Robbie McEwen: A worse climber?

[Marcus135]

haha yeh, now i read back over it... aww well u all know what i mean (i hope)

 

[Bye Bye Bicycle]

Lol, above post looks funny as if you are suggesting Quaranta won 3 green jerseys

Quaranta managed to finish exactly one GT in his career. Which is good enough.

Kirsipuu participated in more then a dozen Tour de France's. Without ever finishing one.

 

[Bye Bye Bicycle]

pieri?

.

He was just fat at the end.

You don't finish on the podium of spring classics without any climbing skills.

 

[greenedge]

Petacchi when he would always abandon TDF's. Odd that he is better now than in his prime.

 

[Bye Bye Bicycle]

Petacchi when he would always abandon TDF's. Odd that he is better now than in his prime.

1) He may have quit some TDFs, but finished at least one of the other GTs in every season.

2) No way he is now better than 2003/2004.

 

[will10]

Petacchi when he would always abandon TDF's. Odd that he is better now than in his prime.

Even then he was getting over the Giro mountains.

 

[El Pistolero]

Even then he was getting over the Giro mountains.

Those terrible 2004 Giro mountains

 

[will10]

Those terrible 2004 Giro mountains

Don't know what you're alluding to here.

Petacchi finished the Giro in '99, Giro & Vuelta 2000, TdF in 2001, Giro & Vuelta in 2002, Vuelta in 03, Giro in 04, Giro & Vuelta in 05, Vuelta in 07, Giro 09, TdF in 10.

Yeah, he must be a terrible climber.

 

[El Pistolero]

Don't know what you're alluding to here.

Petacchi finished the Giro in '99, Giro & Vuelta 2000, TdF in 2001, Giro & Vuelta in 2002, Vuelta in 03, Giro in 04, Giro & Vuelta in 05, Vuelta in 07, Giro 09, TdF in 10.

Yeah, he must be a terrible climber.

Finishing a GT isn't really hard even if you're a sprinter. Think Cavendish is the living proof of that one.

Giro 09 wasn't very mountainous either.

Robbie is already long past his peak, think that was clear for quite some time now?

Giro and Vuelta have been pretty easy in the recent past, but Zomegnan changed that dramatically. Giro that is.

 

[hrotha]

Petacchi is now a much better climber than when he was in his prime as a sprinter, that is a fact. Clinicly enough, he also wasn't particularly fast until he was 29 or so.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

No Petacchi in his prime was already an excellent climber among the sprinters.

The most common misconception made in the cycling world because of his TDF non-finishes because he was injured or exhausted.

Petacchi won a giro stage in 2003 or 2004 that included a group of 25 riders with Garzelli finishing 2nd and no other sprinters but Petacchi himself surviving that group.

Before 2003/2004 (his breakthrough as sprinter), most of his wins came from hilly stages where he went into the attack, or small group sprints.

The reason people don't know this is because of the dip**** commentators during the TDF that keep shouting Petacchi can't climb. And most people are so gullible they believe everything they hear on TV or what pundits write.
While most cycling pundits suck major ****.

 

[Dr. Maserati]

Finishing a GT isn't really hard even if you're a sprinter. Think Cavendish is the living proof of that one.

Giro 09 wasn't very mountainous either.

Robbie is already long past his peak, think that was clear for quite some time now?

Giro and Vuelta have been pretty easy in the recent past, but Zomegnan changed that dramatically. Giro that is.

I think you meant to say - "Finishing a GT isn't really hard when you're sitting in front of a computer"..... and I would agree.

While prima donnas like RMcK were sitting on their *** all weekend, sightseeing and toping up their tan as well as the Giro I managed to do a load of work, did some gardening (although I have been accused of soft pedaling on that one) and we even got out for a few drinks Friday night - I was even going to fit in the Cali race as well except those wimps are afraid of a bit of snow and ice.


All I'll say is - I wish I could climb like McEwen.

 

[dancing on pedals]

Petacchi when he would always abandon TDF's. Odd that he is better now than in his prime.

to be fair to Petacchi i think he has changed tactics - he realises he isn't going to beat the young guys anymore in mass sprints , but does see bigger opportunities in more selected sprints on toughers parcours. So he has been working an climbing and stamina rather than being towed along to give an explosive finish, a good example would be of his excellent work yesterday for Scarponi, pulling the peloton along to bring back the break.
As for his GT finishes what is worth bearing in mind is that outside stage victories the TdF does not really come on the radar for italian fast men - there has never been an Italian green jersey winner in the TdF - though they have won the competition once. To be fair to Cipo and Petacchi at their prime the TdF did tend to start with 7 sprint finishes and then nothing ese to go for - so it made sense to quit and start looking at other targets,
I actually consider this to be Petacchi's best season in terms of overall performance and contribution to a team and that is saying a lot considering his palamares.
thanks

 

[Hawkwood]

I think you meant to say - "Finishing a GT isn't really hard when you're sitting in front of a computer"..... and I would agree.

While prima donnas like RMcK were sitting on their *** all weekend, sightseeing and toping up their tan as well as the Giro I managed to do a load of work, did some gardening (although I have been accused of soft pedaling on that one) and we even got out for a few drinks Friday night - I was even going to fit in the Cali race as well except those wimps are afraid of a bit of snow and ice.


All I'll say is - I wish I could climb like McEwen.

+1 - Saw Cav on a BBC news feature on Saturday, apparently the Giro now exists because the Beep has featured it. Anyway the feature showed Cav riding up Etna with a BBC reporter, the latter looked (was) completely kn**kered, while Cav sat there twiddling up the slopes seeminingly with little effort.

 

[El Pistolero]

I think you meant to say - "Finishing a GT isn't really hard when you're sitting in front of a computer"..... and I would agree.

While prima donnas like RMcK were sitting on their *** all weekend, sightseeing and toping up their tan as well as the Giro I managed to do a load of work, did some gardening (although I have been accused of soft pedaling on that one) and we even got out for a few drinks Friday night - I was even going to fit in the Cali race as well except those wimps are afraid of a bit of snow and ice.


All I'll say is - I wish I could climb like McEwen.

Of course they're going to be dead tired. What I meant was it's pretty common in today's peloton that even one of the worst climbers can finish a GT.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

mmmm Didn't Caveman Van Hummel drop Guardini not long ago? Guardini is young but He can't climb at all... that's why Farnese Vini didn't take him for Il Giro... also He is too young...

Correct. Every stage with a dimple in it in Turkey, Guardini was dropped. He got dropped by Van Hummel a couple of times indeed.

Danilo Napolitano and Francesco Chicchi both get dropped on speed bumps. Mind you Koldo Fernández isn't much better.

As for Mario, I think it was a case of CBF.

While we all remember Van Hummel's epic fight for the lanterne rouge at the '09 Tour, we should remember that Napolitano and Angelo Furlan had both HDed before they got out of the (vastly neutered) Pyrenees. Kenny at least lasted to stage 17.

Worst climbers in cycling history (or at least for the last 20 years):

1. Ivan Quaranta
2. Jaan Kirsipuu
3. Robert Förster

Discussion over.

Mentioning McEwen here is just nonsense. Remembering him doing a wheelie at some Pyrenean MTF (was it Piau-Engaly '99?)? You just CAN'T do that when you're the worst climber.

Ah, Quaranta. If Guardini doesn't improve he may even threaten that title, but for now, Quaranta is safe and sound at the top.

 

[theyoungest]

Yes, Kenny Van Hummel=Lanterne Rouge

People remember Van Hummel because he was still in the race, Napolitano is a worse climber but he had already given up.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

No Petacchi in his prime was already an excellent climber among the sprinters.

The most common misconception made in the cycling world because of his TDF non-finishes because he was injured or exhausted.

Petacchi won a giro stage in 2003 or 2004 that included a group of 25 riders with Garzelli finishing 2nd and no other sprinters but Petacchi himself surviving that group.

Before 2003/2004 (his breakthrough as sprinter), most of his wins came from hilly stages where he went into the attack, or small group sprints.

The reason people don't know this is because of the dip**** commentators during the TDF that keep shouting Petacchi can't climb. And most people are so gullible they believe everything they hear on TV or what pundits write.
While most cycling pundits suck major ****.

this exactly. even in the 90s when he was young and also a sprinter but nowhere near as fast as later he was known as a good climber sprinter

 

[Hitchey]

I thought he did a very good job taking 2nd in stage 6 of this year's giro as it looked like a tough climb at the end. There's no telling how hard Cav tried on the finish to that stage but he was 171st and 13 min down.

I was fortunate to have had a long uninterrupted chat one day last fall with Petacchi at a function and I was very pleased to have met a very nice and humble guy. It was interesting to hear him describe to me the changes in pack tactics over the years and the aggressiveness that he sees during finishes. His opinion, after I asked, regarding the stage finish when Cav and Haussler crashed in Tour de Suisse was very diplomatic and pretty much without blame. Just too much **** and vinegar going around and that's just what happens in a sprint.

One thing I found particularly interesting was how he pointed out to me that he just does not want to fall off his bike anymore. It was good to know that I had company in not prematurely having grown weary of pushing around in sprints.

 

[Sylvester]

Quaranta is indeed the king of the mountains, but Nicola Minali was also worthy of the title of crown prince. Blijlevens was very bad too. Guido Trenti mostly finished a minute behind the gruppetto. Biagio Conte. Guidi. Svorada. Fontanelli, also one of the worst. Klemencic. Furlan. The late Isaac Galvez. Andrus Aug. Traversoni.

Those were true sprinters getting dropped on every Poggio. All of them a lot worse climbers than McEwen.

 

[lancaster]

a couple of years ago at the tour Cav was quite a special case. requiring supervision on every hill, and being dropped by the bus on a few occasions.

(he's improved since then though)

 

[Michele]

According to this site, on their personal FB page both Belletti and Dall'Antonia were quiet upset to notice that some sprinters and among all Cavendish were hanging into cars for make the time limit.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

I find hanging onto team cars worse than doping because the effects are far worse and more direct than any others. this should be severely punished and if done multiple times riders should be suspended for a number of years, just like doping

 

[Duartista]

According to this site, on their personal FB page both Belletti and Dall'Antonia were quiet upset to notice that some sprinters and among all Cavendish were hanging into cars for make the time limit.

Ventoso was complaining about the same thing on twitter.

 

[Boardslide]

According to this site, on their personal FB page both Belletti and Dall'Antonia were quiet upset to notice that some sprinters and among all Cavendish were hanging into cars for make the time limit.

What total BS as when Cav gets dropped he usually ends up with a race motto for company or in this case a commasiares car as he was the back of the race. A bit of mud slinging always help get rid of the opposition.