Leopold Konig discussion thread

[carton]

Why are things so black and white in here sometimes? He's coming of a knee injury. It takes a while to get back to fitness in cycling sometimes. Look at LeMond's 1987 and 1988 results (or lack thereof). He's 29. More than likely he'll be back to some kind of form. Knee injuries are particularly tricky. But it's very rare that riders can't make a full recovery (it does happen, though). He most likely won't come back to win Grand Tours, but I don't think that was ever in the cards for him, his own self-confidence notwithstanding.

I've seen no evidence that motivation is really an issue. Froome, Quintana, Contador all have their pet causes they support. Those haven't kept them from winning most recent GTs. But even if motivation is an issue, there have been many others who have seemed to have struggled with it as well: Visentini, Betancur, Cipollini, Lachlan Morton, to name a few, who have nonetheless either made a good hash of it or are still going strong.

 

[GuyIncognito]

Re: Re:

I heard Niki Terpstra eats exclusively baby kittens. He is clearly suffering from this because he can't compete in the mountains.

As opposed to other riders eating mature kittens? :twisted: :lol:

Well, you can't just eat them before they're ripe, surely?

 

[klintE]

Re: Re:

The guy's really a vegan?

Does it matter?

Diet doesn't matter in pro-level sport?

I don't see people asking if it's really true that Van Garderen is a meat eater.

He's really meatan? (only meat meals)

 

[liamito]

Not on the list for Poland, which also means probably no Vuelta :sad:

 

[del1962]

Still has knee problems, pulled out of Czech race

 

[glassmoon]

looks like he's done... basically (IMHO).

 

[HelloDolly]

Re:

looks like he's done... basically (IMHO).

Is the knee problem so bad that he cannot race again ?

I remember this rider saying a few years ago that he would win the Tour

 

[movingtarget]

I wonder what sort of knee problem it is ? Tendonitis ? You often hear of cyclists have problems with their achilles or tendonitis, there seems to be more having issues with their iliac artery as well.

 

[glassmoon]

Re: Re:

looks like he's done... basically (IMHO).

Is the knee problem so bad that he cannot race again ?

I remember this rider saying a few years ago that he would win the Tour

well nowadays, he's just the health issues and political tweets
this knee problem of his seems taking waaay too long already. he eventually tried some races but DNF (almost) all of them so...
i'd rather be wrong about him racing on at least previous level but it certainly does't look very optimistic. hope is still there though.

 

[del1962]

Not a great start in the Tour of Turkey losing nearly 6 minutes on flat stage

 

[Laplaz]

Re:

Not a great start in the Tour of Turkey losing nearly 6 minutes on flat stage

He was pulling in the last 30 km...

 

[HelloDolly]

Re: Re:

Not a great start in the Tour of Turkey losing nearly 6 minutes on flat stage

He was pulling in the last 30 km...

Training for next years Giro me thinks

 

[hazaran]

Race is heating up in the Tour of Turkey, König is now only 2 minutes away from a podium.. reverse podium that is. Stick a fork in him.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re:

Race is heating up in the Tour of Turkey, König is now only 2 minutes away from a podium.. reverse podium that is. Stick a fork in him.

He's there to get some kms in his legs and has been working on the front every day for long periods. I just don't understand why people keep insisting he's awful when he's shipping time he wasn't trying to hold on to.

He's had a long, difficult, return from injury and was having difficulty finishing races during his return. Now he's finishing races after working to control breaks. That's a significant step forward and I'd guess he's pretty happy to be moving in the right direction finally.

 

[Squire]

Now, will people shut up?

 

[tobydawq]

What's up with this one? At career's end?

 

[Amazinmets87]

Re: Re:

I heard Niki Terpstra eats exclusively baby kittens. He is clearly suffering from this because he can't compete in the mountains.

As opposed to other riders eating mature kittens? :twisted: :lol:

Sounds like an oxymoron

 

[Jancouver]

Re:

What's up with this one? At career's end?

Very likely ... IMO, he is just pedaling around to collect the paycheck and will retire after his current contract is up.

 

[movingtarget]

Didn't he have a lot of knee trouble ?

 

[HelloDolly]

So will he ever cycle again ?? Surely Bora dont have to pay him if he doesn't ride another year ?? What is it Quickstep said the other day about one of their injured riders ?

 

[glassmoon]

Re:

So will he ever cycle again ?? Surely Bora dont have to pay him if he doesn't ride another year ?? What is it Quickstep said the other day about one of their injured riders ?

Last update I found is from around Sept. 20th @ Czech "news site"
https://www.tyden.cz/rubriky/sport/ostatni-sporty/koniga-nadale-trapi-zdravi-verime-ze-se-vrati-zni-z-jeho-staje_496785.html

"Konig is still having (unspecified) medical issues but Bora is still believing that he'll eventually come back to racing. Konig also asked Bora to not further specify or publish more details about his medical condition..."
Ralph Denk for DPA agency.

 

[search]

and there's something about lengthy injuries in the joint agreement, saying that the wages can be reduced to 50% after 3 months of injury - but (the way I understand it) just for a period of another three months. No idea what happens afterwards, as we are talking about over 1 1/2 years in König's case...

 

[GuyIncognito]

I've forgotten by now. What was the story last year about not wanting to follow the team's medical advice?

 

[lartiste]

In general Konig is specific personality. Since he is unable to race again, he is hiding and not communicating even with Bora and he is most probably in my opinion fighting with depressions.

Second is what I understood from local Czech media, that his body structure is not really appropriate for cycling and that he had to push himself more than others to compete with cyclists with more appropriate body structure. Therefore his body is worn out. But who knows.

My conclusion is, that he will not be able to compete again. First chance to recover is very small, second no team will sign someone who is injured for more than a year.

 

[janraaskalt]

Re:

second no team will sign someone who is injured for more than a year.

He is still in the Bora roster for 2019. Did he have a long-term contract or did they give him an extension? In the latter case they must be optimistic for getting fit to race.