The Cycling News forum is looking to add some volunteer moderators with Red Rick's recent retirement. If you're interested in helping keep our discussions on track, send a direct message to
In the meanwhile, please use the Report option if you see a post that doesn't fit within the forum rules.
Thanks!
Apparently, you still didn't get the point.LaFlorecita said:How many times did Valverde win in a sprint?
Still, one can consider Boonen a sprinter since more than half of his victories are from bunch sprints. It is true that his victories are more diverse than those of Cavendish and Greipel.El Pistolero said:Valv.Piti said:http://movistarteam.com/noticias/2017-2-20/es-una-pasada-haber-conseguido-100-victorias
What a nice interview with Valverde here. Second Vuelta win?
I don't really agree with the sentiment that the other three are sprinters considering Boonen won many races that weren't flat stages.
3x Ronde, 4x Roubaix, 3x G-W, 5x E3 Harelbeke, 1x WC (23 riders survived, Valverde was second), loads of echelon stages in Qatar (+ overall), 2x Belgian Championships, etc.
Bardamu said:Still, one can consider Boonen a sprinter since more than half of his victories are from bunch sprints. It is true that his victories are more diverse than those of Cavendish and Greipel.El Pistolero said:Valv.Piti said:http://movistarteam.com/noticias/2017-2-20/es-una-pasada-haber-conseguido-100-victorias
What a nice interview with Valverde here. Second Vuelta win?
I don't really agree with the sentiment that the other three are sprinters considering Boonen won many races that weren't flat stages.
3x Ronde, 4x Roubaix, 3x G-W, 5x E3 Harelbeke, 1x WC (23 riders survived, Valverde was second), loads of echelon stages in Qatar (+ overall), 2x Belgian Championships, etc.
Valverde has never won in bunch sprints however, only reduced sprints after a heavy race.
Tell me one time more that Liege 06, 08 and 15 were ridden as a simply bunch sprint in the Tour.El Pistolero said:Bardamu said:Still, one can consider Boonen a sprinter since more than half of his victories are from bunch sprints. It is true that his victories are more diverse than those of Cavendish and Greipel.El Pistolero said:Valv.Piti said:http://movistarteam.com/noticias/2017-2-20/es-una-pasada-haber-conseguido-100-victorias
What a nice interview with Valverde here. Second Vuelta win?
I don't really agree with the sentiment that the other three are sprinters considering Boonen won many races that weren't flat stages.
3x Ronde, 4x Roubaix, 3x G-W, 5x E3 Harelbeke, 1x WC (23 riders survived, Valverde was second), loads of echelon stages in Qatar (+ overall), 2x Belgian Championships, etc.
Valverde has never won in bunch sprints however, only reduced sprints after a heavy race.
There's no difference between LBL and a flat Tour stage these days. Both are ridden exactly the same way.
And a lot of Valverde's wins are just uphill sprints.
El Pistolero said:Bardamu said:Still, one can consider Boonen a sprinter since more than half of his victories are from bunch sprints. It is true that his victories are more diverse than those of Cavendish and Greipel.El Pistolero said:Valv.Piti said:http://movistarteam.com/noticias/2017-2-20/es-una-pasada-haber-conseguido-100-victorias
What a nice interview with Valverde here. Second Vuelta win?
I don't really agree with the sentiment that the other three are sprinters considering Boonen won many races that weren't flat stages.
3x Ronde, 4x Roubaix, 3x G-W, 5x E3 Harelbeke, 1x WC (23 riders survived, Valverde was second), loads of echelon stages in Qatar (+ overall), 2x Belgian Championships, etc.
Valverde has never won in bunch sprints however, only reduced sprints after a heavy race.
There's no difference between LBL and a flat Tour stage these days. Both are ridden exactly the same way.
And a lot of Valverde's wins are just uphill sprints.
Yes, the race suddenly just got a lot less interesting to me. Catalunya is out the window as well if its high fever, I think. He will probably race Pais Vasco now, no? Lets hope.Arredondo said:No Bala in Paris-Nice. He's got flue and a high fever.
Too bad. Could be catastrophic for his chances in Catalunya too.
Shame from a racing point of view - he'd have had a reasonable chance at Paris-Nice. I guess there's a chance it couild be a blessing in disguise though - perhaps with an easy early season this will finally be the year where his form isn't on a downward trajectory by the end of the Vuelta / Worlds / Lombardia.Arredondo said:No Bala in Paris-Nice. He's got flue and a high fever.
Too bad. Could be catastrophic for his chances in Catalunya too.
DFA123 said:Shame from a racing point of view - he'd have had a reasonable chance at Paris-Nice. I guess there's a chance it couild be a blessing in disguise though - perhaps with an easy early season this will finally be the year where his form isn't on a downward trajectory by the end of the Vuelta / Worlds / Lombardia.Arredondo said:No Bala in Paris-Nice. He's got flue and a high fever.
Too bad. Could be catastrophic for his chances in Catalunya too.
I guess it would be that - basically just replace Catalunya with Pais Vasco. Looks a very light schedule for him though - it could go the other way I guess and instead of being fresh, he just doesn't have the base and sharpness to hold his peak for as long as usual. At his age, racing pretty much every week may be necessary to keep in form - but we'll see I guess.Arredondo said:DFA123 said:Shame from a racing point of view - he'd have had a reasonable chance at Paris-Nice. I guess there's a chance it couild be a blessing in disguise though - perhaps with an easy early season this will finally be the year where his form isn't on a downward trajectory by the end of the Vuelta / Worlds / Lombardia.Arredondo said:No Bala in Paris-Nice. He's got flue and a high fever.
Too bad. Could be catastrophic for his chances in Catalunya too.
His form should be good in the spring now with the amount of km's he's going to ride before.
I mean, if he misses Catalunya, his racing schedule will be this, right?
Indurain
Pais Vasco
Amstel, Fleche and Liege
Spanish nationals
Dauphine
Tour
Clasica
Vuelta
Worlds
Italian races
Or will he include a race like Romandie in his schedule now?
DFA123 said:I guess it would be that - basically just replace Catalunya with Pais Vasco. Looks a very light schedule for him though - it could go the other way I guess and instead of being fresh, he just doesn't have the base and sharpness to hold his peak for as long as usual. At his age, racing pretty much every week may be necessary to keep in form - but we'll see I guess.Arredondo said:DFA123 said:Shame from a racing point of view - he'd have had a reasonable chance at Paris-Nice. I guess there's a chance it couild be a blessing in disguise though - perhaps with an easy early season this will finally be the year where his form isn't on a downward trajectory by the end of the Vuelta / Worlds / Lombardia.Arredondo said:No Bala in Paris-Nice. He's got flue and a high fever.
Too bad. Could be catastrophic for his chances in Catalunya too.
His form should be good in the spring now with the amount of km's he's going to ride before.
I mean, if he misses Catalunya, his racing schedule will be this, right?
Indurain
Pais Vasco
Amstel, Fleche and Liege
Spanish nationals
Dauphine
Tour
Clasica
Vuelta
Worlds
Italian races
Or will he include a race like Romandie in his schedule now?
I think you're right about PV. For me it's a more prestigious race and one he probably has more chance of winning. Perhaps he was eyeing a longer break before the Ardennes, but if he skips Catalunya surely he'll have to ride PV.
Horrible news. Was hoping he could finally win it. P-N is my favourite one-week stage race, and for me it's the third most important thing lacking from The Don's palmares, after the Tour de France and the rainbow jersey.Arredondo said:No Bala in Paris-Nice. He's got flue and a high fever.
Too bad. Could be catastrophic for his chances in Catalunya too.
Pais vasco doesn't suit valverde that well. There aren't bonus seconds and valverde isn't stellar in muritos with gradients above 15%. But the main reason is that valverde is in the same generation of contador, who is clearly made for this race.Arredondo said:And actually i think it's more exciting if he rides Pais Vasco instead of Catalunya. In the latter race, he's only got a really small chance against someone like Froome with that 40 km flat individual TT.
He's never won Pais Vasco in his career, which is incredible given the fact the race suits him really well, and he rode it a lot of times in the past. If he's in shape, he can fill a hole on his palmares.
It doesn't really matter whether it suits him as well or not. It would just be to get into top shape ahead of the Ardennes and build some miles for the Tour. If he misses P-N and Catalunya then he probably has to do PV. Of course, the riders who specialize in week long stage races - like Henao, Spilak and Contador will always be the favourites. In contrast, Valverde has his eye on bigger prizes; PV would of course be nice to win, but it's more of a means to an end for him.portugal11 said:Pais vasco doesn't suit valverde that well. There aren't bonus seconds and valverde isn't stellar in muritos with gradients above 15%. But the main reason is that valverde is in the same generation of contador, who is clearly made for this race.Arredondo said:And actually i think it's more exciting if he rides Pais Vasco instead of Catalunya. In the latter race, he's only got a really small chance against someone like Froome with that 40 km flat individual TT.
He's never won Pais Vasco in his career, which is incredible given the fact the race suits him really well, and he rode it a lot of times in the past. If he's in shape, he can fill a hole on his palmares.
DFA123 said:It doesn't really matter whether it suits him as well or not. It would just be to get into top shape ahead of the Ardennes and build some miles for the Tour. If he misses P-N and Catalunya then he probably has to do PV. Of course, the riders who specialize in week long stage races - like Henao, Spilak and Contador will always be the favourites. In contrast, Valverde has his eye on bigger prizes; PV would of course be nice to win, but it's more of a means to an end for him.portugal11 said:Pais vasco doesn't suit valverde that well. There aren't bonus seconds and valverde isn't stellar in muritos with gradients above 15%. But the main reason is that valverde is in the same generation of contador, who is clearly made for this race.Arredondo said:And actually i think it's more exciting if he rides Pais Vasco instead of Catalunya. In the latter race, he's only got a really small chance against someone like Froome with that 40 km flat individual TT.
He's never won Pais Vasco in his career, which is incredible given the fact the race suits him really well, and he rode it a lot of times in the past. If he's in shape, he can fill a hole on his palmares.
portugal11 said:Pais vasco doesn't suit valverde that well. There aren't bonus seconds and valverde isn't stellar in muritos with gradients above 15%. But the main reason is that valverde is in the same generation of contador, who is clearly made for this race.Arredondo said:And actually i think it's more exciting if he rides Pais Vasco instead of Catalunya. In the latter race, he's only got a really small chance against someone like Froome with that 40 km flat individual TT.
He's never won Pais Vasco in his career, which is incredible given the fact the race suits him really well, and he rode it a lot of times in the past. If he's in shape, he can fill a hole on his palmares.
Velolover2 said:He should skip Catalunya and race Flanders for fun.
He can get into shape for Pais Vasco by racing a couple of cobble races.
Purito always was the benchmark of muritos. Henao and contador are better than valverde in these muritos of gradients above 15%Velolover2 said:portugal11 said:Pais vasco doesn't suit valverde that well. There aren't bonus seconds and valverde isn't stellar in muritos with gradients above 15%. But the main reason is that valverde is in the same generation of contador, who is clearly made for this race.Arredondo said:And actually i think it's more exciting if he rides Pais Vasco instead of Catalunya. In the latter race, he's only got a really small chance against someone like Froome with that 40 km flat individual TT.
He's never won Pais Vasco in his career, which is incredible given the fact the race suits him really well, and he rode it a lot of times in the past. If he's in shape, he can fill a hole on his palmares.
There aren't many climbs over 15%. And Valverde is one of the best on those, if not the best along with Henao, Contador, Chaves and Froome.