Steven Kruijswijk

[Zinoviev Letter]

Who could they sign? They could bring in one of the guys likely to leave Sky by offering them a deal where they ride as superdom for Kruijswijk in one GT and get leadership or free roles in whatever other races they want.

The advantage of building from a low foundation is that they have a lot of leadership roles they can offer to riders who might not be willing to sign up as full time domestiques.

 

[Arked]

I was looking for this thread forever. I think digging it out is good deed as Vuelta is approaching.

So what about Steven? Is he aiming for win? How is his form? Did anyone know something more about his goals in upcoming Vuelta?

 

[PremierAndrew]

This vuelta parcours doesnt suit kruijswijk at all. He should still be a contender for a podium though

 

[flashke]

I found him very disapointing in Rio tbh.

 

[Gigs_98]

What exactly suits Kruijswijk? Probably stages with multiple climbs considering on which stages Kruijswijk has been really strong. Gradient probably isn't so important, since he was good on the Mortirolo and had his best performances this year on relatively low gradients (stage 14, stage 16).
Therefore the stages which should suit him in this Vuelta are stage 14, and...ahem...you know...all the other stages with multiple climbs...maybe stage 10 because there is a 2nd category climb (which officially is 1st category, but actually it really isn't)...or stage 20 because it also is a stage with multiple...hills...
Oh well this Vuelta really doesn't suit him.

 

[Kwibus]

Re:

I found him very disapointing in Rio tbh.

Kruijswijk had no racing before Rio so it would've been a miracle if he did well with just San Sebastian in his legs. Besides that he has never shown anything during a 1 day race.

I don't expect too much of him at the Vuelta. Definately more a Giro rider, but I hope he can surprise me.

 

[Pippo_San]

The second greatest fluke of all time after a certain Ryder Hesjedal?

(Pereiro well...I'm not even mentioning him...)

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Weird comparison. Hesjedal was never as strong as Kruijswijk in the past Giro. He was the best by a country mile.

 

[Red Rick]

Flukes are plentiful if you don't pay attention

 

[Cannibal72]

Re:

The second greatest fluke of all time after a certain Ryder Hesjedal?

(Pereiro well...I'm not even mentioning him...)

Poor Roger Walkowiak and Lucien Aimar; better to be remembered as a fluke or forgotten altogether?

 

[StryderHells]

Re:

The second greatest fluke of all time after a certain Ryder Hesjedal?

(Pereiro well...I'm not even mentioning him...)

Kruijswijk and Hesjedal were only flukes if you weren't paying attention, they both had performed in GT's previously

 

[lenric]

Probably what suits him better are gradients which diminish the chances of him needing to answer explosive attacks.

 

[movingtarget]

Re:

The second greatest fluke of all time after a certain Ryder Hesjedal?

(Pereiro well...I'm not even mentioning him...)

A pretty convincing fluke because he was clearly the best rider in the Giro before his fall.

 

[Pippo_San]

Re: Re:

The second greatest fluke of all time after a certain Ryder Hesjedal?

(Pereiro well...I'm not even mentioning him...)

A pretty convincing fluke because he was clearly the best rider in the Giro before his fall.

Just like Hesjedal. Pretty dominating performances never to be repeated again. I guess with Kruijswijk the jury is still out. But I have my doubts.

 

[Escarabajo]

Re: Re:

The second greatest fluke of all time after a certain Ryder Hesjedal?

(Pereiro well...I'm not even mentioning him...)

A pretty convincing fluke because he was clearly the best rider in the Giro before his fall.

Just like Hesjedal. Pretty dominating performances never to be repeated again. I guess with Kruijswijk the jury is still out. But I have my doubts.

I am sure Kruijswijk performance was more convincing. He pretty much had the Giro wrapped up after the last TT.

 

[Kwibus]

Re: Re:

The second greatest fluke of all time after a certain Ryder Hesjedal?

(Pereiro well...I'm not even mentioning him...)

A pretty convincing fluke because he was clearly the best rider in the Giro before his fall.

Just like Hesjedal. Pretty dominating performances never to be repeated again. I guess with Kruijswijk the jury is still out. But I have my doubts.

Hesjedal wasn't that dominating imo, but it's irrelevant.
Kruijswijk showed in 2015 Giro that he was a great rider among the best in the mountains and also great in the TT that year. He messed up in the first week.
Also it was his first GT after surgery. Plenty of reason to expect another good GT performance, but if he will ever be in the same dominant situation is doubtful imo.

 

[GP Blanco]

Kruijswijk fell ill after Rio. He is doing better now but the first stages will be about finding/fine tuning his shape.

 

[Laplaz]

Bad for him that the third week is not too difficult...

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

No chance with this shoddy prep.

 

[Red Rick]

I didn't have high hopes for the Vuelta, but I had surely hoped for better than this

#whenwillitend

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

well that was just rotten luck
getting sick after rio, well that was a chance when you go to rio..

 

[Lexman]

a pity he dropped out due to a crash, he could at least have ignited some fireworks in the mountains ...

 

[movingtarget]

Surely the Dutch luck will turn soon in grand tours. It is becoming ridiculous.

 

[SoigneurNL]

Re:

Surely the Dutch luck will turn soon in grand tours. It is becoming ridiculous.

Is it luck or is it something else? It isn't just the presumably mentally less strong riders that keep crashing (looking at you Kelderman!) but also mentally stronger riders like Dumoulin and Kruijswijk. Maybe the Dutch are not so good in steering? ;-)

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

Surely the Dutch luck will turn soon in grand tours. It is becoming ridiculous.

I've maintained throughout in various threads that the Kruijswijk wouldn't be able to do well in Spain anyways, his sickness obviously has complicated things further and then obviously the crash. I guess it isn't as bittersweet for his fans now that he basically was out of contention for top-5, at least.