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The Caleb Ewan Thread

Aug 16, 2011
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First GT stage win (beating Degenkolb and Sagan) at only 21 years of age. Quite a strong talent for the future this kid is. :)
 
Jul 17, 2015
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No surprise at all at this win, he (and Michael Mathews) account for the lion's share of OGE's success. Good to see him playing with the big boys now.
 
Jspear said:
Gigs_98 said:
The fact that he won on an uphill sprint today made me suspiciously. Please don't be another gerrans

What do you mean exactly? Most people like "strongmen" over pure sprinters.
Yeah but nobody likes gerrans who also isn't a pure sprinter. There are some parallels between these two riders and the fact that gerrans shall become Ewan's mentor makes me fear we will get the next wheelsucker.
 
Ewan will be a bunch sprinter for now. He's more versatile than Kittel but he still won't be able to match the likes of Sagan, Matthews, Gerrans and even Cav on tough stages.

Don't worry too much, Ewan was "discovered" by Brad McGee, who lives in the same town and has been involved in his development since he was around 16. If you've seen Ewan race crits, or watched Aus Nationals this year, you'd see that he's not scared to attack when the time is right.
 
PremierAndrew said:
Jspear said:
Gigs_98 said:
The fact that he won on an uphill sprint today made me suspiciously. Please don't be another gerrans

What do you mean exactly? Most people like "strongmen" over pure sprinters.

Not when all they do is wheelsuck to the finish every single time they race

You need to sit and watch a Gerro highlight reel. He covers all bases and is an ultimate team rider. He often leads out guys like Mathews, Impey and Gossy when he was with OGE, he has been on just about every OGE team time trial win or placing in big races doing his fair share of pulling and has been on the front here in the Vuelta with Impey and Hayman to help Chavez.

Ewan has been on a great upward spiral and i like the way OGE are bringing him along. They put plenty of work into getting him after his great performances a few years back in the Bay Crits and have nurtured him along nice and slowly, letting him get wins with the team in the smaller races and gradually building to these bigger races. He says he won't be going the distance in this Vuelta which is smart also. Pretty sure we will be seeing him the TDF pretty soon, depending on how they decide to go with the Yates brothers.
 
Jul 19, 2010
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Gigs_98 said:
Jspear said:
Gigs_98 said:
The fact that he won on an uphill sprint today made me suspiciously. Please don't be another gerrans

What do you mean exactly? Most people like "strongmen" over pure sprinters.
Yeah but nobody likes gerrans who also isn't a pure sprinter. There are some parallels between these two riders and the fact that gerrans shall become Ewan's mentor makes me fear we will get the next wheelsucker.

I think Gerrans is fantastic. the whingers go on and on about him being a wheelsucker; what abourt all the other sprinters?? He races smart and has the palmares to back it up; as for the whingers, if you could ride 1/2 as good as Gerran you'd be a formidable cyclist
 
I like Simon Gerrans and am often bewildered by why he gets such a hard time on here.

He is not the most exciting rider, but he rides with his head and his legs. He works when he needs to work. His job is to try to win, and he is very good at winning.

Caleb Ewan is really, really surprising me. That was a very impressive win yesterday.
 
Aug 16, 2011
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Re:

barmaher said:
I like Simon Gerrans and am often bewildered by why he gets such a hard time on here.

He is not the most exciting rider, but he rides with his head and his legs. He works when he needs to work. His job is to try to win, and he is very good at winning.

Caleb Ewan is really, really surprising me. That was a very impressive win yesterday.

But he does it by wheelsucking to the end. To make matters worse he has the ability and correct skill-set to win races like LBL or MSR where we really want attacking and exciting finales. If Gerrans is in contention at the end we often won't get one.
 
Re: Re:

Afrank said:
barmaher said:
I like Simon Gerrans and am often bewildered by why he gets such a hard time on here.

He is not the most exciting rider, but he rides with his head and his legs. He works when he needs to work. His job is to try to win, and he is very good at winning.

Caleb Ewan is really, really surprising me. That was a very impressive win yesterday.

But he does it by wheelsucking to the end. To make matters worse he has the ability and correct skill-set to win races like LBL or MSR where we really want attacking and exciting finales. If Gerrans is in contention at the end we often won't get one.

Valverde has been doing the same thing as Gerrans for even longer. As for Gerrans having the ability to win LBL or MSR well the only way he could win them is in a sprint which is what he did ! Name a rider that does not play to his strengths ? Does Froome try and win bunch sprints ? Does Cavendish try and win in a break ? The reason people don't like Gerrans is because he is successful, more successful than the some of the fans favourites. Gerrans used to win races in breakaways but once you start winning you are marked much closer. He always had a good sprint and now is just smart enough to know when to use it successfully. He also rides well in the TTT and often leads out sprints for other riders on his team. He is a more versatile rider than many others but tends to win in sprints and if other riders are willing to tow him to the finish instead of attacking him then that just shows how tactically naive some other riders are.
 
Aug 16, 2011
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Jspear said:
Well who cares about Gerrans. :p
Just because he's "mentoring" Ewan doesn't mean Ewan will end up like him. Besides, for the most part, Ewan will always be sprinting; which means he'll be hidden in the pack for most of the stage....surely we won't call that wheel sucking - it's just part of being a sprinter.

True, and this is the Ewan thread after all.

@movingtarget, I'm going to respond to your post in the Gerrans thread.
 
Mar 19, 2009
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Ewan was betting pro's in the bay crits when he was still learning to shave, you knew that he would one day be racing for the Green.

all he really needs from a mentor like Gerro is how to conserve energy over a long stage, who to watch and follow and someone to stop him burning himself out too early.
 
Dec 8, 2012
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Re: Re:

movingtarget said:
Afrank said:
barmaher said:
I like Simon Gerrans and am often bewildered by why he gets such a hard time on here.

He is not the most exciting rider, but he rides with his head and his legs. He works when he needs to work. His job is to try to win, and he is very good at winning.

Caleb Ewan is really, really surprising me. That was a very impressive win yesterday.

But he does it by wheelsucking to the end. To make matters worse he has the ability and correct skill-set to win races like LBL or MSR where we really want attacking and exciting finales. If Gerrans is in contention at the end we often won't get one.

Valverde has been doing the same thing as Gerrans for even longer. As for Gerrans having the ability to win LBL or MSR well the only way he could win them is in a sprint which is what he did ! Name a rider that does not play to his strengths ? Does Froome try and win bunch sprints ? Does Cavendish try and win in a break ? The reason people don't like Gerrans is because he is successful, more successful than the some of the fans favourites. Gerrans used to win races in breakaways but once you start winning you are marked much closer. He always had a good sprint and now is just smart enough to know when to use it successfully. He also rides well in the TTT and often leads out sprints for other riders on his team. He is a more versatile rider than many others but tends to win in sprints and if other riders are willing to tow him to the finish instead of attacking him then that just shows how tactically naive some other riders are.

No point in arguing. This forum's hate for Gerrans is too deep and irrational to hear sense.

PS MSR he was marking attacks for Goss. OGE were covering all bases, he played his role perfectly, won a monument (but is still cycling's version of Satan).
 
Have Ewan and Matthews ever been at the same sprint finish together, and if so, who led out whom? It seems to me Orica will lose one of them over the coming years to focus on the other. And if Gerrans was the same generation, it would be a further long-term selection dilemma.
 
Jun 30, 2014
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Re: Re:

tokenron said:
movingtarget said:
Afrank said:
barmaher said:
I like Simon Gerrans and am often bewildered by why he gets such a hard time on here.

He is not the most exciting rider, but he rides with his head and his legs. He works when he needs to work. His job is to try to win, and he is very good at winning.

Caleb Ewan is really, really surprising me. That was a very impressive win yesterday.

But he does it by wheelsucking to the end. To make matters worse he has the ability and correct skill-set to win races like LBL or MSR where we really want attacking and exciting finales. If Gerrans is in contention at the end we often won't get one.

Valverde has been doing the same thing as Gerrans for even longer. As for Gerrans having the ability to win LBL or MSR well the only way he could win them is in a sprint which is what he did ! Name a rider that does not play to his strengths ? Does Froome try and win bunch sprints ? Does Cavendish try and win in a break ? The reason people don't like Gerrans is because he is successful, more successful than the some of the fans favourites. Gerrans used to win races in breakaways but once you start winning you are marked much closer. He always had a good sprint and now is just smart enough to know when to use it successfully. He also rides well in the TTT and often leads out sprints for other riders on his team. He is a more versatile rider than many others but tends to win in sprints and if other riders are willing to tow him to the finish instead of attacking him then that just shows how tactically naive some other riders are.

No point in arguing. This forum's hate for Gerrans is too deep and irrational to hear sense.

PS MSR he was marking attacks for Goss. OGE were covering all bases, he played his role perfectly, won a monument (but is still cycling's version of Satan).
Gerro deserves some of the hate because of the way he raced at the 2014 WC RR and his comments after the race.
Other than that I never had a problem with him, he's usually not the one who's to blame for conservative racing, he's just the one who benefits from it and wins the race.
Caleb still has to show how he can handle the distance in a hard ridden race, but he's still young and has lots of time to develope.
 

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