Rabobus

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Freire could have won G-W in 2010 with Freire's legs

No way Gesink could have won the Tour so far in his career.

No way is silly statement, but this is a pointless discussion anyway so whatever.

I think we can agree Gesink has had a lot of bad luck, maybe some of it is down to poor bike handling (not always the case however), and should by all means have a better palmares then he currently has (and it is impressive anyhow), I don't think he would have won a tour either, but he could have been close. He is a very good rider, most know this.

 

[frandy]

and andy? Valv?

realistically gesink could be anywhere in the top 10.
Not a great course for him, but if he gets his climbing legs..

anyay as for rabo in the upcoming weeks:

I think mollema could have a good PN. kruijswijk I don't expect a lot at TA. Gesink at Volta Catalunya.. hard to say, I hope he can be competitve, based on this week maybe, maybe too soon yet.

In theory they should be good at basque with all 3 gesink, kruijswijk and mollema riding with races in thier legs.

and MSR.. unlikely they do much. We'll see.

Isn't gesink doing PN or TA?

 

[Mambo95]

So... how does Rabobank get its bad reputation?

This thread suggests that the reasons are....

30% that they get lots of top tens but few wins
70% that you seem to be so easily wound up by people knocking them.

 

[cineteq]

Also, don't get me started on Gesink vs Nibali. Really. In nearly every duel they had Gesink came out on top so I have no reason whatsoever to believe Nibali is better. He's just had far more going his way than Gesink who seems to have a knack for having the worst possible luck

I like a lot both riders, yet Nibali has already won a GT. In this year's Tour I prefer Nibali, he has more weapons.
One thing's for sure, they both will be on top of A. Schleck.

 

[frandy]

I like a lot both riders, yet Nibali has already won a GT. In this year's Tour I prefer Nibali, he has more weapons.
One thing's for sure, they both will be on top of A. Schleck.

If andy has 2010 climbing legs gesink has not got a chance andy wont lose loads to gesink in the time trials.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Isn't gesink doing PN or TA?

nope.

his competitve racing should be
Catalunya
basque
ardennes

break
suisse
dutch nats
tdf

then after that...
vuelta maybe, worlds, lombardy etc

 

[frandy]

I like a lot both riders, yet Nibali has already won a GT. In this year's Tour I prefer Nibali, he has more weapons.
One thing's for sure, they both will be on top of A. Schleck.

lol If schleck has 2010 climbing legs gesink has no chance no way will andy lose loads of time to gesink in the timetrial's lol.

 

[frandy]

nope.

his competitve racing should be
Catalunya
basque
ardennes

break
suisse
dutch nats
tdf

then after that...
vuelta maybe, worlds, lombardy etc

Not a bad prep as he done much in ardennes i always looked at gesink like a basso sort of diesel

 

[frandy]

Timmy i think he could defo podium vuelta would be tough with contador and rodriguez fresh but defo possible. I really want Igor anton to do well he never seems to get it done.

 

[cineteq]

lol If schleck has 2010 climbing legs gesink has no chance no way will andy lose loads of time to gesink in the timetrial's lol.

Don't laugh too loud, get real, Andy is even going to fair lower than Tony Martin in this year's Tour.

 

[Sciatic]

Well, one thing you can certainly say about 'em: they DO stick together

final results Andalucia:
10 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
11 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
12 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team

 

[Spine Concept]

No way is silly statement, but this is a pointless discussion anyway so whatever.

I think we can agree Gesink has had a lot of bad luck, maybe some of it is down to poor bike handling (not always the case however), and should by all means have a better palmares then he currently has (and it is impressive anyhow), I don't think he would have won a tour either, but he could have been close. He is a very good rider, most know this.

Were you really surprised at that comment seeing as who wrote it...? Gesink remains an enigma in GT's, but it there are possibilities, especially in a situation like last year. Heck, even JVDB might have had a shot in the last edition. However, if Gesink had zero chance than VDB was dead and buried. Thus we can all see what a silly comment that was. Admittedly, with a fully fit Conti and Andy - to a certain extent - everyone will always be racing for second, but with a scenario like last year anything is possible.

 

[El Pistolero]

Silly comment? You're the only silly person out here. I never said anything about JVDB. To say VDB was ever close to winning the Tour is stupid. To say it of Gesink, is even more stupid. He never was close to winning the Tour. Save me your crap please

 

[Spine Concept]

Silly comment? You're the only silly person out here. I never said anything about JVDB. To say VDB was ever close to winning the Tour is stupid. To say it of Gesink, is even more stupid. He never was close to winning the Tour. Save me your crap please

There you go again with another silly comment. It's getting embarrassing now. I never said they would win the Tour or were close to it, I said they might have had a shot at it in a situation like last year. Furthermore, I never said that you mentioned VDB, that was all me, sue me. Everyone who has a different opinion than yours is either silly or stupid, that's always your argumentation. Pathetic. They are compared on a regular basis and some people last year were shouting left and right about his chances after many contenders crashed out. A little reading comprehension goes a long way. Stop overstating things and go spew your self-righteous crap somewhere else cause the only one who is sounding silly here is you.

 

[El Pistolero]

This whole discussion started with Freire saying he could have won the Tour already with Gesink's legs. Do keep up please and stop posting silly things. No one said Gesink was going to win the Tour last year, perhaps just you. He was never in contention for victory, he already lost time before the first real mountain stage.

If being close to a Tour win means finishing 10 minutes back then I take my words back

Ps: Timmy wasn't saying my statement was silly, he was saying Freire's statement was silly. I agree with Timmy that he could have gotten a richer palmares already, but even without crashes he would never have been close to a TOUR WIN. Good luck with that reading comprehension course you're taking by the way

 

[Spine Concept]

This whole discussion started with Freire saying he could have won the Tour already with Gesink's legs. Do keep up please and stop posting silly things. No one said Gesink was going to win the Tour last year, perhaps just you. He was never in contention for victory, he already lost time before the first real mountain stage.

No, this whole discussion started when you said that there was no way Gesink could have won the Tour so far in his career. In turn, I responded by saying that be that as it may - with a fully fit Conti and Andy - in a situation like last year where many contenders crashed out he might have had a shot at it. I never said he was the favorite or even one of the favorites, just that that situation could have been his best bet. I cannot break this down anymore simple for you to understand.

If being close to a Tour win means finishing 10 minutes back then I take my words back

Again, this perfectly illustrates the silly comments you have a knack for shelling out. It gets more embarrassing each time. Other than last year's Tour, in which he hit the deck hard and could have easily dropped out with good reason, he never finished 10 minutes back in a GT's general classification. Aside from that, again, I said that he might have had a shot last year under the circumstances, not that he was close to winning it. Is it so hard to tell the difference? Deary me, this level of ignorance has reached new heights surely.

Ps: Timmy wasn't saying my statement was silly, he was saying Freire's statement was silly. I agree with Timmy that he could have gotten a richer palmares already, but even without crashes he would never have been close to a TOUR WIN. Good luck with that reading comprehension course you're taking by the way

Freire could have won G-W in 2010 with Freire's legs

No way Gesink could have won the Tour so far in his career.

No way is silly statement, but this is a pointless discussion anyway so whatever.

Errmm yeah. Again, reading comprehension. Embarrassing.

 

[El Pistolero]

He finished 10 minutes back in 2010. Seriously, you Dutchies need to get over your Calimero behaviour. If saying that Gesink couldn't have won the Tour so far in his career already gets you angry... He has never shown to be able to climb with guys like Contador and Andy in the Tour. Never shown to be able to time trial with guys like Evans, Contador, Menchov, Wiggins, etc

Never shown to be able to descent like Samu Sanchez. Or even climb like him during the Tour.

It's not a silly statement to say Gesink couldn't have won the Tour so far. Unless you're just basing your self on nothing. How do you know he could have won the Tour in 2011 lol? Evans looked better on every single stage than Gesink.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

i just meant the term never is silly, realistically he probably wouldn't have won.
But like spine pointed out, gesink is a good rider and under insane circumstances like last tour the door was open for surprises, and gesink is one of the riders with enough quality that the never term isn't fair. FYI had gesink stayed fit last tour I'm under no illusions that he would have beaten evans last year. Evans was the strongest in the race.

Anyway this discussion has turned to speculation and bitterness, lets move on etc.

@elpickle we dutch guys are probably guilty have more faith in gesink then feasible, but likewise you are probably guilty of not giving gesink enough credit as a rider. He has been competitve with riders like Evans in the past when fully fit, and while he struggled last year it isn't a unfair suggestion to say he would've improved since those outings. In fact his numbers suggest he is improving, unfortunate for gesink he has had a lot of bad luck. But again, because of what has happened with gesink so far, its all pretty speculative.

 

[Spine Concept]

He finished 10 minutes back in 2010. Seriously, you Dutchies need to get over your Calimero behaviour. If saying that Gesink couldn't have won the Tour so far in his career already gets you angry... He has never shown to be able to climb with guys like Contador and Andy in the Tour. Never shown to be able to time trial with guys like Evans, Contador, Menchov, Wiggins, etc

Never shown to be able to descent like Samu Sanchez. Or even climb like him during the Tour.

It's not a silly statement to say Gesink couldn't have won the Tour so far. Unless you're just basing your self on nothing. How do you know he could have won the Tour in 2011 lol? Evans looked better on every single stage than Gesink.

Well one thing is for certain, you have a knack for missing a point. However, that's not surprising to me. Especially when it comes to Dutchies. It's always the same thing with you. Read Timmy's response and see if you understand now. If not, than this is a lost case.

i just meant the term never is silly, realistically he probably wouldn't have won.
But like spine pointed out, gesink is a good rider and under insane circumstances like last tour the door was open for surprises, and gesink is one of the riders with enough quality that the never term isn't fair. FYI had gesink stayed fit last tour I'm under no illusions that he would have beaten evans last year. Evans was the strongest in the race.

Anyway this discussion has turned to speculation and bitterness, lets move on etc.

@elpickle we dutch guys are probably guilty have more faith in gesink then feasible, but likewise you are probably guilty of not giving gesink enough credit as a rider. He has been competitve with riders like Evans in the past when fully fit, and while he struggled last year it isn't a unfair suggestion to say he would've improved since those outings. In fact his numbers suggest he is improving, unfortunate for gesink he has had a lot of bad luck. But again, because of what has happened with gesink so far, its all pretty speculative.

 

[El Pistolero]

I never gave Gesink too little credit. I think he's a great rider, but like JVDB, I have not seen a Tour winner in him. If the entire field crashes out perhaps, but that's irrelevant. I don't think he, or JDVB for that matter, could have beaten Evans last year. Spine just gets upset everytime someone doesn't praise a Dutch cyclist, it's getting rather tiring to be honest.

 

[theyoungest]

But again, because of what has happened with gesink so far, its all pretty speculative.

This.

Like the great Jonathan Vaughters once said (yesterday, in fact) "a cyclist is half F1 driver, half maraton runner". Gesink is a really good marathon runner, but a pretty crappy F1 driver.

 

[Spine Concept]

I never gave Gesink too little credit. I think he's a great rider, but like JVDB, I have not seen a Tour winner in him. If the entire field crashes out perhaps, but that's irrelevant. I don't think he, or JDVB for that matter, could have beaten Evans last year. Spine just gets upset everytime someone doesn't praise a Dutch cyclist, it's getting rather tiring to be honest.

When have I asked you to praise Gesink? When have I praised Gesink? Don't you see how silly and uninformed your comments are? It makes it really hard to take you seriously. Last year I was one of the main criticizers of Gesink after his crash at the tour. I even went at it with Dekker_T at a certain point. However, I do recognize talent and potential when I see it whereas you like to overlook it, especially if it is a Dutchie. Everyone in here knows that. Of course one tends to get upset about that, I'm a human being after all, behind this laptop. It's a normal reaction to bigoted ignorance. Don't get me started on tiring people out, you take the cake for sure. Again, this whole Gesink might have had a shot at the tour was exclusively for last year's tour, where the circumstances were much more favorable with contenders crashing out left and right. Like youngest and timmy said, it's all speculative now.

 

[El Pistolero]

Seriously, you get upset about every single post lol. That was in reaction to Timmy, not you. Ignored.

 

[Spine Concept]

Seriously, you get upset about every single post lol. That was in reaction to Timmy, not you. Ignored.

Lol. I'm not upset. You just can't take the heat, so get out of the kitchen. Ignoring me won't make you any less wrong.

I never gave Gesink too little credit. I think he's a great rider, but like JVDB, I have not seen a Tour winner in him. If the entire field crashes out perhaps, but that's irrelevant. I don't think he, or JDVB for that matter, could have beaten Evans last year. Spine just gets upset everytime someone doesn't praise a Dutch cyclist, it's getting rather tiring to be honest.

Only to Timmy huh. Lol.

 

[El Pistolero]

Evans > Gesink in the Tour 2011

Nothing speculative about that