Maybe so but that was a very different year as Covid transformed the calendar and most teams went all in for the Tour feeling that every race could end up being the last so the Giro had its weakest field since the end of the Armstrong era when the Giro was a largely Italian affair.
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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
Okay, he did win two TdF's and one WCRR but he never became the same? That doesn't really make sense to me.
Look his results from 82-86 you would see LeMond as a rider who could competed in any races, and when on can win. After hunting accident, he had to choose his battles.
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.
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.
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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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.
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.
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.
How he went from being competitive the whole season to only once or twice a season. Like LeMond, apparently.
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.
Ah, okay I wasn't aware of that. But with Lemond his overall level fell, not just his consistency. Even at his peak he was never the same as pre hunting accident.
Reading through the thread I think Valverde in Lombardia is the best answer. 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 4th, 5th and 6th in a race that was perfect for his characteristics.
And he won multiple bunch sprints on flat stages where either the break or a late attacker managed to stay away. The ways Nizzolo found to not win stages are so absurd that it's almost sad he destroyed his statistic by winning. I'm happy for him though.
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.
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).
LBL and/or the Giro di Lombardia for Bugno (he did finish 2nd in both of those races, already 2nd in Lombardia back in 1988).
Grand Prix World's Best High Altitude - Wikipedia
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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???
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???
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