Greg Van Avermaet

[Andre.J]

Van Avermaet in the thick of it....go Greg!!!

1 Tony Gallopin (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 10:28:46
2 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 0:00:02
3 Maxime Bouet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:06
4 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Team Radioshack 0:00:07
5 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Rabobank Continental
6 Matthieu Boulo (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 0:00:08
7 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) Team HTC - Columbia 0:00:09
8 Steve Morabito (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:00:10
9 Marco Pinotti (Ita) Team HTC - Columbia
10 Johnny Hoogerland (Ned) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 0:00:12

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

And this needs a new thread because???

 

[taiwan]

Times are hard when you get a thread started about you because you came second on a stage. Not that i'm not behind Greg Van Avermaet- hope BMC works for him.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Morabito should be in the lead after that stupid relegation because he took a short cut around 1 roundabout when the motor bikes where going that way as well and it was not blocked off.

Anyway, good to see future BMC riders doing well. (van avermeat)

 

[Michielveedeebee]

3 times top 5 in 3 stages, shame he misses the win

 

[Denkoff]

What a fu******* thread? van avermat looser

 

[tgsgirl]

3 times top 5 in 3 stages, shame he misses the win

Van Avermaet, ok sprinter but not good enough for the win. Ok classics man but not good enough for the win. Ok climber (for a sprinter), but not good enough for the win. That's Greg VA in a nutshell, good at a handful of skills, great at none.

 

[theyoungest]

... and chances are Van Avermaet will lose his GC position today, what with the Grand Colombier on the menu. Albeit 35 k from the finish line.

 

[Michielveedeebee]

Van Avermaet, ok sprinter but not good enough for the win. Ok classics man but not good enough for the win. Ok climber (for a sprinter), but not good enough for the win. That's Greg VA in a nutshell, good at a handful of skills, great at none.

he was a good enough sprinter, but after his fall(I think it was in de scheldeprijs), he just doesn't have the guts anymore

 

[auscyclefan94]

... and chances are Van Avermaet will lose his GC position today, what with the Grand Colombier on the menu. Albeit 35 k from the finish line.

True, Hope Morabito goes well as he had **** luck yesterday. The motorbikes went around the same way he did and it was not fenced off and he gets relegated!

Van Avermaet, ok sprinter but not good enough for the win. Ok classics man but not good enough for the win. Ok climber (for a sprinter), but not good enough for the win. That's Greg VA in a nutshell, good at a handful of skills, great at none.

That's a bit harsh imo. He is only 25 and still has a lot of racing left in him.

 

[tgsgirl]

That's a bit harsh imo. He is only 25 and still has a lot of racing left in him.

He just needs to find what he wants to be first, cause he's trying to be 17 things at once right now (sprinter? cobbled classics man? breakaway guy? 11th in San Seb?). It's like he's trying to juggle seventeen balls in the air. If he decides on one path it doesn't mean the other roads are completely closed off, but it would help him focus, get good results and ultimately get his confidence back.

 

[bicing]

That's a bit harsh imo. He is only 25 and still has a lot of racing left in him.

He just needs to find what he wants to be first, cause he's trying to be 17 things at once right now (sprinter? cobbled classics man? breakaway guy? 11th in San Seb?). It's like he's trying to juggle seventeen balls in the air. If he decides on one path it doesn't mean the other roads are completely closed off, but it would help him focus, get good results and ultimately get his confidence back.

Yeah, be nice to him - he rides for BMC.

 

[blackcat]

this guy needs some prominence on the board. phenomenal last 9 months. phenomenal. beating Sagan at his own game.

 

[SeriousSam]

Great rider. Valverde esque versatility.

 

[CheckMyPecs]

Re:

Great rider. Valverde esque versatility.

Call me when GVA wins the Vuelta.

 

[SeriousSam]

Call me when GVA wins a huge race. The range of races he does well in is remarkable, but his quality is obviously nowhere near Valverde's.

 

[jens_attacks]

I miss denkoff

 

[del1962]

Nice attack today, shame the bunch caught him

 

[Echoes]

Re:

Call me when GVA wins a huge race.

I took a DeLorean and am calling you from October 6 2011.

So since it seems that Greg has more than one discussion thread (well deserved). I paste here what I said last year:

Van Avermaet deserves a lot more recognition from cycling fans than he has on CN (but well CN ...).

To me Greg epitomises fighting spirit, dedication and competitiveness while relatively lacking raw talent on an international scene. Sagan has a lot more talent than him but if he had Greg's professional conscientiousness, he would have twice his palmares by now. Greg is laughed at because he supposedly always loses (CNers forgot about the fact that he already won a classic and in a brilliant manner) but when he's nearly lost a race, he does not sit back/throw up his hands, he forgets and just focuses on the next race. Tomorrow is another day. And that's how his calendars regularly exceed 80 or even 90 days and that's how you'd see him on such diverse races as Paris-Roubaix, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, even the Tour of Lombardy which he finished 12th. Even on the Amstel, what would have happened if he were allowed by his team to take his turn with Fuglsang instead of racing for Gilbert. He finished all of the 5 so-called "Monuments" in the first 12. That's quite amazing. When did we last have such a versatile rider?

I don't want to be chauvinistic but I like the current blend of Belgian riders, the generation 1985 to 1988: Van Avermaet, Roelandts, Vanmarcke... They don't win a lot but the

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=13192&hilit=Van+Avermaet&start=40

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Can't think of a more entertaining rider in the current pro climate. Massive panache.
Please continue the style, Greg.

 

[Maaaaaaaarten]

Re: Re:

Call me when GVA wins the Vuelta.

Call me when Valverde wins a cobbled classic

 

[portugal11]

What cobbled classic did avearmat win?

 

[Maaaaaaaarten]

Re:

What cobbled classic did avearmat win?

Omloop.........

 

[portugal11]

Re: Re:

What cobbled classic did avearmat win?

Omloop.........

And that's it... even stannard has more... he can't win wt cobbled classic

 

[Maaaaaaaarten]

Re: Re:

And that's it... even stannard has more... he can't win wt cobbled classic

The discussion was about versatility, not palmares. GVA can do well in cobbled classics (podium PR, RVV, win Omloop) to hilly classics (top 10 LBL, close to winning San Sebastian before taken down by a motor).

Valverde has more wins in higher level races, sure, but GVA can easily rival him in terms of versatility, which is what the discussion was about........