Most overrated rider

[Libertine Seguros]

What? What judgement did you read? The one I read from CAS confirmed his ban for extracting blood i.e. blood doping. sure they didn't (read couldn't legally) disqualify him from this years results but that doesn't mean he was suddenly racing clean.

Sorry, I could have worded that better.

They couldn't find anything wrong with what he'd done this year.

Only with what he did pre-2006.

And let's not go with the "he once doped, ergo every single race he ever entered was doped", unless you want to take Damiano Cunego's Vuelta stages last year from him. Valverde may or may not have been clean but given the circumstances he was racing under, it would have been tougher for him than almost anybody else to have been on the hotsauce for the last year or so. For the last four years in fact, but especially this last year.

Plus, even if you decide that you want to consider all of his results to be the results of doping even though there aren't any positive tests (then again a lot of people slip the net, as it were), then we can have no idea if he's overrated or not since we haven't seen him race clean yet - or at least enough for you to be satisfied with.

 

[luckyboy]

Plus, even if you decide that you want to consider all of his results to be the results of doping even though there aren't any positive tests (then again a lot of people slip the net, as it were), then we can have no idea if he's overrated or not since we haven't seen him race clean yet - or at least enough for you to be satisfied with.

Could say this about anyone to be fair, we don't know who is racing clean or if they still are etc..

 

[blaxland]

What? What judgement did you read? The one I read from CAS confirmed his ban for extracting blood i.e. blood doping. sure they didn't (read couldn't legally) disqualify him from this years results but that doesn't mean he was suddenly racing clean.

Edit: I will add though, that I agree his results on the face of it ignoring the doping ban were impressive. I was a Valverde fan for years but get a bit switched off when he was dound blood doping. I will still follow him when he comes back .... but yes, just a bit tainted now.



Agree with this....just cant say any more without going into the clinic....Valverde,s palmares will always be tainted.

 

[El Pistolero]

Under this logic your beloved Boonen is extremely overated. I mean sure he has a great palmares, but according to you only the present matters.

and Boonen was tipped to win at least 1 of 3 monuments this year and won 0.

Ballan wasnt tipped to win anything. Ballan did as was expected.

Boonen tipped to win more than he did, perfotmed worse than expected.

So if, as you say, only the present matters and if Ballan is overated,actually, even "more overated than you thought" , just how epic is Toms overation under this logic ?

Second at Milan-San Remo, second at the Ronde after being beaten by an alien(this is not a doping reference), fifth at Roubaix and 4 wins this season. I'd say that's still showing he's got it.

Ballan has done nothing now for 2 years. He was pathetically bad at the Tour this year. Let's judge Ballan for his last 2 seasons. We shouldn't even be knowing his name.

 

[Lucky1]

Team Sky

If were talking about who has proved to be overrated when you compare performance to what was being said at the start of the year - I'd like to nominate (though not happily) pretty much the whole of Team Sky (though of course there have been exceptions - perhaps Geraint Thomas being one). Given the number of riders nominated above who are in Team Sky I'd don't think this is too far off the truth.

How on earth did Nibali get nominated???

 

[The Hitch]

Second at Milan-San Remo, second at the Ronde after being beaten by an alien(this is not a doping reference), fifth at Roubaix and 4 wins this season. I'd say that's still showing he's got it.

Ballan has done nothing now for 2 years. He was pathetically bad at the Tour this year. Let's judge Ballan for his last 2 seasons. We shouldn't even be knowing his name.

You seem to have trouble understanding the word overated.

Overated doesnt mean crap, it means hype>oerformance.

The hype for Boonen this season was way way way bigger than it was for Ballan.

The hype for Boonen didnt match the results. The hype for Ballan didnt either, but no way as spectacularly.

I wouldnt say Boonen is overated because he has a great palmares, but under your logic he is.

 

[El Pistolero]

You seem to have trouble understanding the word overated.

Overated doesnt mean crap, it means hype>oerformance.

The hype for Boonen this season was way way way bigger than it was for Ballan.

The hype for Boonen didnt match the results. The hype for Ballan didnt either, but no way as spectacularly.

I wouldnt say Boonen is overated because he has a great palmares, but under your logic he is.

I never expected Boonen to win a monument every season. He proved that in 2007. Perhaps you do overrate Boonen yes.

I'll rephrase my self then. Ballan was overrated in 2009(although he has a good excuse) and crap in 2010.

Ps: I wouldn't even say Ballan has a great palmares.

 

[The Hitch]

I never expected Boonen to win a monument every season. He proved that in 2007. Perhaps you do overrate Boonen yes.

Lol, The question isnt "who do you overate", that would be a bit silly

 

[El Pistolero]

Lol, The question isnt "who do you overate", that would be a bit silly

Well, I have no problem with you calling Boonen overrated

 

[The Hitch]

Well, I have no problem with you calling Boonen overrated

But i dont call Boonen overated. Im just saying that under YOUR logic Boonen is overated.

Because under your logic only the last year counts.

In 2010 people expected Ballan to maybe come top 10 in E3 Prijs and win a stage in the Tour of Quatar or some such. He didnt perform. He is overated.

His previous glories dont matter because ONLY this year counts.

In 2010 people expected Boonen to win at least one monument. Maybe you didnt but there were plenty who were disapointed that Boonen only got 2nd 2nd 4th in the three monuments. He didnt perform to those expectations. He is overated.

His previous glories dont matter because ONLY this year counts.

Under my logic - performances from 2 or 3 years ago DO matter, neither is overated.

 

[Curls_21]

Overrated = have a higher opinion of (someone or something) than is deserved.

In what world does this apply to Nibali

I would also doesn't apply to Mark Renshaw as he is appropriately hyped as a lead out man, if anything he is probably underrated as a sprinter

EBH in my view is one of the most overrated riders in the Peloton at the moment.

 

[El Pistolero]

But i dont call Boonen overated. Im just saying that under YOUR logic Boonen is overated.

Because under your logic only the last year counts.

In 2010 people expected Ballan to maybe come top 10 in E3 Prijs and win a stage in the Tour of Quatar or some such. He didnt perform. He is overated.

His previous glories dont matter because ONLY this year counts.

In 2010 people expected Boonen to win at least one monument. Maybe you didnt but there were plenty who were disapointed that Boonen only got 2nd 2nd 4th in the three monuments. He didnt perform to those expectations. He is overated.

His previous glories dont matter because ONLY this year counts.

Under my logic - performances from 2 or 3 years ago DO matter, neither is overated.

But Boonen didn't perform bad this year. He has proven he still gots it. Ballan hasn't. I doubt he'll win anything big ever again. He's the new Vainsteins.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Hmm, he was pretty decent in the Canadian races. I'll reserve my judgment till next year.

 

[veganrob]

Levi. What a wuss.

 

[Ferminal]

Hmm, he was pretty decent in the Canadian races. I'll reserve my judgment till next year.

Agreed, if he has a year free of any interruptions (injuries, investigations) next year but still fails, then we could consider him "overrated" and his big wins simply anomalies.

 

[arnaud]

In france, sebastien chavanel , di gregorio and of course christophe moreau

In Wallonia, every walloon rider ; In Flanders, every flamish rider

More generally- and more seriously- , many riders who took a 6th or 7th place in the tdf and capitalize on it during the two following years.

Concerning contador, he's overrated as a climber: he never did a rallye in any big tour stage and only solo during 4 or 5 kms maxi, and never made big gaps
He's more intrepid during paris nice, actually.

 

[El Pistolero]

In france, sebastien chavanel , di gregorio and of course christophe moreau

In Wallonia, every walloon rider ; In Flanders, every flamish rider

More generally- and more seriously- , many riders who took a 6th or 7th place in the tdf and capitalize on it during the two following years.

Concerning contador, he's overrated as a climber: he never did a rallye in any big tour stage and only solo during 4 or 5 kms maxi, and never made big gaps
He's more intrepid during paris nice, actually.

Lol, he's never had to. And watch him climb the Angliru and then tell me he's overrated as a climber.

This is modern day cycling. Not the EPO era or the Merckx era anymore. Under that logic every GT contender is overrated. You just do'nt attack early on in the mountains to ride solo for 100km, because you'll pay the price the next day.

 

[Contre la montre]

I don't think he has been mentioned yet so here goes:

Karsten Kroon

I know he has suffered some injuries this year but still, his performance ever since he left Rabobank (and even at Rabobank) has been meagre.

 

[theyoungest]

I don't think he has been mentioned yet so here goes:

Karsten Kroon

I know he has suffered some injuries this year but still, his performance ever since he left Rabobank (and even at Rabobank) has been meagre.

Who rates him? He's a fairly limited rider who's used these limited capabilities to win a Tour stage and get a podium at Amstel, among other things. Apart from that, he's mainly known in Holland for saying he had great legs, but somehow forgetting to use them.

 

[Avoriaz]

Andreas Kloeden - supposed to be supremely talented, but always seem happy enough bimbling along without any pressure in support of someone else.

EBH - yet to see the big things

Gerdemann - yet to see anything really

Leipheimer - touted as a GT winner, but follows more wheels than a mudguard

 

[c&cfan]

stop the BS people..

pozzato is the winner here xD

 

[trailrunner]

My vote goes to Hincapie. He's won one spring classic (G-W in 2001, I think), but is zero for all attempts at P-R. Even the years that he makes the final selection and enters the velodrome, I can predict how it will happen: outsprinted off the podium.

Second vote would go for Levi. So he won the ToC a few times. When he gets to the European grand tours and has to ride against the big boys in a race that they really care about, he gets dropped on the mountain stages, falling further behind each day.

I also think that Armstrong was overrated, even when he was winning the TdF. If he had competed in other races throughout the season, I would have thought he was a better racer. But the only races he did were a few races leading up to the TdF, which he did primarily for training.

 

[El Pistolero]

My vote goes to Hincapie. He's won one spring classic (G-W in 2001, I think), but is zero for all attempts at P-R. Even the years that he makes the final selection and enters the velodrome, I can predict how it will happen: outsprinted off the podium.

Second vote would go for Levi. So he won the ToC a few times. When he gets to the European grand tours and has to ride against the big boys in a race that they really care about, he gets dropped on the mountain stages, falling further behind each day.

I also think that Armstrong was overrated, even when he was winning the TdF. If he had competed in other races throughout the season, I would have thought he was a better racer. But the only races he did were a few races leading up to the TdF, which he did primarily for training.

I wouldn't say Hincapie is overrated. He's a good domestique and has always been considered just that by most people.

 

[ingsve]

Who rates him? He's a fairly limited rider who's used these limited capabilities to win a Tour stage and get a podium at Amstel, among other things. Apart from that, he's mainly known in Holland for saying he had great legs, but somehow forgetting to use them.

I don't know if anyone rates him but how is he any different than guys like Hoste, Leukemans or Nuyens for example? To me they are all solid classics riders that are an improvement to any classics team as part of a good collective rather than being the riders you put all focus on.

 

[Angliru]

Leipheimer - touted as a GT winner, but follows more wheels than a mudguard

That's classic! I think "Bottle" has a new nickname.