Hugh Carthy discussion thread

[ice&fire]

Lost 28 seconds in final parade today. Really impressive.

 

[Strawberry_Jams]

Im pretty sure it was on purpose and he didn't care

 

[BigCoward]

Has he always been that skinny? His legs looked really thin today.

 

[Anderis]

I remember he has always been one of the few riders who had BMI even lower than mine so probably yes. He's also very tall and this often makes your limbs look even thinner than they really are (because they're longer so have different proportions).

 

[Bonimenier]

Also with the new black outfit that EF wears in the Giro, all their riders look skinnier than before.

 

[BlueRoads]

Carthy looks incredibly skinny, though (not like Buchmann, though, who I will bring to a hospital if I meet him on the street).
(Usually the BMI of the riders isn't so low, it's their fat percentage?)

 

[Anderis]

(Usually the BMI of the riders isn't so low, it's their fat percentage?)

They're both low, especially for climbers.

Their fat percentage is really low but they don't have that much muscle mass either. Upper body muscles don't allow you to ride a bike faster and they only make you slower uphill and even when it comes to legs there's only so many muscles you can get to be good at an endurance sport because when muscles grow too big, they obstruct blood flow and make you tire yourself faster. Rock climbers don't get very bulky either for that reason even if strength is very important to them.

Low fat percentage and low to average muscle mass will result in a low BMI.

 

[BlueRoads]

Well, I don't know if those weights at PCS are anything close to truth, but looking at those I always thought their BMI was surprisingly high, I often wondered where they have all that muscle mass. (And by high I mean in comparison to what I would guess, of course.)

 

[katkitten]

I really enjoyed watching Carthy ride in the Giro 2021
I don't think his final position reflected how much the EF-Nippo team and his attacking attitude gave to the race.

I think he sometimes attacks when he doesn't quite have enough in the legs to follow through.. But.. that attitude! it makes good racing.

 

[Anderis]

I don't think his final position reflected how much the EF-Nippo team and his attacking attitude gave to the race.

For some reason he was empty by the 3rd week. Had he kept his level from the first 2 weeks, he would've finished ahead of Vlasov IMO.

It just reminded me that he admitted himself that he struggled with recovery early in his career? He seemed fine in Giro 2019 and Vuelta 2020 but maybe he does indeed struggle with recovery in some way and won't be able to do as well in every GT.

 

[Eclipse]

Hard to judge the Giro for Hugh.

In some ways I feel a bit disappointed because with a few key competitors falling out and lots of terrain he loves I thought he might be a good shout at a second podium, but he never quite seemed to find the same top level he had at the Vuelta and clearly couldn't hold his form for 3 weeks here - Did make me wonder a bit if the shortened Vuelta and its tame final week last year was a bit of a blessing too

That said it's another top 10 and still progression within the Giro as a race so hardly a failure or anything like that and you'd think he'll have some more strong outings before this season is done

 

[hayneplane]

Decent result but ultimately with neither a stage win or Top 5 on GC it does feel a little short of expectations. Would expect him to go to the Olympics next probably as a domestique then build towards the Vuelta again.

 

[IndianCyclist]

Considering he is very thin, the weather might have affected him adversely.

 

[Pinot's goat]

Decent result but ultimately with neither a stage win or Top 5 on GC it does feel a little short of expectations. Would expect him to go to the Olympics next probably as a domestique then build towards the Vuelta again.

He shouldn't be selected for Olympics. Yates twins, Thomas and TGH will get the 4 slots hopefully.

 

[yaco]

He shouldn't be selected for Olympics. Yates twins, Thomas and TGH will get the 4 slots hopefully.

S.Yates has no one day pedigree while TGH is not good enough - The team will be built around A.Yates and Thomas.

 

[Pinot's goat]

S.Yates has no one day pedigree while TGH is not good enough - The team will be built around A.Yates and Thomas.

TGH is a much better option than Carthy, similar level climbing and TGH has the extra punch for one day races that Carthy does not have at all. Also you cannot possibly suggest Carthy should be selected ahead of Simon Yates.

 

[yaco]

TGH is a much better option than Carthy, similar level climbing and TGH has the extra punch for one day races that Carthy does not have at all. Also you cannot possibly suggest Carthy should be selected ahead of Simon Yates.

You need a balanced team - For a start you don't need to select 4 climber types for the race - You can get by with 2 climbers and two rouleurs.

 

[Pinot's goat]

You need a balanced team - For a start you don't need to select 4 climber types for the race - You can get by with 2 climbers and two rouleurs.

It is better to have more options for victory, let teams with 5 riders control, GB have controlled for the last two Olympics and it has not worked.

 

[ExperienPT]

Horrible 3rd week, worst than Foss!

 

[katkitten]

I enjoyed seeing Carthy take the stage 5 win at the Vuelta Burgos 2021.

The climb looked incredibly steep in the last couple of kilometers. He followed Bernal's attack and then attacked again in the last 400m, and got a good gap, beating everyone else.

There is a video of it on Youtube at the moment

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljWTFbUbTxM

 

[Potomac]

He looked like a world beater at the end.

 

[Anderis]

He didn't ride for GC in Burgos for tactical reasons or was he involved in some kind of an incident?

 

[TMJ]

I'll look out for Hugh in the Vuelta, but he's not a rider that's going to enjoy having his arms in the air much during his career.
He's one -paced and lacks the finishing kick on a climb like Roglic, for instance to shoot clear of the select group.
He is a diesel and is more suited to the long hard grind, which we saw when he won at the top of the mighty Angliru last year in a slow-motion crawl to the crest.
There are not going to be too many Angliru's for Carthy to take advantage of going forward when he can take the opportunity to put in a snail-paced attack at a 15% gradient.

 

[BlueRoads]

I don't yet get him. At times he's the best climber, than he can't hold the pace. He's a diesel, but also a wild attacker. He's inconsistent, but it doesn't feel like consistency is actually his problem, more the type of climb and tactical situation... but I cannot really make out the pattern myself.

 

[Sciatic]

I don't yet get him. At times he's the best climber, than he can't hold the pace. He's a diesel, but also a wild attacker. He's inconsistent, but it doesn't feel like consistency is actually his problem, more the type of climb and tactical situation... but I cannot really make out the pattern myself.

He just likes to keep us guessing