Ninja of the Tour (simplified version)

[Leinster]

An alternative ninja: Morkov got top ten in the green jersey without getting a top ten finish.

Trentin was 3rd in the green with 2 top 10s the whole race. Like Morkov, he picked up a lot of points at intermediates, but did all that back down the field. It'd be hard to call Morkov a ninja for the amount of times he led the race in the final km; he was literally the center of the race's attention for 5-10 seconds on every sprint stage.

 

[42x16ss]

The rule with the "no top 10 placings" is not doing it for me, because even though Mas finished inside the top 10 four times(!) you barely noticed he was there. So, that's SUPER ninja in my book.

Agreed. Once again, this is art, not science. Mas had a pretty darn good TDF in the end yet barely got any screen time. Every time I saw where he was on the GC I was flabbergasted, his ride was so stealthy.

Valverde probably got even less screen time again, but he misses out IMO because he didn't get so high in GC.

 

[RedheadDane]

The ultimate achievement must be winning Ninja, if you're French! Has that ever happened? Has there ever been a French rider who ended up high on the GC, and left people wondering where the *** he'd been hiding all race?

 

[Breezy1985]

Yup. Hard to be a total ninja with a -1 on your back like Uran, when you’re usually on camera as you get dropped. But Caruso just stayed in there, kept in touch, and got his reward.

Didn't know he was in the race until it was over. A true ninja

 

[glassmoon]

TJvG.
I honestly didn't know he is in the Tour until I read it here sometimes during the 3rd week... Did he even finish the race?

 

[IndianCyclist]

Valverde- You knew he was there ... somewhere but not out of mind like a true ninja
Carlos Verona 19th place- out of sight and out of mind

 

[Breezy1985]

TJvG.
I honestly didn't know he is in the Tour until I read it here sometimes during the 3rd week... Did he even finish the race?

You sure someone wasn't talking about TJVisma

 

[movingtarget]

Caruso was pretty stealthy until the TT. Halfway through the race I realized TJVG was riding...............

 

[Koronin]

Valverde- You knew he was there ... somewhere but not out of mind like a true ninja
Carlos Verona 19th place- out of sight and out of mind

Except Verona was on TV on the stage he ended up finishing 3rd in. Plus was in at least 1 or 2 other breaks. I think he actually had more air time than Valverde did.

 

[perico]

Valverde- You knew he was there ... somewhere but not out of mind like a true ninja
Carlos Verona 19th place- out of sight and out of mind

Do what??? Verona was on the front every day in the Alps, as well as the Jura and Clermont Ferrand. He was literally in the breakaway every single day.

 

[perico]

Do what??? Verona was on the front every day in the Alps, as well as the Jura and Clermont Ferrand. He was literally in the breakaway every single day.

In fact, he was in more breakaways than Soler, who loves to go early.

 

[Pantani_lives]

Caruso did it again in the WC. Using his camouflage technique he pretended to be a helper of Nibali this time, just to finish tenth without ever being mentioned by a commentator.

 

[Leinster]

Caruso did it again in the WC. Using his camouflage technique he pretended to be a helper of Nibali this time, just to finish tenth without ever being mentioned by a commentator.

Watch out for him on the Muur on Wednesday.

Or rather, don't watch out, you won't see him. He'll finish 7th.

 

[escartin]

I heard his name once (obviously in connection with helping Nibali) but I had no idea he had finished 10th! I just assumed he finished somewhere behind Nibali

 

[Anderis]

Caruso did it again in the WC. Using his camouflage technique he pretended to be a helper of Nibali this time, just to finish tenth without ever being mentioned by a commentator.

He was mentioned a couple of times by Polish commentators, though.

 

[boneshaker]

Top placed riders without a stage top 10

23 23 JONATHAN CASTROVIEJO + 01h 06' 20''
29 104 XANDRO MEURISSE + 01h 40' 48''
33 72 EMANUEL BUCHMANN + 01h 51' 05''
34 7 RAFAL MAJKA + 01h 54' 04''
37 42 JULIEN BERNARD + 02h 03' 32''
42 87 VALENTIN MADOUAS + 02h 11' 39''
43 117 NEILSON POWLESS + 02h 13' 33''
44 4 DAVIDE FORMOLO + 02h 15' 56''
45 144 MARK DONOVAN + 02h 17' 40''
46 206 CRISTIAN RODRIGUEZ MARTIN + 02h 19' 31''

 

[will-10]

Castro was far too good in the third week to be considered a ninja

 

[perico]

Powless and Bernard were all over the screen time with breaks and Majka was extremely visible.

 

[Leinster]

Even Meurisse was in a few breaks in the last week. The only one I can’t remember seeing much of is Rodriguez, but 46th on gc explains that.

Is the art of the ninja dying?

OTOH, I barely remember hearing Kelderman’s name in commentary , and he barely missed the podium. Is that a truer ninja?

 

[BlueRoads]

Top placed riders without a stage top 10

23 23 JONATHAN CASTROVIEJO + 01h 06' 20''
29 104 XANDRO MEURISSE + 01h 40' 48''
33 72 EMANUEL BUCHMANN + 01h 51' 05''
34 7 RAFAL MAJKA + 01h 54' 04''
37 42 JULIEN BERNARD + 02h 03' 32''
42 87 VALENTIN MADOUAS + 02h 11' 39''
43 117 NEILSON POWLESS + 02h 13' 33''
44 4 DAVIDE FORMOLO + 02h 15' 56''
45 144 MARK DONOVAN + 02h 17' 40''
46 206 CRISTIAN RODRIGUEZ MARTIN + 02h 19' 31''

There wasn't really a ninja in the Tour if we stick to these rules. (These guys were all visible as helpers or in unsuccessfull breakaways, apart from Cristian Rodriguez, but a 46th place with 2 hours 19 back isn't really a great result.) However Bilbao getting 9th ahead of Uran and Gaudu seems to be the ninja of this year's edition, at least for me.

 

[BlueRoads]

Even Meurisse was in a few breaks in the last week. The only one I can’t remember seeing much of is Rodriguez, but 46th on gc explains that.

Is the art of the ninja dying?

OTOH, I barely remember hearing Kelderman’s name in commentary , and he barely missed the podium. Is that a truer ninja?

I heard his name quite a lot, but that's probably because German ES were so rooting for him.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

I believe Xandro Meurisse was in a break in the first week, but after that I can't remember seeing him once, so he is my choice, though I'm not sure I actually saw Rodriguez at all.

I didn't see Donovan that much either, but I heard Casper Pedersen say numerous times that DSM wanted him to end up in a break, so at least in spirit he wasn't a true ninja.

 

[gunara]

Even Meurisse was in a few breaks in the last week. The only one I can’t remember seeing much of is Rodriguez, but 46th on gc explains that.

Is the art of the ninja dying?

OTOH, I barely remember hearing Kelderman’s name in commentary , and he barely missed the podium. Is that a truer ninja?

Depend which commentary, I watched NOS, so no

 

[Bonimenier]

I believe Xandro Meurisse was in a break in the first week, but after that I can't remember seeing him once, so he is my choice, though I'm not sure I actually saw Rodriguez at all.

Meurisse was there with the last 8/9 who survived the first Mt Ventoux as well iirc.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Meurisse was there with the last 8/9 who survived the first Mt Ventoux as well iirc.

I know he was, but I must have been looking away at the time.