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Post Tour: Which of the contenders are finished

Aug 4, 2009
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(Wiggins), Sastre, Basso, Evans all rode the giro. Last year Menchov. I don't think we'll see any "contender" taking the giro seriously for a long time.

Only the ones without the giro excuse - Leipheimer, Rogers can now definitively be erased from contender category.
 
Jul 14, 2009
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M Sport said:
Which of the contenders or perceived contenders really need to have a look at their performance and call it quits. It seems Rogers has seen the light (I use the word contender for him loosely).

Rogers

http://www.theage.com.au/sport/rogers-calls-time-on-yellow-jersey-hunt-20100725-10q5o.html

Sastre?

Evans - to concentrate on the other two GT's

Wiggins?

People should have realized that he wasn't a contender years ago. He was just talked up on this forum by all the Aussies, he was never really a threat. Sastre is clearly past his GC contention days, and he should go for KOM's and stages. I wish Evans would move on and try to get a GC win at the Vuelta or Giro, but I think he desperately wants to win the Tour.
 
If Rogers was in the form of his life he could easily be 8th or so. I'd say he's made a good decision.

Evans was exhausted after the Giro and also injured. Many people wanted to write him off after last year, only to be proven wrong after the Vuelta, the WC and the Giro.

Wiggins... Honestly I don't see him ever repeating his 2009 result. This Tour has turned me into a moderately-sized Wiggins fan, but he would need a very easy parcours to succeed. To make things worse, it doesn't look like the Giro or the Vuelta would suit him better at all. I think he could be in the top 10 again, but he needs to consider if that's worth it.

Sastre rides too much. He should focus on the Vuelta next year, I think he could do pretty well.
 
hrotha said:
Sastre rides too much. He should focus on the Vuelta next year, I think he could do pretty well.

Sastre used to ride too many GTs but for the past 12 months he hasn't raced much at all. He took the rest of the year off after last year's Tour, came into this year's Giro with just 9 days racing where he wasn't competitive at all, maybe not surprisingly kept falling off in the Giro, hurt his back, couldn't train much and then went straight into the Tour. I don't see how you can hit any decent form with that kind of prep. He's still only had about 50 days racing in the past 12 months and not really hit top form at all during that time so maybe he could do well in this year's Vuelta
 
Mar 12, 2009
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A lot of people seem to forget how old these guys are. Sastre will be 37 next season. Leipheimer 36, Evans 35. I know that Evans was riding with an injury and coming off the Giro, but does anyone seriously believe he would have beat Schleck and Contador? There are really, really good reasons why no one in the modern era has won the Tour at that age. I respect these guys, they've all had successful, distinguished careers but touting them as favorites is absolutely ludicrous. If they want to continue racing they should concentrate on single day races where age isn't as big an issue and their experience will work for them.
 
Eyeballs Out said:
Sastre used to ride too many GTs but for the past 12 months he hasn't raced much at all. He took the rest of the year off after last year's Tour, came into this year's Giro with just 9 days racing where he wasn't competitive at all, maybe not surprisingly kept falling off in the Giro, hurt his back, couldn't train much and then went straight into the Tour. I don't see how you can hit any decent form with that kind of prep. He's still only had about 50 days racing in the past 12 months and not really hit top form at all during that time so maybe he could do well in this year's Vuelta
Interesting, I didn't know that. Then he definitely should get some proper planning do, as you say.

marinoni, Sastre will be 36, Leipheimer 38 and Evans 34 next year. Nitpicking, I know.
 
Mar 12, 2009
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hrotha said:
Interesting, I didn't know that. Then he definitely should get some proper planning do, as you say.

marinoni, Sastre will be 36, Leipheimer 38 and Evans 34 next year. Nitpicking, I know.

Would you believe I trusted Wiki? I know I know, give my head a shake. My point still stands though.