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Is Robert Gesink soft?

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Aug 12, 2009
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Timmy-loves-Rabo said:
i give up.



Other then this I can't think of a gesink thread made before this. I am guilty of being excited about gesink, but I honesty don't think the dutch people here make excuses for gesink or say something insane.

I dunno why this is even a topic in this thread (But if ACF wants to get into it) I can think of some guys... cadel evans... having various threads made about him, many gloating.. and many are from a single user ;)

This pretty much sums up my entire point about Gesink. There isn't hype about him. There is no reason to right prophetic story pieces to sell news articles. It isn't Dutch in nature and not befitting for Gesink. Hence, why I am surprised there was no big reaction last September about his perceived ill timed incident in the Vuelta. It is about tone in news pieces and commentary on forums. The tone was not there then so I did not see why the youngster thought it was needed now, re: Gesink should have won.

Garlic Ho: I'd agree with you if Gesink's inability to stay on his bike is the reason he fails... and in time I expect experience will improve this. But suggesting had he not crashed he still would have lost that time is a bit of a joke imo.

I never said he failed. I simply said he didn't make the podium and I did not expect him to. Mind you he would have been close to Basso had he not fallen. But then again Vino never would have taken someone else's blood had he not fallen in 2008. You won't hear me repeat that line because I don't think it is credible. What happened, happened.

EDIT: Garlic ho again: I agree with you reasons not to expect anything from them, but the talent is there, and yes the fact is they still have a lot to learn. Experience is a big part of cycling.

Of course the talent is there. You don't get top 10 in a GT and not have talent. I was thinking that in a way he is like Jurgen van den Broucke. He is the Jurgen at Rabo. Younger, with an older team leader and yet, expected to perform. But the probability is higher he will deliver. However Rabo have their heads screwed on properly and Lotto don't. Jurgen won't be the marvel they hope. That is Gilbert. The Beligains have Gilbert and the Dutch have Gesink. He'll win something big by the time he reaches Gilberts age.
 
auscyclefan94 said:
You really think evans cops as much as what Gesink does? Come on!
bettiniphoto_0051400_1_full_download__600.jpg
 
Oct 29, 2009
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Galic Ho said:
It is about tone in news pieces and commentary on forums. The tone was not there then so I did not see why the youngster thought it was needed now, re: Gesink should have won.

Mr Memory, please go back and reread this thread please. You'll find that it was made by a different guy, with the whole of 4 posts to his name on this entire site. And what he wrote doesn't reflect any of the posts here by the regular and more outspoken Dutch posters.

If that post was a reason to attack the attitude of many, sheesh...

You'll find that if you reread what folk like me are actually saying and claiming, we are pretty much in agreement with you re:Gesink. The only difference is that he excites us because he is "our guy" inna roundabout way, and might actually be good enough to deliver something at some point.
 
BTW, re: Gesink's bike handling skills, an interesting quote about his famed Paris-Nice descent:
As we went over the top, Frank Schleck said to me, 'Don't worry, follow my wheel, it'll be OK.' But the first corner, he crashed, he went into a ditch....For two years now I've had to explain why I'm bad at going downhill because of that day.
 

Fred Thistle

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Apr 30, 2010
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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.

When I first read this thread... I was incredulous

That a Grand Tour winner might be soft or have something suspect in his character?

You are a hard cycling fan to please

But then you wanna hero like Abdu- that's the type of man you want! A strong hunk of a man who can dominate you... Gesink doesn't arouse the same response in you- not 'hard' enough- not masculine enough?
 
Galic Ho said:
Crater in knee. Pictures? Reports? No, that news around these parts unless your:
A) Dutch
B) A Gesink fanboy/lover
C) Favourite team is Rabo

Lol. The first couple of words in your post clearly reflect how ignorant you are. If the term ‘’fanboy’’ had an antonym it would be you. The people on these forums have been kind enough to actually consider your silly posts in the hopes of informing your ignorant self in a proper manner and still you find a way around concrete proof. This is the most incredible display of absolute ignorance I have seen, baffling really. No further comments in this regard needed.


Nobody died and made me ruler. You were treated in the same manner you treated another. Clearly it ****ed you off. Deal with. Welcome to the forum.

The only thing I needed to know is who died and made you ruler………….. that’s right, no one. Deal with thát. ; ) Furthermore, this patronizing jibber jabber about being treated the same way jibber jabber, please, do not make me laugh. Oh, and thanks ; ).

If you weren't so quick to polish Roberts knob, you'd realise I was pointing out your mistakes. Mistakes you did not correct in your response. It still stands that Gesink lost time and the reason was because of the way he rode. It still stands that he falls quite frequently. Also, I never said he was soft. I merely said that another poster, who had said Gesink was soft, reasoning was spot on but failed in my response to say that the conclusion one can make would clearly label Gesink as soft. I suggest you get a room and reacquaint your love for team Rabo. Drop the excuses. If a bung knee was never mentioned last September why is it now, 7 months later, a talking point? It is a talking point because this thread is for Gesink fanboys and fanboys make excuses for their man crushes.

If you weren’t so quick to try and correct my ‘’mistakes’’ I wouldn’t have to be sitting here and correcting your mistakes, sir. I stand by everything I said, I will absolutely not change my views on something which is gauged subjectively, are you kidding me? That notion is laughable at least. Who are you to tell me if I thought that Gesink could have took the Vuelta? He was riding brilliantly, attacking in most of the mountain stages. Why wouldn't I think that he could have won? If he had kept pulling away from Valverde on La Pandera when had attacked he would have taken over the lead, am I right? Up to that point I thought he could have taken it. Even if that weren’t possible he would still have 2nd in the bag IN MY OPINION as he was looking good. The gash in his knee is evident through pictures, which you have chosen to belittle, whereas I, and many others in here, have not. If you choose to be a consummate ignorant that's your prerogative, however there's no point for me to fall into a foolish perpetual argument about it with you. As far as I’m concerned I have a fundamental right to freedom of opinion regardless of what - atrocities - you post, deal with it ; ).

Fanboys. They come in every shape and form and yes, they are all flaming in their love for other men. I don't hate Gesink, I just don't talk people up who have yet to perform. You said he was going to win. You said Gesink had second covered in the event he did not have 1st. As I said. Ignorance, which fanboy love explains. That is calling it as it happened. Not hatred. I did not criticize Gesink personally or lay down hatred for the guy. I merely described what occurred and commented on his riding. I'll say it again. He came where he always was going to and your points will have substance when he makes the podium of a GT. Till then, prove it. Oh, you can't? Sob...sob.

No, you are a just one of those people who will always see things their way because the alternative is just too scary; acknowledging that they are wrong about some things :eek::rolleyes:. If you do not agree with the rest of the stuff that’s being said OK, as I have said before, it’s a subjective matter. However, the way you seem to find excuses even when specific visual evidence is shown to you is really astounding. Thus, we should all agree with your views because you said so? How about; Hellll no. Finally, I see you have ended your post rather classy, resorting to taking cheap shots like asking for proof where the situation is not black and white. Way to go, you got me there :rolleyes:
Just the mere fact that we are discussing about Gesink ‘’not being able to rival the top three’’ or that he doesn’t have ‘’it’’ at his age and point in his career already says a lot about him and his future.
As far as fanboys go, I do not consider myself a fanboy, but what’s the point in discussing that any further since you’re gonna get your panties in a twist and delude yourself that you are right, right? :rolleyes: There, now I gave you something to truly justify sobbing. Put it in your pipe and try smoking that for a change.

P.s.: Gesink finished 4th -not 5th- in last year's Dauphine Libere, I don't know why I even bother...
 
The picture of Gesinks whole in the knee was shown in this topic, so Galic Ho must be pretty blind to miss that.

Also Galic Ho never responded to his most obvious wrong statement, that 'Gesink could not match Basso' even though Gesink dropped Basso on nearly every mountain stage. And when they finished together, Gesink always outsprinted him...
 
Jun 22, 2009
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Galic Ho said:
This pretty much sums up my entire point about Gesink. There isn't hype about him. There is no reason to right prophetic story pieces to sell news articles. It isn't Dutch in nature and not befitting for Gesink. Hence, why I am surprised there was no big reaction last September about his perceived ill timed incident in the Vuelta. It is about tone in news pieces and commentary on forums. The tone was not there then so I did not see why the youngster thought it was needed now, re: Gesink should have won.

I never said he failed. I simply said he didn't make the podium and I did not expect him to. Mind you he would have been close to Basso had he not fallen. But then again Vino never would have taken someone else's blood had he not fallen in 2008. You won't hear me repeat that line because I don't think it is credible. What happened, happened.

Honesty. The forum was very sympathetic at the time, and it was a big deal, and the tone was there (NOT just from the dutch, it was a mutual agreement. For a site like CN to mention gesink when they tend to ignore him at any chance should be further evidence). I don't get why you think it was wasn't. Are you just assuming? I don't really wanna go search up posts, but you make me wanna :p

And I dunno where you get this idea that gesink 'might have beaten basso' when he was clearly much stronger then basso at the vuelta.

31 seconds behind valverde with the more difficult stages gone (just a avg mountain stage (No matter what you say, there is no way he would have lost that much time (or any imo) on that stage if not for the injury. He was in tears after the stage because of what happened), which was very uneventful, and a ITT which he still did well in despite the stitches in his knee. Asif.
 
Jul 13, 2009
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Shall we agree to always designate him as Robert "Softie" Gesink from now on when discussing his results? There will be quite some opportunities and it will remind us of the immense prophetic value of this thread.
 
Moondance said:
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.

All I can say is: "YAY!"

Good job Softie. Great first tour. He has 25s on Rodriguez, which he'll probably lose, and end up 7th, since Hesj and Kreuziger are 3+ minutes back and not even The Softie is THAT bad (I hope).
 
Mar 31, 2010
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gesink is a typical rider that peaks early in his career. already you see his results stagnating a bit. his itt and explosivity have actually gotten worse since last year. Overall will never be a podium rider in the tour.
 
Ryo Hazuki said:
last year besides a crash he was 2nd in vuelta, not much progression like I said :rolleyes:

What, you expected him to win the Tour on the basis of his Vuelta last year?

After his performances last year, and how he did at the Tour this year (or his climbing in the ToS) I dont think you can say that he's regressing by any stretch of the imagination.
 
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.

How about young and gaining experience? This will be the first Tour that he's completed and it looks like he's going to finish firmly in the top ten with a very strong effort on the queen stage, riding dutifully for his more experienced teammate. I'd have to say he and his team should be proud and quite satisfied with his effort.
 
May 13, 2009
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flicker said:
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!

This is cycling not football. All these guys are pretty skinny have you ever watched a pro bicycle race?