More importantly he is a Brit.Tarling has been a talent for a long time. Is he clean, he's a pro-cyclist.
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More importantly he is a Brit.Tarling has been a talent for a long time. Is he clean, he's a pro-cyclist.
The fun part now comes as Ineos try to make him into a GT contender.More importantly he is a Brit.
I doubt it, like Dumoulin and Wiggins it's simply not sustainable mentally and physically for TT specialists, even though the numbers stack up, by comparison Vingo & Pog do not strike me as having to sacrifice their life to the same extent because they are closer to being good all-rounders simply on training alone.The fun part now comes as Ineos try to make him into a GT contender.
An era ends with Sir Dave back to Manchester from his caravan in Nice. Is the man though haunted by nightmares of Doc Freeman smashing laptops and the wives of his star riders slaging each other off on social media, and not to mention Sutton shouting there's no bloody problem with my [body part]?
Pogacar isn't iffy - the rest who might do the Giro don't really matter. But Thomas is 37 now. Age is the main reason he can't be a contender.I am rather skeptical that Thomas can be a contender in the Tour after doing the Giro for GC.
With a rather iffy (so far) looking Giro field it makes sense to focus on that.
Pogacar isn't iffy - the rest who might do the Giro don't really matter. But Thomas is 37 now. Age is the main reason he can't be a contender.
38 years old former track pursuiter and sprint lead out G Thomas just confirmed he is going for the Giro + Tour double in 2024. Another Italian super peak??? . Unfortunately, despite his racing style and his Alarcon level transformation, I find it quite difficult to dislike him.
Paging @Libertine SegurosAlarcon? wtf Thomas started winning stage races as early as 2011 (Bayern) was 31st in his second TDF (2011, strong for a track rider), 15th in Dauphiné 2013, 15th in TDF 2015 and 2016 (as a helper) 2nd in TdSuisse 2015. he's no Alarcon.
That 15th at 2015 Tour is under appreciated considering he tboned a sign downhill and it didn’t slow him down at all.Alarcon? wtf Thomas started winning stage races as early as 2011 (Bayern) was 31st in his second TDF (2011, strong for a track rider), 15th in Dauphiné 2013, 15th in TDF 2015 and 2016 (as a helper) 2nd in TdSuisse 2015. he's no Alarcon.
Winning the 2011 Bayern Rundfahrt means nothing to grand tour potential. It was four flat to rolling stages and an ITT. It's no more relevant than saying that Pelayo Mayo winning that Mallorcan one day race yesterday would make it unsurprising if he won Roubaix in a few years' time. By the time he actually showed any performances that suggested he could climb on remotely the level required to contend for a GT he was already 29. People compared him to Indurain as a late bloomer, but by the age Geraint finally managed a GT top 20, Indurain had already retired.Alarcon? wtf Thomas started winning stage races as early as 2011 (Bayern) was 31st in his second TDF (2011, strong for a track rider), 15th in Dauphiné 2013, 15th in TDF 2015 and 2016 (as a helper) 2nd in TdSuisse 2015. he's no Alarcon.
Winning the 2011 Bayern Rundfahrt means nothing to grand tour potential. It was four flat to rolling stages and an ITT. It's no more relevant than saying that Pelayo Mayo winning that Mallorcan one day race yesterday would make it unsurprising if he won Roubaix in a few years' time. By the time he actually showed any performances that suggested he could climb on remotely the level required to contend for a GT he was already 29. People compared him to Indurain as a late bloomer, but by the age Geraint finally managed a GT top 20, Indurain had already retired.
Yea, and Raul Alarcón won a Volta mountain stage years before he became the ridiculous figure he later did. Doesn't mean the transformation wasn't wild when it happened just because you happen to like one of them and not the other.it's about planning and choices. and every rider is different. every rider has his own path. I don't care when Indurain retired compared to Thomas. 2 top15 at the TDF while being a domestique show he could do it. I am biased I know but seeing him succeed has been amazing. even more because of the naysayers
THE TALENT. Thomas showed he had that. his rise year after year. the work. the kms spent leading captains up mountains, the career choices, the focus. the two 15th place at the TDF. he wasn't a metheor, he didn't show up and went bang. I don't dislike Alarcon, I actually don't care about him. and I don't know what he has got to do with ThomasYea, and Raul Alarcón won a Volta mountain stage years before he became the ridiculous figure he later did. Doesn't mean the transformation wasn't wild when it happened just because you happen to like one of them and not the other.
Thomas was never an untalented cyclist. The transformation was the type of cyclist he was. If Christophe Laporte turns into a mountain goat and becomes Vingegaard's last mountain domestique then wins the Tour de France in a couple of years' time, that would be the equivalent of what Thomas did.and the extent if change of the type of rider he was, and at that poiny in his career after nearly a decade as a pro we had had the chance to learn the type of rider he was.THE TALENT. Thomas showed he had that. his rise year after year. the work. the kms spent leading captains up mountains, the career choices, the focus. the two 15th place at the TDF. he wasn't a metheor, he didn't show up and went bang. I don't dislike Alarcon, I actually don't care about him. and I don't know what he has got to do with Thomas
Thomas was never an untalented cyclist. The transformation was the type of cyclist he was. If Christophe Laporte turns into a mountain goat and becomes Vingegaard's last mountain domestique then wins the Tour de France in a couple of years' time, that would be the equivalent of what Thomas did.and the extent if change of the type of rider he was, and at that poiny in his career after nearly a decade as a pro we had had the chance to learn the type of rider he was.
Anybody that says Laporte is not a talented cyclist is flat out wrong, but anybody that says they predicted and expected him to win a Grand Tour is either lying or they're Christophe Laporte's mother. But Thomas did it, and you expect nobody to raise any eyebrows?
I think the transformation was the circa 2014-15 one. He's been the same rider ever since, but to suggest winning the 2011 Bayern Rundfahrt means there wasn't a transformation from classics man who can muscle over a 2km climb in a February race in Algarve to a man who can compete to win on Rettenbachferner from the GC group, I can't get on board with that at all. The transformation to me is egregious and far too late for me to believe in. Not because he wasn't talented but because he wasn't even remotely a GC type rider until one day he was.it took Thomas years, not a couple years. 22nd at the 2014 Tour, won Algarve in 2015, 2nd in TsDuisse 2015, woulda podiumed Paris-Nice 2014 if he didn't crash. you are talking as if he woke up one morning and won the TDF, as it was a sudden transformation. in any case you'll raise you eyebrows, I won't. it's fine.