Strongest!!!!

[c&cfan]

in your opinion, who was the strongest rider this season (so far)?

the cobbled classics cancellara, aka rambo (alone against armies, he lost. however...)

the giro godfather, alberto (he says who wins, who loses.)

the spring overrated one(lol), gilbert.

from last to first:

-gilbert had a strong team (really strong) who was able to put him in the right position. also the terrain is advantageous towards the strongest rider because if it is true that if you have a flat or something like that your chances of winning are gone, it is also true that drafting\wheelsucking is almost useless, at least compared to what happens at flattish races.
he was the strongest, he won----he deserved them. (also, compared to the other 2 riders in the list, a one km pull before attacking has no meaning against what they have done). so who are the others that can make him being overrated to deserve this title?

-the godfather. he was the boss. he gifted stages to those that respect him but he also killed the hope of everyone that dared to attack him(or at least were thinking about it). perfect. just perfect. no fear, warrior instinct. attacking from 30 km to the finish just to see who's good?no problem. domesticate a vulcano?at breakfast...

poetry... a story with a happy ending.

-rambollara. it wasn't perfect... he wasn't the winner. so why can he be first after what alberto did? good question.

first, the flat:

the area in modern cycling were the strongest rider can only drop someone by having a great acceleration and a stronger threshold power (gilbert does not has that), or by being an absolute monster with killing instincts--canc. he was more marked than anyone ever was before him, anyone knew that he would decide how the race would be raced. but he also was alone..

what happened?

he -the marked man- attacked from 80 km out (in modern cycling!!!!!!!) against everyone one. 90% of the peloton was burned to bring him back, and canc was defeated.. his body was also burned. so what????? gilbert attacks, he goes after anyone and attacks again!

but in an area that isn't his best (sprint) and after those monstrous efforts, he lost.

next Sunday... he is alone again. same problem. every time he attacks, everyone is chasing him, making him work, even when it is clear that his rivals will also loose while using that tactic. a tired fabian approaches the famous velodrome and places 1 to 5 are already "gifted". but then, in what is maybe (together with ronde) the biggest display of power that this sport has ever seen fabian attacks and holds his rythm and in 2km or less, takes almost a minute from the breakaway while his other rivals are standing and ends second.

he lost both races (and also MSR), but he still owns them just like he holds is title of strongest rider\peak of the year.

now that's your turn fellow cyclingtards.

pedro.

(there's a reason for the last 2 winners of the velo d'or to have won it)

 

[Parrulo]

your blind dislike of gilbert is very funny

so far the most dominant rider of the season is hands down gilbert followed by contador. if contador wins the tour he becomes the best of the season and only gilbert winning both the worlds and his third GdL would put contador's dominance up to debate.

p.s. add san sebastian to gilbert's "to win" list

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Strongest rider this year?

Beñat Intxausti.

Just to be riding at all makes him the strongest. And that's before we get to his injuries so far. He had to be fed like a small child by the team car today because he couldn't lift his arm or put weight on it.

 

[danjo007]

and contador is hardly "godfather-like" - more like a whining little baby who sooks when he doesnt get his own way.

 

[Parrulo]

and contador is hardly "godfather-like" - more like a whining little baby who sooks when he doesnt get his own way.

funny enough it looks like you are describing andy schleck to the perfection. the fact that contador didn't even complain about the stage 1 situation and didn't even appeal the decision unlike what was being reported by some is enough to make your argument complete BS

 

[hrotha]

your blind dislike of gilbert is very funny

so far the most dominant rider of the season is hands down gilbert followed by contador. if contador wins the tour he becomes the best of the season and only gilbert winning both the worlds and his third GdL would put contador's dominance up to debate.

p.s. add san sebastian to gilbert's "to win" list

I agree with most of your post, but if Contador won the Tour I don't think he'd be above Gilbert by that much. Just winning another couple of important one-day races, including Lombardy or the Worlds, would be enough to put Gilbert ahead again in my book.

 

[c&cfan]

I agree with most of your post, but if Contador won the Tour I don't think he'd be above Gilbert by that much. Just winning another couple of important one-day races, including Lombardy or the Worlds, would be enough to put Gilbert ahead again in my book.

c'mon... it is about strongest rider\peak! gilbert together with contador is being very consistent... but canc's peak at E3 RVV and PR, jesus. no one was close to those performances in power!

 

[Kender]

Firstly, Cancellaras nickname is not Rambo it's Spartacus.

Secondly, Gilbert has been the best this year for the classics and one day events, Alberto Contador has been strongest in stage racing.

Thirdly, you can't be the strongest if you get beaten

 

[hrotha]

c'mon... it is about strongest rider\peak! gilbert together with contador is being very consistent... but canc's peak at E3 RVV and PR, jesus. no one was close to those performances in power!

If it's the peaks you're looking for, I suggest you check Gilbert's results from Flèche Brabançonne onwards.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Thirdly, you can't be the strongest if you get beaten

Sure you can, if you're tactically naïve or have no reason to care about the exact result.

Was Christophe Riblon stronger than Contador and Schleck to Ax-3-Domaines last year? Was Mikel Nieve stronger than Contador to Rifugio Gardeccia? It's about being the strongest in your group. Nieve was the strongest of the breakaway riders. Contador and the GC men had no reason to worry about Nieve and co., so they fought it out later.

 

[c&cfan]

yes you can be the strongest.

this is about strenght\peak that's why the "cobbled classics" cancellara nick.

the rambo thing was a little joke. he remembered those movies when 200guys with machine guns are trying to kill him but rambo with one gun on each arm (30kg each one) destroys them.

 

[Parrulo]

I agree with most of your post, but if Contador won the Tour I don't think he'd be above Gilbert by that much. Just winning another couple of important one-day races, including Lombardy or the Worlds, would be enough to put Gilbert ahead again in my book.

well i am putting contador above gilbert on that situation because i think we can all agree that peaking for the giro and the tour is much harder then peaking for spring then having a "small" peak for the tour and then peaking again in october.

still i doubt you will need to debate this as most likely nor will contador win the tour(please prove me wrong contador ) nor will gilbert win the worlds and lombardy. my entirely unbiased prediction is boonen for the worlds and il principe for a forth GdL(just so gilbert knows who is the true mister lombardy )

 

[c&cfan]

If it's the peaks you're looking for, I suggest you check Gilbert's results from Flèche Brabançonne onwards.

was he alone\was his team weak? did you read the part about "the flat"?
did he attacked from 80km out?
did he had to fight against strong and smart riders that tried to attack him from every angle?
or he just had to wait for the final quick in 2 races and did a overrated 1km pull before another one?
it wasnt easy and he was amazing.. that's why is peak-strenght deserves number 3. but his consistency so far can only be toped by contador if he finishes the tour in the podium.

 

[180mmCrank]

How are defining strongest? Or is that part of the question?

T

 

[hrotha]

was he alone\was his team weak? did you read the part about "the flat"?
did he attacked from 80km out?
did he had to fight against strong and smart riders that tried to attack him from every angle?
or he just had to wait for the final quick in 2 races and did a overrated 1km pull before another one?
it wasnt easy and he was amazing.. that's why is peak-strenght deserves number 3. but his consistency so far can only be toped by contador if he finishes the tour in the podium.

Most of the time he didn't do any of those things because he didn't need to. At Brabançonne and the Belgian championship he did do some pretty impressive stuff. This is all so subjective it's pretty pointless to discuss, really, but when you start a thread by saying Gilbert is overrated (joking or not)...

 

[c&cfan]

How are defining strongest? Or is that part of the question?

T

strongest peak\strongest performance.

 

[Parrulo]

was he alone\was his team weak? did you read the part about "the flat"? is gilbert's fault that canc picked a team based on his bff's the schlecks instead of picking a team based what was better for himself? the flat part is just silly tho as over the cobbles you either have it or you don't. otherwise canc wouldn't have dropped leukemens last year on mons on pevele
did he attacked from 80km out? did canc win from attacking from 80k out? no so rather a shown of stupidity then strength
did he had to fight against strong and smart riders that tried to attack him from every angle? same as answer, had he picked the right team he wouldn't be alone against every1
or he just had to wait for the final quick in 2 races and did a overrated 1km pull before another one? again did he win? no
it wasnt easy and he was amazing.. that's why is peak-strenght deserves number 3. but his consistency so far can only be toped by contador if he finishes the tour in the podium.

fact is canc's lack of wins on the cobbles this year is 100% his fault, by showing is cards in a race that didn't matter(e3) picking the wrong team, being overconfident about his form etc etc

in roubaix his sillyness lost him the race, he had the luck of having the only guy that imho can beat him there being extremely unlucky (talking about boonen ofc) and then slowed down when he was just being the breakaway group.

imo physical strength isn't everything in terms of dominance.

 

[c&cfan]

Most of the time he didn't do any of those things because he didn't need to. At Brabançonne and the Belgian championship he did do some pretty impressive stuff. This is all so subjective it's pretty pointless to discuss, really, but when you start a thread by saying Gilbert is overrated (joking or not)...

i am not stupid, obviously he was\is amazing. he did the triple+1!!!!

but:

first-that was a good way to give fuel for discussion.

second-i do believe that those(gilbert's wins) weren't the strongest performances so far.

do you agree?

 

[c&cfan]

fact is canc's lack of wins on the cobbles this year is 100% his fault, by showing is cards in a race that didn't matter(e3) picking the wrong team, being overconfident about his form etc etc

in roubaix his sillyness lost him the race, he had the luck of having the only guy that imho can beat him there being extremely unlucky (talking about boonen ofc) and then slowed down when he was just being the breakaway group.

imo physical strength isn't everything in terms of dominance.

but this is about physical strength\strongest peak (per athlete).

his performances are unmatched. no one displayed such power.

but obviously.. better team or gilbert's brain would mean the end of the sport because canc would dominate so much and it wouldn't be entertaining.

 

[180mmCrank]

So by strongest you mean person with the most power? Peak or sustained?

T

 

[hrotha]

Ok, then surely Rujano with his +9000 W/kg.

 

[c&cfan]

So by strongest you mean person with the most power? Peak or sustained?

T

person with the most power\amazing performance. peak.

 

[c&cfan]

Ok, then surely Rujano with his +9000 W/kg.

rujano doesn't count, just like mollema.

the others do count.

 

[180mmCrank]

I think I am about to step out of this discussion but I'll have one more go.

Are you talking about...

A. Power is objective and measure in Watts. You can measure power output over time or peak power. These are different things and I imagine there are different cyclists that would head up the top of the charts in each of these categories. I am not sure we have tha actual data to populate such a set of league tables but it might be fun to guess anyway.

B. An amazing performance is subjective and is like beauty in the eye of the beholder. And I am sure makes for a far more interesting discussion

All good

T

 

[Parrulo]

sorry but you are just adapting the definition of strongest and dominant to suit the rider you want to win this discussion the mental aspect of the game is very important to contribute to some1's dominance. should i remember you that last years masterful decision of attacking the very moment boonen sat up to regroup and eat something at the back of the group was made by riis and yelled to canc over the radio?

but still if you want to go that way gilbert has beaten canc's record of the fastest time up the kapeelmuur and he has beaten the record for the mur the huy.

how about that for dominant performances?