Steven Kruijswijk

[Dazed and Confused]

The Vuelta organizer better get things right in the finale moving forward. Its a shame about Steven, hopefully he can recover and be ready for next year.

 

[DFA123]

Re: 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? ;-)

I think this is a real problem. Most Dutch riders won't have been practising long, technical descents from early age and so just aren't as good as many of their counterparts. Given they are also often tall and wiry, it's not so easy to get a good balanced position on descents.

Its a definite technical disadvantage growing up in such a flat country. Just as I guess they have an advantage riding into crosswinds and headwinds over the Latin riders!

 

[Red Rick]

Re: 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? ;-)

I think this is a real problem. Most Dutch riders won't have been practising long, technical descents from early age and so just aren't as good as many of their counterparts. Given they are also often tall and wiry, it's not so easy to get a good balanced position on descents.

Its a definite technical disadvantage growing up in such a flat country. Just as I guess they have an advantage riding into crosswinds and headwinds over the Latin riders!

Yesterday was just terrible luck.

 

[movingtarget]

Re: 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? ;-)

I think this is a real problem. Most Dutch riders won't have been practising long, technical descents from early age and so just aren't as good as many of their counterparts. Given they are also often tall and wiry, it's not so easy to get a good balanced position on descents.

Its a definite technical disadvantage growing up in such a flat country. Just as I guess they have an advantage riding into crosswinds and headwinds over the Latin riders!

What has this got to do with hitting a post, one of two that the Vuelta organizers forget to remove ? Other riders said the same thing. It is up to the organizers to make the route as safe as possible.

 

[DFA123]

Re: 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? ;-)

I think this is a real problem. Most Dutch riders won't have been practising long, technical descents from early age and so just aren't as good as many of their counterparts. Given they are also often tall and wiry, it's not so easy to get a good balanced position on descents.

Its a definite technical disadvantage growing up in such a flat country. Just as I guess they have an advantage riding into crosswinds and headwinds over the Latin riders!

What has this got to do with hitting a post, one of two that the Vuelta organizers forget to remove ? Other riders said the same thing. It is up to the organizers to make the route as safe as possible.

Nothing. I wasn't responsing to a comment about hitting the post. I was responding to a comment about Dutch riders crashing all the time. This instance had very little to do with lack of technical ability, but most crashes - including Kruijswijk at the Giro - were very much a result of lack of skills.

 

[Geraint Too Fast]

Hmmm, Kruijswijk seems to be a bit ahead of his tried and trusted schedule this year.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Yeah, apart from his illness in Paris Nice he has performed above his usual level in other races.

I don't know if that's a good or a bad sign. If he keeps the same progress margin as last few years then he is going to be unbetaable in Giro week 3 (except by snow walls)

 

[Tonton]

Can someone explain that to me? I mean it . IMO, SK doesn't look good right now. I'm watching him as a potential threat for my Tibopino at the Giro, and I don't see him building up. I'm not following him, so what do you mean?

 

[Ikbengodniet]

Can someone explain that to me? I mean it . IMO, SK doesn't look good right now. I'm watching him as a potential threat for my Tibopino at the Giro, and I don't see him building up. I'm not following him, so what do you mean?

Kruijswijk normally rides this 1 week stage races pure for training and to get some race rhythm and finishes normally in some first bunch a couple of minutes from the winner. Now he finished just a minute of Valverde on friday and has a 7th place in GC. Which is relatively quite good for him as his only focus is peaking for the Giro. He also had a top 10 in Valenciana so he has a better early season compared to his history.

 

[Tonton]

I get it. Thanks!

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Anything in the top 25 was rare for Kruijswijk was rare in previous seasons.

Here is a review:

2011 w/Giro:

166, 42, 115 in Mallorca
23th in Algarve
72th in Catalunya
41th in Romandie
8th Giro

2015:
DNF Ruta del Sol
21th Paris Nice
15th Catalunya
10th Volta Limburg Classic
50th Tour of Yorkshire
7th Giro (with losing 10 minutes in the first week)

2016:
23th Andalucia
37th Paris Nice
39th Tour of Catalunya
5th Tour of Yorkshire
4th Giro (leading dominantly until fall)

So.. stop comparing to Pinot

 

[Red Rick]

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Nah, tbh I don't expect him to be anywhere near a match for Quintana. If all goes well and he has the same super form as last year and doesn't fall, then maybe 2nd/3rd

 

[Red Rick]

Is Quintana voodoo-proof though

 

[Gigs_98]

Re:

Is Quintana voodoo-proof though

Asking the real questions

 

[Gigs_98]

As good as Quintana is, I think he is a bit overestimated. He isn't completely peaking for the Giro he is doing a double attempt. Said differently, I don't expect him to be much stronger than in the tdf last year. And in that tdf he was beaten by Bardet, would've been beaten by Porte if he hadn't had bad luck in the first week and only finished 20 seconds in front of yates. No bad riders, but also not much stronger than Nibali, Aru, Pinot and Kruijswijk. And who knows, maybe Landa will get his 2015 shape again.

Kruijswijk isn't the top favorite but if he has last years shape he has a good chance to win.

 

[Valv.Piti]

I think (a 2016) Kruijswijk is the biggest thread for Quintana. I can't ignore all the red lights on Nibali aint no more, Landa is the inconsistency himself, Aru hasn't shown anything since 2015, Pinot? Ain't have the top level and very inconsistent himself in GTs.

However, I do not agree on trying to dissect and analyze Quintana on his Tour de France 2016. Its like doing that to Contador in 2013, it doesn't do them justice. They were just plain bad, it happens, move on.

 

[Gigs_98]

Re:

I think (a 2016) Kruijswijk is the biggest thread for Quintana. I can't ignore all the red lights on Nibali aint no more, Landa is the inconsistency himself, Aru hasn't shown anything since 2015, Pinot? Ain't have the top level and very inconsistent himself in GTs.

However, I do not agree on trying to dissect and analyze Quintana on his Tour de France 2016. Its like doing that to Contador in 2013, it doesn't do them justice. They were just plain bad, it happens, move on.

You can't compare 2013 Contador with 2016 Quintana. Yeah, both were very bad in the tour, but Contador was bad for the whole year while Quintana had already won Catalunya and Romandie before the tdf and went on to win the Vuelta after the tour. The funny thing last year was that it seemed as if the bad tdf was a perfect preparation for the Vuelta and thats why I think his level in that tour will be comparable to his level in this years giro since his biggest goal for the season is still the tdf. Still I'm expecting him to be at least a bit better.

About Nibali, I agree that he seems to be declining but I wouldn't count him out. I've estimated him wrongly so often that I won't make that mistake again. And about Aru, you are writing this "hasn't shown anything since 2015" like 2015 was ages ago. He only had one bad season. He still won the penultimate gt he rode. And even last year he was only 1.5 minutes behind the tdf podium before the Morzine stage where he completely cracked.

 

[Valv.Piti]

You can compare them because they were below par in Tour de France compared to their real level for whatever reasons (altho it for 2013 obviously was his real level, but the point being it wasn't 'normal'). I am well aware of the differences between them.

You are free to believe what you do. I simply don't believe in the Italians considering what they are going up against.

 

[movingtarget]

Re:

I think (a 2016) Kruijswijk is the biggest thread for Quintana. I can't ignore all the red lights on Nibali aint no more, Landa is the inconsistency himself, Aru hasn't shown anything since 2015, Pinot? Ain't have the top level and very inconsistent himself in GTs.

However, I do not agree on trying to dissect and analyze Quintana on his Tour de France 2016. Its like doing that to Contador in 2013, it doesn't do them justice. They were just plain bad, it happens, move on.

Landa's big problem will be the TT. Will be interesting to see how much Aru can improve. Many riders can win a Vuelta without winning a Giro or Tour. I think last year's Tour opened Aru's eyes and in the final week he was suffering. But then he wasn't very good during the whole race. Yates was much better of the younger riders.

 

[movingtarget]

As good as Quintana is, I think he is a bit overestimated. He isn't completely peaking for the Giro he is doing a double attempt. Said differently, I don't expect him to be much stronger than in the tdf last year. And in that tdf he was beaten by Bardet, would've been beaten by Porte if he hadn't had bad luck in the first week and only finished 20 seconds in front of yates. No bad riders, but also not much stronger than Nibali, Aru, Pinot and Kruijswijk. And who knows, maybe Landa will get his 2015 shape again.

Kruijswijk isn't the top favorite but if he has last years shape he has a good chance to win.

Well Quintana will have to be peaking for the Giro otherwise the double won't even be a single. Usually they would peak for the first one and do little between the races hoping to conserve as much as possible for the Tour. In 2011 Contador won a hard Giro but he probably should have backed off more in the third week as he had such a big lead but then he got involved in crashes in the Tour and supposedly hurt his knee as well while Evans just had a dream year plus avoiding accidents and bad luck. Contador admitted that the Giro still fatigued him going into the Tour. Quintana should just concentrate on one race and leave the other for Valverde although if you take out Contador's attack in the Vuelta, Froome would have gone close to a double and many people thought he had more in reserve in the Tour. I think his Vuelta ride supports that.

I think if Steven Kruijswijk can repeat last year's form then the long TT brings him right into the race because he climbed very well last year even though it was against a Nibali not at his best and Chaves who is still learning about how to ride GTs. I will be very interested to see how Chaves can go in the Tour after his good rides in the Giro and Vuelta. The lack of TT kms can only help him.

 

[hfer07]

As good as Quintana is, I think he is a bit overestimated. He isn't completely peaking for the Giro he is doing a double attempt. Said differently, I don't expect him to be much stronger than in the tdf last year. And in that tdf he was beaten by Bardet, would've been beaten by Porte if he hadn't had bad luck in the first week and only finished 20 seconds in front of yates. No bad riders, but also not much stronger than Nibali, Aru, Pinot and Kruijswijk. And who knows, maybe Landa will get his 2015 shape again.

Kruijswijk isn't the top favorite but if he has last years shape he has a good chance to win.

Well Quintana will have to be peaking for the Giro otherwise the double won't even be a single. Usually they would peak for the first one and do little between the races hoping to conserve as much as possible for the Tour. In 2011 Contador won a hard Giro but he probably should have backed off more in the third week as he had such a big lead but then he got involved in crashes in the Tour and supposedly hurt his knee as well while Evans just had a dream year plus avoiding accidents and bad luck. Contador admitted that the Giro still fatigued him going into the Tour. Quintana should just concentrate on one race and leave the other for Valverde although if you take out Contador's attack in the Vuelta, Froome would have gone close to a double and many people thought he had more in reserve in the Tour. I think his Vuelta ride supports that.

I think if Steven Kruijswijk can repeat last year's form then the long TT brings him right into the race because he climbed very well last year even though it was against a Nibali not at his best and Chaves who is still learning about how to ride GTs. I will be very interested to see how Chaves can go in the Tour after his good rides in the Giro and Vuelta. The lack of TT kms can only help him.

folks forget that Quintana was SICK in the Tour and yet he finished 3rd. then he won La Vuelta against Contador & Froome

on topic: IF Kruijswijk gets back to last year's form, gets the proper support & positions in the top 5 by the ned of the 2nd week- he can get good chance to battle for the title. The bad news is that, because of last year's performance, he'll be marked. The other challenge is the competition: there is Quintana-no need to say anything at all - then there is Nibali, Aru and Landa: all three hugely motivated, hungry to prove themselves & for their teams as leaders, after a horrible start of the season. "G"? he may bother a bit but I foresee him fading in the last week.

 

[movingtarget]

As good as Quintana is, I think he is a bit overestimated. He isn't completely peaking for the Giro he is doing a double attempt. Said differently, I don't expect him to be much stronger than in the tdf last year. And in that tdf he was beaten by Bardet, would've been beaten by Porte if he hadn't had bad luck in the first week and only finished 20 seconds in front of yates. No bad riders, but also not much stronger than Nibali, Aru, Pinot and Kruijswijk. And who knows, maybe Landa will get his 2015 shape again.

Kruijswijk isn't the top favorite but if he has last years shape he has a good chance to win.

Well Quintana will have to be peaking for the Giro otherwise the double won't even be a single. Usually they would peak for the first one and do little between the races hoping to conserve as much as possible for the Tour. In 2011 Contador won a hard Giro but he probably should have backed off more in the third week as he had such a big lead but then he got involved in crashes in the Tour and supposedly hurt his knee as well while Evans just had a dream year plus avoiding accidents and bad luck. Contador admitted that the Giro still fatigued him going into the Tour. Quintana should just concentrate on one race and leave the other for Valverde although if you take out Contador's attack in the Vuelta, Froome would have gone close to a double and many people thought he had more in reserve in the Tour. I think his Vuelta ride supports that.

I think if Steven Kruijswijk can repeat last year's form then the long TT brings him right into the race because he climbed very well last year even though it was against a Nibali not at his best and Chaves who is still learning about how to ride GTs. I will be very interested to see how Chaves can go in the Tour after his good rides in the Giro and Vuelta. The lack of TT kms can only help him.

folks forget that Quintana was SICK in the Tour and yet he finished 3rd. then he won La Vuelta against Contador & Froome

on topic: IF Kruijswijk gets back to last year's form, gets the proper support & positions in the top 5 by the ned of the 2nd week- he can get good chance to battle for the title. The bad news is that, because of last year's performance, he'll be marked. The other challenge is the competition: there is Quintana-no need to say anything at all - then there is Nibali, Aru and Landa: all three hugely motivated, hungry to prove themselves & for their teams as leaders, after a horrible start of the season. "G"? he may bother a bit but I foresee him fading in the last week.

I don't think Contador was 100 % in the Vuelta and then take into consideration the puncture for Porte in the Tour and Quintana's rides were not that special. I don't think he would be riding the Giro if he was confident of beating Froome. As for Stephen K in the mountains being marked won't matter that much as the cream rises to the top anyway and in the TT marking will be a non issue. He is more of a diesel climber anyway, not the type to keep attacking like a pure climber, it's more about getting on the front and setting a hard pace for him and for the bulk of the Giro he was the best climber until his fall. If Nibali goes into the Giro in last year's form he won't make the podium. He never looked like out climbing Kruisjswijk until after the fall.

 

[Lequack]

Unfortunately he lost 13 second today because of the pile up just before the 3km to go marker. Shame to lose any time like this to other GC rivals.

 

[GenericBoonenFan]

Stevie will have a wonder next week