Mikel Landa Discussion Thread

[coinneach]

I really Landa, and hesitate about posting this, but......

I just wonder if he's not going to waste his talent unless he toughens up?
On Blockhaus he lost ca 26 minutes, ok it was a crash
But he lost ca 21 minutes to Thomas, who had to have his dislocated shoulder put back in.
Then he had to be sent for scans to convince him he wasn't seriously injured.
Last year, he pulled out sick before a stage started.

Of course, I don't know what's been wrong with him, and I hope I am doing him a huge disservice, but
Does he know rule 5?

 

[Pricey_sky]

I really Landa, and hesitate about posting this, but......

I just wonder if he's not going to waste his talent unless he toughens up?
On Blockhaus he lost ca 26 minutes, ok it was a crash
But he lost ca 21 minutes to Thomas, who had to have his dislocated shoulder put back in.
Then he had to be sent for scans to convince him he wasn't seriously injured.
Last year, he pulled out sick before a stage started.

Of course, I don't know what's been wrong with him, and I hope I am doing him a huge disservice, but
Does he know rule 5?

Last year he started the stage despite being sick and then was in trouble on the first climb so that part is wrong. Plus it looked like he was in a pretty bad state after the crash this year, he obviously felt bad.

I think it shows toughness to get stupidly beaten twice in a row the way he did and still keep going a third time, eventually winning a stage.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

The Tour is very nearly the sole focus of Sky's season. If they think he will add 0.1% to Froome's chances, they will take him and not give a second's thought to whether this means his season is over. Sky riders get the big bucks and they do as they are told.

Anyway, it's not particularly obvious that splitting Vuelta leadership between Froome and Landa would be to Sky's advantage in that race.

 

[Jolene]

I really Landa, and hesitate about posting this, but......

I just wonder if he's not going to waste his talent unless he toughens up?
On Blockhaus he lost ca 26 minutes, ok it was a crash
But he lost ca 21 minutes to Thomas, who had to have his dislocated shoulder put back in.
Then he had to be sent for scans to convince him he wasn't seriously injured.
Last year, he pulled out sick before a stage started.

Of course, I don't know what's been wrong with him, and I hope I am doing him a huge disservice, but
Does he know rule 5?

You did see the size of his leg, right?

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

The Tour is very nearly the sole focus of Sky's season. If they think he will add 0.1% to Froome's chances, they will take him and not give a second's thought to whether this means his season is over. Sky riders get the big bucks and they do as they are told.

Anyway, it's not particularly obvious that splitting Vuelta leadership between Froome and Landa would be to Sky's advantage in that race.

That would mean Landa and Thomas wasn't at the Giro in the first place, so needless to say, what you are saying is wrong. They have a more broad focus than you are giving them credit for, but if Froome says so.

 

[rick james]

Landa and his 20k pulls on the front at Le tour last year were amazing...But sky should save him for the Vuelta, the teams getting mentioned in the sky thread are strong enough for Le tour

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re: Re:

The Tour is very nearly the sole focus of Sky's season. If they think he will add 0.1% to Froome's chances, they will take him and not give a second's thought to whether this means his season is over. Sky riders get the big bucks and they do as they are told.

Anyway, it's not particularly obvious that splitting Vuelta leadership between Froome and Landa would be to Sky's advantage in that race.

That would mean Landa and Thomas wasn't at the Giro in the first place, so needless to say, what you are saying is wrong. They have a more broad focus than you are giving them credit for, but if Froome says so.

The Giro is the carrot they offer the best of the helpers, the ones not at a point in their career where they have traded in all of their personal ambitions for the fat Murdoch cash. But the Tour comes first and the Tour comes second and the Tour in all likelihood comes third too. What Landa might hypothetically achieve in the late season will not be a factor with any weight in their decision. What Landa can offer Froome compared with what someone else can offer Froome will be the sole determinant.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

The Tour is very nearly the sole focus of Sky's season. If they think he will add 0.1% to Froome's chances, they will take him and not give a second's thought to whether this means his season is over. Sky riders get the big bucks and they do as they are told.

Anyway, it's not particularly obvious that splitting Vuelta leadership between Froome and Landa would be to Sky's advantage in that race.

That would mean Landa and Thomas wasn't at the Giro in the first place, so needless to say, what you are saying is wrong. They have a more broad focus than you are giving them credit for, but if Froome says so.

The Giro is the carrot they offer the best of the helpers, the ones not at a point in their career where they have traded in all of their personal ambitions for the fat Murdoch cash. But the Tour comes first and the Tour comes second and the Tour in all likelihood comes third too. What Landa might hypothetically achieve in the late season will not be a factor with any weight in their decision. What Landa can offer Froome compared with what someone else can offer Froome will be the sole determinant.

I don't necessarily disagree, just saying that what you said plain and simple was wrong. They care, especially for the Giro and the Vuelta and Froome and Sky specially want to have better domestiques in the Vuelta.

 

[Scarponi]

Mythical out climbing Hirt

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re: Re:

The Tour is very nearly the sole focus of Sky's season. If they think he will add 0.1% to Froome's chances, they will take him and not give a second's thought to whether this means his season is over. Sky riders get the big bucks and they do as they are told.

Anyway, it's not particularly obvious that splitting Vuelta leadership between Froome and Landa would be to Sky's advantage in that race.

That would mean Landa and Thomas wasn't at the Giro in the first place, so needless to say, what you are saying is wrong. They have a more broad focus than you are giving them credit for, but if Froome says so.

The Giro is the carrot they offer the best of the helpers, the ones not at a point in their career where they have traded in all of their personal ambitions for the fat Murdoch cash. But the Tour comes first and the Tour comes second and the Tour in all likelihood comes third too. What Landa might hypothetically achieve in the late season will not be a factor with any weight in their decision. What Landa can offer Froome compared with what someone else can offer Froome will be the sole determinant.

I don't necessarily disagree, just saying that what you said plain and simple was wrong. They care, especially for the Giro and the Vuelta and Froome and Sky specially want to have better domestiques in the Vuelta.

For some reason your eyes seem to keep skipping over the first two words in "very nearly the sole focus". Of course Sky want to win every race, but nothing comes before the Tour and nothing gets in the way of maximising their Tour chances. The only thing that can occasionally outweigh their obsession with the next Tour is making sure that they can win the next three or four or five Tours. That last part means that they use the Giro to keep key riders happy. Thomas and Landa got their shot for the year. If Landa gets another it will be because they think he is surplus to requirements at this Tour. Landa fans are interested in maximising Landa's chances of doing something big for himself. Sky has an entirely different agenda.

 

[Squire]

Well, if Landa goes to the Tour and manages to find any sort of form, Sky will have one of the most frightening mountain trains ever. Landa, Nieve, Poels, Henao, Thomas, Kwiatkowski... It rivals the 2005 Discovery team.

 

[coinneach]

I really Landa, and hesitate about posting this, but......

I just wonder if he's not going to waste his talent unless he toughens up?
On Blockhaus he lost ca 26 minutes, ok it was a crash
But he lost ca 21 minutes to Thomas, who had to have his dislocated shoulder put back in.
Then he had to be sent for scans to convince him he wasn't seriously injured.
Last year, he pulled out sick before a stage started.

Of course, I don't know what's been wrong with him, and I hope I am doing him a huge disservice, but
Does he know rule 5?

Last year he started the stage despite being sick and then was in trouble on the first climb so that part is wrong. Plus it looked like he was in a pretty bad state after the crash this year, he obviously felt bad.

I think it shows toughness to get stupidly beaten twice in a row the way he did and still keep going a third time, eventually winning a stage.

I stand corrected: toughness and talent, but I suspect DB and other DSs think a bit like me.

As regards the tour or Vuelta, I think Froomes main focus this year is the Vuelta.....sky's is the Tour, so we will see who will win

 

[rick james]

Mythical out climbing Hirt

lets put things into context, what happened to sky and Landa during this Giro and to come away with what they have they have done really well, its almost like people haver totally forget about the massive crash that sky had and the damage done to Landa

you can have cheap little jabs if you want but id rather appreciate the fight that Landa and sky have shown since that crash

 

[yaco]

I really Landa, and hesitate about posting this, but......

I just wonder if he's not going to waste his talent unless he toughens up?
On Blockhaus he lost ca 26 minutes, ok it was a crash
But he lost ca 21 minutes to Thomas, who had to have his dislocated shoulder put back in.
Then he had to be sent for scans to convince him he wasn't seriously injured.
Last year, he pulled out sick before a stage started.

Of course, I don't know what's been wrong with him, and I hope I am doing him a huge disservice, but
Does he know rule 5?

Last year he started the stage despite being sick and then was in trouble on the first climb so that part is wrong. Plus it looked like he was in a pretty bad state after the crash this year, he obviously felt bad.

I think it shows toughness to get stupidly beaten twice in a row the way he did and still keep going a third time, eventually winning a stage.

I stand corrected: toughness and talent, but I suspect DB and other DSs think a bit like me.

As regards the tour or Vuelta, I think Froomes main focus this year is the Vuelta.....sky's is the Tour, so we will see who will win

Agree - Froomeis desperate to win the Vuelta after so many near misses.

 

[DNP-Old]

Fell in love with him this Giro, what a talent. He said to AS he'll return to the Giro next year. Judging by his third week performances, he can win it.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Imagine Landa in 2015 or 'just' 2017 form smashing up double Zoncolan.

 

[offbyone]

I wasn't a fan prior to this race, but the tenacity he showed after that horrible accident really impressed me. Not only did he win a stage and place in others, he wins the mountain jersey and still pulls off a top 20.

 

[Mr.White]

I wasn't a fan prior to this race, and I'm not a fan after this race. He was good, but nothing extraordinary for a guy who supposed to aim for the title. He was only serious climber in the breakaways and in KOM competition. His rivals were Lulu, Fraile, Visconti, Rolland... I don't think he'll ever win a GT. He climbs good, on his day very good. But he has bad days and he's a bad TT-er. He lacks consistency for a GT title.

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

Re:

I wasn't a fan prior to this race, and I'm not a fan after this race. He was good, but nothing extraordinary for a guy who supposed to aim for the title. He was only serious climber in the breakaways and in KOM competition. His rivals were Lulu, Fraile, Visconti, Rolland... I don't think he'll ever win a GT. He climbs good, on his day very good. But he has bad days and he's a bad TT-er. He lacks consistency for a GT title.

Getting absolutely destroyed in the first-week crash might have something to do with it. Always amaze me how people seem to underestimate the effect crashes can have on riders. Those times I have hit the ground at speeds above 40km/h I haven't been back on the bike for AT LEAST 10 days afterwards. These guys are back the day after expected to perform at 100%.

 

[rick james]

Re:

I wasn't a fan prior to this race, and I'm not a fan after this race. He was good, but nothing extraordinary for a guy who supposed to aim for the title. He was only serious climber in the breakaways and in KOM competition. His rivals were Lulu, Fraile, Visconti, Rolland... I don't think he'll ever win a GT. He climbs good, on his day very good. But he has bad days and he's a bad TT-er. He lacks consistency for a GT title.

do we just ignore the fact that nearly his full team was taken out by a motorbike? he got injured through no fault of his own...he was always on the back foot after that crash

to get out the Giro what he did was amazing

 

[Angliru]

Re:

Sounds like he'd like to stay at Sky, which is good news if it happens and he gets more chances to go for GC.

It's only good news if you're a huge Sky fan, like the fact that one team is unproportionally loaded with gc talent, and enjoy the continued dominance/ho-hum nature of the past few Tours. A rider like Landa, from the perspective of a fan, should be the leader of a team with his options open as to his goals, without having to compromise his own ambitions by working for someone else. Sky would be just fine without his services at the Tour.

 

[ice&fire]

Re:

Imagine Landa in 2015 or 'just' 2017 form smashing up double Zoncolan.

Historic evidence shows that Landa can only win Giro stages in places where Pantani won

 

[deValtos]

Re: Re:

Sounds like he'd like to stay at Sky, which is good news if it happens and he gets more chances to go for GC.

It's only good news if you're a huge Sky fan, like the fact that one team is unproportionally loaded with gc talent, and enjoy the continued dominance/ho-hum nature of the past few Tours. A rider like Landa, from the perspective of a fan, should be the leader of a team with his options open as to his goals, without having to compromise his own ambitions by working for someone else. Sky would be just fine without his services at the Tour.

But he was the leader for the Giro. I think most people were excited to see how Sky&Landa were going to do before the crash. Are we supposed to be more excited if he's on Bahrain for example?

 

[Angliru]

Mythical out climbing Hirt

lets put things into context, what happened to sky and Landa during this Giro and to come away with what they have they have done really well, its almost like people haver totally forget about the massive crash that sky had and the damage done to Landa

you can have cheap little jabs if you want but id rather appreciate the fight that Landa and sky have shown since that crash

As if someone is foreign to cheap little jabs...let me reference your every other post in Contador's thread. Never hesitant to post something derogatory. Keep up the good work.

 

[Angliru]

Re: Re:

Sounds like he'd like to stay at Sky, which is good news if it happens and he gets more chances to go for GC.

It's only good news if you're a huge Sky fan, like the fact that one team is unproportionally loaded with gc talent, and enjoy the continued dominance/ho-hum nature of the past few Tours. A rider like Landa, from the perspective of a fan, should be the leader of a team with his options open as to his goals, without having to compromise his own ambitions by working for someone else. Sky would be just fine without his services at the Tour.

But he was the leader for the Giro. I think most people were excited to see how Sky&Landa were going to do before the crash. Are we supposed to be more excited if he's on Bahrain for example?

I would be but I can only speak for my self.