Riders who have not filled expectations

[JPM London]

Denamrk seems to have an excellent youth program, but their riders get lost once they hit the big time.

I think it's not so much about an actual "youth program" as it's to do with Denmark having a bunch of riders doing quite well in the mid-nineties to fuel the interest...

The problem is that Fuglsang was all hyped up by Riis in 2009, as being Denmark's next great climber. He's actually never showed anything promising in the high mountains, he's just a good hilly rider and a reasonable tt'er. That crash in the Vuelta btw wasn't as serious as it looked, he just needed some stitches. Imo he rode a good Vuelta in 2009, going on the attack several times.

He really needs a team where he can go ftw in smaller stage races and classics, those should be his main goal instead of GT's.

Depends on what you're looking for - he's consistently getting good placings unless he's crashing out and when you take into account he's been riding dom for the Schlecks all the time and only had a few chances to ride his own chance, then it doesn't look too bad imo. He's not the best mountain rider tehre is, but he's one of the best tt'ers among them - imo Radioshack would have done clever to put him in lead for the Tour (and given Fabian a free role to see just how far the tt'ing could take things this year).

 

[theyoungest]

The problem is that Fuglsang was all hyped up by Riis in 2009, as being Denmark's next great climber. He's actually never showed anything promising in the high mountains, he's just a good hilly rider and a reasonable tt'er. That crash in the Vuelta btw wasn't as serious as it looked, he just needed some stitches. Imo he rode a good Vuelta in 2009, going on the attack several times.

He really needs a team where he can go ftw in smaller stage races and classics, those should be his main goal instead of GT's.

This to refresh your memory.

He was so strong in that Dauphiné, in his first year with Saxo... he never got close to that level again, in the high mountains.

 

[Pentacycle]

Depends on what you're looking for - he's consistently getting good placings unless he's crashing out and when you take into account he's been riding dom for the Schlecks all the time and only had a few chances to ride his own chance, then it doesn't look too bad imo. He's not the best mountain rider tehre is, but he's one of the best tt'ers among them - imo Radioshack would have done clever to put him in lead for the Tour (and given Fabian a free role to see just how far the tt'ing could take things this year).

Well, the thing I was implying was that Fuglsang just isn't capable of winning a GT due to bad recovery, so letting him lead RSNT at the Tour is useless. He's always been great at one-week stage races(3rd and 4th in TdS 2010 and 2011, 6th in both Dauphine and Catalunya 2009, and victories in Luxembourg and Denmark) and classics(4th in 2011 Amstel and 4th in Lombardia) while in GT's he's never been a factor in the mountains and GC. He's just wasting his talent wanting to be a GT rider.

Edit: It could also be Riis's mandatory TT training that has made him climb worse, some riders just can't combine doing well in mountains an TT.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

The problem is that Fuglsang was all hyped up by Riis in 2009, as being Denmark's next great climber. He's actually never showed anything promising in the high mountains, he's just a good hilly rider and a reasonable tt'er. That crash in the Vuelta btw wasn't as serious as it looked, he just needed some stitches. Imo he rode a good Vuelta in 2009, going on the attack several times.

He really needs a team where he can go ftw in smaller stage races and classics, those should be his main goal instead of GT's.

Not entirely true. Have you ever seen the Dauphine 2009? Fuglsang was climbing exceptionally well there.

 

[CobbleStoner]

me
I need to get more km in, and race more

 

[JPM London]

Well, the thing I was implying was that Fuglsang just isn't capable of winning a GT due to bad recovery, so letting him lead RSNT at the Tour is useless. He's always been great at one-week stage races(3rd and 4th in TdS 2010 and 2011, 6th in both Dauphine and Catalunya 2009, and victories in Luxembourg and Denmark) and classics(4th in 2011 Amstel and 4th in Lombardia) while in GT's he's never been a factor in the mountains and GC. He's just wasting his talent wanting to be a GT rider.

Edit: It could also be Riis's mandatory TT training that has made him climb worse, some riders just can't combine doing well in mountains an TT.

I think he's always been a good tt'er, no? But you might still be right of course (although I don't think so )...

Just double checked his GT creds and they're actually worse than I remember them to be - two 50th placing in the Tour, which is obviously not impressive in their own right. So your point is clearly valid.
I still think, though, that's mainly down to him not riding for GC but riding for the Schlecks. If you think about the aggressive way Riis/Andersen have used the doms to pace-set up the mountains for then to fall to the side when done, those placings could have been a lot better had he been going for GC himself.

Anyway - this thread is about falling short of expectations this season - apart from not expecting him to get a knee injury before the Giro, I think he's done quite well He's actually one of the riders on that team who's won something. It is in my view an utter disgrace that he's off the Tour team and he really needs to find himself another team for next season. That he's looking for captaincy instead of money is just so much the better for him - I think it could turn out a shrewd move; if he gets that and a good season next year he could find himself with even better contracts for the coming years and now's the time for him to up the game (and bets)...

 

[theyoungest]

Just double checked his GT creds and they're actually worse than I remember them to be - two 50th placing in the Tour, which is obviously not impressive in their own right. So your point is clearly valid.
I still think, though, that's mainly down to him not riding for GC but riding for the Schlecks. If you think about the aggressive way Riis/Andersen have used the doms to pace-set up the mountains for then to fall to the side when done, those placings could have been a lot better had he been going for GC himself

The problem is, he hasn't been of much use to the Schlecks either. Voigt, Sörensen, and even Cancellara have been more useful mountain domestiques for them. Fuglsang has just done two very disappointing Tours.

 

[cineteq]

But why should he???
LBL and le tour are way bigger than all those stage races.
Its not always about the quantity of wins but the quality.

You're a borderline troll. Your assessment might make sense for someone like, say, Fulgsang, but not for Andy. One of the biggest talents in the last few years has only won LBL? How's that call "fulfilling expectations"?

 

[dlwssonic]

You're a borderline troll. Your assessment might make sense for someone like, say, Fulgsang, but not for Andy. One of the biggest talents in the last few years has only won LBL? How's that call "fulfilling expectations"?

LBL and the tour. Those are like the two of the biggest races.
And he has won both of them.
Plus he has many GT and ardennes podiums.
He is only 27, he has a great career ahead of him.

 

[cineteq]

LBL and the tour. Those are like the two of the biggest races.
And he has won both of them.
Plus he has many GT and ardennes podiums.
He is only 27, he has a great career ahead of him.

We're in a troll loop
My only answer to you still stands:
One of the biggest talents in the last few years has only won LBL?
He didn't win the Tour fair and square. Given an award to the next rider is completely unfair. If Alberto wouldn't have been there it would've been a different race altogether. So no, he didn't win the Tour.

You're right about one thing: he's only 27 and he can still fulfill expectations.

 

[Yingge]

There is a great amount of riders who haven´t lived up to expectations lately. Many unknowns play in the equations, such as burn out, wrong roles, wrong teams, wrong races chosen, etc. Both Pozzato and or the he Belgian fellow overlooked by Vacansoleil for the TdF......I´m sure FB pundits know who I have in mind, and may have plenty of examples to share with us, laymen

Depends on who holds the expectation:

- That of the CN Forum?
- That of their Team / Sponsors?
- The riders own expectations / goals?

In the case of the Forum, most would fail, as we all expect so much from everyone.

As to Teams and Sponsors, well BMC at least would have held great expectations of Gilbert and Hushvold when they signed them on - with nothing yet delivered.

For the individuals, I would guess that most haven't, given that most go in with the expectation of winning a WC or GT one day.


But if we are looking at the promise that some showed in their earlier years, vs where those riders are at now, then yes, some haven't shown a great deal, in many cases due to what the OP has stated.

 

[Angliru]

lol I seriously don't know why you hate him so much.
Is it because he is the only one that can compete with contador in the mountains???

No one questions his talents, just his motivation and mental toughness. A rider that has all the attributes that Andy has and Mark Cavendish has won more stage races (on the road) in his professional career than Andy. The expectations were skyhigh after his second place in the 2007 Giro. I'd say he's delivered for the most part in the Ardennes week and the Tour although as is often mentioned 2011 should've been his year to win the Tour but somehow he mucked it up. If he dnf's or soft pedals through the Vuelta this year he definitely belongs in this conversation.

 

[Old School]

Spot on! What the heck has he been doing as of lately? In peak form the guy is amazing, but he seems to have big difficulties reaching that form..

That wreck he had with Cav (2 years ago?) pretty much derailed his career. Sad to say....so much potential (he was showing it before the accident).

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

I think Dekker Tifosi pretty much nailed it with his list.

 

[iZnoGouD]

Tiago Machado because he is in a fail team... anyways i still think he will do pretty well at Vuelta

 

[El Pistolero]

That wreck he had with Cav (2 years ago?) pretty much derailed his career. Sad to say....so much potential (he was showing it before the accident).

Can you really use a crash from 2 years ago as an excuse to still not perform?

 

[maltiv]

Another one who definitely has not filled expectations is Romain Sicard. After winning both Tour de l'avenir and U-23 worlds he was certainly expected to start picking up lots of prestigious victories once he turned pro. Yet, almost 3 years later, all he has picked up are countless of injuries and a fine for a peculiar drunk-driving accident.

 

[Ruudz0r]

Grabovskyy
Guldhammer
Grillo

 

[markene2]

Ivan Rovny
Yevgeniy Nepomnyachshiy
Rasmus Guldhammer
Roman Kireyev (A shame realy, he was doing well.)

Don't think i should include Sillin, because he has all the time to show what he is worth still.

 

[Froome19]

Depends on who holds the expectation:

- That of the CN Forum?
- That of their Team / Sponsors?
- The riders own expectations / goals?

In the case of the Forum, most would fail, as we all expect so much from everyone.

As to Teams and Sponsors, well BMC at least would have held great expectations of Gilbert and Hushvold when they signed them on - with nothing yet delivered.

For the individuals, I would guess that most haven't, given that most go in with the expectation of winning a WC or GT one day.


But if we are looking at the promise that some showed in their earlier years, vs where those riders are at now, then yes, some haven't shown a great deal, in many cases due to what the OP has stated.

I would assume that logically, a rider's early years and perfomances when he first come onto the scene are indicative of expectations and generally should be indicative of his later exploits. When sometimes isnt the case then that is when the rider is generally not considered to have fulfilled expectations.

(Making my comeback)

 

[Hugo Koblet]

In the most recent years Rasmus Guldhammer, Timofey Kritskiy, Romain Sicard and Coen Vermeltfoort seem to me the most obvious answers.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

In the most recent years Rasmus Guldhammer, Timofey Kritskiy, Romain Sicard and Coen Vermeltfoort seem to me the most obvious answers.

But they are still so extremely young I didn't list them for obvious reasons.
Vermeltfoort had mononucleosis. Sicard was hampered by injuries... Just some very valid reasons

 

[Hugo Koblet]

But they are still so extremely young I didn't list them for obvious reasons.
Vermeltfoort had mononucleosis. Sicard was hampered by injuries... Just some very valid reasons

Oh sure. I just thought that since two riders who have passed away have been mentioned, injuries and illness shouldn't be an excuse for me not mentioning these riders.

They, if any, haven't fulfilled the expectations most had for them.

That said, they are indeed so young that they of course still can.

 

[Pentacycle]

Doesn't Martijn Maaskant also belong here? He was 4th in his first Paris Roubaix as a neo pro, and in 2009 he was 4th in Flanders. He's had his share of bad luck ofc, but he should've been a big factor in the classics over the last 3 seasons.

 

[Magnus]

Thanks. I didn't know those guys had won so much. I thought Pedersen and Christensen were just good riders at Continental level that had an opportunity to ride ride on a big team. Maybe Morkov can be put in this category too: he is supposed to be a time trialist but hasn't really kicked off yet. He looked strong in some of the Monuments but he's yet to have some results.

I don't think Mørkøv fits in this category. He's slowly and gradually improving as a cyclist. Showing that a serious attitude and hard work pays off.