Steven Kruijswijk

[Red Rick]

Re:

Yeah, this is why he prefers the Giro. Longer mountain stages and less Sky control. He doesn't like the TDF. But sometimes the team has a say over your goals. He is still doing well considering this

During his solo they kept saying he requested to ride the Tour this year....

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Really? Ok that really surprises me

 

[Valv.Piti]

So that was pretty much the only stage in this Tour that suited Kruijswijk really well. Nice job Prudhomme

 

[Leinster]

Re:

So that was pretty much the only stage in this Tour that suited Kruijswijk really well. Nice job Prudhomme

I think people are really overlooking how hard stage 19 is, simply because it’s a 20km steep downhill finish. The 3 very tough summits in succession can easily produce gaps in the groups. I think there’s going to be a lot of clock-watching on that descent, with the complication of the TT the next day making it more interesting again.

Besides which. Why on earth would/should Proudhomme design a route with 1 guy in mind?

 

[Der Effe]

Nah, but he could have designed some GT-worthy stages. 65km? Wtf is this? The juniors? ASO is a joke.

 

[HelloDolly]

Re:

Nah, but he could have designed some GT-worthy stages. 65km? Wtf is this? The juniors? ASO is a joke.

Its a stage for Roglic that is what it is

SK mayl have to ride for Roglic soon as he looks like he might have a shot at podium or more

SK lost time of Alpe stage when maybe he could be higher up

 

[Red Rick]

Decent result today for Kruijswijk. Basically the best I've ever seen him do on this kind of climb.

He mentioned using Groenewegen's sprint train to get in a good position with him and Roglic, which was pretty cheeky.

 

[Koronin]

Re:

Decent result today for Kruijswijk. Basically the best I've ever seen him do on this kind of climb.

He mentioned using Groenewegen's sprint train to get in a good position with him and Roglic, which was pretty cheeky.

Actually sounds like a good idea to me. You've got them, why not use them.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

This has a reason. In the winter he and LottoNL were looking on a way to improve his explosiveness so he could perform better in one-week races, which he was never able to as diesel climber. As a result he had top 10 placings in Suisse, Romandie, Catalunya and Andalucia.
And it also helps on climbs like these

 

[May0maniac]

Honestly, I'm not too worried about the short mountain stage, it's a long, hard climb and a finish at over 2,200m of altitude, if the tempo is high enough to warm his diesel engine up he should be fine, he's usually a beast in the 3rd week and in the 2016 Giro he was ungodly strong on the Aldano stage that was also on the shorter side, he responded to a ton of attacks without having a strong team around him.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Before the race he said top 5 was possible and I had no belief in that. But he did do this in the end.

Yes, you might say it's because there's no Porte etc. But he still finished ahead of Bardet, Landa, Quintana, Zakarin and the by many higher rated Fuglsang. I feel Stevie K is underrated because he lost the Giro 2016 in the end and had a forgettable 2017, but everytime he doesn't encounter anything strange he seems to be the ultimate of diesel climbers

 

[huge]

Yesterday we saw how bad SK's descending skills are... he is on par with Zakarin... meaning he is an awful descender.

Does that ring a bell? 2016?

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Well, 2016 made it worse. Because of that fall he doesn't take the same risks

 

[yaco]

SK hass to be super-impressed with his performance in the TDF - Showed solid form in lead up races and ramped it up during the TDF.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

So far exceeding expectations. All these short climb finishes and mono climb finishes so far really don't suit him, and he's 5th.

I think he'll be one of the better time triallists from the GC men and he's also saying he feels better every day.
Is there any multi mountain stage in the last week? If so, do not count him out yet (for podium, winning will always be hard)

 

[Leinster]

Wednesday is 4 climbs in the final 50km (1x 2c, 2x 3c, 1x 1c), Friday is ______/, and Saturday is a 100km sawtooth (a 2c, a 3c, 3x 1c and a ESP summit finish).

 

[staubsauger]

Yeah, the stage through the Pyrenees and the ITT should be the fundament of Kruijswijk's bid for a podium spot.

 

[Koronin]

There are two mountain stages in the final week. It's the Vuelta so the mountain stages will have multiple climbs. The ITT is key to him having a shot at the podium.

 

[movingtarget]

Re:

There are two mountain stages in the final week. It's the Vuelta so the mountain stages will have multiple climbs. The ITT is key to him having a shot at the podium.

I think he's a bit too far back and he would have to do a great TT which he rarely does these days. I still think he is a podium chance. But if some of the climbers have a really bad TT then he is back in it. So far the climbers are pretty evenly matched so I think the podium battle will go down to the last MTF.

 

[Red Rick]

So far exceeding expectations. All these short climb finishes and mono climb finishes so far really don't suit him, and he's 5th.

I think he'll be one of the better time triallists from the GC men and he's also saying he feels better every day.
Is there any multi mountain stage in the last week? If so, do not count him out yet (for podium, winning will always be hard)

There is one, 6 climbs, but none of them HC, and only 100km. Not really easy to do much there.

Lagos should suit him better already.

I'm really impressed with him this year, but I wish he'd finally win a damn stage. He deserves it so much.

 

[pablohidalgo7]

He is very underrated in this Vuelta, his Tour level is higher than López Giro level and better than any recent Quintana, but in the comments, analysis, preview and all this stuff he is never considered one of the top climbers of the race. Of course it will be difficult to hold his Tour de france legs here, but at the moment he seems to be recovering quite well (like always) and I believe than even today can be the strongest rider.

 

[wirral]

He should now have George Bennett at his service.

 

[May0maniac]

Impressive so far, if he doesn't crack he'll probably be the one who goes for broke on the Andorra stage.

 

[Velolover2]

1. Yates
2. Valverde
3. Kruijswijk

This could be the final podium if Quintana and Lopez lose a lot of time in the TT and continue their beef in the mountains. Kruijswijk isn't just a winner type. I can't see him winning a stage.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

no but the last week mt stages suit a diesel like him more than this ultra steep rampas