Teams & Riders Jakob Fuglsang discussion thread

[Danskebjerge]

What a quiet year for Fuglsang! Even if he's aiming to be in shape after summer, it's striking that he has achieved so little in 2021 and participated in so few races.

 

[Danskebjerge]

Thursday's stage in the Tour de Suisse was the best performance from Fuglsang in 2021, I think. Looking promising, at last.

 

[gregrowlerson]

Birdsong is going well; about time this thread was bumped.

Hopefully I don't jinx him!

P.S. Is he writing blog posts still?

 

[Broccolidwarf]

Birdsong is going well; about time this thread was bumped.

Hopefully I don't jinx him!

P.S. Is he writing blog posts still?

No blog posts this year, unfortunately.

Yes he is going good, but he said pre-race, that he was there for stages only, so it is odd he has not dropped more time.

I get the feeling he is between two chairs right now.

 

[Danskebjerge]

Fuglsang has said that he believes the vaccines have affected his season. He feels he has underperformed in the periods after his two injections.

Personally, I think he might also suffer from the same thing as Nibali, Van Avermaet and the likes - the phenomenon of getting older and not being as explosive as earlier in the career.

 

[BlueRoads]

The weird thing is that he looked pretty good at the Tour de Suisse. But then he has sometimes looked good in the preparation to the Tour and couldn't quite transfer it... still, he hasn't even shown himself in one break so far.

 

[Sciatic]

Yeah, the performances of some of these classics- type riders makes me wonder if the Tour is purely training for the Olympic road race. Although just riding around in the main peloton doesn’t seem like a very high level of training. At least Ala is out doing some hill/sprint/solo training in just about every stage!

 

[topcat]

Fuglsang's level nose dived when he heard Nibali's coming back to Astana.

 

[Danskebjerge]

The weird thing is that he looked pretty good at the Tour de Suisse. But then he has sometimes looked good in the preparation to the Tour and couldn't quite transfer it... still, he hasn't even shown himself in one break so far.

The other day he tried to go on Col de Montségur, but faded early on. Judging by his own statements, it has to do with his present physical condition, not with a priority concerning the Olympics. If he doesn't show any improvement in the last week of the Tour, he is no longer in my Top 20 of the favourites for Tokyo.

 

[movingtarget]

Always been overrated as a grand tour rider. Much better suited to the shorter stage races. Only two top tens in 16 grand tours...........

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Yeah, the performances of some of these classics- type riders makes me wonder if the Tour is purely training for the Olympic road race. Although just riding around in the main peloton doesn’t seem like a very high level of training. At least Ala is out doing some hill/sprint/solo training in just about every stage!

Alaphilippe isn't doing the Olympics, though.

 

[Sciatic]

Alaphilippe isn't doing the Olympics, though.

Ah, I forgot, so it all makes even less sense!

 

[Danskebjerge]

Fuglsang has now said that he has considered withdrawing from the Olympics - he struggles to perform well and would wish Vingegaard could go (but Vingegaard has said no to going to Tokyo some time ago). Fuglsang's only comfort now is that he wasn't too good in the weeks up to the Olympics in Rio and yet finished 2nd. That's according to Danish newspaper B.T.

I guess it must feel awkward for him to go to Tokyo without seeing more than a slight chance of making a good result there. After all, he originally wanted to win gold. Also, the Olympics in itself looks to become a not so interesting show for the athletes themselves, since movement is very restricted.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Sad message indeed from the King in the North. I find that his vaccine explanation is not that unlikely because he has looked like a rider who just could not go deep during this Tour, but realistically it could also just be the age-related decline finally catching up with him. He's had a professional road career for almost 14 years, and in the end, for each year passing, it gets tougher mentally and physically, especially as the opponents get better and better. I have no expectations for Tokyo, but it would be nice with a good showing at least.

Either way, I feel blessed to have witnessed him perform on such a high level over so many years. The fact that he has been in the world top 5 for two years in a row is something that does not get the adequate recognition in the Danish media, because so much attention is on the Grand Tours. Not that I think Jakob has had any problems with this lack of attention. He seems like a man who prefers to stay out of the mass media circus as much as possible.

 

[staubsauger]

Fuglsang looked perfectly fine in Switzerland and suddenly can't even contest the breakaways in France. Meanwhile Cattaneo sits 12th on the general classification. Uran just bonked yesterday. Comirnaty indeed hushed his singing. It's obvious.

Stupidity not to either properly time his 2nd shot or skip the Tour de France and head to Tokyo & Spain instead! That must be said as well to give a complete picture.

 

[Danskebjerge]

Stupidity not to either properly time his 2nd shot or skip the Tour de France and head to Tokyo & Spain instead! That must be said as well to give a complete picture.

I believe Fuglsang found that the Tour was exactly the right preparation for him regarding the Olympics. The silver medal in Rio came after riding the Tour de France, and this is why he still sees a little hope, although there is much less time between the Tour and the Olympics this time.

His training data show around 30 watts less as his maximum effort than it was during the Tour de Suisse - I guess that's quite a lot to make up for in so few days before going to Tokyo.

 

[Danskebjerge]

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/ol...cine-wrecked-my-tour-de-france-says-fuglsang/

 

[Netserk]

Classic Fuglsang.

 

[Danskebjerge]

So, Fuglsang is proud of his performance in Tokyo. He came there after being out of shape for weeks and even getting dhiarrea before Paris. And yet he was in the front group when things were decided at the Olympics. Let's see if he will improve further in the rest of the season.

 

[Danskebjerge]

Fuglsang crashed during the first stage of Benelux Tour. That's bad timing, since it was his first race after Tokyo, and he must soon show some good results ahead of the world championships. As of now, I think ten Danish riders are stronger than Fuglsang. And the question is: Is Fuglsang - even if he improves - the guy who can beat Van Aert, Evenepoel and the likes? I'm not sure.

 

[DoYouEvenRideBruh]

And the question is: Is Fuglsang - even if he improves - the guy who can beat Van Aert, Evenepoel and the likes? I'm not sure.

Who can though?

 

[johnymax]

Who can though?

Asgreen

 

[tobydawq]

Damn, he has broken a rib and a shoulder blade

Season over.

 

[Danskebjerge]

Damn, he has broken a rib and a shoulder blade

Season over.

And what a bad season it has been for him.

 

[Danskebjerge]

Fuglsang is currently more than 7 minutes behind in Tirreno-Adriatico . Maybe it's premature, but ... was that it? Given his age, it's getting harder and harder to see how he should come back to full strength after one and a half years with no major successes.