Michael Valgren thread

[Pippo_San]

Re: Re:

Valgren was screwed by the organization that decided to add the extreme climb. Pretty certain he would've been very close to gold today with just the Igls climb

Pretty certain the race might have been raced slightly differently with just the Igls climb.

Also pretty sure the organisers didn't add the Höll climb just to screw Valgren.

How could you...!? It was CLEARLY there to screw Fulgren golden epic awesomeness.
He's gonna crush everyone in Lombardia making a solo ride from the Sormano.

 

[RedheadDane]

I'm pretty sure he's not riding Lombardia.

 

[tobydawq]

I think you may be right.

https://twitter.com/MichaelValgren/status/1046781237300535296

A pity.

 

[Valv.Piti]

I have no clue to why he doesnt ride Paris-Tours and Lombardia in this shape. Unambitious IMO.

 

[tobydawq]

Re:

I have no clue to why he doesnt ride Paris-Tours and Lombardia in this shape. Unambitious IMO.

Astana will not participate in Paris-Tours.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

I have no clue to why he doesnt ride Paris-Tours and Lombardia in this shape. Unambitious IMO.

Astana will not participate in Paris-Tours.

Oh ok, then it makes more sense.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Horrible year, horrible TdF. He has one chance left to win a stage.

To me, it almost seems like he doesnt even care or try. But he has always come across that way to me, but I mean, has he even attempted to go in the breaks? He cannot possibly be that bad that he even cant try.

 

[Broccolidwarf]

Re:

Horrible year, horrible TdF. He has one chance left to win a stage.

To me, it almost seems like he doesnt even care or try. But he has always come across that way to me, but I mean, has he even attempted to go in the breaks? He cannot possibly be that bad that he even cant try.

He said he was going to try and hit the break tomorrow..... but then, he has said that on 3 stages earlier, without even trying, so yeah......... "we'll see", as the riders love to say, to every question they get

I don't care if he succeds..... I just want to see him at least try!

I will say though, I do not expect the GC teams to try and control tomorrow, because their captains don't want a hard race anyway, with the TT and Tourmalet coming up, so the break will have a shot, there is a limit to how much Asgreen can do

 

[Valv.Piti]

Ofc, he can try tomorrow, but he has absolutely no chance of winning unless he gets an extremely lucky break and gets away with sprinters and rouleurs. He can win the stage to Gap at this point.

The weird thing is, he has had 3-5 chances already and doesnt even try. Now its basically too late.

 

[del1962]

The move to DD hasn't worked out so far, much like many other riders who go there

 

[tobydawq]

Re:

Ofc, he can try tomorrow, but he has absolutely no chance of winning unless he gets an extremely lucky break and gets away with sprinters and rouleurs. He can win the stage to Gap at this point.

The weird thing is, he has had 3-5 chances already and doesnt even try. Now its basically too late.

He said that he only tried on stage 9 because he thought the sprinters would reel in the breaks on stages 5 and 8. A misread on stage 8, but if he thought stage 9 was the day, it may have been a sensible choice at the time to not go. Unfortunately, he didn't get away on stage 9.

He seems to be climbing quite well, so I wouldn't put it past him to make a decent result tomorrow. In fact, there are not too many strong climbers who are not locked for tomorrow's stage (I even had to include him in my fantasy team for that very reason).

 

[Broccolidwarf]

Re:

Ofc, he can try tomorrow, but he has absolutely no chance of winning unless he gets an extremely lucky break and gets away with sprinters and rouleurs. He can win the stage to Gap at this point.

The weird thing is, he has had 3-5 chances already and doesnt even try. Now its basically too late.

If he is in top shape, it is not too late...... he did get 7th at the world championships (incidentally just ahead of Alaphilippe and Pinot), so should be counted amongst the guys that can win stages in the mountains.

Whether he is in top shape, and has morale, is entirely another matter.

 

[Valv.Piti]

I'll give you Valgren has a smal, small chance of winning today. But the rest of the Pyrenees and Alps? Way too hard for him. Think you are overrating his climbing saying he is amongst the riders who can win in the mountains. Pseudo mountain stages like today, maybe.

 

[Broccolidwarf]

Re:

I'll give you Valgren has a smal, small chance of winning today. But the rest of the Pyrenees and Alps? Way too hard for him. Think you are overrating his climbing saying he is amongst the riders who can win in the mountains. Pseudo mountain stages like today, maybe.

I agree today is the only realistic day in the mountains.
The other days in the pyrenees and alps will be GC stages.
Stage 17 is however an obvious chance.

Btw, I am not saying he is a climber, not at all...... he will have to go in the long break, to succeed on a mountain stage.

But he is one of the classics guys who can climb.

A day like today, where the GC guy are not riding hard, the long break can succeed.

Whether he is in shape, is another matter, he may break on one of the climbs, when Yates, Bilbao, etc. turn it up..... I don't think he is, I think he looks chubby...... but I hope for the best.

 

[Broccolidwarf]

Valgren was down in the same crash as Fuglsang yesterday, and apparently hit his ribs pretty hard, so don't expect too much from him today.

 

[Akuryo]

Re:

Valgren was down in the same crash as Fuglsang yesterday, and apparently hit his ribs pretty hard, so don't expect too much from him today.

Dont worry, I did not expect anything anyway.

 

[RedheadDane]

Re:

Valgren was down in the same crash as Fuglsang yesterday, and apparently hit his ribs pretty hard, so don't expect too much from him today.

However, he says he's lucky he wasn't hurt.
His definition of "not hurt" is not the same as mine...

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

Valgren was down in the same crash as Fuglsang yesterday, and apparently hit his ribs pretty hard, so don't expect too much from him today.

Dont worry, I did not expect anything anyway.

Nope. Horrible Tour for him.

 

[Bardamu]

Re: Re:

Valgren was down in the same crash as Fuglsang yesterday, and apparently hit his ribs pretty hard, so don't expect too much from him today.

Dont worry, I did not expect anything anyway.

Nope. Horrible Tour for him.

Any reason why he has been utter shite this year?

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

Valgren was down in the same crash as Fuglsang yesterday, and apparently hit his ribs pretty hard, so don't expect too much from him today.

Dont worry, I did not expect anything anyway.

Nope. Horrible Tour for him.

Any reason why he has been utter shite this year?

Dimension Data

 

[Anderis]

First win since 2018, congrats!

 

[postmanhat]

Valgren's entire seasons seem to be centred around peaking for the World Champs these days ? Doesn't seem to have had any form the rest of the years for about 4 years now

 

[Anderis]

Valgren's entire seasons seem to be centred around peaking for the World Champs these days ? Doesn't seem to have had any form the rest of the years for about 4 years now

He was pretty strong during the Dauphine this year.

I think the entire impression might be just a coincidence. I think he had his spring ruined by health issues more than once since 2018. This year, for example, he fractured his hand in February.

 

[yaco]

Valgren should be doing a bit better but he got his best results in Amstel Gold and Het Nieuwsblaad when Astana had multiple riders in a smaller lead group.

 

[Strawberry_Jams]

put a bet on him to win the worlds after the win yesterday, clearly in good form and thought he could slip away while everyone looked at Wout etc. No chance of that now after two wins in two days.