Teams & Riders Jakob Fuglsang discussion thread

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

Contador and Quintana were horrible, so thats your off form. Normally, they would beat Fuglsang, dont you agree?

Obviously. Quintana was off-form after a tough Giro. Contador, I don't really know about. Maybe he peaked too late, cause he was obviously better in the Vuelta. But he was also declining in general, so I'm not so sure if I'd say he was just off-form.

I do think Fuglsang has beaten both of them on a few occasions throughout his career, especially Alberto.

Contador can beat Fuglsang with his left leg. Its not even a question. And yes, 2017 Contador can do that, every edition of Contador from 07-17 can do that. He messed his form up completely which was very evident later in the Giro when he was the 2nd strongest rider.

Fuglsang is simply overrated by the danish media and Danes in general. Overrated, mostly because he is Danish obviously, but also because of his great showings in some one week races which doesn't transitions very well to three week racing against the very best on their top of their game. Its very simple really.

 

[staubsauger]

Fuglsang was in the shape of his live last summer and actually might've finished ahead of Aru in the 2017 Tour de France. Nevertheless he won the Dauphine in great fashion and that's why he's been hyped as a major gc contender this year.

 

[movingtarget]

I expected a bit better from Fuglsang but the three weeks has always been a test for him.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Re: Re:

Contador and Quintana were horrible, so thats your off form. Normally, they would beat Fuglsang, dont you agree?

Obviously. Quintana was off-form after a tough Giro. Contador, I don't really know about. Maybe he peaked too late, cause he was obviously better in the Vuelta. But he was also declining in general, so I'm not so sure if I'd say he was just off-form.

I do think Fuglsang has beaten both of them on a few occasions throughout his career, especially Alberto.

Contador can beat Fuglsang with his left leg. Its not even a question. And yes, 2017 Contador can do that, every edition of Contador from 07-17 can do that. He messed his form up completely which was very evident later in the Giro when he was the 2nd strongest rider.

Fuglsang is simply overrated by the danish media and Danes in general. Overrated, mostly because he is Danish obviously, but also because of his great showings in some one week races which doesn't transitions very well to three week racing against the very best on their top of their game. Its very simple really.

That's a bit disrespectful and it's also plain wrong if you consider the 2013 Tour, which was obviously one of Contador's worst Tours. But still, on many of the MTF's that year, Fuglsang finished with Contador, i.e. Alpe d'Huez and Mont Ventoux.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Exactly - thats the dirt worst edition of Contador and he still almost ended on the podium. 6 minutes ahead of Fuglsang on 7th place, his by far best placement in a Grand Tour. More or less what I would categorise as left leg as he operated on 70-80% that Tour.

 

[Forever The Best]

Re:

Exactly - thats the dirt worst edition of Contador and he still almost ended on the podium. 6 minutes ahead of Fuglsang on 7th place, his by far best placement in a Grand Tour. More or less what I would categorise as left leg as he operated on 70-80% that Tour.

This.
Fuglsang's best chance of a good result was last year imo but he crashed out.

 

[Danskebjerge]

There is no such thing as a one-week-stage-race rider - as some here suggest. Tour de Suisse and Dauphiné are great events, and it takes a really good rider to win them, but they are preparation races, that's simply how they are perceived. Fuglsang would have to redefine all this if he wants to become a one-week specialist.

 

[Bardamu]

Despite his disappointing Tour I think we'll see a good Fuglsang in Innsbruck. Probably not on the podium, but he'll show just enough for us to believe he is still destined to do great things.

 

[staubsauger]

In Innsbruck he could actually very well become world champion. It's a one day race for climbers and the big guns might watch each other.

 

[Simurgh]

Fuglsang targeting the Tour again. Last month he expressed his intention to target the podium yet another time. Man's putting a lot of pressure onto him self, but I secretly hope, that he can regain 2017 form, where he looked great until he crashed out.

Should add, that I expect him to fail yet another time. Unfortunately :Neutral:

 

[tobydawq]

With so many top riders going to the Giro, his chances are improving by the day.

 

[Koronin]

Re:

With so many top riders going to the Giro, his chances are improving by the day.

Interesting and good point.

 

[RedheadDane]

Might still be a good idea to bring Lopez along in a free role.
In fact; tell everyone they're riding for Fuglsang, actually ride for Lopez.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Well, its the right thing to do since it makes more sense to bring Lopez to Giro/Vuelta and let Fuglsang do week long stage races, Ardennes and Tour. But I still don't believe he has the potential to do anything more than top-10 - only year he had that was 2017.

 

[Simurgh]

Analysis of his body after the Tour shows that apparently, Fuglsang’s bad Tour can be explained by having eaten too much fish, which contain fatty acid Omega 3, and too much of that can have a bad influence on recovery.

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

Analysis of his body after the Tour shows that apparently, Fuglsang’s bad Tour can be explained by having eaten too much fish, which contain fatty acid Omega 3, and too much of that can have a bad influence on recovery.

So they have concluded that something fishy was going on then.



I'll show myself out.

 

[movingtarget]

Re:

Well, its the right thing to do since it makes more sense to bring Lopez to Giro/Vuelta and let Fuglsang do week long stage races, Ardennes and Tour. But I still don't believe he has the potential to do anything more than top-10 - only year he had that was 2017.

He seems to crash quite a lot. Top five would be possible if everything went smoothly but he seems to be the type of rider who rides best when the pressure is off. Another one of the short stage race winners who has trouble finishing off a three week race. Always had talent though.

 

[RedheadDane]

Re: Re:

Well, its the right thing to do since it makes more sense to bring Lopez to Giro/Vuelta and let Fuglsang do week long stage races, Ardennes and Tour. But I still don't believe he has the potential to do anything more than top-10 - only year he had that was 2017.

He seems to crash quite a lot. Top five would be possible if everything went smoothly but he seems to be the type of rider who rides best when the pressure is off. Another one of the short stage race winners who has trouble finishing off a three week race. Always had talent though.

Yeah, probably no coincidence that his best result came a year when he didn't enter the race as the (sole) main rider.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Re: Re:

Well, its the right thing to do since it makes more sense to bring Lopez to Giro/Vuelta and let Fuglsang do week long stage races, Ardennes and Tour. But I still don't believe he has the potential to do anything more than top-10 - only year he had that was 2017.

He seems to crash quite a lot. Top five would be possible if everything went smoothly but he seems to be the type of rider who rides best when the pressure is off. Another one of the short stage race winners who has trouble finishing off a three week race. Always had talent though.

Yeah, probably no coincidence that his best result came a year when he didn't enter the race as the (sole) main rider.

I guess you can say that, officially, Jakob and Brajkovic had a dual leader role that year, but I think it was pretty evident that he was the main leader even before they entered that Tour. Afterall, Jakob had just ridden brilliantly in Dauphiné, while Brajkovic was on the decline in 2013. In any case, the 2013 Astana Tour team was pretty horible, so he did not have the pressure of performing to live up to any team support.

I am not sure I understand Astana's decision next year. What exactly do they want from the Giro with MAL? They must be very certain that he can win it next year. Surely a top 3/5 in the Tour should weigh higher than "just another podium" in one of the lesser grand tours.

 

[Rollthedice]

Re: Re:

Well, its the right thing to do since it makes more sense to bring Lopez to Giro/Vuelta and let Fuglsang do week long stage races, Ardennes and Tour. But I still don't believe he has the potential to do anything more than top-10 - only year he had that was 2017.

He seems to crash quite a lot. Top five would be possible if everything went smoothly but he seems to be the type of rider who rides best when the pressure is off. Another one of the short stage race winners who has trouble finishing off a three week race. Always had talent though.

Yeah, probably no coincidence that his best result came a year when he didn't enter the race as the (sole) main rider.

I guess you can say that, officially, Jakob and Brajkovic had a dual leader role that year, but I think it was pretty evident that he was the main leader even before they entered that Tour. Afterall, Jakob had just ridden brilliantly in Dauphiné, while Brajkovic was on the decline in 2013. In any case, the 2013 Astana Tour team was pretty horible, so he did not have the pressure of performing to live up to any team support.

I am not sure I understand Astana's decision next year. What exactly do they want from the Giro with MAL? They must be very certain that he can win it next year. Surely a top 3/5 in the Tour should weigh higher than "just another podium" in one of the lesser grand tours.

A podium in any GT is better than no podium in any GT. MAL has a chance in the Giro and Vuelta, no chance in Tour.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Re: Re:

Well, its the right thing to do since it makes more sense to bring Lopez to Giro/Vuelta and let Fuglsang do week long stage races, Ardennes and Tour. But I still don't believe he has the potential to do anything more than top-10 - only year he had that was 2017.

He seems to crash quite a lot. Top five would be possible if everything went smoothly but he seems to be the type of rider who rides best when the pressure is off. Another one of the short stage race winners who has trouble finishing off a three week race. Always had talent though.

Yeah, probably no coincidence that his best result came a year when he didn't enter the race as the (sole) main rider.

I guess you can say that, officially, Jakob and Brajkovic had a dual leader role that year, but I think it was pretty evident that he was the main leader even before they entered that Tour. Afterall, Jakob had just ridden brilliantly in Dauphiné, while Brajkovic was on the decline in 2013. In any case, the 2013 Astana Tour team was pretty horible, so he did not have the pressure of performing to live up to any team support.

I am not sure I understand Astana's decision next year. What exactly do they want from the Giro with MAL? They must be very certain that he can win it next year. Surely a top 3/5 in the Tour should weigh higher than "just another podium" in one of the lesser grand tours.

A podium in any GT is better than no podium in any GT. MAL has a chance in the Giro and Vuelta, no chance in Tour.

Yeah, I don't agree with that when looking at the competition and routes of the grand tours next year

 

[Valv.Piti]

I think Lopez just prefers the Giro + Vuelta to the Tour honestly and I understand that. It would make sense to go to the Tour this year, but I really dont blame him for doing what he did this year. Hopefully he will just be better in the mountains in the Giro.

 

[yaco]

Re:

I think Lopez just prefers the Giro + Vuelta to the Tour honestly and I understand that. It would make sense to go to the Tour this year, but I really dont blame him for doing what he did this year. Hopefully he will just be better in the mountains in the Giro.

Maybe Lopez is like Chaves - Esteban has to be dragged to the TDF.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

I think Lopez just prefers the Giro + Vuelta to the Tour honestly and I understand that. It would make sense to go to the Tour this year, but I really dont blame him for doing what he did this year. Hopefully he will just be better in the mountains in the Giro.

Maybe Lopez is like Chaves - Esteban has to be dragged to the TDF.

I understand why such riders would feel that way about the race considering how the first week usually is and that both riders are one tricks.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Quite a season opening for Jakob. Is the exceptional form a sign that he's (secretly) changed priorities to the week-long stage races and hilly classics over TdF, or is he just a better and stronger rider now than he's been earlier?