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Jurgen Van den Broeck Discussion thread

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Jul 29, 2012
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Bernie's eyesore said:
I can't agree with that, his record is littered with tops tens in one week stage races. He just isn't good enough to win anything.

Andy also has top 10's in one week stage races. And VDB2 don't have that many at all. And the point is that he only cares about the tour.

That's what he always says "all about the tour".

Usually andy also shows us something before the tour, not much considering his level at the tour but still

vcampbell said:
Still like both of them.
Hope he can reach the podium this year, but it will be very difficult. I say also, that he should target other GT's or stage races.

He should never do that. He has no ITT. You need a good ITT to win a week stage race unless you're an amazing climber which he isn't.
 
Jun 12, 2013
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Imo consistency is the key for VDB. If he keeps up with the main contenders in the mountains and doesn't lose more than a mintute to contador/froome in TT's then top 5 is within reach. He has proven himself to be consistent. Also mechanicals/poor placement needs to be avoided. After La Planche des Belles Filles he was already behind the others due to the significant time lost due to a mechanical and was unlikely to gain time on wiggins during the race so essentially lost the race at that point. That was a main factor that caused him to miss out on his best chance of Tdf podium ever?.
 
Jun 24, 2013
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Miburo said:
He should never do that. He has no ITT. You need a good ITT to win a week stage race unless you're an amazing climber which he isn't.

His ITT is normally not that terrible. He's just someone who finishes high by Being consistent, something that doesn't matter much in week long stage races.

Anyway, he doesn't seem to care much about not winning, and as long as he doesn't I guess he's doing fine. There's no shame in multiple top-5 finishes. He should try to podium a GT by picking well though.
 
DenisMenchov said:
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May 12, 2010
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Maybe the GC-riders should change their behavior. All these crashes happen in the first half (and most in the first quarter) of the peloton. Every year 5 top-10 candidates crash in these stages.

But why are they even riding in the front of the peloton in the last 3-k? Because they want to avoid losing time in case there are gaps in the peloton. When was the last time there were such gaps that a GC rider lost enough time to make a difference in Paris? Probably never happened. These guys are risking their lives to avoid losing 10 seconds. Why not just ride with the last 20 in every bunch sprint stage, maybe you'll lose a couple of seconds (and that's not even guaranteed), but at least you won't break any bones.
 

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