Big Doopie
BANNED
...after I spent years following (& supporting) Andy Schleck in the Tour.
The "he'll get better, he's young!" promise turned seriously sour by the end.
i think you have to be a little careful about comparing anything with the approx. 1991-2010 era -- lots of late-blooming riders in that era and not many young riders (other than Schleck and Ullrich perhaps). those two decades went against the norm in many ways.
i think rog is a great champion. but it is not just the youth thing. he also gives the impression of working very hard (kind of like Cadel Evans). Pog is regal, everything seems easy and fluid. and (beating a dead horse here), he reminds me of how Fignon rode in 1984. Fignon actually said he "laughed" when Hinault attacked towards L'Alpe, because he knew how superior his own form and capabilities were that Tour.
that is the impression Pog exudes.