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Rigoberto Uran discussion thread.

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lenric said:
This. Cancellara, for example, wins classics, so he's a contender, just like Tom Boonen. Uran never won a GT, all he did was a second place last year, and we still don't know what's he's going to do today, who knows if he loses time to Aru and Rolland and end up in like 4th place?

To me a contender is someone that has prove consistently that he can hang with the best many times, not just one or two GTs. Fortunately Uran is young, he'll be better.

I think today Uran showed again that he is a consistent and an amazing climber (I still think that Nairo could have dropped him), better than Aru and Rolland.
 
Somehow I have the feeling that without the Stelvio mistakes we could've witnessed a different, very different Giro...maybe in the end Quintana would've won it anyway, but it would've probably been decided by few precious seconds.

That, or Quintana would've attacked like a madman on the Zoncolan ;)
 
gmedina said:
I think today Uran showed again that he is a consistent and an amazing climber (I still think that Nairo could have dropped him), better than Aru and Rolland.

When did I say that I consider Rolland or Aru top climbers? Yeah, they're good, but nowhere near as good as Rodriguez, Contador, Froome or Nibali (top form).
 
lenric said:
When Froome was 27 years old, he wasn't nearly half (at least noticed) of what he's now.

Yes, he was second last year when his main rival was Cadel Evans, who's 10 years older.

He's second because of the ITT. Take it off and see what you got. I bet whatever you want that 2 days from now he won't do top 5 and will loose time to Quintana.

ITT's are a part of every grand tour. I'm not really understanding your point.
 
SafeBet said:
Why should you remove the ITT from the standings? It's part of the race.

After seeing this Giro I'd say he's more of a Tour rider, what do you guys think?

I agree. He was quite strong in the first itt and held his own in the mountains, actually distancing everyone but Quintana on the Zoncolan. He's very well rounded, just the type of rider that would do well at the Tour. I'd be inclined to believe that like Nairo, would've preferred to do the Tour this year instead of the Giro.
 
lenric said:
No. Those who compete frequently against the best. Not just at TT or one or other mountain stage, but the most of them. Contador, Quintana, Froome, Nibali (GC), Cavendish, Cancellara, Tony Martin, Sagan, for example, are first class riders. Then you have 2nd class riders, such as Uran, Van den Broeck, Wiggins, etc.

I mean, just because a guy is 2nd in a GT, does that mean he should be considered a GC contender for every GT from then on? No. He must have great performances frequently, mainly in GTs, to be considered a serious GC contender. At least that's my opinion.

I'm not a fan of Wiggins but at his best he is one of the sports best versus the clock and thus using your reasoning should be mentioned along with Tony Martin. Adding to that his 2012 season alone should have him in your elite category.
 
Angliru said:
I'm not a fan of Wiggins but at his best he is one of the sports best versus the clock and thus using your reasoning should be mentioned along with Tony Martin. Adding to that his 2012 season alone should have him in your elite category.

That's why I said "for example".

And yes, Uran came twice second at Giro. If for you that makes him a contender for every single GT then great. To me he's not, because he hasn't proved what he's worth against the big sharks. It's my opinion. Fortunately, they are not all the same ;)
 
lenric said:
That's why I said "for example".

And yes, Uran came twice second at Giro. If for you that makes him a contender for every single GT then great. To me he's not, because he hasn't proved what he's worth against the big sharks. It's my opinion. Fortunately, they are not all the same ;)
What you are really saying is that the Giro is not a worthy Gran Tour, or am I reading that correctly?
 
Escarabajo said:
What you are really saying is that the Giro is not a worthy Gran Tour, or am I reading that correctly?

Man I'm tired of this argument. Uran didn't race against Froome, Contador, Nibali or even Quintana and Rodriguez all at the same time. That's everything I'm saying. Apart from that and from what I have already said, take your own conclusions.
 
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So this guy has gone for Giro last 3 years now. But wouldn't TDF profiles fit him the best out the 3 GTs? I could see why he'd ride Giro when in Sky, but when he changed to OPQS, I thought it would be so he could target the Tour. Surely he could have gone ahead Kiwat to Tour if he had wanted to, no? Or he just thinking chance to win giro beats getting 4th in tour?
 
mihhint said:
So this guy has gone for Giro last 3 years now. But wouldn't TDF profiles fit him the best out the 3 GTs? I could see why he'd ride Giro when in Sky, but when he changed to OPQS, I thought it would be so he could target the Tour. Surely he could have gone ahead Kiwat to Tour if he had wanted to, no? Or he just thinking chance to win giro beats getting 4th in tour?

99% of the people in here who didn't register here in July 2012 or July 2013 think that anyway.
 
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Red Rick said:
99% of the people in here who didn't register here in July 2012 or July 2013 think that anyway.

Sorry, yes I'm new here, so I don't exactly understand. I would have thought that last year at giro against Nibali(and this year against Quintana) have shown that he is not yet on par with the few very best GT riders. So it would be very difficult to beat the likes of Nibali, AC and Froome unless they all have bad luck over crashes/cobbles/crosswind/whatnot.

But that really wasn't my question. I was wondering that wouldn't TDF fit him much better profile wise to begin with?
 
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hrotha said:
How would the Tour suit him more? He'd lose time in the pure ITTs and he hasn't shown he has the guts or the tactical nous to take it back on the mountains. He's a very conservative rider. The Vuelta would suit him more.

He seemed very good in the flat/hilly ITT and with the exception of Zoncolan yesterday, seemed to struggle in most of the steepest sections. And isn't TDF usually the most conservatively ridden GT every year? Should be right his cup of tea..

He put 3.8s/km on Quintana in the slightly hilly ITT. Last TDF there was a flat and heavy hilly ITT where those 2 combined Froome put 4.1s/km on Quintana. MTT few days ago first flat 7 km Uran put again what, like 4s/km on Quinata. Traditionally TDF has most pancake ITT kms out of the GTs and mountains with smallest gradients. So if a good mountain guy can do flat ITTs also at world class pace, it seems like an obvious choice no?
 
He did a great Giro and congrats. OPQS can be happy too, first podium in a GT.
He is a top 10 guy in any GT, maybe even top 5 but he will never win one unless all the stars are aligned. I don't think he can podium TdF since there will always be other three better riders than him there regardless of how well Rigo can climb or TT.
 

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