Re: Re:
Taxus4a said:
Valv.Piti said:
Pleasantly surprised to see Thomas the sprinter/rouleur/track/cobbles/mountains-specialist to struggle a fair amount going up against b, c and d type of riders. I did expect him to look much better.
This year Suisse is harder. He is very good in the first mountain sstage, becouse he is a complete rider. it is the ssame with Froome and his team mate Porte.
The difference is not really big this year, it is just thi climb is after some mountains stages.
I'm with you on this Taxus, I don't know why people are so surprised at G's (supposed) lack of performance. Last year's parcours was much more favourable to him.
Was Valv.Piti being sarcastic about the hype behind G or is he "pleasantly surprised" at G's performance (probably both, but which is the strongest factor)? G is one of those b, c and d type riders (OK on such a parcours with all riders fit and raring to go, he's option C in one of the strongest teams in the peloton, so he's not type d)
The first two weeks of the Tour last year were almost perfect for G. An echelon stage, some classic style stages, a Pyrenean MTF where everything was flat beforehand and then a pretty controlled second mountain stage. Since G was in the top 5, he went for GC until he cracked on the penultimate day in the mountains. He is not a pure climber, so the multi-climb stages (see P-N) and strings of mountain stages are a weak spot for him. Comparing his results from this year and last year, I can't see any real difference in his level (last year he was off the pace in Romandie too).
To be honest, I'd rather see him blasting Vandenbergh off his wheel in G-W rather than be a Leipheimer style rider, but he obviously can get good results in week long races.
Unfortunately the Tour is by far the biggest race in the British press and G is a crucial factor in the team. Also, G is sure to be aiming to peak for the Olympics. So it's likely that his training programme is slightly behind last year's programme.