How Did They Never Win It..?

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jimmy_8888888

Aug 16, 2021
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Big Doopie said:
depends what you consider the "best" part of his career. 1983-1986 was better than 1989-1990. and i believe lemond agrees. in fact he was sent to the giro in 1986 without hinault and the aim was to show that he could be the leader at the TDF based off of that. unfortunately he says that allergies always compromised his ability to be in top shape at the giro.

lemond says he was nowhere near 1986 level in 1989-90.

only 1991 -- at the start -- does he say he was probably in the best shape ever. unfortunately other events had started to take over the peloton at that time...
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LeMond was never the same after hunting accident in 87. Even though we saw him won 2 TdFs, and a WCRR. He was a damage goods that no longer able to fully funtion anymore. Lead in his blood and EPO finished him off. LeMond if does not for hunting accident, would fought for more than TdF and World. Monuments, more big stage races, and maybe grand tours outside TdF
 
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Devil's Elbow

Devil's Elbow

Sep 20, 2017
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Wvv said:
Yes. Arndt got the win as a result.
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The Giro where Nizzolo and Modolo were the only real sprinters left for the final two flat stages and somehow both walked away without a stage win, that really was an extremely unpredictable second half of the race outside the GC battle with Trentin's out-of-nowhere stage victory, Taaramae suddenly resurfacing and of course Foliforov's ballistic MTT as well.
 
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Devil's Elbow

Devil's Elbow

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tobydawq said:
I wonder what happened to Nibali in 2014 then. Was he shot?
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Age. Froome was similar in that regard in the latter half of his peak years, Armstrong also became less and less prolific outside his main targets as his original retirement drew closer, it really isn't uncommon whatsoever even if it doesn't apply to everyone. LeMond in 1989-90 was quite a bit younger than any of the above when they became less consistent throughout the season, though.
 
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Devil's Elbow

Devil's Elbow

Sep 20, 2017
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hayneplane said:
Not having Aru - Giro on there as I don't think he was ever good enough to deserve to win it. The only rider this decade or so with a palmares inferior to Aru to win the Giro is Ryder Hesjedal which was a true stars aligning one off event. Contador, Nibali, Froome, Quintana have all won multiple GTs and Dumoulin also has an overall better GT record than Aru.
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Aru at his 2015 level probably would have won in 2016, possibly also 2017. I do think he was good enough, just not for very long.
 
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Big Doopie

Oct 6, 2009
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tobydawq said:
Okay, he did win two TdF's and one WCRR but he never became the same? That doesn't really make sense to me.
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He was basically “good” for four months total after his accident. These months happened to coincide with 1989 TDF and WC and 1990 TDF. Try looking for any real results other than that in the second part of his career.

Even then, he was not climbing in 1989 as he had in 1986 and he wasn’t TTing in 1990 as he had previously.

Also, if you listen to any of the multiple interviews he has given on the subject, you will find that I am simply repeating what he has said countless times.

It’s a small miracle that he won the races he did after the shooting accident. However, it also only underlines what his career would have been without it (and the arrival of EPO). And that second part is a great loss, I believe.
 
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L

Leinster

Jun 10, 2017
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Devil's Elbow said:
Aru at his 2015 level probably would have won in 2016, possibly also 2017. I do think he was good enough, just not for very long.
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You’re pushing it with “possibly in 2017,” because the Dumoulin that won that year wasn’t the Dumoulin he beat on the last day of the 2015 Vuelta. And you’re way out there with “probably in 2016.” And you’re also stretching it with the idea of him carrying that 2015 form through.

His Vuelta win was lightning in a bottle, and he was never the same rider again. There are some riders who people will look at and ask “how did he only win 1 GT?” and Fabio Aru is not one of them.
 
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Cookster15

Cookster15

May 14, 2011
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jimmy_8888888 said:
LeMond was never the same after hunting accident in 87. Even though we saw him won 2 TdFs, and a WCRR. He was a damage goods that no longer able to fully function anymore. Lead in his blood and EPO finished him off. LeMond if does not for hunting accident, would fought for more than TdF and World. Monuments, more big stage races, and maybe grand tours outside TdF
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Totally agree with this and glad to see this mentioned here. Actually it was amazing Lemond could still win the Tour twice after the accident, such was his physiological superiority. Then EPO finished him off, watching the 1992 TdF was painful.
 
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Mayomaniac

Mayomaniac

Apr 10, 2019
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Leinster said:
You’re pushing it with “possibly in 2017,” because the Dumoulin that won that year wasn’t the Dumoulin he beat on the last day of the 2015 Vuelta. And you’re way out there with “probably in 2016.” And you’re also stretching it with the idea of him carrying that 2015 form through.

His Vuelta win was lightning in a bottle, and he was never the same rider again. There are some riders who people will look at and ask “how did he only win 1 GT?” and Fabio Aru is not one of them.
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Aru was usually also never at his best on the really hard multi mountain stages, most of his best performances have come on unipublic-style stages, and has a history of being bad in cold, rainy weather. Actually winning the Giro would have been hard for him. He probably could have podiumed in the 2017 Tour if his prep was geared towards it (Had a knee injury that forced him to miss the Giro and only raced the Tour because of that) and the whole team didn't start falling apart during that Tour, but that's it.
 
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fbjim

Jul 2, 2019
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The most obvious one for me- Laurent Jalabert and both LBL and Worlds. He especially was the perfect type of rider to win on a typical tough, hilly Worlds course but it never happened for him, though LBL is probably the more surprising one because certainly tried hard to get that one on his palmares and took two wins at La Fleche Wallonne.
 
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Leinster

Jun 10, 2017
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fbjim said:
The most obvious one for me- Laurent Jalabert and both LBL and Worlds. He especially was the perfect type of rider to win on a typical tough, hilly Worlds course but it never happened for him, though LBL is probably the more surprising one because certainly tried hard to get that one on his palmares and took two wins at La Fleche Wallonne.
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I didn’t realize that Jaja was 2nd twice at Liege. Alaphilippe is building up a similar record there, (they both have 2 2nd places and multiple top tens, as well as his 3 wins at FW).
 
Pantani_lives

Pantani_lives

May 3, 2010
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In 2015 Aru looked like a future Giro winner, but he got lots of problems afterwards and didn't live up to expectations.

Another one is Marco Pantani: KoM in the Tour. He should have won it seven times, even if he only participated five times.

Thomas De Gendt - overall Prix de la combativité.

And finally... How did Miguel Angel Lopez never win Paris-Roubaix??? o_O
 
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