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Tejay Van Garderen Discussion Thread

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Re:

GuyIncognito said:
So, now can we finally admit that he's the perfect Rabobank graduate: Some early promise followed by blow after blow of disappointment to his fans?

More seriously, can we admit he's done as a Grand Tour GC threat?

I still believe in him. Team change is going to be really good for him.
 
Re:

Moviefan1203 said:
Rumor has him going to EF.
I think it’s an obvious and potentially very good move for him. Vaughters has been a fan for a long time, and when he gets it right, he can reinvigorate a good rider’s career.

I don’t think he’ll ever turn into a GT winner, but he could pick up some big results given the right environment.


Regarding his performance yesterday, the Tour won’t always have 22km of cobbles, and he won’t always have a classics specialist teammate in yellow and a GC leader who crashes out. I’m going to say the Roubaix stage of the 2018 Tour is a unique circumstance for him, never to be repeated, and from which no sweeping conclusions ought to be drawn.
 
Re: Re:

Leinster said:
Moviefan1203 said:
Rumor has him going to EF.
I think it’s an obvious and potentially very good move for him. Vaughters has been a fan for a long time, and when he gets it right, he can reinvigorate a good rider’s career.

I don’t think he’ll ever turn into a GT winner, but he could pick up some big results given the right environment.


Regarding his performance yesterday, the Tour won’t always have 22km of cobbles, and he won’t always have a classics specialist teammate in yellow and a GC leader who crashes out. I’m going to say the Roubaix stage of the 2018 Tour is a unique circumstance for him, never to be repeated, and from which no sweeping conclusions ought to be drawn.

He had an off day. Can happen to anyone. Hopefully he can do something better in the mountains and the TT or get in a break like he did in the Giro. A stage or top 20 is probably the best he will do in this race looking at the time already lost. The team change should be good for him.
 
Re: Re:

Leinster said:
Moviefan1203 said:
Rumor has him going to EF.
I think it’s an obvious and potentially very good move for him. Vaughters has been a fan for a long time, and when he gets it right, he can reinvigorate a good rider’s career.

I don’t think he’ll ever turn into a GT winner, but he could pick up some big results given the right environment.


Regarding his performance yesterday, the Tour won’t always have 22km of cobbles, and he won’t always have a classics specialist teammate in yellow and a GC leader who crashes out. I’m going to say the Roubaix stage of the 2018 Tour is a unique circumstance for him, never to be repeated, and from which no sweeping conclusions ought to be drawn.

I agree that he can definitely win week long stage races + important MTF's in GT's.

As far as the sweeping conclusions go - well, I think the point there is that the Roubaix stage was more like the icing on the cake. The cake itself has been crafted over years now, such that weight of evidence is overwhelmingly in favour of the thesis that TJ doesn't have the characteristics to win a GT....and that icing was hard to watch; it looked like a problem between the ears as much as in the legs.
 
'Icing on the Cake' is a cliche' that indicates one more good thing happened, and his poor ride over the stones was not one more good thing. Who knows what he will do in the next few days? Maybe he will spread a little frosting.

Tejay is a talent, but not a GT freak. The media built him up to be the next LA, and he has never gotten that out of his head. Maybe JV can help him focus if he does end up moving there.
 
Sorry for the poor analogy/cliche. How about: straw-camel-back?

There is a sense in which the Roubaix stage might be good though; once reality properly catches up with you, you have no choice but to live in accord with it. And in reality TJ still has a huge engine, is still capable of winning big races & still capable of being a huge asset to other team members.
 
Re: Re:

Leinster said:
Regarding his performance yesterday, the Tour won’t always have 22km of cobbles
Even if it does... I recall that he was very good on the cobbled stage in 2015. Made the split of the top8 riders on the last cobbled sector with Froome, Thomas, Nibali, Degenkolb, Stybar, Valverde and GVA. Could've ended up gaining time but Sagan worked hard for Contador not to let them go.

It's a matter of form, mental condition and luck.
 
I hope TJ continues to fight for a good placing. He's about 4.55 minutes behind Froome/Yates/Landa (my "virtual" GC leaders) ATM. But, that doesn't mean that all is lost, if he hangs tough in the mountains and has a strong ITT, a Top 10 would be something to be proud of.

Looking at it from 10,000 feet, US cycling is really on a downturn. When your first- or second-best GT hope (Talansky) ditches the pro tour for triathlons, that's not a good sign. I suspect that TJ is feeling a bit lonely right now. I think having national camaraderie, especially among expats, is key.

I don't know what it would take for the US to produce a GT contender, let alone winner, at this point. Maybe a LeMond or Armstrong unicorn will come along. I haven't lived in the US for years but it's probably due to a lack of grassroots racing and clubs that just never materialized, largely for trust reasons after the USPS scandal.
 
Re:

movingtarget said:
If the first mountain stage is any indication the top 10 won't be happening. His best hope is to drop more time which should happen tomorrow and then he will be allowed to go in a break like he was in the Giro and he can try for a stage win.

Yeah, think you're right, unfortunately. I don't think he'll need to drop any more time to be allowed to get in a break ;(
 

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