Most overrated (good) rider in the peloton?

[Peyroteo94]

Overrated= someone who didn't live to the expectation around him.

Underrated= the opposite.

Please, correct me if I am wrong but there is someone who didn't expect Ayuso to be better (in future GTs) after his 3th in the Vuelta 2022? And by being better, I'm not talking about results only but mainly about performance wise.

 

[Red Rick]

Overrated= someone who didn't live to the expectation around him.

Underrated= the opposite.

Please, correct me if I am wrong but there is someone who didn't expect Ayuso to be better (in future GTs) after his 3th in the Vuelta 2022? And by being better, I'm not talking about results only but mainly about performance wise.

I was a naysayer already then. But back then people basically put him on the Pogacar trajectory cause they both finished 3rd in their first Vuelta in their first season, and Ayuso was a year younger, but I always pointed out Pogacars performance to the field was way better and he won 3 stages, etc.

Ayuso still gets cut slack cause he's young 3 years later, which is just a strange thing to me.

 

[Berniece]

In the era of Pogi, as you wrote, it matters a lot. Rogla has beaten Pogi in hilly one-day races more often than Evenepoel has.

Lol, as always whatever the kid wins it always has to come with an asterisk for some

 

[Potomac]

We should have this poll twice a year.
Once just before the Giro.
Once just after the Vuelta.

 

[Potomac]

This would be a great statistic for the PCS boffins to compute.

They could use data from their game and compare with actual results.

 

[Panda Claws]

It's still Pidcock to me.
I feel like i've been hearing about how this guy can win GT's and Monuments etc. forever.

Looking at his results he looks more like Thibau Nys. I think it's far, far from a given he'll ever win a top-tier one-week race, monument or GT.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

In the era of Pogi, as you wrote, it matters a lot. Rogla has beaten Pogi in hilly one-day races more often than Evenepoel has.

Hmm, I don't see it thet way. My point was that when Pogacar isn't present, Evenepoel is dominating.

 

[Cycling111]

Hmm, I don't see it thet way. My point was that when Pogacar isn't present, Evenepoel is dominating.

Jorgenson beat him in Paris-Nice, Vingegaard also finished ahead in TDF.
2023 Vuelta, and he lost one-week races against Skjelmose, Pogacar, or Roglic.

Remco is very dominant in hilly classics, but isn't as dominant in stage races.

 

[Berniece]

Jorgenson beat him in Paris-Nice, Vingegaard also finished ahead in TDF.
2023 Vuelta, and he lost one-week races against Skjelmose, Pogacar, or Roglic.

Remco is very dominant in hilly classics, but isn't as dominant in stage races.

Watch him win Romandië in a couple of weeks

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Jorgenson beat him in Paris-Nice, Vingegaard also finished ahead in TDF.
2023 Vuelta, and he lost one-week races against Skjelmose, Pogacar, or Roglic.

Remco is very dominant in hilly classics, but isn't as dominant in stage races.

Yes, and my comment was regarding one-day races.

 

[Netserk]

I will wait a week before I nominate Nys.

 

[tobydawq]

Pogi, can't even keep a solo going.

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

I will wait a week before I nominate Nys.

<Tom Pidcock gives you the "You forgot about me this quickly?" look>

 

[Peyroteo94]

I will wait a week before I nominate Nys.

What about my vote Pidcock?

 

[hayneplane]

<Tom Pidcock gives you the "You forgot about me this quickly?" look>

I honestly think he deserves a bit of slack this year as due to the need to points farm and tour for wildcards Tom was clearly asked to arrive in prime form in the very early season Jan/Feb races to make an impression.

I doubt he will be up to much in the Giro after such a busy start but if he hadn’t got those wins and him riding the Giro wasn’t promised then they may not even have been awarded those wildcards.

I still think for his overall career to date the good but overrated tag is fair but this year is not a good one to judge against.

 

[Netserk]

What about my vote Pidcock?

He did more or less as expected and also worked in the group. I don't know what Nys was doing, he didn't even disrupt the chase properly.

Pogi, can't even keep a solo going.

Lost 3 out of his last 4 races, more than he lost over the whole season last year. Washed.

 

[Froome]

Pidcock. He is overrated, and he is not smart as we saw on Strade Bianche.

 

[Gratemans]

About Pidcock, has he himself ever said he could win a GC? Or was he more like 'let's just try and see how it goes'? I can't really remember.
I never saw a GC contender in him in the first place. And when it comes to the spring classics, he's got some pretty decent results to show. He's just a good classics rider, and I feel there aren't really that many people that expect any more from him. But maybe I'm mistaken.

 

[Peyroteo94]

Looking to this thread, is Pidcock still the most overrated rider?
For what I have been watching in 2025, this is my new top3 (I could include Remco for what his fans expect from him and what he performs but I won't put him there):

1. De Lie - A little bit above average riders but nowhere near the level of Boonen.

2. Nys - Completely annonymous this season. He promised big performances in Ardennes. Is this a belgian thing? Having a big mouth? These youngsters from Belgium are a bit arrogant (De Lie, Cian, Nys, Remco) but I don't remember this "trend" 10-25 years ago.

3. Ayuso - Another big fail in a GT. For the next Contador, he needs to be a lot better.

 

[Peyroteo94]

The general issue still persists that overrated is a relative term, so it has to be somebody who's talked about a lot, and De Lie and Nys don't get talked about that much anymore. For many it's gonna be very seasonal. Also Ayuso's current stock is in the bin so he's the opposite of overrated.

Currently, I lean to Almeida {edited by mod], because of all the what-if-talk about the TdF and his stock being artificially inflated from farming the weaker WT stage races, and Evenepoel, but that's mainly due to the media attention his transfer is getting.

Aside from that, *** is stale. I was sort of onto Simon Yates beating the other mortals, but whatever.

weaker WT stage races? He won 3 from the big 7. You speak like he won Pologne or UAE Tour.

Nys was pretty talked in Ardennes.

 

[SHAD0W93]

The general issue still persists that overrated is a relative term, so it has to be somebody who's talked about a lot, and De Lie and Nys don't get talked about that much anymore. For many it's gonna be very seasonal. Also Ayuso's current stock is in the bin so he's the opposite of overrated.

Currently, I lean to Almeida {edited], because of all the what-if-talk about the TdF and his stock being artificially inflated from farming the weaker WT stage races, and Evenepoel, but that's mainly due to the media attention his transfer is getting.

Aside from that, *** is stale. I was sort of onto Simon Yates beating the other mortals, but whatever.

There’s only been a couple thinking Almeida could have finished second though, third was absolutely on the cards with Evenepoel out. It’d have been a good fight.

 

[Andre]

Almeida is the most over-rated...

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Looking to this thread, is Pidcock still the most overrated rider?
For what I have been watching in 2025, this is my new top3 (I could include Remco for what his fans expect from him and what he performs but I won't put him there):

1. De Lie - A little bit above average riders but nowhere near the level of Boonen.

2. Nys - Completely annonymous this season. He promised big performances in Ardennes. Is this a belgian thing? Having a big mouth? These youngsters from Belgium are a bit arrogant (De Lie, Cian, Nys, Remco) but I don't remember this "trend" 10-25 years ago.

3. Ayuso - Another big fail in a GT. For the next Contador, he needs to be a lot better.

I don't think De Lie is overrated at all. No one expects him to compete for anything at the moment.

Nys I kinda agree, since he was touted as the Pogacar's greatest rival in the Ardennes, or at least in Fleche WalloNe. But he was sick or crashed in the Tour, right?

 

[AmRacer]

I don't think De Lie is overrated at all. No one expects him to compete for anything at the moment.

Nys I kinda agree, since he was touted as the Pogacar's greatest rival in the Ardennes, or at least in Fleche WalloNe. But he was sick or crashed in the Tour, right?

Yeah, Pogi was sick and crashed. 😁

 

[Cycling111]

I don't think Almeida's overrated is due to thinking he would have finished third. Last year he was fourth, which was a one-place improvement. Onley finished fourth, and Almeida easily beat him in Switzerland. It's not an overrated thought. Second place, yes, but I think most of us considered him a chance of third, not second.

I want to remind that there was a conviction here that Roglic was going to have a great Tour by doing the Giro-Tour, due to the fact that last year went well for Pogacar. Here, there was a mix of overestimating Roglic's ability to do the Giro-Tour and underestimating what Pogacar achieved.

I suppose this was the last year Roglic was overrated for the Tour. In some people's minds, every year he didn't finish he was favorite. If he hadn't finished this year, it would be said he would have finished third.
His best Tour was against a 21 neo-pro, Pogacar, and he didn't manage to win the race. He definitely wouldn't have won the subsequent ones at a higher level, just as this year he wasn't a podium contender at the level of Remco or Almeida.

But for me, Nys was the overrated rider of the season. For FW, some even made him the favorite for winning before the GP Indurain, and in the first week of the Tour, he was among the favorites for every stage.
Pidcock deserves a mention. After winning Alula, some saw him as a general classification rider.

In general, there is a tendency to overvalue the Belgians more due to media attention. De Lie was going to be the new Boonen and Remco the new Merckx. Cian the new Remco. We'll see what they say about Widar.