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Most disappointing riders this year

Most disappointing riders this year

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Jun 7, 2010
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Most disappointing riders so far

who do you think are the most disappointing riders so far in this part of season before the TdF???
-Haussler: i don't know what happened to that guy! he became a domestique for his team but i think he should go to another team to become a leader! i think this guy has a lot of talent , he showed those past years that he is more a top 10 guy than a winner, also he's a little bit unlucky!
-Schleck Brothers: i don't like the way they race. It seems like races outside the Liegi and the Tdf aren't important(especially for Andy). I don't know if in the future we will remember someone who arrived two times second at Tdf than a rider who won races like Paris-nice, tour de suisse, tour de romandie for example. Plus i think that they are not very clever tactically( during the Liegi for example i think they should have attacked at least try to attack gilbert who was obviously the stronger rider). We will see if they will succed at the Tdf but in my opinion they are really disappointing and again especially how they race
-Menchov: honestly this year has been very enigmatic for the russian rider. I was expecting him much better at the Giro. I was thinking before the race that he was going to be the real threat for Contador as i think that the best Menchov could have been standing easily in the podium in milan. Overall i think he is better than scarponi for example
-Cavendish: i mean ok he won 2 stages at the Giro but honestly i don't see him like two years ago that when there was a sprint we knew before the race that he was going to win. He showed really bad condition at the Tour de suisse and i dont know why but he is not convincing me this year
-Greipel: i was expecting a lot from him this year! was he winning with HTC cause he was riding small races????( honestly i have to admit that the way he won the first stage at La Panne was impressive) we'll see if he will contradict me at the TdF
-Farrar: i mean ok he lost his best friend in the peloton this year at the Giro, but from the start of the year it seems like he wasn't 100 % of his possibility, the victory last week in belgium could be a new start for this part of the season
Sastre:very poor race at the Giro. he is struggling with his form in this recent years. In my opinion he needs more race in his legs before a GT. These past two years his condition was embarrasing in my opinion
Freire: i know he is having a surgery in his nose but is he waiting the WC again to show us that he's still alive?????
Devolder: this year was really really bad for the double belgium champion. I hope he will regain his form for the vuelta.
what do you think about it???
other disappointing riders in my opinion were Pozzato before his injury and Hushovd( in my opinion a real world champion has to honor his jersey riding for the win, i am talking about his tactic during the roubaix)!
 
Jun 7, 2010
132
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who do you think are the most disappointing riders so far in this part of season before the TdF???
-Haussler: i don't know what happened to that guy! he became a domestique for his team but i think he should go to another team to become a leader! i think this guy has a lot of talent , he showed those past years that he is more a top 10 guy than a winner, also he's a little bit unlucky!
-Schleck Brothers: i don't like the way they race. It seems like races outside the Liegi and the Tdf aren't important(especially for Andy). I don't know if in the future we will remember someone who arrived two times second at Tdf than a rider who won races like Paris-nice, tour de suisse, tour de romandie for example. Plus i think that they are not very clever tactically( during the Liegi for example i think they should have attacked at least try to attack gilbert who was obviously the stronger rider). We will see if they will succed at the Tdf but in my opinion they are really disappointing and again especially how they race
-Menchov: honestly this year has been very enigmatic for the russian rider. I was expecting him much better at the Giro. I was thinking before the race that he was going to be the real threat for Contador as i think that the best Menchov could have been standing easily in the podium in milan. Overall i think he is better than scarponi for example
-Cavendish: i mean ok he won 2 stages at the Giro but honestly i don't see him like two years ago that when there was a sprint we knew before the race that he was going to win. He showed really bad condition at the Tour de suisse and i dont know why but he is not convincing me this year
-Greipel: i was expecting a lot from him this year! was he winning with HTC cause he was riding small races????( honestly i have to admit that the way he won the first stage at La Panne was impressive) we'll see if he will contradict me at the TdF
-Farrar: i mean ok he lost his best friend in the peloton this year at the Giro, but from the start of the year it seems like he wasn't 100 % of his possibility, the victory last week in belgium could be a new start for this part of the season
Sastre:very poor race at the Giro. he is struggling with his form in this recent years. In my opinion he needs more race in his legs before a GT. These past two years his condition was embarrasing in my opinion
Freire: i know he is having a surgery in his nose but is he waiting the WC again to show us that he's still alive?????
Devolder: this year was really really bad for the double belgium champion. I hope he will regain his form for the vuelta.
what do you think about it???
other disappointing riders in my opinion were Pozzato before his injury and Hushovd( in my opinion a real world champion has to honor his jersey riding for the win, i am talking about his tactic during the roubaix)!
 
Jul 2, 2009
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Of those, I only consider Haussler disappointing.

The others are in one of these categories:
Riders I don't rate anyway (Greipel, Devolder)*
Have their biggest targets ahead (Cavendish, Schlecks)
Past their prime (Sastre, Freire)
Not invited to the races they want (Menchov)
Lost his best friend (Farrar)

*Haussler also fits into this category, but he talks himself up a lot.

The name I'd actually say is Luis Leon Sanchez. In 2010 he was no.4 on the World rankings with 403 points. His tally in 2011: 0 points
 
I didn't vote, but I will say not sure Cav deserves to make this list for one reason... the emergence of Matt Goss. Goss has done so well the team needs to give him room to grow. And MAYBE, just maybe, HTC have let Goss do that at the expense of Cav. I don't know this for sure OFC, but just a thought.
 
Feb 1, 2011
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8,830
dutchie said:
For me Nico Roche and Ivan Basso.

I was going to +1 your Basso nomination, but relented having recalled his May training accident and his illness during Pais Vasco. His Dauphine was still underwhelming, but I'll defer until after the tour.
 
Jun 22, 2009
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ANdy schleck is probably have one of his best pre-tour seasons.
Says more about the rider then the season.

Devolder.. does anyone have expectations regarding this guy?
I am unsurprised anyway.

Friere is getting old.

Hushovd would be somewhat dissapointed. Moreso regarding his spring campaign. His sprinting kick appears to be in a niche area.

Haussler has been poor. farrar also has struggled this season (not including recent events which are undersandable).

Sastre > past it.

Menchov > I begin to think he is slowly declining also.
So so average in italy.
 
Jun 22, 2009
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Luis Leon Sanchez is another I guess.
But I always found him somewhat overrated.

Boonen has had an average season considering his abilities.
But he still got some pretty good results, and some bad luck affected him.
 
Andy Schleck=Hopefully he can save his season at TDF
EBH=Nothing,nada....but still has time to grow.
Dennis Menchov=I think he is way past it...
Carlos Sastre=See Menchov quote
 
I agree with Mambo as well.

I voted for the Schlecks, though like Basso they appear to be hinging everything on the Tour. I'm also thinking Thor is hinging a lot on the maillot vert.

After a great 2010, Haussler has been off the radar screen.

If Boonen would have been on the list I may have voted for him instead. Though he did win G-W.
 
The thing with Haussler is that he had a lot of his last season ruined by injury. He's now injury free but he simply didn't have the training background to handle the strain of the classics. You need a very solid preparation for those races and he simply hasn't had long enough time to get back into the shape he had in 2009.
 
May 3, 2011
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danjo007 said:
ricco, because he survived

Wow man, you may be trolling but that is heartless.

A big slap in the face to those affected by the big losses we've already had in the peloton this year.
 
I'm going to go with the Schleck Bros, because they are touted as the next big thing along with Contador-and yet those guys fall short-not only they're putting wrongfully everything in the bank for the Tour, but their Classics campaign was very mediocre the least. the other names listed, excluding Sastre & Melchov have shown some flashes of good form-one way or the other- Graipel has won stages, so Farrar & Haussler-and some of the other riders are just fading by age...
 
Jun 22, 2009
10,644
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blaxland said:
EBH=Nothing,nada....but still has time to grow.

Indeed.
while were at Matti B has been hugely dissapointing, Maaskant etc

These guys have been injured for the majority of the season, what did we really expect?
 

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