Is doing 1 GT a year enough?

[rzombie1988]

What are everyone's thoughts on alot of riders doing one GT a year only? Is it sufficient? Would you be okay with your rider doing it especially if he's not the most likely to win it?

 

[Opalius]

Cycling is not all about GT's you know. Plenty of other races that riders race. GT = big time fatigue.

That should be answer enough.

 

[the asian]

What are everyone's thoughts on alot of riders doing one GT a year only? Is it sufficient? Would you be okay with your rider doing it especially if he's not the most likely to win it?

It's an utter shame. This was not the case with great riders of the past like Merckx, Hinault, Indurain who usually raced 2 Grand Tours a year.
It was Lance Armstrong who started the practice of riding only the Tour, and with success many others have started doing it.
Clinic related matters may also play a hand. Before the 90s riders usually raced themselves in to form but nowadays more training is preferred.

However, one must also note that with the Giro being tough in the recent past, it's extremely difficult for a rider aiming for the Tour, to ride both the Giro and Tour.
Bertie's 5th Place at last years' Tour after winning the Giro may be the last straw, and this year all the top contenders at the Tour did not ride the Giro.
A Tour, Vuelta double seems more feasible, and especially since it's the last GT of the Year, many who failed their goals in the previous GTs will attempt it.
Riding the Giro & Vuelta is quite common because the recovery time is sufficient enough to have realistic ambition of winning both.
AC did it in 2008.
I have no problems with riders riding only one GT, However the riders must choose the Tours which they have a realistic chance of winning.
Andy Schleck is a rider who is putting all his effort at the Tour, whether or not the parcours suits him. He should have ideally ridden the Giro this year where he had a very good chance of winning compared to the Tour.
I really feel annoyed by decisions like that.
More and more riders seem to value a 10th place finish in the Tour rather than getting on the podium in the Giro/Vuelta. That is pathetic.

 

[Magnus]

Enough for what?

You can't peak all year around so you have to focus on two or three events/periods of the year where you peak each year.

Earlier it seems nobody ever peaked so nobody needed to peak to be competitive. Once people figured out that they could perform better by focusing on only a few events, it's no longer a good strategy to never peak and just be in good shape all year round. If at every event you enter there is someone in peak condition you'll get beaten if you isn't peaking yourself.

As I see it this is how you can ride two GT's:
You can use the Giro as build up for the Tour. You can peak for the tour and then hope to do good at the Vuelta (where the very good riders might be competitive because basically none of the very good riders plan their season around peaking for the Vuelta). Or you can peak for the Giro and peak for the Vuelta.

Peaking at the giro and then carrying form into the tour seems to be a loosing strategy (for the tour anyway).

 

[movingtarget]

Contador did the Giro, Vuelta double. But it seems the Tour Giro double is too much for today's riders and it depends on how hard the first race is. Could Contador win an easier Giro and then a harder Tour ? Possibly but it would be very tough, almost impossible.

 

[El Pistolero]

Seems to work out fine for Boonen.

 

[barn yard]

You can't peak all year around

although i agree with you the leaders of team sky are proving this wrong

 

[Magnus]

although i agree with you the leaders of team sky are proving this wrong

Who at sky is peaking all year?

 

[RedheadDane]

What about the riders who would like to ride more than one GT but simply aren't picked for more than one?

 

[Justin Pain]

Teams nowadays are much bigger, 25-30 riders. Simple math gives you 3GT times 9riders = 27. There are too many riders on each team.

But there is always exeptions, Julian Dean and David Millar are known "GT-hookers"

 

[UpTheRoad]

If the Giro - TdF double is basically out for the top tier GC riders, the Giro should consider moving it's start date one to two weeks later. Start in mid-to-late May and there would be a better chance for nicer weather.

I'm not a big fan of riders racing up huge mountains covered in snow and no spectators. It might not make too much of a difference if the snow will still be there, though.

The biggest problem I see is that this move will favor the biggest teams -- those who have two sets of top domestiques. Even a team like Liquigas was hampered a bit by guys like Szymd who had nothing for the TdF after the Giro. Team Sky could field two strong teams, one for each race, with little overlap and a lesser chance from rider fatigue.

 

[VO2 Max]

Personally I'd ideally like a mandatory tournaments system like they have in tennis so we actually got to see the top riders at the big events. Don't know how it would work in practice - maybe your rankings and points would have to include performances at 2 GTs and 3 monuments (inc Worlds for this purpose) so your points value to a team takes a big hit if you don't pitch up with competitive form in just over 50% of our most important events. No doubt loads of unintended consequences would be forthcoming obviously.

 

[Kellys Big Sprocket]

What are everyone's thoughts on alot of riders doing one GT a year only? Is it sufficient? Would you be okay with your rider doing it especially if he's not the most likely to win it?

It all depends on the teams objectives for their season. Their budget and team sponsors marketing objectives. IMO one GT a year would be acceptable.

 

[SetonHallPirate]

Personally I'd ideally like a mandatory tournaments system like they have in tennis so we actually got to see the top riders at the big events. Don't know how it would work in practice - maybe your rankings and points would have to include performances at 2 GTs and 3 monuments (inc Worlds for this purpose) so your points value to a team takes a big hit if you don't pitch up with competitive form in just over 50% of our most important events. No doubt loads of unintended consequences would be forthcoming obviously.

So, basically, you'd have rankings based on the best two of the three grand tours, the best three of the six major one-day races, and, say, the best three other WorldTour races (including the GT's and major one-day events)?

 

[RedheadDane]

But there is always exeptions, Julian Dean and David Millar are known "GT-hookers"

Yeah... I seem to recall Millar being all "This is weird!" about not riding the Vuelta last year. Then again; he didn't ride the Giro this year either. Guess he's getting old.

 

[Mshengu]

I think the issue here is the general shortage of big tour riders. There is a lot of talent in the sport, but the young cyclists are afraid to aim for multiple grand tours, even though they can do it. Plus riders generally ride less today. Nibbles will probably be the first rider to win a double this decade, maybe Contador too, but with Fuglsang joining them, I doubt it.

 

[VO2 Max]

So, basically, you'd have rankings based on the best two of the three grand tours, the best three of the six major one-day races, and, say, the best three other WorldTour races (including the GT's and major one-day events)?

Dunno, haven't thought much about whether it could be practically implemented. The point is that probably everyone on this forum would agree on the nine most important events in our sport: 3GTs, 5 Monuments and the Worlds RR - it doesn't seem unreasonable to me that the top stars of the sport that are paid the big €€€ should be able to race 50% of those to some degree of competitiveness. Even Andy Schleck could surely bring himself to do LBL, TdF, Vuelta, Worlds and Lombardia.

It's actually important to developing the sport commercially - it's a big barrier to casual fans at the moment. People like my parents love the TdF, they're obsessive about following it on tv, they go out to Paris every few years for the final stage; then I have Lombardia on telly at my house and trying to convince them this is another of the very biggest races of the year... but if it's such an important race, why have hardly any of the people they know from the Tour bothered turning up, where are Evans, Schleck, Contador, Wiggins...? So it's not really an important race then is it?

 

[Christian]

Who at sky is peaking all year?

lol Wigans has been peaking since Algarve and will continue to peak throughout Olympics and Lombardy

 

[SafeBet]

I don't know if it's enough or not.
Only thing I know it's very hard to stay competitive in two GTs during the same year, and almost impossibile if they're consecutive (Giro + Tour or Tour + Vuelta).

I wouldn't mind big names going for the GC in one of them and then stage hunting in another though.

 

[Magnus]

lol Wigans has been peaking since Algarve and will continue to peak throughout Olympics and Lombardy

Maybe your definition of peak is different than mine. But frankly I don't think any of the riders with gt and/or monument winning potential peaks for Algarve. In retrospect it seems Dauphine wasn't a peak but in the build-up phase for Wiggins' tour peak. Between Paris-Nice and Dauphine (nearly 3 months) Wiggins only participated in Romandie. Looking at the results from the Romandie tt I think it's reasonable to say that Wiggins wasn't peaking for that event.

 

[DirtyWorks]

..It was Lance Armstrong who started the practice of riding only the Tour, and with success many others have started doing it.

No. Specialization goes back to Lemond's era and even before on a lesser scale.

 

[Kellys Big Sprocket]

No. Specialization goes back to Lemond's era and even before on a lesser scale.

I was a great believer that Paul Koechli instrumentated the "primary goal approach" that Greg adapted but was corrected over this school of thought over a nice glass of red overlooking the Med earlier this month They say Koechli promoted the plan with Hinault for the 1985 season but he refused the idea !!! I have always wondered did the Turkey shoot incident in early 87 contribute directly towards the more "focused" approach that no one had seen before and it got results ? Was it Gregs decision are someone else's vision like Jan Gisbers or Jacome's ? Starting every season out of shape with one main goal in mind all tweeked towards the month of July ??. High strategy.....but boy did it work for the kid !!!

 

[gustienordic]

I don't know if it's enough or not.
Only thing I know it's very hard to stay competitive in two GTs during the same year, and almost impossibile if they're consecutive (Giro + Tour or Tour + Vuelta).

I wouldn't mind big names going for the GC in one of them and then stage hunting in another though.

I liked seeing Basso & Scarponi in the tour (especially Scarponi since he attacked all the time)

 

[movingtarget]

No. Specialization goes back to Lemond's era and even before on a lesser scale.

Armstrong popularised it. Most good riders for GC always rode the Tour and the Giro. Even the best sprinters rode both. Sprinters would not ride half a Giro and then the Tour like some do now.

 

[greenedge]

If i were Greipel i would go to the Vuelta and try clean up their as i expect Goss and Cav will be tired after the Olympics, Giro and TDF and Sagan to probably be focusing on the WC.

I think if you had an underwhelming GT ( Basso ) but can help a rider you should go to the next GT. If there are no more season goals the idea of going to a GT ( namely the Vuelta is a good way to end the year on a high note ) seems sensible.

I would recommend that some riders like Visconti do that.