Purito - Joaquim Rodriguez thread

[SeriousSam]

If only he had won the Giro and the Vuelta in 2012, LBL one of those times he came close and the worlds RR. What an outrageous palmares in terms of the most important races of cycling he'd have:

1st, 3rd, 1st at the Grand Tours.
1st, 1st, 1st, at the hilly monuments and the WRR.

He came remarkably close to achieving this in this era of specialisation, but like his compatriot Valverde, he ended up underachieving and now with the onset of old age, the window has closed.

All that was missing in the end was a little bit of boldness and conviction or some Nibalian good fortune, a rub of the green.

 

[lenric]

There's one big difference between Rodriguez and Valverde: the last one has the killer instinct, the will to win. The first one doesn't.

 

[yaco]

Re: Re:

Arredondo summed it up best - Rodriguez is still not in top form and the cobbled climb is a disaster for a rider of his type.

This. Look at the riders who went clear, they just have a little bit more body then a pure puncheur like Purito.

But still he showed he can do well in the upcoming races. I hope he can win a stage in the Tour or Vuelta, and maybe San Sebastian. That's still within reach imo.

Very confident Rodriguez will win a stage in the TDF - Knows how to lose time in the early of the TDF, then get into a break and save his legs for a mountaintop finish.

And the Vuelta's profile always has a stage or two for Rodriguez.

 

[yaco]

Re: Re:

Arredondo summed it up best - Rodriguez is still not in top form and the cobbled climb is a disaster for a rider of his type.

This. Look at the riders who went clear, they just have a little bit more body then a pure puncheur like Purito.

But still he showed he can do well in the upcoming races. I hope he can win a stage in the Tour or Vuelta, and maybe San Sebastian. That's still within reach imo.

The Naniot made it a power climber's course. All the explosive/punchier climbers were struggling. Maybe Sagan would have won on this finish.

Ha ha

I suggested Sagan would have chance on this parcours which made one or two unhappy.

 

[yaco]

Re:

If only he had won the Giro and the Vuelta in 2012, LBL one of those times he came close and the worlds RR. What an outrageous palmares in terms of the most important races of cycling he'd have:

1st, 3rd, 1st at the Grand Tours.
1st, 1st, 1st, at the hilly monuments and the WRR.

He came remarkably close to achieving this in this era of specialisation, but like his compatriot Valverde, he ended up underachieving and now with the onset of old age, the window has closed.

All that was missing in the end was a little bit of boldness and conviction or some Nibalian good fortune, a rub of the green.

Rodriguez weakness in TT makes winning a GT challenging - That's why he needs luck.

 

[CheckMyPecs]

Re: Re:

Very confident Rodriguez will win a stage in the TDF - Knows how to lose time in the early of the TDF, then get into a break and save his legs for a mountaintop finish.

It's quite sad that the great Purito has been reduced to losing time on purpose to have a shot at a stage win.

 

[Arredondo]

Re:

There's one big difference between Rodriguez and Valverde: the last one has the killer instinct, the will to win. The first one doesn't.

You mean the guy who cries after he reached the podium of the Tour?

Gilbert, Contador, Cancellara, Nibali, Boonen.... Those guys have true killer instinct. They don't care about a podium or top-10. Valverde has been way too satisfied with his podium places during his career. Even when he could/should have won. Fine for me. Not everyone is the same. He's a great rider. But he has no more killer instinct then Purito. He just wins more races because's he's the fastest puncheur in the world, and he's in shape all year.

I can even make a case of Purito having more killer instinct based on how he cried after his Firenze loss.

 

[Arredondo]

Re: Re:

Very confident Rodriguez will win a stage in the TDF - Knows how to lose time in the early of the TDF, then get into a break and save his legs for a mountaintop finish.

It's quite sad that the great Purito has been reduced to losing time on purpose to have a shot at a stage win.

Why? Father age will be there for everyone.

If he wins his Andorra stage thanks to a break, i'm a happy man.

 

[yaco]

Re: Re:

Arredondo summed it up best - Rodriguez is still not in top form and the cobbled climb is a disaster for a rider of his type.

This. Look at the riders who went clear, they just have a little bit more body then a pure puncheur like Purito.

But still he showed he can do well in the upcoming races. I hope he can win a stage in the Tour or Vuelta, and maybe San Sebastian. That's still within reach imo.

Very confident Rodriguez will win a stage in the TDF - Knows how to lose time in the early stages of the TDF, then get into a break, and save his legs for a mountaintop finish.

And the Vuelta's profile always has a stage or two for Rodriguez.

 

[Arredondo]

Re: Re:

Arredondo summed it up best - Rodriguez is still not in top form and the cobbled climb is a disaster for a rider of his type.

This. Look at the riders who went clear, they just have a little bit more body then a pure puncheur like Purito.

But still he showed he can do well in the upcoming races. I hope he can win a stage in the Tour or Vuelta, and maybe San Sebastian. That's still within reach imo.

Very confident Rodriguez will win a stage in the TDF - Knows how to lose time in the early stages of the TDF, then get into a break, and save his legs for a mountaintop finish.

And the Vuelta's profile always has a stage or two for Rodriguez.

Do in need to react on that?

I'm completely agree with you. Especially in the Vuelta there are chances.

 

[CheckMyPecs]

Re: Re:

Why? Father age will be there for everyone.

I know, but I'm starting to fear he is racing that one year too many.

 

[Arredondo]

Re: Re:

Why? Father age will be there for everyone.

I know, but I'm starting to fear he is racing that one year too many.

He is, but that doesn't mean he can't win some good races anymore.

How many riders actually do retire at the right moment? Still, Purito i still not Cunego or Frank Schleck, if you get what i mean

 

[SeriousSam]

This also isn't boxing where one year too many means excessive brain damage, although the financial incentive is surely a factor in previously great riders carrying on

 

[HelloDolly]

Bloody Hell I hope Purito never comes on here and read some of the drivel you guys write about how he should have retired already

Sanchez should have retired 2 years ago and he is still going strong

Purito had a major set back in 2014 with very bad crashes but he fought on...I believe he still has some very good wins in him yet
If you write him off because of yesterday well there are a lot of riders to write off

but I guess this site is full of gloom and doom merchants that are happy to be overly negative about a rider. Same guys I guess who wrote Contator off in 2013 and are still writing Boonen off

 

[CheckMyPecs]

Peter Van Petegem's year at Quick Step is the textbook example.

Virenque, on the other hand, was smart enough to retire while he was still achieving good results.

 

[HelloDolly]

So....If a rider wants to ride on and can get a contract why not....its not exactly like he is sitting at the back of the Peloton ....Purito is still very competitive unlike the Schelcks or even Ryder Hesjedal

This need to retire riders is not only ridiculous its ageist .....Afterall of the 5 classics we saw the last few weeks 3 were won by riders aged 34+
How many of these riders would be assigned to the bin by you guys

 

[SeriousSam]

It's not ageist, it's an instance of fan and athlete objectives not being perfectly aligned. Some fans apparently really do believe them that winning the biggest races is all that matters.

 

[hrotha]

It's not the fans. The virtues of quitting while you're ahead and on top of your game are widely extolled by lots of people, including many athletes. It's a belief that's deeply ingrained and there's no pro rider vs fan divide.

Me, I couldn't care less. I don't think anyone's legacy is tarnished by a few subpar seasons - those just tend to be more or less forgotten.

 

[lenric]

Re: Re:

There's one big difference between Rodriguez and Valverde: the last one has the killer instinct, the will to win. The first one doesn't.

You mean the guy who cries after he reached the podium of the Tour?

Gilbert, Contador, Cancellara, Nibali, Boonen.... Those guys have true killer instinct. They don't care about a podium or top-10. Valverde has been way too satisfied with his podium places during his career. Even when he could/should have won. Fine for me. Not everyone is the same. He's a great rider. But he has no more killer instinct then Purito. He just wins more races because's he's the fastest puncheur in the world, and he's in shape all year.

I can even make a case of Purito having more killer instinct based on how he cried after his Firenze loss.

Valverde is less suited to GTs than Purito.

 

[Jspear]

Re: Re:

There's one big difference between Rodriguez and Valverde: the last one has the killer instinct, the will to win. The first one doesn't.

You mean the guy who cries after he reached the podium of the Tour?

Gilbert, Contador, Cancellara, Nibali, Boonen.... Those guys have true killer instinct. They don't care about a podium or top-10. Valverde has been way too satisfied with his podium places during his career. Even when he could/should have won. Fine for me. Not everyone is the same. He's a great rider. But he has no more killer instinct then Purito. He just wins more races because's he's the fastest puncheur in the world, and he's in shape all year.

I can even make a case of Purito having more killer instinct based on how he cried after his Firenze loss.

Valverde is less suited to GTs than Purito.

I'm on a phone...too lazy to look it up. Doesn't Valverde have more gt podiums? Not to mention his GT win.

 

[lenric]

Your point being?
Rodriguez had at least 2 opportunities to win la Vuelta, since he was clearly the strongest (mainly in 2012), but never did, because of lack of balls and killer instinct.
Valverde was never clearly the strongest rider in any GT he has ever ridden.

 

[Jspear]

Re:

Your point being?
Rodriguez had at least 2 opportunities to win la Vuelta, since he was clearly the strongest (mainly in 2012), but never did, because of lack of balls and killer instinct.
Valverde was never clearly the strongest rider in any GT he has ever ridden.

In 2012 he had balls and instinct, AC just has more.

 

[hrotha]

So much instinct, that he chose to let Contador go.

 

[Jspear]

Re:

So much instinct, that he chose to let Contador go.

Or he wasn't strong enough.

 

[hrotha]

No, he said at the time that it was a tactical choice.