Tejay Van Garderen Discussion Thread

[hrotha]

Yes, but if it can't be, it can't be.

 

[Brullnux]

Re:

Yes, but if it can't be, it can't be.

I guess TJ feels he won't win anything at Rio and he feels like that then I understand why he'd rather be with his wife.

 

[The Principal Sheep]

What's the risk to wife and baby of him bringing back infection from Brazil? it's obviously his personal choice and perhaps he just doesn't fancy the Olympic hassle and this is a good reason to withdraw.

 

[jmdirt]

I'm glad that he put his family first! Even if the risk to his baby is.0000001 its not worth it.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Im no fan of his and I don't want to engage in this debate since I have no clue about the Zika-virus and frankly doesn't care, but I wish him all good luck for the upcoming Tour and I applaud him for choosing Suisse over Dauphine. Suisse really needs that, the field is at least a bit better than last year. Small steps, good on you, TJ.

 

[LaFlorecita]

He is skipping the Olympics due to Zika. Sounds like a lame excuse to me.....there is bug spray you know. Or can't cyclists use bug spray?

Doesn't work like that. Why do you think people take prophylaxis for stuff like malaria if bug spray works so well.

Exactly. Of course mosquito repellent makes it less likely you get bitten, but everyone who's been to the tropics and has used mosquito repellent knows it does not prevent mosquito bites entirely.

What's the risk to wife and baby of him bringing back infection from Brazil? it's obviously his personal choice and perhaps he just doesn't fancy the Olympic hassle and this is a good reason to withdraw.

It is the Aedes aegypti or "yellow fever" mosquito that transmits this virus, that kind of mosquito also transmits other viruses like the dengue and yellow fever virus. I don't think that type of mosquito can be found in Colorado (which is where I assume TJVG lives).
So you'd have to assume Van Garderen gets infected with the Zika-virus, flies home within a week after getting infected (this is the general time the virus remains in a person's blood), meanwhile a yellow fever mosquito finds its way to Colorado, Tejay arrives at home, this yellow fever mosquito finds poor Tejay and bites him while the virus is still in his blood, the mosquito gets infected (which isn't a 100% chance), the mosquito decides to bite the wife as well and she gets infected too (which also isn't a 100% chance) and then, there is a 1-in-100 percent chance of the baby developing microcephaly, if the mother is infected during the first trimester. If the mother is infected later, the chance is even smaller or non-existant.
So, it is a bit of a long shot, as you can tell.
Either way, if this decision brings them peace of mind, fair enough, it is a good decision.

 

[Carols]

He is skipping the Olympics due to Zika. Sounds like a lame excuse to me.....there is bug spray you know. Or can't cyclists use bug spray?

Doesn't work like that. Why do you think people take prophylaxis for stuff like malaria if bug spray works so well.

Exactly. Of course mosquito repellent makes it less likely you get bitten, but everyone who's been to the tropics and has used mosquito repellent knows it does not prevent mosquito bites entirely.

What's the risk to wife and baby of him bringing back infection from Brazil? it's obviously his personal choice and perhaps he just doesn't fancy the Olympic hassle and this is a good reason to withdraw.

It is the Aedes aegypti or "yellow fever" mosquito that transmits this virus, that kind of mosquito also transmits other viruses like the dengue and yellow fever virus. I don't think that type of mosquito can be found in Colorado (which is where I assume TJVG lives).
So you'd have to assume Van Garderen gets infected with the Zika-virus, flies home within a week after getting infected (this is the general time the virus remains in a person's blood), meanwhile a yellow fever mosquito finds its way to Colorado, Tejay arrives at home, this yellow fever mosquito finds poor Tejay and bites him while the virus is still in his blood, the mosquito gets infected (which isn't a 100% chance), the mosquito decides to bite the wife as well and she gets infected too (which also isn't a 100% chance) and then, there is a 1-in-100 percent chance of the baby developing microcephaly, if the mother is infected during the first trimester. If the mother is infected later, the chance is even smaller or non-existant.
So, it is a bit of a long shot, as you can tell.
Either way, if this decision brings them peace of mind, fair enough, it is a good decision.

I've been to the tropics and out on safari in Africa....you are out in the wild and despite best efforts might get bitten. Rio is a Major City and they will be mosquito spraying daily I'm sure. Apples to oranges.

Anyway it was his decision and he has every right to make it! Good luck to him in Suisse!

 

[PremierAndrew]

Imagine spending 9 months carrying a baby only for it to be affected by Zika. Yes the Olympics are a big deal, but TVG is already fairly unlikely to get a medal, and I for one think it's an extremely sensible decision to miss it.

 

[Red Rick]

Looked into it a bit, now it looks rather lame. I thought Zika didn't clear from the blood. It's cleared from the blood pretty easily. He probably doesn't want to leave his wife alone, then it makes sense.

Logically speaking, if the child is due around the WCC, then she'd be like 6 months into pregnancy or something close. IIRC, virtually no chance of Zika doing anything specific. It's like FAS, the earlier it happens, the worse it is.

And you can say that you don't want to risk anything, everything has a risk, and stuff like drinking one glass of alcohol, or specific food, or passive smoking all have miniscule risks. So in reality I guess it wouldn't necessarily about the absolute risk, but about feeling safe, which is understandable as well.

Oh, and Zika is an STD as well, so that's a risk too

 

[dusty red roads]

He might also have wanted a built-in excuse for not going, his interview said his schedule is already quite full.

 

[RedheadDane]

At the end of the day it's his decision not to go. It's not like he'd already been selected and was all set to go, only to be all "Naah... don't wanna go anyway."
He went out in good time and told the USA Cycling Union (UCU?) to not even consider picking him.

 

[jmdirt]

I have been one of Tejay's supporters for many years, but he needs to HFU! He has potential as demonstrated by his one week SR success, and by his top five GT results, but he crumbles (mentally) too easily.

Tejay, I know your goal is the TdF box, but you have to ride at the battle end of the platoon at other races to prepare for that Note the top riders at the CdD...CF, AC, RP, RB, JA didn't drop five minutes in a week let alone one day.

I hope that he has a great TdF!

 

[LaFlorecita]

I'm a bit confused by his performance today, he seemed to be one of the strongest yesterday so his spectacular implosion today was quite surprising. Perhaps the weather played a big role? I refuse to believe this is his true form.

 

[jmdirt]

Re:

I'm a bit confused by his performance today, he seemed to be one of the strongest yesterday so his spectacular implosion today was quite surprising. Perhaps the weather played a big role? I refuse to believe this is his true form.

He's lives in CO (USA), cold shouldn't be a problem for him. His form seems fine, but his head isn't into suffering in the wet and cold.

 

[May0maniac]

TJVG will finish higher on gc than Porte, I'm pretty sure about that.
The competition for a top 5 spot will be pretty hard, but it's not impossible.
I'd still like him to change things up a bit, but he's the American gc rider at BMC, so him focussing on another gt than the Tour isn't exactly realistic.
Edit: I think that becoming super skinny is one of the main reasons why he's suffering the cold, rainy weather more than he used to.

 

[winkybiker]

Re:

I have been one of Tejay's supporters for many years, but he needs to HFU! He has potential as demonstrated by his one week SR success, and by his top five GT results, but he crumbles (mentally) too easily.

Tejay, I know your goal is the TdF box, but you have to ride at the battle end of the platoon at other races to prepare for that Note the top riders at the CdD...CF, AC, RP, RB, JA didn't drop five minutes in a week let alone one day.

I hope that he has a great TdF!

He won't finish the TDF.

 

[portugal11]

Re: Re:

I have been one of Tejay's supporters for many years, but he needs to HFU! He has potential as demonstrated by his one week SR success, and by his top five GT results, but he crumbles (mentally) too easily.

Tejay, I know your goal is the TdF box, but you have to ride at the battle end of the platoon at other races to prepare for that Note the top riders at the CdD...CF, AC, RP, RB, JA didn't drop five minutes in a week let alone one day.

I hope that he has a great TdF!

He won't finish the TDF.

I agree...

 

[lenric]

Re:

TJVG will finish higher on gc than Porte, I'm pretty sure about that.
The competition for a top 5 spot will be pretty hard, but it's not impossible.
I'd still like him to change things up a bit, but he's the American gc rider at BMC, so him focussing on another gt than the Tour isn't exactly realistic.
Edit: I think that becoming super skinny is one of the main reasons why he's suffering the cold, rainy weather more than he used to.

Probably. Though I must confess I've always wished he'd ride la Vuelta someday.

 

[IndianCyclist]

Re:

TJVG will finish higher on gc than Porte, I'm pretty sure about that.
The competition for a top 5 spot will be pretty hard, but it's not impossible.
I'd still like him to change things up a bit, but he's the American gc rider at BMC, so him focussing on another gt than the Tour isn't exactly realistic.
Edit: I think that becoming super skinny is one of the main reasons why he's suffering the cold, rainy weather more than he used to.

True but if he was not skinny, he would not be in the top 10 similar to G. Being skinny does not mean good performance always as Hesjedal learnt to his cost. Performances are more random and third week is bad (Wiggo, G)

 

[movingtarget]

Re:

I have been one of Tejay's supporters for many years, but he needs to HFU! He has potential as demonstrated by his one week SR success, and by his top five GT results, but he crumbles (mentally) too easily.

Tejay, I know your goal is the TdF box, but you have to ride at the battle end of the platoon at other races to prepare for that Note the top riders at the CdD...CF, AC, RP, RB, JA didn't drop five minutes in a week let alone one day.

I hope that he has a great TdF!

I think you are right. Normally I would have said he's not bothered and is using the race for training but in his post race interview he was obviously very disappointed. In a three week race the conditions are even more variable but I still hope he can do something in the Tour.

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

Re: Re:

I'm a bit confused by his performance today, he seemed to be one of the strongest yesterday so his spectacular implosion today was quite surprising. Perhaps the weather played a big role? I refuse to believe this is his true form.

He's lives in CO (USA), cold shouldn't be a problem for him. His form seems fine, but his head isn't into suffering in the wet and cold.

He isn't REALLY into suffering anymore to start with, IMO. Other male GC riders may pretend to be dedicated husbands and fathers FIRST, but he really is. The real champions and wannabe champions would never drop out of the Rio Olympics because of some zika virus.

Regardless, he's not enough of an actual climber for this Tour de Suisse. The individual stages, no problem, but back to back -- just too much. His peak performances in the mountains may be far better than those from any other rider racing this, but I never thought he'd do great here.

 

[dacooley]

posters whose agenda is down to 'my rider will win hands down, a guy I dislike will miserably fail or not finish'... I heartily rofl at that kind of things. really curious what's the average age of people posting this? perhaps about 15.


Tejay is a good gc rider and if he comes to his best, that's probably the 4th best favorite alongside with bardet. lots of people prefer not to look up to him, but i honestly don't see better riders able to fight for top-5 at least. hard to believe nibali and valverde will manage to get serious gc cards after the giro. lrp is always an enigma given his collapses. the only rider left is pinot but i personally see zero progression from him since 2012 climbing-wise.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Re:

posters whose agenda is down to 'my rider will win hands down, a guy I dislike will miserably fail or not finish'... I heartily rofl at that kind of things. really curious what's the average age of people posting this? perhaps about 15.


Tejay is a good gc rider and if he comes to his best, that's probably the 4th best favorite alongside with bardet. lots of people prefer not to look up to him, but i honestly don't see better riders able to fight for top-5 at least. hard to believe nibali and valverde will manage to get serious gc cards after the giro. lrp is always an enigma given his collapses. the only rider left is pinot but i personally see zero progression from him since 2012 climbing-wise.

That is a bit harsh, don't you think?

 

[pink_jersey]

Re: Re:

posters whose agenda is down to 'my rider will win hands down, a guy I dislike will miserably fail or not finish'... I heartily rofl at that kind of things. really curious what's the average age of people posting this? perhaps about 15.


Tejay is a good gc rider and if he comes to his best, that's probably the 4th best favorite alongside with bardet. lots of people prefer not to look up to him, but i honestly don't see better riders able to fight for top-5 at least. hard to believe nibali and valverde will manage to get serious gc cards after the giro. lrp is always an enigma given his collapses. the only rider left is pinot but i personally see zero progression from him since 2012 climbing-wise.

That is a bit harsh, don't you think?

Actually, I think dacooley is right here. Pinot didn't improved much in climbing from 2012. He improved big time in TT but not climbing.
Still, he's much more reliable then Tejay for GC. He's my 4th favourite in this year TdF alongside Aru. Tejay and Bardet behind them. Porte is my joker. He either finish 4 after the big 3 or outside top 15.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Re: Re:

posters whose agenda is down to 'my rider will win hands down, a guy I dislike will miserably fail or not finish'... I heartily rofl at that kind of things. really curious what's the average age of people posting this? perhaps about 15.


Tejay is a good gc rider and if he comes to his best, that's probably the 4th best favorite alongside with bardet. lots of people prefer not to look up to him, but i honestly don't see better riders able to fight for top-5 at least. hard to believe nibali and valverde will manage to get serious gc cards after the giro. lrp is always an enigma given his collapses. the only rider left is pinot but i personally see zero progression from him since 2012 climbing-wise.

That is a bit harsh, don't you think?

Actually, I think dacooley is right here. Pinot didn't improved much in climbing from 2012. He improved big time in TT but not climbing.
Still, he's much more reliable then Tejay for GC. He's my 4th favourite in this year TdF alongside Aru. Tejay and Bardet behind them. Porte is my joker. He either finish 4 after the big 3 or outside top 15.

It is the use of words I'm criticizing. Pinot is surely a slightly better climber today than he was 4 years ago. However, I agree that his biggest improvement has been in the time trials (and descending is better too).
And I also agree about your predictions. Tejay is, at best, a 2 star favourite. So is teammate Porte. Aru is a GT-winner and deserves to have bigger favourite status than Tejay. So does Pinot.