Most disappointing riders this year

[taiwan]

I can't believe 2009 was just a freak year for Haussler. Hopefully next year he'll get a change of team and a new lease of life. Actually, he'd be good on BMC. The thing is he has his sprint, so he will win races, if not major classics as was anticipated.

 

[Magnus]

I'll co-sign Mambo95's post in its entirety. I'd add Boonen and Kloden as disappointments. Thor would make the list as well, but he still has an opportunity at the TdF.

Klöden won Pais Vasco and was 2nd in Paris-Nice. What more did you expect?

 

[phanatic]

schleck brothers - Better make a good show of tdf otherwise biggest disappointment of year, just like their team

I hope they heed your warning.

 

[greenedge]

Rogers has been out for a lot of the yr. Menchov i don't think will win Vuelta. He will have a good team but the competition will be fierce for the most well rounded race.

Nibali, Evans ( if he wants to he could win just so he could get one GT ), Anton, JROD and a few others.

On reflection Oscar.F seems to have gone quite bad this yr too and will likely not win so much more. Also if either Shleck wins ( shleckette fans will go crazy and spam the forum. We don't want them to give them ammo to gloat other than the fact each Shleck has a very real possibility of winning )

 

[Clemson Cycling]

What ever happened to Roman Sicard. The guy won the U23 World RR Championship and The Tour de l'Avenir in 2009 and then fell off the map at Euskaltel-Euskadi

 

[hrotha]

What ever happened to Roman Sicard. The guy won the U23 World RR Championship and The Tour de l'Avenir in 2009 and then fell off the map at Euskaltel-Euskadi

He's been injured for most of the season.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

What ever happened to Roman Sicard. The guy won the U23 World RR Championship and The Tour de l'Avenir in 2009 and then fell off the map at Euskaltel-Euskadi

As a hot young prospect, Euskaltel were careful with him; didn't make him race any GTs, and decided to blood him slowly at World Tour level, but it meant he raced a fair few races that didn't suit him. He was 11th at the Dauphiné (and 2nd on the MTF at Risoul). The only other properly mountainous races he did were Burgos, where he did a very creditable job domestiquing for Samuel Sánchez, and Asturias, where he did a good GC job whilst supporting Intxausti. This year he injured himself during the Volta a Catalunya and hasn't been seen since.

Also, being great at U23 doesn't always translate to being great at WT level, and most riders will still need a couple of years to adapt. Sure, the likes of Sagan, Degenkolb and Matthews have probably changed our expectations of youngsters to ask too much of them. Also note that none of the names mentioned are stage racers. Tejay van Garderen is probably the nearest thing to a stage-racing instant success story we have at the moment.

Euskaltel, like Abarcá, prefer to blood riders fairly slowly, and not put too much pressure on their shoulders too early. From the looks of the races he started, Sicard may have been on course to do more challenging races and/or take on greater responsibility this year. Euskaltel can't really be blamed for his falling over and getting hurt. That's something that just seems to come naturally if you put on one of their jerseys.

 

[theyoungest]

As a hot young prospect, Euskaltel were careful with him; didn't make him race any GTs, and decided to blood him slowly at World Tour level, but it meant he raced a fair few races that didn't suit him. He was 11th at the Dauphiné (and 2nd on the MTF at Risoul). The only other properly mountainous races he did were Burgos, where he did a very creditable job domestiquing for Samuel Sánchez, and Asturias, where he did a good GC job whilst supporting Intxausti. This year he injured himself during the Volta a Catalunya and hasn't been seen since.

Also, being great at U23 doesn't always translate to being great at WT level, and most riders will still need a couple of years to adapt. Sure, the likes of Sagan, Degenkolb and Matthews have probably changed our expectations of youngsters to ask too much of them. Also note that none of the names mentioned are stage racers. Tejay van Garderen is probably the nearest thing to a stage-racing instant success story we have at the moment.

Euskaltel, like Abarcá, prefer to blood riders fairly slowly, and not put too much pressure on their shoulders too early. From the looks of the races he started, Sicard may have been on course to do more challenging races and/or take on greater responsibility this year. Euskaltel can't really be blamed for his falling over and getting hurt. That's something that just seems to come naturally if you put on one of their jerseys.

And Kruijswijk. Who has sort of the opposite career to Sicard. Not particularly great as an espoir, very good as young pro.

 

[Arnout]

As a hot young prospect, Euskaltel were careful with him; didn't make him race any GTs, and decided to blood him slowly at World Tour level, but it meant he raced a fair few races that didn't suit him. He was 11th at the Dauphiné (and 2nd on the MTF at Risoul). The only other properly mountainous races he did were Burgos, where he did a very creditable job domestiquing for Samuel Sánchez, and Asturias, where he did a good GC job whilst supporting Intxausti. This year he injured himself during the Volta a Catalunya and hasn't been seen since.

Also, being great at U23 doesn't always translate to being great at WT level, and most riders will still need a couple of years to adapt. Sure, the likes of Sagan, Degenkolb and Matthews have probably changed our expectations of youngsters to ask too much of them. Also note that none of the names mentioned are stage racers. Tejay van Garderen is probably the nearest thing to a stage-racing instant success story we have at the moment.

Euskaltel, like Abarcá, prefer to blood riders fairly slowly, and not put too much pressure on their shoulders too early. From the looks of the races he started, Sicard may have been on course to do more challenging races and/or take on greater responsibility this year. Euskaltel can't really be blamed for his falling over and getting hurt. That's something that just seems to come naturally if you put on one of their jerseys.

He actually had major knee problems, was scheduled for Vuelta and if he recovers quickly he will be fielded there.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

And Kruijswijk. Who has sort of the opposite career to Sicard. Not particularly great as an espoir, very good as young pro.

Kruijswijk's neo-pro year wasn't too dissimilar from Sicard's though, though he did a GT - a couple of pretty good mountain showings and reasonable placements (Kruijswijk's best being 8th in the Vuelta a Burgos), whereas TJVG racked up higher placements in some smaller (and one larger) stage races. This trend has continued this year (2nd at Algarve and 5th at California), but his neo-pro year last year eclipses Kruijswijk's and Sicard's for visibility. Whether either or both of them turn out to be better prospects in the long term we'll never know. After all, Yaroslav Popovych was once a GT contender, Damiano Cunego a GT winner by their ages. Many riders have been great early in their career then drifted aimlessly; others have slow-burned and peaked late.

 

[Parrulo]

Rogers has been out for a lot of the yr. Menchov i don't think will win Vuelta. He will have a good team but the competition will be fierce for the most well rounded race.

Nibali, Evans ( if he wants to he could win just so he could get one GT ), Anton, JROD and a few others.

On reflection Oscar.F seems to have gone quite bad this yr too and will likely not win so much more. Also if either Shleck wins ( shleckette fans will go crazy and spam the forum. We don't want them to give them ammo to gloat other than the fact each Shleck has a very real possibility of winning )

are you saying that if he wanted too he could win the vuelta? lol

 

[Duartista]

Kruijswijk's neo-pro year wasn't too dissimilar from Sicard's though, though he did a GT - a couple of pretty good mountain showings and reasonable placements (Kruijswijk's best being 8th in the Vuelta a Burgos), whereas TJVG racked up higher placements in some smaller (and one larger) stage races. This trend has continued this year (2nd at Algarve and 5th at California), but his neo-pro year last year eclipses Kruijswijk's and Sicard's for visibility. Whether either or both of them turn out to be better prospects in the long term we'll never know. After all, Yaroslav Popovych was once a GT contender, Damiano Cunego a GT winner by their ages. Many riders have been great early in their career then drifted aimlessly; others have slow-burned and peaked late.

Maybe I'm being thick, but I don't quite get this sentence. Surely we will know, in a few years time?

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Maybe I'm being thick, but I don't quite get this sentence. Surely we will know, in a few years time?

Sorry, it was badly worded. I was meaning "never know" as in "we cannot guess" in the whole "x or y (unlikely events) could happen, you never know" kind of sense, but yes, reading it back again it certainly defies logic.

 

[theyoungest]

Kruijswijk's neo-pro year wasn't too dissimilar from Sicard's though, though he did a GT - a couple of pretty good mountain showings and reasonable placements (Kruijswijk's best being 8th in the Vuelta a Burgos), whereas TJVG racked up higher placements in some smaller (and one larger) stage races. This trend has continued this year (2nd at Algarve and 5th at California), but his neo-pro year last year eclipses Kruijswijk's and Sicard's for visibility. Whether either or both of them turn out to be better prospects in the long term we'll never know. After all, Yaroslav Popovych was once a GT contender, Damiano Cunego a GT winner by their ages. Many riders have been great early in their career then drifted aimlessly; others have slow-burned and peaked late.

Van Garderen has definitely been more impressive in one week races, that's true. That's not where Kruijswijk's talent lies. Sicard, apart from one Dauphiné stage I can remember, has hardly left a mark. At least not as much as you'd expect from the winner of both the Worlds and the Tour de l'Avenir.

 

[Angliru]

menchov - wins big races on the years there is a weak field
sastre - been past it for a while
greipel - big boy in small races always goes missing against big boys
devolder - does he care if its not RVV
cavendish - 2 GT stages, not that bad a year
schleck brothers - Better make a good show of tdf otherwise biggest disappointment of year, just like their team
haussler - unfortunately 2009 looks like a one off
farrar - always second, does he win anything really meaningful
freire - leave an old guy alone

Most of these riders shouldnt be too much of a disappointment as they are just over hyped and not really that good.

In defense of Menchov, you race against who shows up. If he wins then good for him. He shouldn't be ridiculed because of it. Many a rider has had similar opportunities and still stumbled and didn't prevail. The 2008 Tour for example, where Sastre took the race by the scruff of the neck on Alpe d'Huez and snatched victory from the hands of Evans and Frank Schleck.

In response to the "over hyped and not really that good" statement, your standards must be pretty high. I'd be curious to see who this statement is referring to.

 

[Angliru]

Rogers has been out for a lot of the yr. Menchov i don't think will win Vuelta. He will have a good team but the competition will be fierce for the most well rounded race.

Nibali, Evans ( if he wants to he could win just so he could get one GT ), Anton, JROD and a few others.

On reflection Oscar.F seems to have gone quite bad this yr too and will likely not win so much more. Also if either Shleck wins ( shleckette fans will go crazy and spam the forum. We don't want them to give them ammo to gloat other than the fact each Shleck has a very real possibility of winning )

Freire is having his second sinus surgery in since last year. I imagine if he has sinus issues he also has issues breathing properly when exercising which really can't be conducive to operating at one's best. He missed out on a stage win, getting 2nd at either TdS or the Dauphine (can't recall which he was competing in). Hopefully he recovers in time for the Vuelta and the Worlds. I would never, ever underestimate Freire. He will pull out the big win when you least expect it.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Kruijswijk's neo-pro year wasn't too dissimilar from Sicard's though, though he did a GT - a couple of pretty good mountain showings and reasonable placements (Kruijswijk's best being 8th in the Vuelta a Burgos), whereas TJVG racked up higher placements in some smaller (and one larger) stage races. This trend has continued this year (2nd at Algarve and 5th at California), but his neo-pro year last year eclipses Kruijswijk's and Sicard's for visibility. Whether either or both of them turn out to be better prospects in the long term we'll never know. After all, Yaroslav Popovych was once a GT contender, Damiano Cunego a GT winner by their ages. Many riders have been great early in their career then drifted aimlessly; others have slow-burned and peaked late.

Think it was clear though that in Suisse/Giro Kruijswijk showed he already surpassed TJVG as stage-racer. 3rd in Suisse + mt stage win is more impresive than anything TJVG has done so far.
Which is, as theyoungest pointed out, not expected if you compare their U23 results. Van Garderen also won Circuito Montanes and was good in L'Avenir. Kruijswijk was nowhere near those results.

 

[theyoungest]

Think it was clear though that in Suisse/Giro Kruijswijk showed he already surpassed TJVG as stage-racer. 3rd in Suisse + mt stage win is more impresive than anything TJVG has done so far.

Yes, but with Giro form he had a bit of an advantage.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

My point was to do with the 'instant success' expectations. Considering he's been injured for the last three months, what did people expect of Sicard given we only have his neo-pro year to go on?

Kruijswijk's neo-pro year was pretty good, but not as high-profile as Tejay's.

At this point the Giro and TdS would suggest pretty clearly that Kruijswijk has surpassed Tejay, but I was suggesting that the success as neo-pros of the likes of Sagan, Matthews and Degenkolb have kind of shifted expectations of youngsters; Tejay was more of an instant success (and that is why I used him when trying to find an instant success story as a stage racer), whereas Kruijswijk had a modest but highly promising 2010 before really delivering in 2011 - which is more along the lines of what I would expect from a young prospect - taking a year (or two) to adapt to the elite level before delivering.

The post I was replying to stated that Sicard disappeared on Euskaltel. Which I feel unfair, even notwithstanding the injuries - he had a reasonable rookie year and could have developed on that in his second year (like Kruijswijk has), or it could have taken another year or two (like, say, Sánchez), but the poster's expectation was clearly that he should be delivering results already, which I feel to be unreasonable.

 

[Duartista]

Sorry, it was badly worded. I was meaning "never know" as in "we cannot guess" in the whole "x or y (unlikely events) could happen, you never know" kind of sense, but yes, reading it back again it certainly defies logic.

Ah, I see. That makes sense now.

Sicard, apart from one Dauphiné stage I can remember, has hardly left a mark. At least not as much as you'd expect from the winner of both the Worlds and the Tour de l'Avenir

It is worth remembering that his Avenir victory was achieved on a route where the toughest stage was hilly rather than mountainous. He has also been injured all year, whilst last year, as Libertine says, he didn't do to many races obviously suited to his characteristics.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Yes, but with Giro form he had a bit of an advantage.

So let's disregard Suisse, do you see Van Garderen do a top 10 in such a mountainous Giro?
I'd be suprised if he'd finish top 20

 

[theyoungest]

So let's disregard Suisse, do you see Van Garderen do a top 10 in such a mountainous Giro?
I'd be suprised if he'd finish top 20

No, GTs are a different story. Van Garderen's recovery doesn't seem to be that great, even in the Tour de Suisse itself you could see that.

 

[kurtinsc]

So let's disregard Suisse, do you see Van Garderen do a top 10 in such a mountainous Giro?
I'd be suprised if he'd finish top 20

Van Garderen has yet to prove he's got what it takes to last through any grand tour, let alone a mountainous one.

But his ITT is a weapon in 1-week races. This year if he hadn't had mechanical issues in the last ITT, he'd have been looking at a 5th-6th place finish in the overall most likely, even with a very sub par result in one of the key climbs.

Right now... he's shown like Lovkvist. He can look very good in 1 week races and solid in the first week and a half of a grand tour, but has yet to prove his recovery will allow him to do anything in a GT.

 

[jimcon]

Luis Leon Sanchez and Menchov have disappointed me greatly so far this year. Maybe their team changes have not been as smooth as possible?
I can imagine it's difficult to find your best form when you move into a different racing situation. Sanchez was expected to get GC results while his team, Rabo, is mainly built around the classics. With Menchov maybe the pressure of the team's success on and off the road depending on him is a bit too much? (Also Geox not getting an invite to the TdF had to place huge expectations on him internally).

 

[theyoungest]

Luis Leon Sanchez and Menchov have disappointed me greatly so far this year. Maybe their team changes have not been as smooth as possible?
I can imagine it's difficult to find your best form when you move into a different racing situation. Sanchez was expected to get GC results while his team, Rabo, is mainly built around the classics. With Menchov maybe the pressure of the team's success on and off the road depending on him is a bit too much? (Also Geox not getting an invite to the TdF had to place huge expectations on him internally).

Rabo is not built around the classics. Half of their team are GC riders/climbers (and I would argue it's the stronger half).