Rigoberto Uran discussion thread.

[carton]

aru,porte and contador are a higher class than him

Contador is the best rider of his generation by leaps and bounds. Aru is amidst a meteoric rise and on a team that is clearly a cut above everyone else right now, so I'd be inclined to agree with you on him as well. However, he faded last year: he got dropped by Poels (pacing Uran) on the Zoncolan on the decisive penultimate stage last year; so it's not an absolute given either. Motorboat Richie (no offense), though, has never been as consistent as Uran over three weeks, and has a clearly inferior palmares even though he's a few years older. He's been on a tear of late but when the lights shine bright he has faded time and time again. So yes, maybe, and nah, bra.

 

[Akuryo]

Re:

uran is clealry aiming for later this giro. he is also doing to do the double with the tour. we will see after 3 weeks where he is. more worrysome is his terrible team

Would have been better with Brambilla and Serry, but both of them are injured ...

 

[Miburo]

Re:

uran is clealry aiming for later this giro. he is also doing to do the double with the tour. we will see after 3 weeks where he is. more worrysome is his terrible team

Contador is also peaking for the 3rd week, Aru aswell.

They all said that but they were still there and uran wasn't.

Stop making excuses, he'll get destroyed in the 3rd week anyways.

 

[SergeDeM]

If he can't keep up in a hilly stage then he just doesn't have it.
Too bad. I really hope he gets better but it looks like he's just not as good as many of us hoped he was.

 

[Escarabajo]

Saw the stage. It looked like it was hot. And again Uran having problems with the heat. Doing what he always do, unzipping his shirt almost 100% looking for that extra air. He needs to cope better with the heat. I am not buying the theory of giving up the climbing abilities. Just until recently he was always up front on these hills. He always has.

 

[Escarabajo]

Re:

aru,porte and contador are a higher class than him

Let's wait. Although it did not look pretty today.

I know Contador is but Aru was not last year.

 

[SeriousSam]

Re:

uran is clealry aiming for later this giro. he is also doing to do the double with the tour. we will see after 3 weeks where he is. more worrysome is his terrible team

lol no. that he's incapable of staying with Aru, Porte and Contador on a stage like this is more worrisome, and will have the greater negative impact on his GC aspirations.

it's not easy winning a grand tour when you get distanced every time the road slopes up. if only he had a really strong team to keep him company when he's minute back on every climb.

 

[Taxus4a]

Re: Re:

uran is clealry aiming for later this giro. he is also doing to do the double with the tour. we will see after 3 weeks where he is. more worrysome is his terrible team

Would have been better with Brambilla and Serry, but both of them are injured ...

Contador is the best rider for Tours of the end of the past era and one of the best of this era. it is a lot, but no more.

(I agree with Sean Kelly)

Aru was too young and unexperience last year. But he was amazing most of the mountain stages and mountain ITT.

He looks like he prefer the mountain stages without plain, like today and that climb ITT.
Rigo prefer stages with plain and long climbs.

 

[SeriousSam]

I'm always getting confused with eras. When did the new one start and what are its defining characteristics?

 

[Netserk]

The new one is the Sky era, defined as when speeds started going up again.

 

[Taxus4a]

Re:

I'm always getting confused with eras. When did the new one start and what are its defining characteristics?

I cant talk of that here, but there was a change of era at the begining of the 90s, and from 2008 to 2011 there was another change. In those years (2008,2009,2011,2011 ) it is difficult to put in one or another era... it is a mixture, but some riders was more in one era and others in another era. (if you want I explain better you can send me a private an we talk in other part of this big and nice forum.

 

[carton]

Re:

I'm always getting confused with eras. When did the new one start and what are its defining characteristics?

I'd say this is the era of the smart-aleck, defined by the emergence of the snarky message board commentator about three years ago

Now as to generations I'd define a riders generation as the guys' who are 3-5 years younger/older than them and also contending for the same prizes/results.

 

[Taxus4a]

Re:

The new one is the Sky era, defined as when speeds started going up again.

That is not true. But yes, SKY was an important character in the change of era. I dont like the way of that team in some aspects, but I must be grateful por anothers things

For me is like the era that started in 90s you call the Gewis era, quite stupid, but we can talk in other place, not here.
People inside cycling have this very clear, not among cycling fans, or not in a big extend, but it was the same when that era (90s) started.

(I talk always about WT cycling)

 

[Taxus4a]

Re: Re:

I'm always getting confused with eras. When did the new one start and what are its defining characteristics?

I'd say this is the era of the smart-aleck, defined by the emergence of the snarky message board commentator about three years ago

Now as to generations I'd define a riders generation as the guys' who are 3-5 years younger/older than them and also contending for the same prizes/results.

well, frank shleck was one of the 5 best Tours riders in the last years of the past era and one of the top 20 in this era .
How I talk about generation? do I an average?

 

[Taxus4a]

Re:

The new one is the Sky era, defined as when speeds started going up again.

What is the difference of Caisse Rigo, SKY Rigo and Etixx Rigo? I just see a normal progression (he hasnt got any illness or somthing to have a differente progression), not a difference in SKY, althoug they worked more with him in ITT, but in Etixx still more.

 

[carton]

Re: Re:

well, frank shleck was one of the 5 best Tours riders in the last years of the past era and one of the top 20 in this era .
How I talk about generation? do I an average?

As Sam was implying its hard to talk about "eras" without walking on eggshells. I find it easier to talk about a rider's specific generation.

 

[Taxus4a]

And there are riders that in the new era, has nothing to do in WT, or just a medium paper, as the one of your avatar, Netserk. I was a big fan of him, but now cycling is like that

 

[Escarabajo]

He did not feel very well. I guess we already knew that. He sounded positive for tomorrow.

http://www.revistamundociclistico.com/ruta/18687-no-fue-una-gran-etapa-para-mi-pero-manana-sera-otro-dia-rigoberto-uran.html

 

[Taxus4a]

Re:

He did not feel very well. I guess we already knew that. He sounded positive for tomorrow.

http://www.revistamundociclistico.com/ruta/18687-no-fue-una-gran-etapa-para-mi-pero-manana-sera-otro-dia-rigoberto-uran.html

He talk is a different kinda climb tomorrow, and he feel optimistic.
Days like today you need a big domestique.

 

[Mr.White]

Re:

aru,porte and contador are a higher class than him

No they're not. Contador certainly is, but other two NO

 

[movingtarget]

Re:

Saw the stage. It looked like it was hot. And again Uran having problems with the heat. Doing what he always do, unzipping his shirt almost 100% looking for that extra air. He needs to cope better with the heat. I am not buying the theory of giving up the climbing abilities. Just until recently he was always up front on these hills. He always has.

Like many short stages now it was a very hard one because of the way it was raced. Uran lost about one minute but if he was feeling really bad he would have lost much more. A setback but a long way to go yet.

 

[SafeBet]

I wouldn't draw too many conclusions from today's stage. Yes, to be distanced on a stage like this is a worrying sign, but he wouldn't be the first rider to be dropped earlier in a GT to later come back and podium it. And I sure think a teammate today would have helped him a lot. He was alone for how long? 50 km? That means you have to think about water and food for a lot of time while the other contenders just sit on their teammates wheel waiting for their delivery.

Plus he could have had someone pulling for him after the Biassa, that makes a lot of difference. It looked to me he lost more time in the descent than in the ascent.

Tomorrow and Campitello Maltese in particular will tell us more, I'm not ready yet to rule him out of the podium run.

 

[Flamin]

Indeed. If he had just held on on the final climb, nobody would have cared obviously. Now it's a pretty big fail from the team. No surprise Uran is alone when there are like 25 riders left, but it couldn't have been too hard to have someone in a break of 27, which was formed uphill and had some very mediocre climbers in it. Also considering the other 3 guys of the big 4 all had at least a team mate there, they had every reason to send someone out as well.

 

[Miburo]

This isn't a classic, it's irrelevant if uran has someone in the break of 25 riders.

If kreuziger is in the group, his team has to ride. Simple as that.

Having someone in the break of your team who isn't a GC threat while others teams have guys like that, it's completely irrelevant.

That's common sense man.

 

[Flamin]

Yeah, we saw how irrelevant it was to be alone after the final climb while Contador, Porte and Aru were just cruising behind their team mates not to mention what SafeBet said about being alone for 50k, which is clearly a relevant disadvantage too.

They have a sh*t team on the climbs, so the real responsibility was always going to be on Astana and Sky's shoulders to chase, despite having Cataldo, Sivtsov and Puccio there, because everyone knows Etixx was never going to pull that one back.

edit: indeed, PeterB.