Leopold Konig discussion thread

[HelloDolly]

Konig has not been very impressive as a dom so far at the Tour. Today & yesterday Porte did a great turn at the front but Konig was there for all of 2 seconds it seemed. Poels has also worked hard . Yes Konig is for the final week but so is Porte , Poles and Roche but they are all doing a great amount of work. In this Tour a rider has to work everyday

 

[TMP402]

Re:

Konig has not been very impressive as a dom so far at the Tour. Today & yesterday Porte did a great turn at the front but Konig was there for all of 2 seconds it seemed. Poels has also worked hard . Yes Konig is for the final week but so is Porte , Poles and Roche but they are all doing a great amount of work. In this Tour a rider has to work everyday

So maybe Koenig is weaker on the flat than Porte or Poels? It's not of consequence yet.

As for his record, at least he top 10'd all three GTs in three years. He was never going to maintain it for the next five seasons! Even Zubeldia had horrible GTs where he finished 45th or something.

 

[Jancouver]

Re:

Konig has not been very impressive as a dom so far at the Tour. Today & yesterday Porte did a great turn at the front but Konig was there for all of 2 seconds it seemed. Poels has also worked hard . Yes Konig is for the final week but so is Porte , Poles and Roche but they are all doing a great amount of work. In this Tour a rider has to work everyday

Porte is there for the final week?

Joke of the day. We all know that he will be back at his camper by then

 

[movingtarget]

Re: Re:

Finished 17 minutes behind in the gruppetto today. What happened?

He sat up, not riding GC. He had his opportunity in the Giro, now he'll support Froome in the mountains, not on the cobbles.

Exactly, he's in the team for week's 2 and 3 and the same with Poels.

It's obvious that Sky's mountain domestiques are saving themselves. GC position does not matter at all. I think the team has done well so far. Even in the TT some of the results indicated that they were not putting in 100 %. Why would it be otherwise ?

 

[Kokoso]

Re:

Konig has not been very impressive as a dom so far at the Tour. Today & yesterday Porte did a great turn at the front but Konig was there for all of 2 seconds it seemed. Poels has also worked hard . Yes Konig is for the final week but so is Porte , Poles and Roche but they are all doing a great amount of work. In this Tour a rider has to work everyday

Quite on the contrary, I've seen him plenty at front of the peloton. Take down your anti-König glasses and you'll be able to see it (if you don't have anti-König lens beneath

 

[DBotero]

Didn't see him doing much work until now.I hope he'll be there in the mountains but i think Sky got it wrong.Henao or Vasil would have been a better choice.I don't know but Konig doesn't look for me as team player at all,he's kinda like Team Gadret.There are still enough stages to prove his worth,though.

 

[HelloDolly]

I ma not anti Konig at all. I think he is a talented GT rider .I just don;t think he is suited to being a domestique in a GT team like SKY. I think you will find in hindsight that he does not think of himself as a domestique either . If he had gone to a team like Lampre or IAM or a host of other teams he would be a leader in this Tour. Unfortunately for him he chose a team that wants a 110% from doms. Plus next year with Landa opportunites maybe less.

 

[cellardoor]

Re:

I ma not anti Konig at all. I think he is a talented GT rider .I just don;t think he is suited to being a domestique in a GT team like SKY. I think you will find in hindsight that he does not think of himself as a domestique either . If he had gone to a team like Lampre or IAM or a host of other teams he would be a leader in this Tour. Unfortunately for him he chose a team that wants a 110% from doms. Plus next year with Landa opportunites maybe less.

I think this is true, but in this particular race his post-Giro legs mean he's already totally out of contention for a top 10, so I think we will see him being the dutiful teammate later on. Perhaps the one and only time though

 

[Jaunty Monty]

I like Konig but lets not go OTT about his current position in the GT hierarchy. He came 7th in a weak tour last year (with Contador and Froome crashing out) over 14 mins down and with Peraud coming second. He rode a good Giro this year but he was some way off a podium spot.

He signed for Sky because he believes that they are the right team to help make him a GT contender eventually but not now (maybe not even with them). Being in this years tour is good experience of being in a team targeting the overall rather than a top 10 spot.

 

[Kokoso]

Didn't see him doing much work until now.I hope he'll be there in the mountains but i think Sky got it wrong.Henao or Vasil would have been a better choice.I don't know but Konig doesn't look for me as team player at all,he's kinda like Team Gadret.There are still enough stages to prove his worth,though.

Well if Henao or Kiry are better choice, than they'd be there, wouldn't they? You didn't see him work? Well, pys better attention than, if you aren't hater. He is team player, gladly accepted role as domestique at TdF and is satisfied with his position. I'm reading interviews ih his language. He's doing his domestique duties well; take Catalunya, Giro, or Tour. I've seen him pulling quite a lot, even in front of the peloton, considering he's there probably for mountains. Can't understand how it's possible how you and HelloDolly didn't see him. You'd like to have Colombian boy there, don't you. Well - accept it. Haters gonna hate.

 

[Kokoso]

is it just me or he is actually doing his domestique duties very well? I've seen him plenty of time at front of the peloton and he was the one who waited for Roche at TTT and pulled him back, too.

 

[DBotero]

Didn't see him today but maybe i wasn't paying enough attention.Oh wait,he was dropped by the Movistar train before doing any help.

 

[Kokoso]

Didn't see him today but maybe i wasn't paying enough attention.Oh wait,he was dropped by the Movistar train before doing any help.

Why the sarcasm? Oh wait, because you are brainless hater.

 

[DBotero]

Didn't see him today but maybe i wasn't paying enough attention.Oh wait,he was dropped by the Movistar train before doing any help.

Why the sarcasm? Oh wait, because you are brainless hater.

 

[wwabbit]

Didn't see him today but maybe i wasn't paying enough attention.Oh wait,he was dropped by the Movistar train before doing any help.

I'm wondering if he was told to save himself for tomorrow, in case something like 2013 Stage 9 happens again.

 

[HelloDolly]

Didn't see him today but maybe i wasn't paying enough attention.Oh wait,he was dropped by the Movistar train before doing any help.

I'm wondering if he was told to save himself for tomorrow, in case something like 2013 Stage 9 happens again.

He was dropped ....but I wouldn't sweat it as he was in good company

 

[del1962]

Like all those who rode Giro to finish, not great at the moment

 

[HelloDolly]

Re:

Like all those who rode Giro to finish, not great at the moment

??

You mean like Kreuziger, Rogers, Uran, Kruijswijk and Hesjedal who all rode the full Giro and have been riding hard in first 8 stages while Koing was kept in reserve and rested (with Porte) and yet they are all climbing better

 

[Vasilis]

Re: Re:

Like all those who rode Giro to finish, not great at the moment

??

You mean like Kreuziger, Rogers, Uran, Kruijswijk and Hesjedal who all rode the full Giro and have been riding hard in first 8 stages while Koing was kept in reserve and rested (with Porte) and yet they are all climbing better

König also rode a full Giro and was with the front groups on the first 8 stages. Kruijswijk and Hesjedal, however, weren't. I don't think 'resting' is the right word for following Astana as they tear the race apart.

 

[Kokoso]

What's up with this guy recently? Nowhere to be seen, nowhere to be heard of, no mentions from the team about training camps or whatever activity. He isn't so bad cyclist that one would expect this. Is Sky developing him into secret weapon? Or is he actually disliked?

 

[DBotero]

Re:

What's up with this guy recently? Nowhere to be seen, nowhere to be heard of, no mentions from the team about training camps or whatever activity. He isn't so bad cyclist that one would expect this. Is Sky developing him into secret weapon? Or is he actually disliked?

He sustained some injuries in Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana and he was recovering for those.Judging from his twitter he was suppose to go in South Africa but because of injury he missed that opportunity.

 

[pastronef]

Re:

What's up with this guy recently? Nowhere to be seen, nowhere to be heard of, no mentions from the team about training camps or whatever activity. He isn't so bad cyclist that one would expect this. Is Sky developing him into secret weapon? Or is he actually disliked?

he planned to go in South Africa with Froome/Boswell, but he crashed in the Andalucia TT, so he stayed home to recover a bit https://www.instagram.com/p/BBxaFFpraAd/
and then train again in Monaco

he'll race Tirreno_Adriatico

 

[myrideissteelerthanyours]

Re:

What's up with this guy recently? Nowhere to be seen, nowhere to be heard of, no mentions from the team about training camps or whatever activity. He isn't so bad cyclist that one would expect this. Is Sky developing him into secret weapon? Or is he actually disliked?

Recently did some prep races: 9th Trofeo Pollenca-Port de Andratx and 10th Overall Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana

He talked about training camp on his blog on the sky website: "...spending December and January in Mallorca we had good food and all the facilities that we needed. It's a really nice hotel with nice staff and that's important.
Read more at http://www.teamsky.com/teamsky/home/article/71486#6DA5ks29c4i0Hmct.99"

He's on the dream team going to the Giro: Lopez, Knees, Viviani, Boswell, Landa, Konig, Henao, Henao, Intxausti, and Kiryienka where Konig will get to ride for himself as he has now top-tenned all the GTs.

If I had to guess Id say Sky is developing him into the next BMC tour GC leader. Ideally both he and Landa will target Giro then have good form at the Tour and work the mountain train for the Dawgfather for years to come.

 

[DBotero]

Re: Re:

What's up with this guy recently? Nowhere to be seen, nowhere to be heard of, no mentions from the team about training camps or whatever activity. He isn't so bad cyclist that one would expect this. Is Sky developing him into secret weapon? Or is he actually disliked?

he planned to go in South Africa with Froome/Boswell, but he crashed in the Andalucia TT, so he stayed home to recover a bit https://www.instagram.com/p/BBxaFFpraAd/
and then train again in Monaco

he'll race Tirreno_Adriatico

He didn't ride this race,did he

 

[pastronef]

Re: Re:

What's up with this guy recently? Nowhere to be seen, nowhere to be heard of, no mentions from the team about training camps or whatever activity. He isn't so bad cyclist that one would expect this. Is Sky developing him into secret weapon? Or is he actually disliked?

he planned to go in South Africa with Froome/Boswell, but he crashed in the Andalucia TT, so he stayed home to recover a bit https://www.instagram.com/p/BBxaFFpraAd/
and then train again in Monaco

he'll race Tirreno_Adriatico

He didn't ride this race,did he

yep, sorry it was the Valencia TT, not Andalucia