One Race Riders : The guys who race for one race in the year (or two)

[La Pandera]

If it's not Oscar Freire, please tell me which of the sprinters is best suited to this category.

I think Freire is a lazy cyclist who is satisfied with one big win per year, not more, and that's usually MSR or Worlds. So it's a little different to my OP but I think that's the best fit for the sprinter riders.

Sorry to say that I've just lost all respect for you as a forum member.

 

[Kwibus]

Woah. Thought this was an interesting topic, but I've read some many comments that need to be corrected I decided I won't start.

Some claims of riders only focusing on 1 race are ridiculous. I mean sure... some focus on the TdF mainly, but they certainly ride hard in a lot more races then the TdF.
The difference with a rider like Andy Schleck and Armstrong is pretty big imo.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

He also won the Tour of Colorado and his biggest career win the Tour de ****ing Suisse. He also placed 3rd behind Contador and Scarponi, not bad company, on the mtf in Catalunya, ahead of Basso and Cadel and your beloved Uran as already mentioned. Would have finished the GC there too had he not crashed on the last stage.

in 08 he podiumed Dauphine Vuelta Beijing Olympics tt won Georgia and just missed out on podium in Worlds tt and Castilla Leon.

In 2009 he won Castilla Leon, got a top 10 in Giro and seemed on course for a top 10 in the Tour until he crashed.

Try again.

like you need to peak for the tour de suisse, catalunya, castilla leon or whatever. suisse he won because of the timetrial he definitely wasn't having a peak there

try again

 

[The Hitch]

like you need to peak for the tour de suisse, catalunya, castilla leon or whatever. suisse he won because of the timetrial he definitely wasn't having a peak there

try again

The thread is called "one race riders", not "one peak riders".

Try again.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

leipheimer peaks for 1 or 2 races, namelijk california and utah/colorado

 

[Reuell]

And with namelijk, you certainly mean namely. Right?

 

[will10]

And with namelijk, you certainly mean namely. Right?

His English is a damn sight better than my Dutch

 

[greenedge]

He did improve as Suisse went on.

 

[greenedge]

The difference with a rider like Andy Schleck and Armstrong is pretty big imo.

Armstrong could actually win the TDF.

 

[Kwibus]

leipheimer peaks for 1 or 2 races, namelijk california and utah/colorado

This is the bs I'm talking about.

All riders only peak for 1 or 2 races, but the difference between a rider like Leipheimer and Andy Schleck is that Leipheimer actually tries to win the races he didn't peak for while Andy Schleck rides along and drinks a beer in the pub the same evening.

Is the OP post that difficult to understand?

 

[theyoungest]

His English is a damn sight better than my Dutch

Well, you've now learned the Dutch word for "namely".

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

And with namelijk, you certainly mean namely. Right?

I can never get enough of the dutch language

 

[LaFlorecita]

leipheimer peaks for 1 or 2 races, namelijk california and utah/colorado

Lol Ryo, big fail.

 

[LaFlorecita]

I can never get enough of the dutch language

You think it's that awesome?

 

[theyoungest]

Lol Ryo, big fail.

It's not as bad as "he's just another one day fly"...

 

[gregrowlerson]

All riders only peak for 1 or 2 races, but the difference between a rider like Leipheimer and Andy Schleck is that Leipheimer actually tries to win the races he didn't peak for while Andy Schleck rides along and drinks a beer in the pub the same evening.

LOL and nail on the head

 

[the asian]

It is common with most GC riders. They can't target all 3. So they will target either the tour or the Giro-Vuelta double.
Every rider cannot be a Contador or Valverde who can win mutiple races. The riders have their limitations.
I disliked Armstrong and one contributing factor was his sole focus on the tour.
But once you think rationally, it's not a bad idea, if you are successful in that race like Lance was.
But of course if you continually fail to win that race which you target, as in the case of Andy Schleck and the Tour, and if you continuously target only the same race every year, you look like a fool and will attract a lot of justified criticism.

 

[The Hitch]

Lol ryo and pistolero. still going to argue that leipheimer is some kind of schleck?

 

[Angliru]

I think Gadret to an extent.

Well Gadret does a full season of cyclo-cross also.

 

[Angliru]

gesink : tour
andy schleck: tour
leipheimer: california, utah

I'm far from a Leipheimer fan but he always has the Tour as one of his targeted events and last year he won some World Tour weeklong stage race, Tour de Swiss maybe?

Gesink attempts to do well in the Ardennes and in at least major or semi-major one week long stage race during the course of the season in addition to the Tour, plus his performances in the two new Canadian World Tour events.

 

[Angliru]

Most of you guys confuse concepts of "care about 1-2 races" and "aim for 1-2 races". Different riders are capable of different results but usually only very few of them have more than 1-2 (or sometimes 3) aims in a season. I guess what you're trying to figure out is who among these riders neglect races that suit them but are not among their initial aims, so what i'm trying to tell you is that no way either of Samu and Anton (or Gesink) really fit this criterion.

I fully agree.

 

[Angliru]

Under that logic even Armstrong is not a one time peaker in some of his years. Just look at 2002, up there from the beginning.

You're correct. This title applies to Armstrong more in the later years of his career than when he initially began his run of Tour wins. I think 2003 scared him into making his focus even more narrow in terms of his race schedule.

 

[Angliru]

I doubt one needs to peak in races like VaCyL, Georgia, Utah, California, Dauphiné in order to win something in those races or podium.

I don't think the argument is whether a rider peaks at these events but if they actually make their presence felt in a degree that is anywhere in the same zip code of their best performances. Are they coasting through the event, usually finishing with the autobus or are they at minimum, showing their heads and getting involved in the fray?

 

[Angliru]

Just to clarify, this is the type of rider I was takling about:



Ohgmyod Hitch & Pistolero your back and forth has been hiiiiiiiiiiiilarious!!

Hitch - thanks for clarification on Scarponi. Agree.

Levi is definitely not a one race rider.

Another question; since we've been talking a lot about sprinters n the forums. I'd say OSCAR FREIRE would be the biggest one race rider of the sprints category- MSR and Worlds.

I'm sure this has been addressed but just in case that it hasn't.....sprinters are by nature pretty difficult to put in this category. Ideally they are capable of getting results throughout the year. Freire especially is above and beyond the average sprinter in that he is the only "sprinter" who is capable of competing and having ambitions in one or more of the Ardennes events (Amstel Gold). This in addition to pursuing his interests in classics and semi-classics, monuments, stage wins in stage races and his yearly pursuit of the coveted 4th WC road race win.

 

[Angliru]

He rode it most years in a long career and never finished in the top 10. 11th is not top 10.






</pistolero>

Nit-pick much??