Rank these six riders based on overall ability

Page 2 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
Mar 18, 2009
775
0
0
This is (in my humble opinion) a strange pole. Sagan did seem to have great potential, although he's passing now beyond the "potential" stage of his career. He seems to consistently lack power at the business end of the major one day races, and since his career is supposed to be that of a monuments rider, this is a serious problem. Maybe he'll solve this problem in the future but based on results, the order should be:

Kwaitowski (WC and Amstel, and easily out-powered Sagan for last year's Strade Bianche, tied with
Martin, who has two monuments and would have three if he hadn't crashed at the end of last year's LBL,
GVA
and then Costa, Sagan and Thomas as pretty much equal.

Where do you fit Alaphillipe in, or Kristoff, or Degenkolb?
 
Ability hardly matters. What matters is achievement, not the potential. Sagan has relative abilities but he's wasting them.

However in order to assess all-round ability, you need to assess the ITT ability. So Thomas, Costa & Kwiatkowsky stand above the rest.

Achievement wise, it's of course Van Avermaet on top. The rider who's made the most of limited ability. Some real fighting and competitive spirit.
 
Mar 13, 2015
2,637
0
0
Echoes said:
Ability hardly matters. What matters is achievement, not the potential. Sagan has relative abilities but he's wasting them.

However in order to assess all-round ability, you need to assess the ITT ability. So Thomas, Costa & Kwiatkowsky stand above the rest.

Achievement wise, it's of course Van Avermaet on top. The rider who's made the most of limited ability. Some real fighting and competitive spirit.

Of course, it's the ITT that matters. I should of known...
 
Mar 13, 2015
2,637
0
0
Re: Re:

HelloDolly said:
Mr.White said:
HelloDolly said:
BigMac said:
#consistency
#coherency

#fail

Is that directed at me ???

Firstly there is clearly no definition of ability in OP so I stated my definition because I am not sure what is meant
As for you #consitency #coherency - for the benefit of both it might be better if you took the time and bother to write full sentences (this in not twitter) because you are certainly not adding to either

As for Greipel having more ability than Contador ...I said winning, the quality of the wins is a given...Winning the Tour de France puts you in a different category than several stages of Tour of Turkey (or such similar race) and therefore not equitable..so if you are going to be pedantic - the quality of the win is paramount

I also said my choice are based on riders 'ability' (wins and quality of win) at the moment ie in last year /18 months...which is how most riders are judged not just be fans but also when seeking a contract
Kwait is first & Dan Martin is 2nd IMO

Sagan have 3-4 times bigger contract than Dan Martin, how is he second then?

Sagan's place is based on his wins in the last year as previously stated ...my comment is on what usually happens when judging a rider but in this case things are skewed because Tinkov started a stupid (though not for Sagan) and erroneous bidding war

But on the whole a team will buy a rider based on results esp in big races ( and that includes helping someone to win like Luca Paolini

As in all competitive sport winning is the greatest currency

I agree on last part, that's why Sagan has the biggest contract, he has won more than those 5 together. Only Kwiatkowski could come close to him
 
Re:

Billie said:
Sagan has really become way underrated the last year.

Sagan
Kwiatkowski

Van Avermaet
Thomas

Martin
Costa

Everybody seems to put GVA last, tell me who was else ever top 5'd RVV, Roubaix and the Gold race in consecutive weeks.
GVA is a great rider, but the quality of his relatively few wins are not that high, when you compare them to the palmares of Costa/Martin. That said, it's obvious that GVA is a more versatile and often a more animating rider than both Costa/Martin. Geraint Thomas is also a great rider, and possibly amongst the 10 most versatile riders in the world, but his results are not in the class of Costa/Martin. Results are not everything, but being able to use tactical prowess to win (like Costa in WC, DMartin in Lombardia) is an important ability that adds to the overall ability of a rider.
 
Re: Re:

HelloDolly said:
In cycling the most important ability is the ability to win (or help someone else in your team win)
Nothing else really matters like how you can go up or down a hill or how many times you can be 4th

It's a bit unfair requiring that Rui Costa helps his teammates win though :eek: In terms of overall ability, I would say
Sagan (should win more)
Kwiatek

I'm not sure how to rate the others, e.g. G is a more all round rider than Martin, but Martin's climbing ability and sprint after a hard race are better

In terms of having a nose for victory
Kwiatek
Martin (doesn't win too often, but wins big)
Costa/Sagan (this ability of theirs seems to have gone downhill in recent time. Both are marked/feared and Costa has the additional problem of being in a weak team)
G
GvA
 
Sagan - despite his poor form he has massive talent
Kwia - Better currently than Sagan, but just behind

Difficult to judge the others though

Van Avermaet
\Costa
Martin
Thomas

If it was on this years form

Kwia
Thomas/Van Avermaet


The rest