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Pierre Rolland

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Jul 22, 2009
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Great ride and very impressive, but it does take the shine of the win that he was towed to the top. The only downside is the scary thought of how much tv-time the french producers will throw at him in the future. Good-bye watching other riders.. =)
 
Antianti said:
Great ride and very impressive, but it does take the shine of the win that he was towed to the top. The only downside is the scary thought of how much tv-time the french producers will throw at him in the future. Good-bye watching other riders.. =)

Haha yeah! At least it's not Hincapie, though.

It could always be worse.

I'm starting to think that Rolland will be Europcar's GC leader next year, and that Tommy V will exit the GC stage just as he ascended the stairs. I hope to see a frenchman on the podium in Paris by 2013, though I fear he may need more time to fully develop.
 
Rolland gets his celebration from his teammate.

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Also this is what Rolland said yesterday

"I am fired up to be the next Bernard Hinault"
 
Mar 13, 2009
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No dishounour in this stage win, Sanchez was stronger, or at least a reasonable assumption to make when someoen catches you after you had a 50 second headstarrt, he knew it and played the cards that he'd been dealt. If Sanchez knew how early they'd catch Contador I think he'd have ridden differently and forced rolland onto the front.

It's not like Sanchez rode everyone but Rolland off his wheel from the base and then in the last 100m was outsprinted.
 
Aug 16, 2011
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I'd like to see him take a stage before the Giro ends. He definitely deserves a stage the way he's been riding and how he's been attacking day in day out.
 
One thing I've always liked about Rolland has been how he uses his team as well. Preparing for his attack two days ago with two men up the road was brilliant and Thurau rode out of his skin to establish that break.

He also pulled a great move on de Gendt a couple of years ago at the TdF when they were both going for Mountain points in the second week. Rather than marking de Gendt himself when he got into the break of the day, Rolland sent Arashiro and Reza up the road, who tagged him on every climb and reduced the damage.

I suspect he'd make a good DS in retirement.
 
One thing for sure: he's got panache. It's amazing to see him on a bike. At the beginning of the race I thought he'd be doing he Giro only as a prep race for the Tour but I was clearly wrong, he's honouring this race at best. Respect for Pierrot!
 
Apr 15, 2013
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He is typical of those strong diesel/resistant rides who are penalised by today's cycling : he can climb long and hard, but he is not explosive.. in today's cycling where teammates pull everybody to the 2 kms mark on the last climb, he just can't make great results.. But give him a race where hard riding starts earlier, where it is about keeping a strong rythm for 20 minutes or more, not bursting for 5 minutes, and he becomes a lot better.

His cycling abilities would have been so much more tailored for the 80s.. Too bad really. As a result he can only ever be a follower if he where to stick with the strategy of waiting for the last k... Rather than doing this, he attacks from further away, which is great.
 
Good to see someone giving it a go from further out rather than waiting for the last part of the climb. Admittedly he does have an advantage in that he loses a lot of time in time trials and he isnt the best of the climbers so the GC favourites can give him a bit of leeway. Plenty of climbing left though to make up time. A fan here :cool:
 
I like him: Courageous, great style, elegant.

The Danish commentator (on stage 14 or 15) said something like "Rolland seems to waste a lot of effort in breakaways that don't pay off. Then Rolf Sorensen replied: "When you win stages like La Toussuire or Alpe d'Huez every now and then, then it's worth it, isn't it?"