Teams & Riders Geraint Thomas

[dacooley]

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

more talented rider mean a rider i like way more for most posters on the board.

 

[Pricey_sky]

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

more talented rider mean a rider i like way more for most posters on the board.

So a popularity contest not actual talent then? I like Henao, however you cant blame Sky for going with Thomas after what he's shown the past 12 months.

 

[dacooley]

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

more talented rider mean a rider i like way more for most posters on the board.

So a popularity contest not actual talent then? I like Henao, however you cant blame Sky for going with Thomas after what he's shown the past 12 months.

actual talent is impossible to compare on rational grounds. who is a more talented gt rider popovych or horner, contador or indurain? opinions differ. as to thomas, of course we can't, however those who like henao more and detest sky methodics easily can and easily do.

 

[IndianCyclist]

Thomas was never meant to be GC rider. GC helper maybe. But results show otherwise now. Henao got his chances but fluffed them. Uran has left him behind. So now Henao is in helper mode.

 

[Brullnux]

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

more talented rider mean a rider i like way more for most posters on the board.

So a popularity contest not actual talent then? I like Henao, however you cant blame Sky for going with Thomas after what he's shown the past 12 months.

I personally would've trained Thomas for classics though. I don't think he has the climbing potential of the GC guys (which showed at Algarve on Malhao and also to a much lesser extent Fóia, where he was beaten by Luis Leon despite being in very good form, although I have to say LLS is in fantastic form too) but could hope for a TT heavy GT. But it's worth mentioning he is 29, and it would be quite transformation for him to be beating Nibali, Contador, Froome, Aru, Pinot, Quintana on a regular basis. Especially considering he's on the same team as one of them and three of them are 25-ish and can only improve.

OTOH, he was 4th in GC at last year's Tour before cracking. But I don't think he is suited to the hard climbs of the Giro; the weather maybe more so. The Vuelta might be too hot for him, and he won't get any chances at leading at the Tour any time soon.

Furthermore, SKY don't really have anyone for the classics as good as Thomas. Stannard is alright but better at smaller races and Rowe is OK too.

 

[DBotero]

Outgunned today by Grande Ilnur Zakarin but he took the jersey.Very close to win this race now

 

[del1962]

Outgunned today by Grande Ilnur Zakarin but he took the jersey.Very close to win this race now

Classy guy, if he wins thouroughly deserved

 

[DBotero]

Just hold out today,but he showed a great fighting spirit.He deserved his win.

 

[sir fly]

Congrats to Geraint.
This was a hard fought victory and a closer insight in his prospects.
In my opinion, it's too early for him to target a GT. Maybe a podium, for now.

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

I dunno what you can take away from this PN when it comes to his GT prospects. Perhpas a slight weakens for back to back hard stages? Or perhaps he just had a bad day like everyone has now and then?
Anyway, h should take his chance at the Vuelta or something soon. He is not the youngest guy in the field anymore

 

[JRanton]

Re:

I dunno what you can take away from this PN when it comes to his GT prospects. Perhpas a slight weakens for back to back hard stages? Or perhaps he just had a bad day like everyone has now and then?
Anyway, h should take his chance at the Vuelta or something soon. He is not the youngest guy in the field anymore

He said he had pretty good legs today. I think the mistake he made was trying to follow that acceleration from Majka. If he'd gone at his own tempo then I'm pretty sure he'd have at least come over the top of Col d'Eze with that second group and then it would have been easier to control the front three. He's a diesel climber so he has to ride to his own limits. Valuable lesson learned but delighted he was able to take victory. Maybe a bit of a Wiggins 2011 Dauphine moment for him.

 

[sir fly]

Re:

I dunno what you can take away from this PN when it comes to his GT prospects. Perhpas a slight weakens for back to back hard stages? Or perhaps he just had a bad day like everyone has now and then?
Anyway, h should take his chance at the Vuelta or something soon. He is not the youngest guy in the field anymore

Yes, succession of demanding stages over three weeks is the difficulty I'm referring to.

 

[harryh]

It’s incredible; it ’s hard to believe. Contador, man, he’s one of the best stage racers ever. Richie, he won nearly every stage race he did last year so to beat those two I can’t believe it. I obviously came here wanting to do the best I could and win but to actually do it is the biggest win for sure of my whole career and I’m over the moon.

So happy for him.

 

[trevim]

I wonder who'll be the next Sky rider to win Paris-Nice.
I think Kennaugh is the obvious choice but Rowe probably has a shot as well if he stops messing around with that classics stuff and really really really focus on stage racing

 

[Brullnux]

Re:

I dunno what you can take away from this PN when it comes to his GT prospects. Perhpas a slight weakens for back to back hard stages? Or perhaps he just had a bad day like everyone has now and then?
Anyway, h should take his chance at the Vuelta or something soon. He is not the youngest guy in the field anymore

I just don't think he's that good a climber. He was gapped on the only steep bit yesterday despite the climb suiting him perfectly and wouldn't have won if is wasn't for Henao, who probably deserved to win the overall. I preferred him in the classics. He won't win a GT, the guy is 30, and this might end up as the biggest win on his palmares along with E3. He had the talent to win RVV one day. Shame

 

[damian13ster]

Yeah, I don't see him as GT winner either. He will be a great domestique though, and might get a podium with right route.
Great 1 week stage racer though, if the race includes a 10km+ TT

 

[Bernie's eyesore]

I wonder who'll be the next Sky rider to win Paris-Nice.
I think Kennaugh is the obvious choice but Rowe probably has a shot as well if he stops messing around with that classics stuff and really really really focus on stage racing

Judged by what we saw this week, I think Swift might be up there before long. Rowe is a similar rider to Thomas five years ago though so no reason why he can't suddenly become a good climber too.

 

[rick james]

great week for Thomas

 

[TMP402]

I wonder who'll be the next Sky rider to win Paris-Nice.
I think Kennaugh is the obvious choice but Rowe probably has a shot as well if he stops messing around with that classics stuff and really really really focus on stage racing

Judged by what we saw this week, I think Swift might be up there before long. Rowe is a similar rider to Thomas five years ago though so no reason why he can't suddenly become a good climber too.

Kwiatkowski.

 

[May0maniac]

I wonder who'll be the next Sky rider to win Paris-Nice.
I think Kennaugh is the obvious choice but Rowe probably has a shot as well if he stops messing around with that classics stuff and really really really focus on stage racing

Judged by what we saw this week, I think Swift might be up there before long. Rowe is a similar rider to Thomas five years ago though so no reason why he can't suddenly become a good climber too.

My money is on Ian Boswell.

 

[Billie]

Let's hope Thomas is a bit smarter at San Remo this year. Was strongest already last year but tactics were not on point.

 

[del1962]

Re:

Let's hope Thomas is a bit smarter at San Remo this year. Was strongest already last year but tactics were not on point.

I dont think there was much else he could have done in MSR last year, he is not going to win a bunch sprint against Degenkolb and Kristoff

 

[trevim]

Re: Re:

Let's hope Thomas is a bit smarter at San Remo this year. Was strongest already last year but tactics were not on point.

I dont think there was much else he could have done in MSR last year, he is not going to win a bunch sprint against Degenkolb and Kristoff

So what? San Remo is just like 75 team pursuits, he'll be just fine
Seriously though I just think it's weird that he prepares for Flanders in Catalunya, I would expect him to rest or maybe ride E3 or GW.

 

[TMP402]

Re: Re:

Let's hope Thomas is a bit smarter at San Remo this year. Was strongest already last year but tactics were not on point.

I dont think there was much else he could have done in MSR last year, he is not going to win a bunch sprint against Degenkolb and Kristoff

There sure is: attacked later.

 

[rm7]

The only GT that suits him is the Tour. Giro and Vuelta are far to explosive and steep gradients most of the time.

No way he'll ever be Tour captain for SKY or beat any of the big GT guys over 3 weeks. He's fine for one week races with a TT in it.