Mikel Landa Discussion Thread

[ggusta]

Re: Re:

Can't see him winning the Giro anymore. Even with Cervinia. In 1994 Pantani eventually couldn't beat Berzin in the end. How should Landa get 4 minutes!? It's a too huge task to ask for.

Pantani was coming down with bronchitis for the last two mountain stages

I'm not sure Contador's lead is enough if Landa is allowed to go full *** the rest of the Giro

I don't think Contador is at the point in his career where he can lose a 4 minute lead unless it involves another mechanical or heaven forbid, an unfortunate incident that begins with the word "c". All he really has to do is follow Landa. Aru is too much of a threat to other riders potential podium positions for other teams to allow him to go on some epic journey without their teams responding.

if he try follow Landa, he is out, not just 4 minutes, but 10.

I think he is proud, but not so studpid to try always follow Landa.

We saw yesterday in Aprica that is not easy to follow Landa.

If Landa attacks he will throw himself on the ground and abandon the race immediately. And that's just in the hotel lobby.

 

[lejarreta]

Re: Re:

If Landa could ride a tt he wouldn't be four minutes down. On straight time he'd be in pink.

On every other stage he's been doing a pretty good job of "keeping up". In fact better than Contador two stages ago.

TTing is part of stage racing.
Lost 4 minutes in the TT? TOUGH LUCK. There is 60km of ITT in this race. If he cannot make up the time lost in those 60km, in the mountains, he's not the best allround rider in the race.

OK, not good in this ITT. AND domestique until this week (something Contador hasn't to do). Landa's ITT skills can be improved if well managed, wait and see. Not this Giro, but let's see in future grand tours.

 

[ggusta]

Re: Re:

If Landa could ride a tt he wouldn't be four minutes down. On straight time he'd be in pink.

On every other stage he's been doing a pretty good job of "keeping up". In fact better than Contador two stages ago.

TTing is part of stage racing.
Lost 4 minutes in the TT? TOUGH LUCK. There is 60km of ITT in this race. If he cannot make up the time lost in those 60km, in the mountains, he's not the best allround rider in the race.

OK, not good in this ITT. AND domestique until this week (something Contador hasn't to do). Landa's ITT skills can be improved if well managed, wait and see. Not this Giro, but let's see in future grand tours.

Not only is Landa a superior Domestique, he also is a better sprinter, descender, bunny hopper, track stander and tells better stories while pacelining. He also flosses twice twice daily and calls his mom every day.

And smart, too, he can pert near cipher any kinda numbers you can imagine. And clever, you could lock him in just about any elevator with nothing but a stick of gum and disposable lighter and if there's a bomb on the outside of the elevator that'll go off in an hour, he can almost always get out. He's like the Eye-talian mcGyver. Vino and secret police teach him how.

 

[Taxus4a]

Re: Re:

Can't see him winning the Giro anymore. Even with Cervinia. In 1994 Pantani eventually couldn't beat Berzin in the end. How should Landa get 4 minutes!? It's a too huge task to ask for.

Pantani was coming down with bronchitis for the last two mountain stages

I'm not sure Contador's lead is enough if Landa is allowed to go full *** the rest of the Giro

I don't think Contador is at the point in his career where he can lose a 4 minute lead unless it involves another mechanical or heaven forbid, an unfortunate incident that begins with the word "c". All he really has to do is follow Landa. Aru is too much of a threat to other riders potential podium positions for other teams to allow him to go on some epic journey without their teams responding.

if he try follow Landa, he is out, not just 4 minutes, but 10.

I think he is proud, but not so studpid to try always follow Landa.

We saw yesterday in Aprica that is not easy to follow Landa.

If Landa attacks he will throw himself on the ground and abandon the race immediately. And that's just in the hotel lobby.

Landa is a very clever rider (he is engineer, as Pozzovivo), and he study every important day and every corner...

He will know how to handle this. Maybe is impossible, maybe no.He is not allowed to attack, but...I hope so...

I ask for a picture to Vinokourov in Ponferrada, but today I would be so polite.

 

[oncehadhair]

Re: Re:

If Landa could ride a tt he wouldn't be four minutes down. On straight time he'd be in pink.

On every other stage he's been doing a pretty good job of "keeping up". In fact better than Contador two stages ago.

TTing is part of stage racing.
Lost 4 minutes in the TT? TOUGH LUCK. There is 60km of ITT in this race. If he cannot make up the time lost in those 60km, in the mountains, he's not the best allround rider in the race.

Would think that someone who posts as much as you would try reading my post and the previous posters it is responding to before you go straight into attack mode.

I didn't say he should be in pink and I'm not trying to claim he's the best rider, just answering the previous poster who claimed landa couldn't keep up. The evidence says he can.

 

[ray j willings]

Landa has been great. Bertie needs to focus on saving energy and winning and really has nothing to prove.
Its a big time gap. If I was Landa and feeling good I would go for a long one "Landis style" It would at least make for an exciting finish.
The other thing that will make the next few days interesting is that its game on whatever happens, crashes, bike mishaps etc . Its war. No one is going to wait, Brilliant. that's how it should be IMO.

 

[Jalgratas95]

Re:

Landa has been great. Bertie needs to focus on saving energy and winning and really has nothing to prove.
Its a big time gap. If I was Landa and feeling good I would go for a long one "Landis style" It would at least make for an exciting finish.
The other thing that will make the next few days interesting is that its game on whatever happens, crashes, bike mishaps etc . Its war. No one is going to wait, Brilliant. that's how it should be IMO.

I don't think Landa is kind of a rider who can do very long attacks. I mean his TT is quite bad so this says something about long attacks.

And it's not like the TT track was short and flat either.

 

[Ataraxus]

Re:

Landa has been great. Bertie needs to focus on saving energy and winning and really has nothing to prove.
Its a big time gap. If I was Landa and feeling good I would go for a long one "Landis style" It would at least make for an exciting finish.
The other thing that will make the next few days interesting is that its game on whatever happens, crashes, bike mishaps etc . Its war. No one is going to wait, Brilliant. that's how it should be IMO.

Wow, it's one of the few times I agree with you.
Anyway well said. I would like Landa (or any other in the top 10) to attack like mad bud I doubt Martinelli will risk his podium position. Especially if Aru's performance is weak (which it seems to be actually).

 

[rm7]

Rolf Sørensen said on danish TV2 that he talked with Landa's trainer Michele Bartoli before the Giro, and asked him which riders he should be be expecting big things from.

Bartoli answered: "Landa, he is going to win this Giro"

And Rolf Sørensen didn't really take him serious until a few days ago.

 

[SeriousSam]

I'd love those stories if they came out before the fact.

 

[Netserk]

He mentioned it in the beginning of the first week...

 

[SeriousSam]

I'd love those stories if they weren't bollocks so often. Anyone can make lots of wild predictions and have some of them turn out true every once in a while.

 

[rm7]

Yeah, but i dont know why he would make such a story up... It's not like he was trying to say "what did I tell you". It's was more like he didn't take his friends comments serious, but OTHER people already knew that Landa was good.

 

[IndianCyclist]

Landa was already good at Trentino. Seeing him chase Porte, i think Porte was pretty surprised too. But today he got screwed out of 2nd because probably he does not have a contract with Astana yet

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Re:

Landa was already good at Trentino. Seeing him chase Porte, i think Porte was pretty surprised too. But today he got screwed out of 2nd because probably he does not have a contract with Astana yet

The guy could have gone early. Its been done before and he clearly will not have a problem fixing a contract for next year in any case.

 

[Taxus4a]

Re: Re:

Landa has been great. Bertie needs to focus on saving energy and winning and really has nothing to prove.
Its a big time gap. If I was Landa and feeling good I would go for a long one "Landis style" It would at least make for an exciting finish.
The other thing that will make the next few days interesting is that its game on whatever happens, crashes, bike mishaps etc . Its war. No one is going to wait, Brilliant. that's how it should be IMO.

I don't think Landa is kind of a rider who can do very long attacks. I mean his TT is quite bad so this says something about long attacks.

And it's not like the TT track was short and flat either.

This long ITT of the Giro is the one that Landa has lost lees time by second in his life, so, you didnt put a good axample... I dont think so...

There are examples to think the oposite about Landa.

Today wanst a selective day.. after the two hardest climbs, more than 30 riders in the group, so...

The wind was tailwind in the plain and cross wind in the second climb, so, bad for selection...

He tried at the end with Luis león in the only hard part of the climb, but with any previous effort by Contador in a group of 30 riders is not easy to drop Contador.

Anyway Contador showed a good recovery from yesterday, so he deserves to be the boss of the Giro.

Good day for Astana anyway, but with just one day left, not a superstage, becouse is only Finestre and Sestriere, no any previous climb...very likely that time is not important.

Lot of time to handle for Saxo and Contador.

Astana has to put riders in the break, start very strong Finestre and Aru attack in the second Km of the climb full gas, if Contador follow, Landa attacks...till one of them go an then we will see, but almost impossible. Aru has time to get the podium, but it is not so sure to do that risky move.

 

[Taxus4a]

Re:

Landa was already good at Trentino. Seeing him chase Porte, i think Porte was pretty surprised too. But today he got screwed out of 2nd because probably he does not have a contract with Astana yet

Landa is not worried to have a new contract with Astana.. Astana is willing to keep him, but is Astana worried, not Landa.

Today was a good day for Astana and the got the objetives they said yesterday.

 

[IndianCyclist]

Re: Re:

Landa was already good at Trentino. Seeing him chase Porte, i think Porte was pretty surprised too. But today he got screwed out of 2nd because probably he does not have a contract with Astana yet

Landa is not worried to have a new contract with Astana.. Astana is willing to keep him, but is Astana worried, not Landa.

Today was a good day for Astana and the got the objetives they said yesterday.

But what if he never gets a chance to be 2nd again. Chances like this don't come very often. Somewhere that will probably play in his mind. Fignon won in 83 & 84 and after that never won again.

 

[Taxus4a]

Re: Re:

Landa was already good at Trentino. Seeing him chase Porte, i think Porte was pretty surprised too. But today he got screwed out of 2nd because probably he does not have a contract with Astana yet

Landa is not worried to have a new contract with Astana.. Astana is willing to keep him, but is Astana worried, not Landa.

Today was a good day for Astana and the got the objetives they said yesterday.

But what if he never gets a chance to be 2nd again. Chances like this don't come very often. Somewhere that will probably play in his mind. Fignon won in 83 & 84 and after that never won again.

it doesnt matter if he is second or third, his enemie is not Aru. That must do the best for the team, Aru and Landa, both of them.. when tomorrow attack again Landa and Aru, if contador allow Aru, that is more clever, Landa must do the same that today...If Contador has to chase finaly, becouse Aru is far and there is not any wheel to follow, at the end Landa has to attack as well...but if contador follow, stop again...

Landa is going to be a reference in the climbs next 10 years, so, he must learn things and demostrate he is a responsible rider.

 

[May0maniac]

Re:

He mentioned it in the beginning of the first week...

Rolf Sørensen talking about how he saw Landa training really hard in the Dolomites before the Giro would be a better story

 

[Netserk]

Re: Re:

He mentioned it in the beginning of the first week...

Rolf Sørensen talking about how he saw Landa training really hard in the Dolomites before the Giro would be a better story

Huh? I thought Landa was in Mexico before the Giro

 

[Taxus4a]

Landa was all the winter in alicante doing long, very long trainings.

 

[lenric]

Re: Re:

[quote="Taxus4a

Landa is a very clever rider (he is engineer, as Pozzovivo), and he study every important day and every corner...

He will know how to handle this. Maybe is impossible, maybe no.He is not allowed to attack, but...I hope so...

I ask for a picture to Vinokourov in Ponferrada, but today I would be so polite.[/quote]


I know engineers who are dumb as ***. And I know people with no degree that are intelligent. So your point is absolutely pointless. Academic degrees are useless when used to verify IQs.

 

[SeriousSam]

Re: Re:

I know engineers who are dumb as ****. And I know people with no degree that are intelligent. So your point is absolutely pointless. Academic degrees are useless when used to verify IQs.

No, the correlation is considerable and robust. The mean IQ of those with an academic degree exceeds the mean IQ of those without one.

Landa may yet engineer himself into the pink jersey tomorrow. I imagine him calculating the w/kg necessary to do this as we speak.

 

[Taxus4a]

Re: Re:

[quote="Taxus4a

Landa is a very clever rider (he is engineer, as Pozzovivo), and he study every important day and every corner...

He will know how to handle this. Maybe is impossible, maybe no.He is not allowed to attack, but...I hope so...

I ask for a picture to Vinokourov in Ponferrada, but today I would be so polite.

I know engineers who are dumb as ****. And I know people with no degree that are intelligent. So your point is absolutely pointless. Academic degrees are useless when used to verify IQs.[/quote]



I put that with ( ) becouse is just an information, not the cause he is clever...but of course half of the peloton cant get that degree anyway. An engineer in Spain can be dumb, but have to be inteligent in some way, becouse it is not just an issue of work, you need brain for that.

I have been doing the most hard and "non wanted" works in Spain, but i am very proud of my degree, becouse take an effort non easy.

And I admire all the cyclist, it is not the case of Landa, that got a degree, as Horrillo, Pozzo...

And I have talked with Landa, Pozzo, Verona and Horrillo, and you note the difference with other riders. That doesnt mean there are a lot of people in the world with no degree who are very inteligent, of course...

Landa anyway just studied, not has the tittle. He studied in Burgos builder engineer, 3 years, but he didnt finish.