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Teams & Riders Geraint Thomas

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Gigs_98

Gigs_98

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Geraint Thomas still defying expectations of the CN forum hivemind in 2023. It's honestly so fascinating how fans keep underestimating him because they still haven't gotten their head around the fact that Thomas isn't the classics specialist from 2015 anymore but has instead been one of the worlds best climbers for half a decade.

There is always such a huge discrepancy between how Thomas is rated and how anyone else is rated when they produced exactly the same results. I still remember arguing that looking at his performances going into the 2018 Tour, he should probably be the favorite to win the race, but people greatly disagreeing because "He's Geraint Thomas. Only another Sky rider. He just doesn't have the talent to beat real climbers like Landa or Nibali".

Really, nothing about his performance today should have been surprising. Yet it still kinda felt surprising.
 
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tobydawq

tobydawq

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Gigs_98 said:
Geraint Thomas still defying expectations of the CN forum hivemind in 2023. It's honestly so fascinating how fans keep underestimating him because they still haven't gotten their head around the fact that Thomas isn't the classics specialist from 2015 anymore but has instead been one of the worlds best climbers for half a decade.

There is always such a huge discrepancy between how Thomas is rated and how anyone else is rated when they produced exactly the same results. I still remember arguing that looking at his performances going into the 2018 Tour, he should probably be the favorite to win the race, but people greatly disagreeing because "He's Geraint Thomas. Only another Sky rider. He just doesn't have the talent to beat real climbers like Landa or Nibali".

Really, nothing about his performance today should have been surprising. Yet it still kinda felt surprising.
Click to expand...

Maybe it's also because he's 36 (37 on Thursday). It kind of felt like the last chance saloon when he crashed out of the Giro in 2020 after not even being selected for the Tour. It's really impressive to me that he is still going as well as he is.

I really, really hope he can win this race, I think he is the rider in the world I feel I know the best after having read his books and listened to his podcasts.
 
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Gigs_98

Gigs_98

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tobydawq said:
Maybe it's also because he's 36 (37 on Thursday). It kind of felt like the last chance saloon when he crashed out of the Giro in 2020 after not even being selected for the Tour. It's really impressive to me that he is still going as well as he is.

I really, really hope he can win this race, I think he is the rider in the world I feel I know the best after having read his books and listened to his podcasts.
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I guess you have to consider age, but then his Tour last year was so good that you couldn't really think he was on a sharp decline either.
 
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Gigs_98

Gigs_98

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Netserk said:
On the previous page in this thread (during Catalunya), I wrote that he was the 3rd biggest favourite (which I think was a pretty mainstream view), but given his season up to the Giro, I cannot really fault people for doubting him.
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Yeah, I think him being the third biggest favorite was pretty much the consensus. But still look how silent this thread has been (I mean as you said, your comment is still on the previous page) and look how few votes he got in the "Who will win?" polls. People realized a rider who finished 3rd in last years tour can't be that bad, but nobody was truly paying attention to him.
 
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Netserk

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Gigs_98 said:
There is always such a huge discrepancy between how Thomas is rated and how anyone else is rated when they produced exactly the same results.
Click to expand...
The thing is, the results he produced in Tour of the Alps didn't merit anyone to rate him. It's only because it was him that he still had the third shortest odds before the race.

You can say that the rider who is expected to be one of the strongest ought to warrant more excitement, more intense debate, but really, what's exciting about him or how he has ridden in this season so far?
 
Red Rick

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Gigs_98 said:
Yeah, I think him being the third biggest favorite was pretty much the consensus. But still look how silent this thread has been (I mean as you said, your comment is still on the previous page) and look how few votes he got in the "Who will win?" polls. People realized a rider who finished 3rd in last years tour can't be that bad, but nobody was truly paying attention to him.
Click to expand...
Another Rick meme prediction that's going to happen.
 
Ilmaestro99

Ilmaestro99

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Me gal in da rain

Me gal in da rain

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this thread should be more active
not a lot of patriotic welsh men on by ere i don't think

i made the mistake during the tour of switzerland of posting in the other 'G' thread which is typically more visible if you click on 'new posts;...

his form is absolutely extraordinary this year ..... i actually voted for him on the first rest day post - not from the heart but from the head - he has been looking real comfortable and his manner seems massively determined..... i think he thinks he will win and i think he always believed he could (even before remco and hart went home)..

my only pause was when i watched him get out of the team car before the first ITT.... he looked ancient .... like i know I alight a car with far more grace and I am in my 50s..... he rarely looks in much shape to be doing more than a gentle workout but he is hitting nearly 6 w/kg for almost an hour .....

ok.... i am welsh and all but i think he is winning this bicycle race ,,,


edit : i would have stuck by my guns and voted for him in the second rest day poll but i forgot it existed
 
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Volderke

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I must admit I didn't rate G very high. No question he is super solid when in shape and not crashing, but I just didn't see anything else than a top 5, or maybe top 3 in him.
He has proven me wrong until now, and I'm quite happy with that. He is mentally o so strong to retain at this level at his age.
Not wanting to downgrade his performances, but his competition at this point in the race isn't the best due to covid and crashes, and Almeida has never been the best climber in any race, so I reckon Roglic is not at his best.

I see his rise to the top as the combination of mishaps by competitors, something he can't do anything about, but at the same time, he seems to be in the best shape of his life and that's something remarkable and admirable at his age, and for this specific Giro where he knew he would be facing Remco, Roglic, his own team mate Hart,... It takes something to get ready to compete at 37 while the newspapers only mention Remco and Roglic...!
 
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