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Its borderline stupid to think Froome won't ride faster come June and July. Sorry.
Edit: That said, extremely uplifting performance for Don Alejandro. He can win the Vuelta with this shape. Aint gonna win the Tour, lets not get ahead of ourselves here. Froome will improve.
Edit: That said, extremely uplifting performance for Don Alejandro. He can win the Vuelta with this shape. Aint gonna win the Tour, lets not get ahead of ourselves here. Froome will improve.
Re: Re:
You're right about humanly...
From 2010 I've seen a steady increase in climbing performance. The GC contendors it seems will hit another gear in July. Pantani level is possible it seems in this era too. :lol: :lol:
LaFlorecita said:
You're right about humanly...
From 2010 I've seen a steady increase in climbing performance. The GC contendors it seems will hit another gear in July. Pantani level is possible it seems in this era too. :lol: :lol:
He will never win the Tour, nor he should aim to do it.
País Vasco, Amstel, Lombardia, WC are the races that should've rounded his palmarés years ago. We all know that his motivation towards this races are fine, but maybe not as extreme as for other races.
Let's say he will probably ride 3 more years of a classic Valverde calendar (that is Ardennes - Tour - Vuelta - WC). It's ok. He can maybe achieve 1 or 2 of the aforementioned races, maybe one more Fleche/Liege and maybe a remote shot at La Vuelta if conditions are very favourable. Retires with a mounstrous palmares.
I mean we are not talking of the start of 2014 Valverde. He has now podiumed both Giro and Tour, that chapter has to be closed.
País Vasco, Amstel, Lombardia, WC are the races that should've rounded his palmarés years ago. We all know that his motivation towards this races are fine, but maybe not as extreme as for other races.
Let's say he will probably ride 3 more years of a classic Valverde calendar (that is Ardennes - Tour - Vuelta - WC). It's ok. He can maybe achieve 1 or 2 of the aforementioned races, maybe one more Fleche/Liege and maybe a remote shot at La Vuelta if conditions are very favourable. Retires with a mounstrous palmares.
I mean we are not talking of the start of 2014 Valverde. He has now podiumed both Giro and Tour, that chapter has to be closed.
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"I asked Ferrari. Are we seeing the limits of human performance? He laughed. 'We are nowhere near the limit' he said. " - Alex Gibney, 2012
LaFlorecita said:
"I asked Ferrari. Are we seeing the limits of human performance? He laughed. 'We are nowhere near the limit' he said. " - Alex Gibney, 2012
A sort of home victory for Valverde, but he will be a bit weaker in July whereas Froome will be a bit stronger.
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I wonder if he could win a cobbled classic if he bulked up a bit. Gilbert and Kwiatkowski are punchy riders who do well in the classics.
Velolover2 said:
I wonder if he could win a cobbled classic if he bulked up a bit. Gilbert and Kwiatkowski are punchy riders who do well in the classics.
Re: Re:
Maybe he could, but the question is: is the marginal benefit greater than the marginal cost?
As in, does he value a possible cobble win more than all the other things he can win? Obviously I'm considering that he'd have to change his physique in order to contest cobbles.
Velolover2 said:
Maybe he could, but the question is: is the marginal benefit greater than the marginal cost?
As in, does he value a possible cobble win more than all the other things he can win? Obviously I'm considering that he'd have to change his physique in order to contest cobbles.
Re: Re:
He has occasionally said during interviews that he would've liked to have ridden Flanders in some past seasons. But more as a challenge to try new things, nothing dead serious.
One does wander what would happen if Valverde suddenly appeared at the start feast in Antwerpen...however back to real life he has a great chance to win his first País Vasco with this form (even though this years parcours is not very selective).
lenric said:
He has occasionally said during interviews that he would've liked to have ridden Flanders in some past seasons. But more as a challenge to try new things, nothing dead serious.
One does wander what would happen if Valverde suddenly appeared at the start feast in Antwerpen...however back to real life he has a great chance to win his first País Vasco with this form (even though this years parcours is not very selective).
Valverde could end up winning that ITT, but its a prolly a subpar route for him overall. But who knows.
Contador, Henao, Kwito, Roglic, Izagirre, Yates and Alaphilippe will be the main competitors. Chaves and Bardet are there as well, but not expecting too much out of them. As it stands right now, he will be the1st or 2nd favoured rider going in.
Contador, Henao, Kwito, Roglic, Izagirre, Yates and Alaphilippe will be the main competitors. Chaves and Bardet are there as well, but not expecting too much out of them. As it stands right now, he will be the1st or 2nd favoured rider going in.
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I didn't know that. Well, in that case I believe he may try it in 2018 or 2019.
KyoGrey said:
I didn't know that. Well, in that case I believe he may try it in 2018 or 2019.
If he wins Catalunya, thats 3 races in a row.
If he wants to win Indurain thats 4, but will probably donate that one. For the sake of the argument lets say he wins. Then he goes on to win Pais Vasco and all the Ardennes Gilbert-2011 style with 8 wins in a row. Now that could be awesome.
If he wants to win Indurain thats 4, but will probably donate that one. For the sake of the argument lets say he wins. Then he goes on to win Pais Vasco and all the Ardennes Gilbert-2011 style with 8 wins in a row. Now that could be awesome.
I still don't think he'll ride Itzulia, it may be too much before the Ardennes. I didn't heard he confirmed he'll ride, and by the way I think he already has the form, he doesn't need one more week of tough racing.
As for today, he was early in the wind, that's why he lost. Impey is quite good in these kind of finishes, but I think if Movistar started to chase little earlier and if Rojas led him out little longer, he would've won
As for today, he was early in the wind, that's why he lost. Impey is quite good in these kind of finishes, but I think if Movistar started to chase little earlier and if Rojas led him out little longer, he would've won
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Pays Basque is an important objective for Movistar as their headquarter is based in Pamplona. The previous editions they have always sent big teams with Quintana/Ion Izagirre or Valverde. It was already scheduled that Valverde would ride 2/3 out of P-N, Catalunya and Pays Basque, so it doesn't matter much.
Mr.White said:
Pays Basque is an important objective for Movistar as their headquarter is based in Pamplona. The previous editions they have always sent big teams with Quintana/Ion Izagirre or Valverde. It was already scheduled that Valverde would ride 2/3 out of P-N, Catalunya and Pays Basque, so it doesn't matter much.
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Mr. White, agree on your point on the sprint. Valverde was the strongest, but opened a bit too early/JJ was a bit to spent in the final.
This. Would be surprised and disappointed if he doesn't ride Itzulia...Moviestar said:
Mr. White, agree on your point on the sprint. Valverde was the strongest, but opened a bit too early/JJ was a bit to spent in the final.
My god, what a rider!
Seven victories already this season and we're not even in April yet. If Movistar hadn't been punished by a minute, he would have won by more than two minutes to Contador (and Soler would have been second). Pure insanity.
I am really excited for Itzulia and the Ardennaises. One week ago I would have thought that it was time for Alaphilippe and Kwiatkowski to take over but if Bala can keep this up, he is going to be extremely dominant the coming month.
Seven victories already this season and we're not even in April yet. If Movistar hadn't been punished by a minute, he would have won by more than two minutes to Contador (and Soler would have been second). Pure insanity.
I am really excited for Itzulia and the Ardennaises. One week ago I would have thought that it was time for Alaphilippe and Kwiatkowski to take over but if Bala can keep this up, he is going to be extremely dominant the coming month.
So.. who is going to stop him? Is Contador beating him in Itzulia and can Quick Step outnumber him in the classics?
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