Next great stage racer

[franciep10]

Ever since i started watching cycling the cycle of riders from older to the new era has always interested me especially when it pertains to the GC riders. Now in the 80's it was the Era of Fignon, Hinault and lemond and as the epo era started it became the time of Miguel Indurain and later on marco Pantani and then it was Jan Ullrich, Lance armstrong, Roberto Heras, Simoni and salvodelli as thos guys started getting older I saw other riders such as Basso and Valverde that I knew could win a grand tour but sooner than expected a new crop of riders came in Andy Schleck, thomas dekker i was wrong on that one and of corse Contador who I knew was special from his victory in Paris-Nice 07. Now contador is 29 Andy is 27 and while I've seen talented young riders such as Sagan and Moser I haven't seen a young rider with true potential to take over as the next grand tour champions maybe you guys know a stage racer that I haven't seen. Sorry for the long post.

 

[FF'Wilco]

Wilco Kelderman & Bob Jungels

 

[theyoungest]

Wilco Kelderman & Bob Jungels

Let's wait until they ride their first GT, shall we?

In the generation below Andy Schleck, you have your Kreuzigers, Gesinks, De Gendts, Mollemas, Taaramaes, Kruijswijks. None of these guys really scream "future GT superstar", but maybe one of them can make a leap like Nibali has.

Chris Froome, maybe? (although he's the same age as Andy Schleck)

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

Vino






Let us see what Pinot can do this tour

 

[greenedge]

Moser in my view has a chance at being good at GT's in the future. I agree with the Kelderman/ Jungels.


I have some odd ones but they have gone well.

Peter Steitna- did great work for Hesjedal at the Giro ( probably my oddest one )
Andrew Talansky- 2nd at TOR was good. Has to improve on climbing.
TJVG- looks the part and places well at high calibre races but needs to get a win soon.
Joe Dombrowski- looked great at the TOC and the Baby Giro.

Hugo Houle- came 2nd at the Tour De Beauce.

Fabio Aru- Italys' most promising young climber- that is not pro.

Julian Kern- did well at the German Nats and Flèche Du Sud- should go to a pro team soon.

Adam Phelan- only 21 and is hyped in Australia.
Rohan Dennis- strong in the ITT's and won Thuringer Rundfhart/ came 5th at the TDU.
Jay McCarthy- is also good but he needs a breakthrough.

Nairo Quintana- has gone very well this year, his best win was at the Dauphinie stage 6 where he climbed well and descended
Henao- came 9th in his first GT.
Johan Chaves- won the Tour de l'Avenir last year.
Betancur- is steadily improving and has got quite a few good wins.
Atapuma- did well to finish 2nd on Mt Baldy this year.

Janse Van Rensburg- seems to dominate every 2.2 race and recently won the Ronde Van Zeeland over Lars Boom.

Dylan Van Baarle- seems great at ITT's and won this year the Olympia Tour/ born in 1992. I have no clue as to whether he can climb.
Slagter has done well recently though he might be more suited to the Ardennes.

Pinot- is good and just needs to be consistent- he looks like the best climber of the white jersey contenders this year at the TDF.

Ilnur Zakarin was going well at the Baby Giro but then cracked. He did however look good before he lost the lead.

There are probably others. There was a detailed thread done recently about best young talents from countries.

 

[the asian]

Quintana will be the real deal. Moser has great potential but have to see whether he becomes a classics specialist or a GC rider.
Kelderman too has shown promise but you can't really predict anything about the dutch.
The Italians too have some promising GC riders as do the Colombians who apart form Quitana have Henao, Atapuma .
There seems a lack of talent among the Spanish though .Apart from Landa, I can't think of anyone.

 

[iZnoGouD]

Machado

/close thread

 

[Andy99]

Rohan Dennis- strong in the ITT's and won Thuringer Rundfhart/ came 5th at the TDU.

Signed for Sky 2013, apparently.

 

[Azabael]

Signed for Sky 2013, apparently.

He's not a GC rider. But if he signed with Sky, that will provide more food for the rabo bashers in the future, I'm afraid.

 

[theyoungest]

Signed for Sky 2013, apparently.

Ah, that's surprising. Greenedge seemed the obvious place to go.

He's not a GC rider. But if he signed with Sky, that will provide more food for the rabo bashers in the future, I'm afraid.

Why? He left as per his own wish, and it's not like his 2011 season was much incentive for them to sign him to the pro team.

They picked him up when he didn't even have any contract whatsoever, after the Pegasus collapse.

 

[saganftw]

if history repeats itself then we wont see a truly great stage racer for about another 6-7 years

in 60s it was anquetil,70s with merckx,80s hinault,90s indurain,2000 armstrong, 2010 contador - but he got busted too soon to win 5 Tdf

lets see if in 2015-2017 another "5 TdF potential" cyclist emerges

 

[Azabael]

Why? He left as per his own wish, and it's not like his 2011 season was much incentive for them to sign him to the pro team.

They picked him up when he didn't even have any contract whatsoever, after the Pegasus collapse.

Because he would have stayed if they signed him for the PT team. I'm not saying the rabo bashers would stand in their right, don't get me wrong. However, the interesting question you could ask yourself is if they'd have signed him if he would have been Dutch.

 

[theyoungest]

Because he would have stayed if they signed him for the PT team. I'm not saying the rabo bashers would stand in their right, don't get me wrong. However, the interesting question you could ask yourself is if they'd have signed him if he would have been Dutch.

He already said in an interview in January that they remained interested, because they saw that he was very talented. But it's hard to sign someone on the basis of no results at all.

He also admitted that he benefits from a strict team discipline, which doesn't exist at Rabo Continental. I think Michael Matthews could be the same.

 

[Azabael]

He already said in an interview in January that they remained interested, because they saw that he was very talented. But it's hard to sign someone on the basis of no results at all.

He also admitted that he benefits from a strict team discipline, which doesn't exist at Rabo Continental. I think Michael Matthews could be the same.

Secretly they're all still prisoners.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Most have been named already I think. One name is missing though: Romain Bardet.

He has been awesome to watch this year and did great in last year's Tour de l'Avenir winning the Queen Stage, and even though he only finished 12th overall, he was arguably the strongest in the race, just unlucky to lose some time on the third stage.

 

[Azabael]

Most have been named already I think. One name is missing though: Romain Bardet.

He has been awesome to watch this year and did great in last year's Tour de l'Avenir winning the Queen Stage, and even though he only finished 12th overall, he was arguably the strongest in the race, just unlucky to lose some time on the third stage.

Yes, but for instance in this year's ToC, he finished 25th where Kelderman came in 7th and Kelderman is even younger. I agree he's a great talent. But if we're talking about the biggest future sheriffs in town, I'm not sure if he'd be allowed into the academy. But then again, terms such as 'peaking' and 'grow margin' could very well change my opinion completely in, say, a year from now.

 

[theyoungest]

Yes, but for instance in this year's ToC, he finished 25th where Kelderman came in 7th and Kelderman is even younger. I agree he's a great talent. But if we're talking about the biggest future sheriffs in town, I'm not sure if he'd be allowed into the academy. But then again, terms such as 'peaking' and 'grow margin' could very well change my opinion completely in, say, a year from now.

He had some kind of injury there, I think.

Personally I think in that generation it's between Quintana and Dombrowski. Someone like Kelderman might take their scalp in one week races, because of his TT.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

He had some kind of injury there, I think.

Personally I think in that generation it's between Quintana and Dombrowski. Someone like Kelderman might take their scalp in one week races, because of his TT.

In regards to GTs, I think it is still too early to say.
Recovery and recuperation are still unknown with these guys.
Quintana is going to be a great climber tho.
Kelderman still needs to improve his climbing before we consider him a GT prospect I think; but if Wiggo is the big favorite for the tour this year, I think there is some hope for Wilco

 

[Azabael]

For the future I'd rate Dombrowski above Quintana, due to grow margins. But honestly, they are still so young and there are quite some others. Fabio Aru (riding with Astana in August), for instance.

Btw, I'm just curious what makes you think Kelderman would be capable of one-week races but would lag behind in three-week races.

 

[theyoungest]

Btw, I'm just curious what makes you think Kelderman would be capable of one-week races but would lag behind in three-week races.

He seems to be a Van Garderen type rider, good TT, good but not great in the mountains. His climbing style is that of a TTer, not of a real climber.

Of course it's still very early days, he might for instance have great recovery, which would make him very suited for GTs.

 

[c&cfan]

if history repeats itself then we wont see a truly great stage racer for about another 6-7 years

in 60s it was anquetil,70s with merckx,80s hinault,90s indurain,2000 armstrong, 2010 contador - but he got busted too soon to win 5 Tdf

lets see if in 2015-2017 another "5 TdF potential" cyclist emerges

5 GTs at 29 3 (tours). he can do it.

 

[Azabael]

He seems to be a Van Garderen type rider, good TT, good but not great in the mountains. His climbing style is that of a TTer, not of a real climber.

Of course it's still very early days, he might for instance have great recovery, which would make him very suited for GTs.

Hmm, yea perhaps. But then again, being a few years younger he's already beating TJVG in the mountains. And maybe we can name 2 riders of his age who currently climb better. He only lost 46 seconds to Dombrowski on Mt. Baldy. But like mentioned, the future will tell. I'm curious when guys like Keldermand, Aru and Dombrowski will ride their first GT. What do you think about Kelderman, coming Vuelta or next year's Giro?

 

[Froome19]

Wilco Kelderman & Bob Jungels

Both have shown good time trialling but proper hardcore climbing has not been demonstrated yet, we will have to wait and see....

Let's wait until they ride their first GT, shall we?

In the generation below Andy Schleck, you have your Kreuzigers, Gesinks, De Gendts, Mollemas, Taaramaes, Kruijswijks. None of these guys really scream "future GT superstar", but maybe one of them can make a leap like Nibali has.

Chris Froome, maybe? (although he's the same age as Andy Schleck)

I wouls say De Gendt certainly can do something but we have never seen him truly at the top on mountain stages.. Taaramae is still young but his development has been halted due to injuries and other factors.
Kruijswijk seems to be improving but only time will tell, Mollema likewise but I think this year and specifically this Tour is the make or break point for Mollema if he has the ability to win GTs..

if history repeats itself then we wont see a truly great stage racer for about another 6-7 years

in 60s it was anquetil,70s with merckx,80s hinault,90s indurain,2000 armstrong, 2010 contador - but he got busted too soon to win 5 Tdf

lets see if in 2015-2017 another "5 TdF potential" cyclist emerges

Well Contador wasnt really 2010 and he will probably only be finished by 2014 minimum..

 

[theyoungest]

Hmm, yea perhaps. But then again, being a few years younger he's already beating TJVG in the mountains. And maybe we can name 2 riders of his age who currently climb better. He only lost 46 seconds to Dombrowski on Mt. Baldy. But like mentioned, the future will tell. I'm curious when guys like Keldermand, Aru and Dombrowski will ride their first GT. What do you think about Kelderman, coming Vuelta or next year's Giro?

Other: next year's Vuelta. I think they're taking the Gesink approach with this guy.

 

[Pentacycle]

He already said in an interview in January that they remained interested, because they saw that he was very talented. But it's hard to sign someone on the basis of no results at all.

He also admitted that he benefits from a strict team discipline, which doesn't exist at Rabo Continental. I think Michael Matthews could be the same.

The main reason he left Rabo CT was his participation in London on the track, and at Rabo he would have gotten no chance to do track races. In 2013, he would finally focus entirely on road racing. So that's also why I don't believe the Sky rumour is true, that could have something to do with getting his price up.

Other: next year's Vuelta. I think they're taking the Gesink approach with this guy.

I hope it's the Giro, if he somehow crashes out or gets ill, he'd still be able to ride the Vuelta. Btw the 'gesink approach' hasn't been very succesfull in GT's, I hope Rabobank aren't thinking they're the same type of riders.

Isn't Tim Wellens a possible GC rider. He climbs well, and also has a decent TT. Imo h could be the next Belgian top rider.