Il Lombardia 2014

[Pricey_sky]

Been out all day so couldn't catch the race, happy that Dan Martin won and predicted he would do so on the other thread. Finished the season in good form.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

go garmin!! (the little team that could)

The little team that could? What kind of fictitious, hyperbolic description is that? Maybe in 2008 you could get away with calling them them that, but this is their 6th WT year, and they've already swallowed one world class team whole and are about to do the same to another. There's no way you can push the narrative of Garmin being the little team that could anymore. They're not NetApp, or Caja Rural, or United Healthcare, getting results against the WT opposition. They're an established and strong WT team. They are sometimes overlooked because their riders accumulate results quietly or because they have lots of guys who get good results throughout the year rather than a couple of riders who get massive results and everyone else domestique for them.

But don't try to sell this cheesy straight-to-DVD sports movie narrative, please. I know the ingredients are all there, the plucky guy who made it despite leaving his homeland's organized program to go his own way, the redemption story of the ex-USPS guys, Ryder's rise from pack fodder to GT winner, all under the watchful eye of the former outcasts trying to win back the trust of the fans after their sins, with the grizzled vets telling stories around the campfire or in some revelatory hotel room scene where the young impressionable riders are encouraged not to make the same mistakes the older guys did. All it needs is a love interest and we've got it made. But just like all those "based on a true story" sports movies, you've got to do some serious exaggerations to sell the underdog story properly, and here we're really not dealing with much of an underdog at all.

 

[pastronef]

Amazing win for Martin after a difficult season. soooo happy!

 

[Netserk]

It's ridiculous to just give up when you realise you can't win anymore. If you give up as soon as you can't win, you're just a lazy *** bike rider imo. They're paid to get results.

If they can still win, ride for first place. If you miss the deciding break, ride for second place, that's a great mentality

True champs are paid to win. End of story. 2nd or 10th, neither are a win.

 

[Arredondo]

True champs are paid to win. End of story. 2nd or 10th, neither are a win.

Decide you?

It's just bull****. You can be a real champion and still fight for 2nd place.

 

[BigMac]

True champs are paid to win. End of story. 2nd or 10th, neither are a win.

Riders, all of them, are paid to bring the best result possible to the team. If a first place is out of reach, they must fight for second. That's what they are paid for.

 

[dduff442]

You could manufacture WMD if you could bottle all the stupid in this thread.

 

[Big Doopie]

The little team that could? What kind of fictitious, hyperbolic description is that?...and here we're really not dealing with much of an underdog at all.

isn't that the very nature of that word.

wow, there are a multitude of sore losers on this thread.

danny martin -- the greatest of all time!!

go jv -- author of "we might as well crash!"

garmin -- the little underdog team that would win everything if they only didn't keep falling off their bikes.

lol. take a chill pill and get back to me. wow.

 

[Big Doopie]

You could manufacture WMD if you could bottle all the stupid in this thread.

agreed!

...oh, wait...



ps. love the avatar btw.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Had some money on Wellens at 150/1

Its fair to say i was getting quite excited at one stage.

Well done Dan Martin ... caught them all with their pants down

I had him at 200/1 and yes, I was pretty excited as well in the last 4 kms

 

[yespatterns]

I think it may more accurate to say no rider is especially happy with the second or third podium step (Piti being the apparent exception). I think most riders do ride for the best result possible though, that is their job. Congrats to Martin though, very tactical move.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

An ok iteration of the race. Not spectacular but considerably better than Liege this year.

Martin won by using his brain.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Btw also weird to see riders that did crap last week being so strong here (Dan Martin himself, Weening, Wellens was also a bit bad) and others being so weak (Kwiat, Mollema etc)

a lot can change in 1 week

 

[Libertine Seguros]

isn't that the very nature of that word.

wow, there are a multitude of sore losers on this thread.

danny martin -- the greatest of all time!!

go jv -- author of "we might as well crash!"

garmin -- the little underdog team that would win everything if they only didn't keep falling off their bikes.

lol. take a chill pill and get back to me. wow.

I'm not even bothered by Dan Martin winning. I actually quite like Dan Martin. I just think you're trying to sell a complete exaggeration of a description to wind people up. Martin won today because he played his card before the sprint knowing he'd not have a great chance in it, and nobody was willing to/everybody was too spent to chase him and risk being too spent to sprint themselves. It wasn't some great overcoming the odds story, it was a strong hilly Classics rider riding a smart finale, which is something he has become pretty good at.

Garmin are a good team. Not a small team, not an underdog team. A good team with good riders who are sometimes slightly overlooked.

 

[gooner]

I hope Dan gets the attention over here that he deserves for today's win. He should be getting it for what he has achieved in the sport.

It really annoys me when I see little in the way of it in comparison to overhyped bluffers like that McGregor in the UFC last week.

 

[Gloin22]

Btw also weird to see riders that did crap last week being so strong here (Dan Martin himself, Weening, Wellens was also a bit bad) and others being so weak (Kwiat, Mollema etc)

a lot can change in 1 week

No **** Kwiat is tired...every World champ is put under a **** storm of media conferences presses, etc.

 

[hrotha]

No **** Kwiat is tired...every World champ is put under a **** storm of media conferences presses, etc.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Btw also weird to see riders that did crap last week being so strong here (Dan Martin himself, Weening, Wellens was also a bit bad) and others being so weak (Kwiat, Mollema etc)

a lot can change in 1 week

Well Martin crashed last week (yet again) and Kwiatkowski has probably been celebrating all week, so that explains two of them. And Mollema probably just burned his matches early today when he was in that attack

 

[Inquitus]

Btw also weird to see riders that did crap last week being so strong here (Dan Martin himself, Weening, Wellens was also a bit bad) and others being so weak (Kwiat, Mollema etc)

a lot can change in 1 week

Dan Martin was doing fine last week until he crashed.

 

[Rollthedice]

Another race where Valverde could win but didn't. Another podium for the most podiumed rider of this year and maybe ever. Another proof that Contador has nothing to do with classics. Another dissaponiting Purito. Martin stays on his bike and makes the right move.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Garmin are a good team. Not a small team, not an underdog team. A good team with good riders who are sometimes slightly overlooked.

They are also one of the lower budget WT teams at a time when the money gap between the big money teams and the rest is significant. So despite being a well established WT team and no real minnow, they can be permitted a certain amount of "against the odds..." self-mythologising from time to time. But NOT in the hilly classics. In the hilly classics they have a top favourite in Martin and a superb supporting cast in Slagter, Hesjedal etc.

In this type of race, they aren't in any sense plucky underdogs. They are the "establishment" along with Katusha, Movistar etc.

 

[Big Doopie]

They are also one of the lower budget WT teams at a time when the money gap between the big money teams and the rest is significant. So despite being a well established WT team and no real minnow, they can be permitted a certain amount of "against the odds..." self-mythologising from time to time. But NOT in the hilly classics. In the hilly classics they have a top favourite in Martin and a superb supporting cast in Slagter, Hesjedal etc.

In this type of race, they aren't in any sense plucky underdogs. They are the "establishment" along with Katusha, Movistar etc.

largely agreed. though they were given little attention on these pages in the run-up.

now at least they are definitely "establishment" -- when you consider what could have been had the strongest rider won LBL this year.

the question i have is will they have to change their tactics. martin, hesj and garmin have used the same tactics for LBL and Lombardy. they almost pulled off LBL two years in a row -- had martin not self-crashed -- by having martin sit on until he can use his punchiness to best advantage in the last km or so. wonder how other teams will now prep for what is becoming a repeated occurrence.

 

[trevim]

Machado top20 in another classic and Cardoso close by. Well done, two very decent riders.

 

[vedrafjord]

Hilarious by Valverde, just before the last corner, turns his head to look back twice veeery slowly while turning the pedals like he's going to the shops on a velib as if to say "c'mon guys, tow me to the finish, I'm in the wind here!"

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Machado top20 in another classic and Cardoso close by. Well done, two very decent riders.

Yeah, good rides. Cardoso has been good as a dom at Garmin. Machado made a real comeback this year - he had to take his chance at NetApp and he did. Will he get any freedom at Katusha?