Riders who curiously did badly in certain types of races

[Koronin]

A rider has so few chances of riding the Olympics during his career that I wouldn't search for something unusual there. If you only have 3 or 4 opportunities during 12 years and each route is a one-off, there's a lot of random factor involved.

Here's his Olympic results: 2004 - 46th, 2008 - 12, 2012 - 18, 2016 - 30

 

[will-10]

Here's his Olympic results: 2004 - 46th, 2008 - 12, 2012 - 18, 2016 - 30

2012 was the big chance. He Castro and LLS made a mess of that final. Granted it's always tricky in a group that size but was a missed opportunity for sure.

 

[Red Rick]

Valverde just wasn't proper Valverde until the 2012 Vuelta.

 

[OlavEH]

Magnus Cort and one-day races (also explained by dislike for the battle for position).

I've also thought Cort is just one level to weak to be a top one-day rider. A combination of skills that makes him well-suited for stage wins and smaller one-day races, but not the biggest one-races where all the top level riders are on the startlist.

 

[Red Rick]

Joaquim Rodriguez in Fleche Wallone.

 

[SafeBet]

Ulissi in Ardennes.

His positioning and bike handling are terrible though.
The only race where he's got a shot is FW and not surprisingly he has a podium + multiple top10 there.

 

[Mayomaniac]

There are sometimes that type of riders who can ride at a very high level and seem to have the skillset suited well for a certain type of races but for some reason they can't excel in them.

One such rider was Ramunas Navardauskas. Big engine, good finish, good TT-er, very strong on flat and could sometimes climb absurdly well for his weight, did well on various types of GT stages (both solo attacks and big group sprints, flat, hilly and medium mountains). You would think he had everything you can ask for to be good at cobbled classics or MSR but never did anything noticeable in those races.

Another was Simon Spilak. He won plenty of one-week races with high mountains and was a good TT-er but never performed in GTs and barely even rode them. Reportedly, he didn't feel well in hot weather.

Can you think of any other examples?

About Spilak, he probably could have finished top 10 in a rainy Giro (2013 would have been perfect for him).
I guess Lampre kinda ruined GTs for him, just look at the monster schedule the gave him as a neopro before turning 22 in 2008:

Paris-Nice for the gc (he finished 12th in his first stage race as a pro), then the cobbled classics (top 5 on the gc in De Panne and 9th in the RVV as a neopro is impressive), then the whole Ardennes classics, then the whole Giro before sending him to the Tour of Slovenia 10 days later.

That wasn't even his whole season, just the races they had him ride before he turned 22.
In the end he probably realized that he didn't have the recovery for a 3 week stage race and didn't want all the physical and mental stress that comes with riding for the gc in a gt.

 

[roundabout]

Even without going for GC, Spilak's best stage result in GTs is an 11th place achieved in his first GT. Ok, he haven't done that many, or rather a very little number, but still a rider with his pedigree in 1-week races not having a single stage top 10 is rather unusual.

Another thing is that for whatever reason, he had very little results after June. People say that it's because of the heat, but I do sometimes wonder if the demands of a full season were too much and he just couldn't get in form for the Autumn.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Even without going for GC, Spilak's best stage result in GTs is an 11th place achieved in his first GT. Ok, he haven't done that many, or rather a very little number, but still a rider with his pedigree in 1-week races not having a single stage top 10 is rather unusual.

Another thing is that for whatever reason, he had very little results after June. People say that it's because of the heat, but I do sometimes wonder if the demands of a full season were too much and he just couldn't get in form for the Autumn.

Yes, but at his best he was usually in great shape from Paris-Nice until Tour de Suisse, that's over 3 months. He probably just couldn't reach a 2nd form peak after being at a high level for such a long time, not everyone is Valverde or Roglic.

 

[Red Rick]

Yes, but at his best he was usually in great shape from Paris-Nice until Tour de Suisse, that's over 3 months. He probably just couldn't reach a 2nd form peak after being at a high level for such a long time, not everyone is Valverde or Roglic.

Also he probably trained to peak for the spring stage races, being on higher relative form than the guys aiming for GTs most likely.

 

[King Of The Wolds]

Andy Schleck, in races outside of July and one week in April.

 

[roundabout]

Romandie to Suisse is something like 1.5 months and Spilak normally raced Frankfurt/Belgium in that time.

Paris-Nice - 3 weeks - Pais Vasco - 2+weeks - Romandie - 1+month - Dauphine like in 2014 is hardly the most punishing schedule and yet he ran out of gas already in June then.

 

[Blanco]

His positioning and bike handling are terrible though.
The only race where he's got a shot is FW and not surprisingly he has a podium + multiple top10 there.

His endurance is not good enough..

 

[gregrowlerson]

Andy Schleck, in races outside of July and one week in April.

He did do a good Giro.

 

[Blanco]

Joaquim Rodriguez in Fleche Wallone.

He needs a little longer wall to excel fully. Fleche is better suited for Bala I think, but he did win 2 times on the Mur though...

 

[tobydawq]

Andy Schleck, in races outside of July and one week in April.

Andy Schleck, in races after being 26 years old.

 

[roundabout]

Andy Schleck, in races outside of July and one week in April.

8th in Romandie, 2nd in the Giro, 4th in Lombardia, 6th in the Tour de Suisse, 4th in the Olympics, 8th in Monte Paschi Eroica

 

[roundabout]

Andy Schleck, in races after being 26 years old.

Seems about right as he suffered a career-altering injury a few days before turning 27.

 

[tobydawq]

Seems about right as he suffered a career-altering injury a few days before turning 27.

After having lit the race up with a few top 100 placings.

 

[Red Rick]

Samu Sanchez in the Ardenennes.

Ardennes honestly have a huge amount of rider who could've done better there.

 

[tobydawq]

After having lit the race up with a few top 100 placings.

Edit: Actually only one top 100 placing. Which was a 100th place...

 

[Red Rick]

Edit: Actually only one top 100 placing. Which was a 100th place...

I remember being hyped about Schlecks 18th place in the 2013 Tour.

 

[tobydawq]

I remember being hyped about Schlecks 18th place in the 2013 Tour.

Yes, and then he suffered a "career-ending" crash the following year. Typical Nibali luck

 

[Red Rick]

Yes, and then he suffered a "career-ending" crash the following year. Typical Nibali luck

Even before any significant crashes it was abundantly clear Andy couldn't be arsed anymore. His dream came true in a court room and he mentally checked out.

 

[SafeBet]

His endurance is not good enough..

Possibly, but I don't think that's the biggest issue.
He won a 265 km stage at the Giro a few years ago.