Red Rick said:
therhodeo said:
Red Rick said:
barmaher said:
I have no idea how people rate him in general honestly
I rate him as a good rider who wasted a good part of a career over focusing on the tour because it's the only race that exists to anglos.
Yeah I honestly have trouble rating him. For what he rode, I think he overachieved, he was overly Tour centric indeed.
And it isn't that people rate him very low, it's just that people don't talk about him cause he was no example of exciting racing.
People see him as a Tour-centric rider, and that is why I think he is under-rated.
He showed remarkable longevity, versatility (stage races, one day races, Grand Tours and ITT).
Look at one of the early years of his career:
2002
4th TDU including one stage win
10th P-N include second on Col d'Eze
3rd Settimana Coppi Bartali
6th Pais Vasco
3rd Romandie
14th Giro including 2nd and 3rd in successive stages
He is world famous because of his Tour win, but I think it is unfair to say he focused too much on La Grande Boucle.
I assume the years people think he focused too much on France were the years 2006 to 2012 inclusive.
2006 4th in the Tour, but he also won Romandie, 2nd in Pologne, 8th in Pais Vasco, 7th in California and 10th in Suisse.
2007 2nd in the Tour, but he also was 2nd in Dauphine, 5th in Vuelta, 5th in WCRR, 6th in Lombardia, 4th in Romandie and 7th in Paris Nice
2008 2nd in the Tour, but he was also 2nd in Pais Vasco, 2nd in Dauphine, 2nd in Fleche Wallone, 7th in Liege, winner of Coppi Bartali, 3rd in Ruta del Sol
2009 disastrous Tour, but he won the WCRR, 3rd in Vuelta, 2nd in Dauphine, 3rd in Pais Vasco and 10th in Lombardia.
2010 another tough Tour, but he was suffering from his early season exertions, including winner of Fleche Wallone, 5th in the Giro (won stage and points jersey), 4th in Liege, 3rd in Tirreno
2011 won the Tour, after winning Tirreno, Romandie, 2nd in Dauphine and 7th in Catalunya.
2012 is the only year I would see that his Tour focus likely cost him other wins.
Two years after his Tour win, in 2013, he went to Italy and came third in the Giro. And even when his powers were flagging, he still went and rode very enterprisingly in the Giro of 2014. He was not in the top 10 climbers in the race, yet came 8th because of attacking racing when he had the chance, and gritting his teeth when he was under pressure.
He clearly is not in the elite of GT winners, but I get the impression he is thought of as down in the lower quartile of winners, in spite of the breadth and depth of his results.