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Jasper Stuyven appreciation thread

Just really got to know this rider recently, but Im sure the likes of Echoes can tell me a lot more about him. I've really fallen in love with his powerfull attacks and his optimistic riding. He initiated the winning moves in both races in the belgian opener, on Taienberg in Omloop and on the flat run towards Kuurne in K-B-K. Unfortunately he didn't quite have enough to stay with the 3 best cobbled specialists (yet) in Omloop, but showed how incredibly strong he was on the flat roads after a hard race in Kuurne once again after winning in 2016. The sprint was never really close against Sagan, but he was the second strongest rider that day. And absolutely no shame in that!

I was also amazed of how close he was to winning in Cherbourg in the Tour last year. The guy has an amazing motor. Unlike cobbled specialists like Sep Vanmarcke, I have the feeling that he can do well in other (big) races which his win in the Vuelta also proved. And he is still very young.

He is obviously very good in the Flemish races, but IMO Roubaix suits his characteristics the best. He will have a hard time like everyone else trying to follow GVA and Sagan in Flanders, but what I see as his biggest strength (so far) is attacking on flat roads after a hard race and powering it home. And he is already one of the biggest outsiders this year.
 
Great thread.

First got to know him in 2009 when he won the World Junior Championships and have followed him since.

Took a different path to his development by joining a non Belgian team Bontrager Livestrong, the feede team for Trek and it has certainly helped him make a smooth transition to the Pro ranks perhaps without the pressure of being billed as the next Boonen if he joined a local one.

Very pleased with his development so far as it's not often that riders who excel as juniors become succesful as pro's.

You are also very correct on your observation that he seems most comfortable on Flat Cobbles/Flat hard races.

PR will certainly suit him well, but he should also develop his ability in hilly cobbled races as time goes by..

He has a very good engine as well as a decent sprint.

Would be very dissapointed if he doesn't win at least one monument in his career..
 
I might be partial here because Stuyven is among my fav riders but I think he was caught napping when Sagan attacked in Omloop. I reckon he had the legs to stay with the best.

Anyway, he is a pleasure to watch. Great panache, unafraid to attack and a huge engine.
 
Re:

SafeBet said:
I might be partial here because Stuyven is among my fav riders but I think he was caught napping when Sagan attacked in Omloop. I reckon he had the legs to stay with the best.

Anyway, he is a pleasure to watch. Great panache, unafraid to attack and a huge engine.
That may be the case, tbh, I didn't notice when they attacked.
 
Really nice rider and one of my favourite classic riders at the moment. He is very elegant to watch.

He will be a very good card to play for Trek in Paris Roubaix, if he stays upright. Perhaps he is a little too heavy and maybe not quite explosive enough to hang with Sagan on Paterberg, but Oude Kwaremont suits his characteristics really well with its long and moderate climbing.
So far he's been in a helpers role in the really big classics, so it will exciting how far he can take it in more important races like E3, GW and De Ronde. One question mark is how he will cope with longer distances. Has he ever ridden Gent-Wevelgem? In De Ronde the results have been unimpressive so far, but for good reasons. Maybe he had a good individual chance in 2015, when Fabian was not there, but ofcourse he's developed tremendously since then.
 
Re:

SafeBet said:
I might be partial here because Stuyven is among my fav riders but I think he was caught napping when Sagan attacked in Omloop. I reckon he had the legs to stay with the best.
They were going fairly slow when Sagan went, Stuyven was right on it but it just took him longer to rev up to top speed, which might've been gearing or simply power. And maybe he was undergeared, but it seemed to me he just didn't have the sheer kick Sagan does. Which is no knock on Jasper. He was the quickest amongst an elite group to close the gap but it was too late.

Aggressive, fun rider. I think he can do something in Roubaix.
 
Stuyven wasn't right on it. Or let me rephrase that, he was right on it, but then he changed his mind and decided to wait for Trentin to follow, not realising that he was a spent force. Had he committed himself immediately this sprint might have been close.
 
Re:

SafeBet said:
I might be partial here because Stuyven is among my fav riders but I think he was caught napping when Sagan attacked in Omloop. I reckon he had the legs to stay with the best.

Anyway, he is a pleasure to watch. Great panache, unafraid to attack and a huge engine.

I think I saw an interview somewhere in which he practically said that's what happened.
 
Valv.Piti said:
Because you have a lot of knowledge about Belgians and I would be very surprised if you didn't know a lot of stuff about Jasper as well. :)

And it's supposed to be my gratitude for all the sarcasm, mockeries, insults and ridiculing that you among others cast at me.
I've already started a thread about that very rider, not on this forum obviously but I don't see why duplicating all I posted there.
 
Echoes said:
Valv.Piti said:
Because you have a lot of knowledge about Belgians and I would be very surprised if you didn't know a lot of stuff about Jasper as well. :)

And it's supposed to be my gratitude for all the sarcasm, mockeries, insults and ridiculing that you among others cast at me.
I've already started a thread about that very rider, not on this forum obviously but I don't see why duplicating all I posted there.

Thats a good point which I fully understand. Totally fair. I just think you should know that when your posts doesn't contain the classics vs stage race and Sagan vs GVA talk/debates I really enjoy reading your posts - they are oftensuper insightful.
 
Might seem irrelevant to many, but according to bet365, Jasper is leading the field behind Sagan and GVA in front of Stybar, Terpstra, Kristoff, Boonen, Rowe and Benoot @ 13,00 the money back. His teammate and ''captain' Degenkolb is @ 26,00. Not too shappy.
 
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Re:

Valv.Piti said:
Might seem irrelevant to many, but according to bet365, Jasper is leading the field behind Sagan and GVA in front of Stybar, Terpstra, Kristoff, Boonen, Rowe and Benoot @ 13,00 the money back. His teammate and ''captain' Degenkolb is @ 26,00. Not too shappy.
I bet too and sometimes the cycling experts in bet365 give stupid odds, football is a sport way more difficult to gain money than cycling. For me stuyven isn't better than the likes of stybar, terpstra in these "hilly cobbles", but he and degenkolb will be a major threat to sagan in roubaix
 
My first - and rather silly - interest in Stuyven came from the fact that our birthday is on the same date - though I must admit I'm somewhat older - which I discovered back when there was a thread about what riders you shared a birthday with.
Then there's the fact that he won a stage in the Vuelta with a broken wrist.
And decided to go solo in the race that's usually seen as a sprinters' race.
 
I first heard about Jasper around 2011, I don't remember exactly when. He had just won the Junior Paris-Roubaix with the rainbow jersey on the year before. In summer 2011 I saw him at the Tour of Namur. He was third in the final stage on the Citadelle, outsprinted by Tim Declercq and then teammate and good friend Sean De Bie.

http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/407897DSC01098.jpg
http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/783962Sprint.jpg

(Pics are my own, can't embed them because too large)

At the time of his Junior World title, he built solid friendship with three other Belgian talents: Sean De Bie, Louis Vervaeke and Tim Wellens. The four rising stars would often rent a flat in Andalucia at the start of the season and train together. For example in 2015 they were in Acora, Andalucia and animated a sort of docu-soap about their friendship, their time in Acora and the whole first part of the season till the Belgian Championship. It was called "Jonge Benen" ("Young Legs"):
Intro (Tim speaking)
This story is about us. Jasper, Sean, Louis and I. My name is Tim. We are four friends and we've made a job out of racing. Jasper lives in Leuven. Sean is from the Campine. Louis is an East-Fleming and I grew up in St-Truiden. Our friendship has started 6 years ago when Jasper was Junior World champion in Moscow. Sean, Louis and I are teammates. Jasper rides for the opposition but this has no impact on our band. 2015 is an important year for us. Louis is starting his first season with the pros. Sean has to find himself back after a difficult year. Jasper could win a classic and I am preparing for my first Tour of France.

What I remembered from the show about Jasper is that he went to Bontrager because in the US they were more victory-oriented while in Belgium they would rather content with good results. It fits his ambitious character better. The Asian is probably also right that he wished to avoid the pressure of being a "new Boonen" (he was clearly already billed as such by 2011). Recently I read an interview in Het Laatste Nieuws with Jasper and Ward Theuns. They were asked who was the next Cancellara. Jasper had this great reply:
I really don’t know any rider who claims: “I am the successor of…”. That really is a media thing.
Edward is Edward and I’m Jasper. We both want to make our own palmares. Without comparing: “Gooh, am I closer to Cancellara or Boonen?” Anyone wants to get his own goals as close as possible. If it’s far from what Fabian achieved and I am glad with it myself: okay. If I get the same: very nice. And even more? (laughing) Never say never!

Jasper is also still a student in Communication. He finds it a great challenge to combine studies with top sport. In January he passed a Spanish exam, which is sure is going to be useful in his cycling career.

In order to build up for the last Worlds, Jasper was facing a problem. He had not raced the Tour of Spain and Trek was not invited at the Napoleon Cup races nor at Paris-Tours. So after the Lowlands Tour, there was nothing left. The solution was racing ... kermesses ... those great traditional races "that nobody has ever heard of" (sic !!!!). He raced in Zwevezele and was 7th (Timothy Dupont won) and in Zele he was 14th (Kirill Pozdnyakov won) and also tried to emulate the Qatari climate at the climate chamber of the Bakala Academy in Leuven.

The outcome being, Of all riders in Doha, Jasper undoubtedly made the best impression and deserved victory most.
 
Jasper is also still a student in Communication. He finds it a great challenge to combine studies with top sport. In January he passed a Spanish exam, which is sure is going to be useful in his cycling career.

I'm quite impressed by those riders who combine a (higher) education with the sport.
Also, doesn't he own a chocolate boutique with his uncle?

Yup, he does! :D

http://www.velonews.com/2017/03/video/the-velonews-show/vn-show-jasper-stuyvens-chocolate-shop_434032

Anyone wants chocolate?
 
Re:

RedheadDane said:
Jasper is also still a student in Communication. He finds it a great challenge to combine studies with top sport. In January he passed a Spanish exam, which is sure is going to be useful in his cycling career.

I'm quite impressed by those riders who combine a (higher) education with the sport.
Also, doesn't he own a chocolate boutique with his uncle?

Yup, he does! :D

http://www.velonews.com/2017/03/video/the-velonews-show/vn-show-jasper-stuyvens-chocolate-shop_434032

Anyone wants chocolate?
Good story. He surely deserves a few chocolates after today's race, you'd say! Impressive to get so close to the win after being in the break for 50km's! Not his fault that the Trek DS didn't manage to get the team tactics right. He did everything he could to stay with the front trio, but came up just short eventually.
 

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