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Is Robert Gesink soft?

May 6, 2009
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Extremely talented bike rider and I'm sure he will have some big wins in the future, but to me he just comes across as 'soft'. Loses races on descents, crashes a lot, and has a thousand excuses.

Maybe soft is not the right word to use, but there is something about him that I can't put my finger on.
 
Mar 13, 2009
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another word... like French?


Seriously, has the French curse gone north? Young full of talent and train like there is no tomorrow, then start to get a little more success, believe they are the "next big thing" (and he could be) and the new "targeted training" program involves 5 or 6 hours less a week on the bike... then the results start to fade yet people are still paying good money and they live the high life and don't have to work to hard

Purely hypothetical, of course
 
He never looks for excuses, don't know where you got that impression. Quite the opposite, actually.

And as for his being soft... meh, don't know. The team doctor said in an interview that most riders prefer to take a painkiller before a TT, but not Gesink: he likes the pain. Also, he rode 75 kms with a broken wrist in that Tour stage. And he still managed to finish the Vuelta in 6th, with that horrible hole in his knee.
 
Mar 18, 2009
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theyoungest said:
He never looks for excuses, don't know where you got that impression. Quite the opposite, actually.

And as for his being soft... meh, don't know. The team doctor said in an interview that most riders prefer to take a painkiller before a TT, but not Gesink: he likes the pain. Also, he rode 75 kms with a broken wrist in that Tour stage. And he still managed to finish the Vuelta in 6th, with that horrible hole in his knee.

Just what I was thinking...not soft...at all. Bad luck maybe...
 
Jun 22, 2009
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craig1985 said:
Extremely talented bike rider and I'm sure he will have some big wins in the future, but to me he just comes across as 'soft'. Loses races on descents, crashes a lot, and has a thousand excuses.

Maybe soft is not the right word to use, but there is something about him that I can't put my finger on.

you've clearly assume gesink is soft because he crashes a lot, he is not soft and does not use excuses what so ever. His team might state reasons why gesink didn't perform (i.e ardennes), but he himself never hides behind this.

Bad bike handler? I'm gonna say yes.
Soft. No

The tour (He knew his tour was over the moment he crashed, but wanted to finsih the stage none the less.. that was tough) and Vuelta (Fought like a champion after getting the stitches) last year should vouch for how much heart and strength he has.
 
Gesink isn't a excuses guy.... Just like the other Cloggies have said. I don't think I've ever heard him use an excuse. Whenever he's cost himself a big race ('08 Paris-Nice, '09 Amstel, '09 Vuelta) he always says it was his fault, and that he fucked up and never hides behind others. He has a lot of character and an enormous personal drive.

He certainly isn't soft in this way, he holds himself to a high standard that he (unfortunately for him) doesn't often reach. Is he a little fragile and lacking in some bike handling skills?... Obviously, but this doesn't make him soft.
 
theyoungest said:
He never looks for excuses, don't know where you got that impression. Quite the opposite, actually.

And as for his being soft... meh, don't know. The team doctor said in an interview that most riders prefer to take a painkiller before a TT, but not Gesink: he likes the pain. Also, he rode 75 kms with a broken wrist in that Tour stage. And he still managed to finish the Vuelta in 6th, with that horrible hole in his knee.
Indeed, total bs by OP and guy who reacts. If anyone trains hard, it's Gesink.
He didn't come up with any excuse. His team DS did.
Gesink himself simply said he was 'not good enough'.
 
Sep 25, 2009
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i've been following gesink for several years now. it's plain wrong to call him soft.

the question i'd ask is, does he have the quality to become a leader of a major team commensurate with his enormous talent. i rate his climbing potential above that of menchov. to me, gesink's one of the 2-3 biggest young talents out there now. but can he deliver ? that's where the maturation process and the mental component become the key.
 

flicker

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Aug 17, 2009
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He is a great rider, just needs to bulk up a little so he doesn't get hurt so bad when he crashes!

I call him a tough man finishing the Vuelta with a hole in his knee!
 
Dec 29, 2009
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craig1985 said:
Extremely talented bike rider and I'm sure he will have some big wins in the future, but to me he just comes across as 'soft'. Loses races on descents, crashes a lot, and has a thousand excuses.

Maybe soft is not the right word to use, but there is something about him that I can't put my finger on.

he's a likeable guy who usually finds a way to lose.

ed rader
 
Dekker_Tifosi said:
Still, he is only 23, turning 24 next month, and in the Tour of Basque Country he was, yet again, stronger than last year (until the fall that is). So there is still progression

But, relatively speaking, the classics were a lot worse. He did only shine in one last year, but performed excellently... Its better than being mediocre (by his standards at least) thrice.
 
Oct 29, 2009
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Wouldn't call him soft. Isn't this his third year as a pro? I think he's only 22 or 23. I would say he is only missing something one can only acquire with experience, like a killer instinct of sorts (some get it really fast-AC, some never get it-Levi). If we're still asking ourselves this question when he's 25-26, he might be soft. Right now, I agree with Ed's statement.
 
The Sheep said:
What does he need to show in the Tour? besides not falling of his bike.

Somehow survive the stage 3 cobbles; if he gets past those unmolested (and not too much time lost) it's pretty much mission accomplished for the Tour :p

In all seriousness, I would like to see him improve (performance wise) on his Vuelta performance last year. He matched and occasionally outclimbed (for all but the last mountain stage) the likes of Valverde, Evans, Basso and Sanchez. What that would equal in a Tour GC spot is hard (since none of those guys were at the Tour in form) but on the mountain finishes (8, 9, 17) I would expect him to finish alongside with the best, with HC climbers Contador and Schleck the Younger excepted. I would hope he doesn't lose contact/fall on the mountain stages which have a descent prior to the finish, but if that happens c'est la vie. If he is around 6-8th prior to the final TT I will be happy, regardless of what time/places he might lose there. Everything above is gravy, 9-12th is contentment, but below would be slightly disappointing.
 
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Michielveedeebee said:
He's almost as bad as F Schleck with a bike :p But he's not soft at all, just a bad bike handler :p

You beat me to it. Yea, he and Frank need to attend the Kiddy Bike Coral Safety Event at my local YMCA this weekend.

But I wouldn't call the guy soft. As others have pointed out, he is far from a whiner.
 
Mar 19, 2009
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ImmaculateKadence said:
Wouldn't call him soft. Isn't this his third year as a pro? I think he's only 22 or 23. I would say he is only missing something one can only acquire with experience, like a killer instinct of sorts (some get it really fast-AC, some never get it-Levi).
I agree with you that he really lacks the tactical sense. But I wouldn't say he's soft, I'd say he's too much of a hard man. He's not afraid to go to the front of a group and give it everything, whether it's a chasing group or a group trying to distance other threats up a decisive mountain. If he ever realizes that to win a race you have to be prepared to lose it...then watch out.
 
Oct 29, 2009
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The Sheep said:
What does he need to show in the Tour? besides not falling of his bike.

Top 5 would be stupendous, 6-8 great, everything below increasingly meh.

This is assuming that he won't have to change his own race to assist Menchov, if a situation arises in which that makes total GC sense. That would probably sink Gesink's own GC aspirations by a handful of places.


So far his (downhill) bike handling skills have been suspect and he has failed to deliver the reachable on key moments. I guess that not all bad luck was unavoidable. Part of a winner's vocabulary is sustained concentration, and positioning yourself in a way that decreases the likelihood of getting caught up in bad luck. Areas he could improve in, I think. Still, some things can't be helped.

To his credit, he doesn't hide behind events, and with clipped wings he still finishes in very very promising positions.

He will learn, mature, grow stronger. It bodes well. To be a great rider you need to be more than accomplished, though.

You also need that little bit of something that can be added to talent and the learned craft. The type of steely grit that I feel is often missing from very skilled and gifted Dutch riders. That funny thing that the German football team always seems to be able to muster, and seems woefully lacking in the Dutch. When the coin can fall both ways, or is tipping away from you, get it down in your ballpark.

Maybe that is the "soft" you mean, the lack of ability to grab Lady Luck by the jugular and force her down.

I have seen flurries where he certainly shows he has "it", mostly uphill. A little flash just before he straightens up, to force the issue, whichever way it falls. At other times it seems to be left for dead on the tarmac, and he looks unsteady. Or seems to get caught out when sustained concentration might have pre-empted that.

Part of this is maturing, part of this I expect to vaporise when he gets a good kill (ask Evans what a difference jumping a hurdle can make in race determination).

If all of it goes, and the Dutch have finally reached the other end of a long walk through the winners desert, that remains to be seen. Oasis or mirage, time will tell.

It doesn't help that most of us are becoming very thirsty. Some jump on the mere sighting of anything that looks like a palm tree. Others prefer to poo-poo it until they stand knee-deep in water - simply another way to deal with having gone from hope to disappointment in 2 easy steps a couple of times too often. And the taller the tree looks, the more proof of water will be required, just in case.

All eyes are on the Tour. And if he can deal with that pressure and ride comfortably into the top 8, I'll be very chuffed, and sure that a young Dutch challenger has indeed emerged, at last.

And ready to sell my camel to those that are taking to their desert, those looking for a meaning to life, post-Lance. Or for forums where an entertaining win can be enjoyed without having to watch endless reruns of the nudge-nudge-you-know-what-clinic-I-mean skit first.
 
Francois the Postman said:
You also need that little bit of something that can be added to talent and the learned craft. The type of steely grit that I feel is often missing from very skilled and gifted Dutch riders. That funny thing that the German football team always seems to be able to muster, and seems woefully lacking in the Dutch. When the coin can fall both ways, or is tipping away from you, get it down in your ballpark.

Yeah, Jan Raas, Hennie Kuiper and Gerrie Kneteman were all such girlie men. :p More recently guys like Steven de Jongh, Servais Knaven or Bobbie Traksel. We've got some real hard men in our history.

Just because Thomas Dekker was a little metro and Gesink flubbs away victory chance after victory chance doesn't mean they should tar a proud history of some of the sport's real hard men.

Also I wonder where you got the "Top 5 spectacular, 6-8th great" line from :p