Horner is the man

[Dr. Wattini]

From VN:
"He’s in great shape right now. He also got injured at the Tour of California, but he stayed skinny and came here just flying. He was chasing down breaks (Thursday) with a finger in his nose,” Yates said. “He could have easily been in the top 5 here. After he did his work at Arrate for Contador (on Wednesday), he was sitting with that group at one minute back. Those other guys were all on the red and Chris was just spinning.”


Any thoughts or inside scoop on Horner's career in the US and abroad?

 

[Mellow Velo]

I posted a thread on this, yesterday.
From yesterday's stage report.

At kilometer 37, on the descent, Astana riders Daniel Navarro and Chris Horner crashed. Navarro was able to continue riding but Horner was brought to the hospital in Galdakao with a possible fracture of the scapula.

Had a really good year, in 2005, I think, when at Saunier Duval.(unfortunately)
Took a stage at the Tour of Switzerland and finished high in the GC.
Also seems like to the other Swiss race of note, Romandie.
A stage there, I seem to remember.
Other than that, I know not.....

 

[Angliru]

Well my thoughts. Horner was a beast on the domestic circuit. I remember at one of the T-Mobile sponsored races in San Francisco, there was a break minutes ahead of Horner and peloton. He exploded out of the peloton and bridged to the break in less than the distance of 2 laps of the circuit all while
eating up the short steep grades. He caught the break and commenced to drop them taking the win in spectacular fashion.

He showed what could have been had he been able to race in Europe in his prime at the 2006 Liege-Bastogne-Liege by finishing in the top ten amongst such elite riders as, Valverde, Bettini, Cunego, Basso, Schleck and Boogerd.

I have no idea why he spent his best years racing domestically. I believe he could have won at least one of the Ardennes classics and at least one of the major week long stage races. He's one of the best at being able to read a race and he's shown his value as a domestique this year and while riding for Evans at Lotto.

 

[Dr. Wattini]

I hear Horner is flying to the US and he seems to be ok and nothing broken. Coming to see some real dr's here to make sure everything is ok.
I think Evans had his best shot at the Tour last year and lost it because he did not have Horner there.

 

[BroDeal]

I have no idea why he spent his best years racing domestically.

Big fish in a little pond syndrome?

Was there not some sort of personal issues or jealousies that prevented Horner from ever joining the "american" european teams? Perhaps similar as to why Julich never raced on Motorola or Postal.

 

[Dr. Wattini]

BroDeal,
That big pond, small fish issue is something that has always amazed me. I mean, can there be such phsych. disadventage if you are an american cyclist? Compare cycling to any other olympic sport and the americans sometimes go unparalleled. I guess if the US will embrace cycling a bit more it could be a real threat to the europeans.
Also I dont want to get to deeply into social-economical issues here, but the the people who embrace cycling in the US is a bit more refined that the usual european either fan or racer.

 

[Master50]

Chris horner is a classy rider

I think Chris just had a bad experience his first trip to Europe. He had trouble assimilating. He is one of the classiest riders out there. The fact that he loves his job and does it with aplomb is also a great attribute. You have to like a guy that can't wait to get to work and smile the whole day through. There are people that find it irritating but I speculate they wake up grumpy and get worse as the day goes on

 

[jaylew]

I think Chris just had a bad experience his first trip to Europe. He had trouble assimilating. He is one of the classiest riders out there. The fact that he loves his job and does it with aplomb is also a great attribute. You have to like a guy that can't wait to get to work and smile the whole day through. There are people that find it irritating but I speculate they wake up grumpy and get worse as the day goes on

Yeah, I heard the same thing about his FdJ experience. I love how much he obviously loves the sport. The guy would probably talk cycling all day if you let him. I think he'd be a heck of a cycling analyst/commentator some day if he decides to go that route. Too bad about that crash. I'd been waiting to see him have another go at the Ardennes races since 2006.

 

[elapid]

I think Chris just had a bad experience his first trip to Europe. He had trouble assimilating.

I saw an interview with Chris Horner and this is what he basically said. He had a hard time assimilating and headed home because of this. Like Jens, I don't think his value is in wins but rather his superb work ethic, hard riding, and being one of the best domestiques out there. By the by, did you see the photo of him dinking another rider + bike at the end of a race in the US earlier this year?

 

[bjbbiker]

I think Chris just had a bad experience his first trip to Europe. He had trouble assimilating. He is one of the classiest riders out there. The fact that he loves his job and does it with aplomb is also a great attribute. You have to like a guy that can't wait to get to work and smile the whole day through. There are people that find it irritating but I speculate they wake up grumpy and get worse as the day goes on

Actually he was let down by all the doping and was an outcast because of it. He told a friend that raced with him who rode on navigators with one of my close friends that everytime he would go into a bathroom before a race everyone would be shooting up

 

[BikeCentric]

Horner was one of the best, if not the best, American racers on the Domestic circuit for the past 12 years or so. I highly, highly doubt that there was any kind of mental issue that prevented the guy from racing in Europe earlier. I've never met the guy but I've seen him race many many times and he completely buries himself in just about every race - I've never seen him take it easy and just roll in on the back of the bunch. He's either attacking, chasing, bridging, or pulling during the majority of every domestic race.

Now, with the overall skill and fitness level being higher in Europe it is true that he cannot dominate races as he did in the past in the US. I know that he stated publicly that he did not enjoy his first foray to Europe early in his career. I'm sure he was happy making a good living on the Domestic circuit as he and his various teams won many races and he was a big part of the winning strategies. Perhaps he simply did not want to risk a solid Domestic career on the chance for greater glory in Europe.

Regardless, fans in America who've been following cycling for a long time know that he is a very high quality rider. I hope to see him continue to race well in Europe and hope he gets unleashed from his domestique duties now and then to try for a stage win or a one-day race win. As an earlier poster stated and I agree, he is ideally suited for hilly one-day races such as the Ardennes classics. He is also good at one-week stage races as those are the longest ones we have in the US of A.

 

[BikeCentric]

BroDeal,
That big pond, small fish issue is something that has always amazed me. I mean, can there be such phsych. disadventage if you are an american cyclist? Compare cycling to any other olympic sport and the americans sometimes go unparalleled. I guess if the US will embrace cycling a bit more it could be a real threat to the europeans.
Also I dont want to get to deeply into social-economical issues here, but the the people who embrace cycling in the US is a bit more refined that the usual european either fan or racer.

Well I can address this a bit with my opinion as a long time US amateur racer and follower of pro cycling. You are correct that the people who follow cycling in the US are almost exclusively "upper middle-class to upper class" as measured by income purely.

Americans in general do not appreciate bicycle racing very much at all. It is foreign to them and they simply do not have the experience with it to understand that it truly is a very tough and demanding sport. But they look and upon first glance all they see is men in tights, and this alone is a big taboo in America. They see it as efeminate when really lycra is simply the sporting equipment that is necessary to do the job. Americans in general like to see themselves as "tough." Spandex does not look "tough" in their minds. Nevermind that our most popular sport is American football whereby the players wear tight leggings in order to accomodate their legs pads and hip pads, but no matter - in that sport the players hit and tackle each other so that is "a man's sport."

America has a car culture and a very poor public transportation network in general. People grow up driving to get everywhere and the bicycle is seen as a very "low class" form of transportation in the rural areas that make up the majority of the country. Therefore people aren't acquainted with the act of riding a bicycle and do not appreciate it.

 

[BigBoat]

Actually he was let down by all the doping and was an outcast because of it. everytime he would go into a bathroom before a race everyone would be shooting up

They want to "get back" at the system so they exploit it for all its worth.