The Caleb Ewan vs. Fernando Gaviria Thread

[AlexNYC]

Gaviria is impressive, but the overhyped expectations are a bit too much. Let's wait until he wins his first cobbled race before comparing him to Boonen or Sagan.

That said, he is a dark horse for the WC and would have won MSR if not for his silly mistake.

 

[Gigs_98]

Re:

Gaviria is impressive, but the overhyped expectations are a bit too much. Let's wait until he wins his first cobbled race before comparing him to Boonen or Sagan.

That said, he is a dark horse for the WC and might have won MSR if not for his silly mistake.

 

[Breh]

Has only ridden his first WT races this year.

 

[Angliru]

I like that he has broad ambitions beyond just winning sprints. He likes the cobbled classics and as evidenced by his Paris-Tours victory, can improvise and isn't fearful of failing when he does. He is a very interesting and intriguing talent. To be so close to doing well in MSR in his first real season versus the sport's elite is impressive even if he did ultimately muck it up.

 

[Billie]

Re:

What we learned this year: If you see Gaviria on the hoods, you might as well give up. Redefining what sprinting means. This is the 4th time I've seen him do a attack that is "too early" or "too far out" for the win. Will he seal Colombia's best cycling year ever by winning a flat world championship? I have read some really interesting points on him. One was from Belgium, where the article has Lefevere stating that he was "offered Sagan" A year ago. His statement was (not a direct quote): "Why would I sign Sagan when I have Gaviria who is cheaper, not a pre-madonna, not mandating to bring other riders with him and will be more talented by the end of his career".

Been a while :lol: :lol:

I feel sorry for anyone who takes Lefevere serious when he's bragging like that

 

[gospina]

I agree with all the comments, I feel the comparisons are unfounded. I meant it is at least nice that someone is making the comparison, but c'mon, Gaviria is one of my favorite riders and all but it will take Gaviria years and years to even come close to Cavendish and to be able to be seen as the next Sagan is probably even harder. Now Kwiatowski maybe. Gaviria has to have a similar type of year for about 4 years, win a monument, win at least 2 green jerseys at the Tour, become a world champion and win maybe 15 GT stages including maybe 2 or 3 Champs-Elysees stages before he is at the level of Cav and Sagan.

 

[EroicaStradeBianche]

Gaviria is really impressive for his age. Rest to see what margin of improvement has he left.
Many south americans have boomed very early but then remained in the "norm" (Uran, Betancur, Henao).
Chaves exploded in 2015/16 (25/26 years which is the normality for a cyclist). Quintana is the exception but how stronger can he still get? On the other side there are riders who had emerged later, Purito and Cadel Evans won barely nothing before turning 30. Greipel also bloomed lately. It's always difficult to judge very young riders you can only see how are improving throughout the years. I remember Moreno Moser winning a lot of races at 21-23 years (even important ones like tour of poland and strade bianche).

But Urán and Henao are under 30, they could "re-boom"...

Clear

 

[Jspear]

Re: Re:

Gaviria quickly becoming one of my favourite riders. I absolutely love his racing mentality and his instinct, he has basically animated every one day race in the autumn. To me he is the biggest talent since Sagan. I know, maybe a bit premature and his results so far aren't close to Sagan at that age, but thats mainly due to the track. A force to be reckoned with already in 2017 in the classics - maybe not Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, yet. but I could already see him win races such as E3, G-W etc. next season. Etixx has really hit the jackpot.

A true bike racer and multitalent. Rare you find so versatile track riders. I also love the fact that he has embraced Belgium so much already (he already lives there, right?), really not your typical Colombian. Its like comparing Sagan to Guardini - no contest between Gaviria and Ewan when the former wins pure sprints ahead of Ewan.

True.

This thread used to have a point when it was first created. The discussion is over. Gaviria!

I disagree. They have a pretty similar road palmares and although I also think gaviria is more talanted we have to wait. The two are still extremely young so everything can happen. Ewan might improve a lot and become a top tier sprinter and gaviria could have an injury of which he never 100% recovers. This isn't like the EBH vs sagan thread where both are already in the best age for a cyclist and where one simply has a significally better palmares.

He might. But Gaviria will improve as well.

Gaviria and Ewan are both just as likely to have a career jeopardizing injury.

 

[Mr.White]

Re:

Gaviria is impressive, but the overhyped expectations are a bit too much. Let's wait until he wins his first cobbled race before comparing him to Boonen or Sagan.

That said, he is a dark horse for the WC and would have won MSR if not for his silly mistake.

That's a bold statement! Some big sprinters were still there...

 

[Nick C.]

Re: Re:

Gaviria is impressive, but the overhyped expectations are a bit too much. Let's wait until he wins his first cobbled race before comparing him to Boonen or Sagan.

That said, he is a dark horse for the WC and would have won MSR if not for his silly mistake.

That's a bold statement! Some big sprinters were still there...

I remember reading the live report and it read as though Gavira was in position to win. But looking at the highlights just now, his crash was before the sprint really opened up. As far as big sprinters Sagan was there, and impeded by the crash. Was Kristoff there? That is the B list. The A list of sprinters: Cavendish, Kittel and Greipel were not there. Look at the list Bouhanni and Demare are the only ones of note, beyond perhaps Roelandts. Swift would be anonymous If this were not an English language website. so to make a longwinded post short, I can't agree that Gavira would have won, but seeing what he can do and the caliber of sprinters left, it would not have been a surprise.

 

[Mr.White]

Re: Re:

Gaviria is impressive, but the overhyped expectations are a bit too much. Let's wait until he wins his first cobbled race before comparing him to Boonen or Sagan.

That said, he is a dark horse for the WC and would have won MSR if not for his silly mistake.

That's a bold statement! Some big sprinters were still there...

I remember reading the live report and it read as though Gavira was in position to win. But looking at the highlights just now, his crash was before the sprint really opened up. As far as big sprinters Sagan was there, and impeded by the crash. Was Kristoff there? That is the B list. The A list of sprinters: Cavendish, Kittel and Greipel were not there. Look at the list Bouhanni and Demare are the only ones of note, beyond perhaps Roelandts. Swift would be anonymous If this were not an English language website. so to make a longwinded post short, I can't agree that Gavira would have won, but seeing what he can do and the caliber of sprinters left, it would not have been a surprise.

Kristoff, Sagan, Bouhanni and Demare were there. Kristoff is a "hors category" when it comes to sprinting after 290km. Sagan.., well he's Sagan. Demare also proved that he is very fast after a hard race, and Bouhanni is a top-class sprinter. All of them would have a bigger chance than 22-year-old Gaviria. I'm not saying he wouldn't win, I'm just saying there were guys with bigger chance

 

[Valv.Piti]

Despite Gaviria's team for the Worlds, he's given very good chances by the betting nation. Sagan, Gaviria, Kittel, Greipel and Cav basically even at this point.

 

[42x16ss]

Re:

Despite Gaviria's team for the Worlds, he's given very good chances by the betting nation. Sagan, Gaviria, Kittel, Greipel and Cav basically even at this point.

The real question mark over Gaviria is if he has any teammates capable of lasting until the final hour. Uran is about the only Colombian rider I can think of who is capable of lasting the distance AND still be useful at the finish. MSR showed that the distance shouldn't be a problem at all.

Ewan on the other hand will probably have the least problems with the heat (out of the better field sprinters) and his team is strong, but I'm not entirely convinced he's got the legs for the distance yet. This is 2-3 years early for him, I see Matthews or Haussler being the Australians in the final sprint. Ewan could well end up in Greipel or Kittel's chainrings...

 

[Jspear]

Re: Re:

Despite Gaviria's team for the Worlds, he's given very good chances by the betting nation. Sagan, Gaviria, Kittel, Greipel and Cav basically even at this point.

The real question mark over Gaviria is if he has any teammates capable of lasting until the final hour. Uran is about the only Colombian rider I can think of who is capable of lasting the distance AND still be useful at the finish. MSR showed that the distance shouldn't be a problem at all.

Ewan on the other hand will probably have the least problems with the heat (out of the better field sprinters) and his team is strong, but I'm not entirely convinced he's got the legs for the distance yet. This is 2-3 years early for him, I see Matthews or Haussler being the Australians in the final sprint. Ewan could well end up in Greipel or Kittel's chainrings...

Australia has already said they are riding for Matthews. Ewan won't be slaving for the team...he'll be protected to some degree, but Matthews is their main man.

 

[42x16ss]

Re: Re:

Despite Gaviria's team for the Worlds, he's given very good chances by the betting nation. Sagan, Gaviria, Kittel, Greipel and Cav basically even at this point.

The real question mark over Gaviria is if he has any teammates capable of lasting until the final hour. Uran is about the only Colombian rider I can think of who is capable of lasting the distance AND still be useful at the finish. MSR showed that the distance shouldn't be a problem at all.

Ewan on the other hand will probably have the least problems with the heat (out of the better field sprinters) and his team is strong, but I'm not entirely convinced he's got the legs for the distance yet. This is 2-3 years early for him, I see Matthews or Haussler being the Australians in the final sprint. Ewan could well end up in Greipel or Kittel's chainrings...

Australia has already said they are riding for Matthews. Ewan won't be slaving for the team...he'll be protected to some degree, but Matthews is their main man.

As it should be. Matthews won't be giving up much at all to the pure sprinters after 260kms in the heat

 

[gospina]

Re: Re:

Despite Gaviria's team for the Worlds, he's given very good chances by the betting nation. Sagan, Gaviria, Kittel, Greipel and Cav basically even at this point.

The real question mark over Gaviria is if he has any teammates capable of lasting until the final hour. Uran is about the only Colombian rider I can think of who is capable of lasting the distance AND still be useful at the finish. MSR showed that the distance shouldn't be a problem at all.

Edwin Avila will be his best help. They know each other from track, Avila can handle the distance and most importantly is a sprinter as well. 2x track world champion (points) and current colombian national champion (beating Henao and Quintana on a small hill top finish).

 

[Ruudz0r]

Re: Re:

Despite Gaviria's team for the Worlds, he's given very good chances by the betting nation. Sagan, Gaviria, Kittel, Greipel and Cav basically even at this point.

The real question mark over Gaviria is if he has any teammates capable of lasting until the final hour. Uran is about the only Colombian rider I can think of who is capable of lasting the distance AND still be useful at the finish. MSR showed that the distance shouldn't be a problem at all.

Edwin Avila will be his best help. They know each other from track, Avila can handle the distance and most importantly is a sprinter as well. 2x track world champion (points) and current colombian national champion (beating Henao and Quintana on a small hill top finish).

Avila was in the break of the day in the Colombian Nationals which wasnt chased properly, he was strong that day but certainly not the strongest.

 

[yaco]

Re: Re:

Despite Gaviria's team for the Worlds, he's given very good chances by the betting nation. Sagan, Gaviria, Kittel, Greipel and Cav basically even at this point.

The real question mark over Gaviria is if he has any teammates capable of lasting until the final hour. Uran is about the only Colombian rider I can think of who is capable of lasting the distance AND still be useful at the finish. MSR showed that the distance shouldn't be a problem at all.

Ewan on the other hand will probably have the least problems with the heat (out of the better field sprinters) and his team is strong, but I'm not entirely convinced he's got the legs for the distance yet. This is 2-3 years early for him, I see Matthews or Haussler being the Australians in the final sprint. Ewan could well end up in Greipel or Kittel's chainrings...

McGee has announced that Matthews is the main man - Think Ewan is fine with the distance but doubt he is riding well enough - Gaviria will have limited support.

 

[Ruudz0r]

A nice piece on Gaviria: https://rouleur.cc/editorial/fernando-gaviria-cyclings-bottomless-pit-of-power/?mc_cid=ecf2c03def&mc_eid=7b3017ef55

 

[Escarabajo]

Nice article. Thanks.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

Nice article. Thanks.

Kinda meh article, too short, some couple of good quotes tho.

 

[42x16ss]

Re: Re:

Nice article. Thanks.

Kinda meh article, too short, some couple of good quotes tho.

That's only an extract, would love to read the full article

 

[cineteq]

This will never stop. Yes, it's a misprint blockhead!

"Columbia – no, no misprint, Columbia, in Fernando Gaviria the South American nation has one of the fastest men alive – his Paris-Tours win was jaw droppingly impressive. A man from the land of the Andes winning a ‘Sprinters’ World Championship?’ It could just happen. . ."

http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/racing/worlds16-road-race-preview/#.WAGuAZMrLeQ

 

[Jancouver]

Perhaps Caleb did not get the memo that this was not some meaningless Aussie crit. :lol:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeXEPOKKFps&feature=youtu.be&t=2670

 

[Gigs_98]

Unfortunately both were out of contention very early yesterday. Ewan because the guy is just really not made for this kind of stage and Gaviria because he hurt his arm or something like that.
Anyway, now that I think about it, Gaviria is probably one of the big favorites for the worlds next year. Maybe the race is slightly too hard for him but definitely possible.