pmcg76 said:
For someone with your knowledge, I find it hard to believe that you are actually buying this domestic races dont suit me BS. Every pro rider from the Netherlands could use that bloody excuse. What, do you think all the races in Britain are pancake flat designed with Cavendish in mind. Staight of the top of my head, I can think of the Lincoln GP which has a decent hill in it than is raced over numerous times. What would Robert Millar think?
All I did was explain why I thought Tiernan-Locke's performances have not been as ludicrous as Froome's Vuelta transformation - yet.
How many British domestic races suit puncheurs? The Lincoln GP has a decent hill in it, but it's not very long and is cobbled.
The British cycling calendar is not really designed around opportunities to find a decent climber. Sometimes, a star-like talent will fall into their lap, like Robert Millar. Millar didn't make himself a star in Britain. He was a guy who was a top drawer born climber, who just happened to be British. Unless you're in the Team Sky umbrella, which Tiernan-Locke isn't, then what are the opportunities for a British rider who can climb?
1) pack your bags for Europe and try and make it elsewhere; this is fraught with risk. A guy like Tomas Metcalfe has carved a decent niche for himself as a domestique down in Portugal, but promising guys like James Spragg and Tom Faiers don't have a team for 2012.
2) ride the domestic scene and hope you make a good enough impression on the handful of race days you get that suit you to get noticed.
Tiernan-Locke clearly did the 2nd, and the move to Endura has been good to him; Endura are more Europe-facing than Rapha Condor, whose aims in a season are harder to reconcile with his skillset. He could well just be peaking for this deliberately as a team plan for better invites later on and good team points with a view to becoming ProContinental in the future (I know some people have suggested Endura have been considering this).
He could be shady as hell, it could be a miracle transformation, it could be natural but shocking progression. But it isn't quite as pants-wettingly funny as Froome yet. I mean, Santiago Pérez was sat at home shaking his head at that. When Tiernan-Locke stomps the field by a minute in the Murcía ITT, then we can talk.