probably about 1% of the coverage that a Tour win would generate. I don't think Thomas will ever win the Tour but even a podium or top 5 (which I think he is capable of in the future) would be huge for him in financial terms.

A note on his Algarve win: He had a problem with his gear in the second half of the time trial, so that explains a bit of the time loss. As I'd previously said, he should have been at least 10 seconds closer to Cancellara than he was.

 

[ferryman]

Nice comfortable win for Geraint in the end. From his post race interview, he is fully committed to supporting Froome in the TDF. And, his next four races are a mix of one weekers and one dayers. Missing Belgium next weekend but then it's Paris-Nice, MSR, Catalunya and then Flanders. Interesting mix for a very interesting rider

 

[Tonton]

It's good to be back in 2012.

Or back in the '90s... I agree with JRanton. The best exposure is the TdF. I won't count LeMond post-accident, but the fixation really started with BigMig after he lost the Giro in '94. He could have got his share of Vueltas, gone back to the Giro: nope. Going for the BIG one. Very clear philosophy best exemplified by Wonderboy... or even Ulle for that matter: he could have danced around (i.e. avoided) Lance, won 4-5 Giro/Vueltas in the early 2000s, but the Tour is where the hype, publicity, $, is. Even if your the runner-up in his case. Yikes. A team like Sky doesn't give a crap about PR or RVV. It's all about the BIG one.

 

[sir fly]

Re:

Nice comfortable win for Geraint in the end. From his post race interview, he is fully committed to supporting Froome in the TDF. And, his next four races are a mix of one weekers and one dayers. Missing Belgium next weekend but then it's Paris-Nice, MSR, Catalunya and then Flanders. Interesting mix for a very interesting rider

Wonder what ambitions for the Flanders are.
Catalunya instead of E3 doesn't leave impression of the highest aspirations.

 

[thehook]

It's good to be back in 2012.

Or back in the '90s... I agree with JRanton. The best exposure is the TdF. I won't count LeMond post-accident, but the fixation really started with BigMig after he lost the Giro in '94. He could have got his share of Vueltas, gone back to the Giro: nope. Going for the BIG one. Very clear philosophy best exemplified by Wonderboy... or even Ulle for that matter: he could have danced around (i.e. avoided) Lance, won 4-5 Giro/Vueltas in the early 2000s, but the Tour is where the hype, publicity, $, is. Even if your the runner-up in his case. Yikes. A team like Sky doesn't give a crap about PR or RVV. It's all about the BIG one.

Have to agree 100%.
And I would like to add. G winning more stage races can get him more $.......RE;Porte

 

[cineteq]

Re:

Meanwhile, a more talented rider, Henao, is left alone, unsupported. Shame on Sky!

Nice comfortable win for Geraint in the end. From his post race interview, he is fully committed to supporting Froome in the TDF. And, his next four races are a mix of one weekers and one dayers. Missing Belgium next weekend but then it's Paris-Nice, MSR, Catalunya and then Flanders. Interesting mix for a very interesting rider

 

[ferryman]

Re: Re:

Meanwhile, a more talented rider, Henao, is left alone, unsupported. Shame on Sky!

Nice comfortable win for Geraint in the end. From his post race interview, he is fully committed to supporting Froome in the TDF. And, his next four races are a mix of one weekers and one dayers. Missing Belgium next weekend but then it's Paris-Nice, MSR, Catalunya and then Flanders. Interesting mix for a very interesting rider

I hear you. But Henao has to do more. Like it or not this race was and always was about Geraint.

ps if anyone refers to Geraint again as G I'm going to explode, unless you have a b/f or g/f and you like to text like a 14 year old!!!)

 

[StryderHells]

Re: Re:

Meanwhile, a more talented rider, Henao, is left alone, unsupported. Shame on Sky!

Where is the evidence that Henao is more talented? If Henao is more talented then he has been under performing for a couple of seasons now, he's certainly overrated

 

[pastronef]

It's good to be back in 2012.

Or back in the '90s... I agree with JRanton. The best exposure is the TdF. I won't count LeMond post-accident, but the fixation really started with BigMig after he lost the Giro in '94. He could have got his share of Vueltas, gone back to the Giro: nope. Going for the BIG one. Very clear philosophy best exemplified by Wonderboy... or even Ulle for that matter: he could have danced around (i.e. avoided) Lance, won 4-5 Giro/Vueltas in the early 2000s, but the Tour is where the hype, publicity, $, is. Even if your the runner-up in his case. Yikes. A team like Sky doesn't give a crap about PR or RVV. It's all about the BIG one.

maybe they dont give a crap about Sanremo or Liege (or even the Giro until last year)

but I think they'd swap a Giro win for a Roubaix win.

I would have swapped a Giro win for any Sky rider for a Wiggins Roubaix win.