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The Gorka is the new Izagirre thread

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tobydawq

tobydawq

Nov 16, 2013
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Gorka Izagirre doesn't have a thread. That is undeserved. If it weren't for Ion's crash he would probably have won Paris-Nice but instead he ended on the lowest spot on the podium.

Now he looks set to end on the podium in Itzulia.

He really has impressed in his first races for Bahrain - I was especially impressed by his sprint in Paris-Nice against Démare - unfortunately, he hid those sprinting abilities today against Alaphilippe and Roglic.

I have a feeling he may not win a week-long WorldTour race but he certainly seems to have taken a step up for this season.

Nibali is going to be well supported in the Tour.
 
Hugo Koblet

Hugo Koblet

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Yeah he has taken a huge step up this year and looks a lot better than his brother now, who seems to have regressed since Paris-Nice for some reason (I still think that Ion has much more potential though). I guess I picked the wrong brother for the "most top 10's without a win"-competition this year :D
 
Koronin

Koronin

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Agreed, Gorka has really stepped up this year. More freedom at Bahrain that at Movistar? Or maybe Bahrain has a better idea of how to use the brothers together? With Ion, I wouldn't be shocked if he's still suffering some effects (even if just mentally) from his crash at the Tour last summer. Remember his injuries were actually more serious than Valverde's and he was told it could be career ending.
 
Hugo Koblet

Hugo Koblet

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Re:

Koronin said:
Agreed, Gorka has really stepped up this year. More freedom at Bahrain that at Movistar? Or maybe Bahrain has a better idea of how to use the brothers together? With Ion, I wouldn't be shocked if he's still suffering some effects (even if just mentally) from his crash at the Tour last summer. Remember his injuries were actually more serious than Valverde's and he was told it could be career ending.
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Yeah he's certainly still affected by the crash - physically atleast and likely also mentally. But I do find it a bit weird that he seems quite a bit worse here than in Paris-Nice.
 
tobydawq

tobydawq

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Re:

RedheadDane said:
So, Gorka is the older Izagirre, but also the new Izagirre?
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I knew you'd like the title :D


Regarding Ion, I think he was very badly positioned yesterday (and didn't ride strongly either, I'll give you that.

Today, though, he rode well in service of Gorka and helped close the gap to Landa, Ala and Rogla and delivered Gorka in the front when it looked like the ship had sailed. That clearly cost him a lot but he managed to stay in the second group.
 
Koronin

Koronin

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Re: Re:

Hugo Koblet said:
Koronin said:
Agreed, Gorka has really stepped up this year. More freedom at Bahrain that at Movistar? Or maybe Bahrain has a better idea of how to use the brothers together? With Ion, I wouldn't be shocked if he's still suffering some effects (even if just mentally) from his crash at the Tour last summer. Remember his injuries were actually more serious than Valverde's and he was told it could be career ending.
Click to expand...
Yeah he's certainly still affected by the crash - physically atleast and likely also mentally. But I do find it a bit weird that he seems quite a bit worse here than in Paris-Nice.
Click to expand...

That easily could be a mental issue with the crash at Paris-Nice playing on him. However, I expect he'll do everything he can at this point to support his brother.
 
J

JoeD1997

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I think Gorka's improvement is as much mental as it is physical. I think something changed in him after 2017 Paris-Nice with regards to maybe changing his opinion of himself from a brilliant domestique to someone who can actually compete consistently in the spring WT stage races. His Giro stage win must also have done wonders for his confidence.

If he can keep his form going and his TT remains as strong as it was in P-N, I don't see why he can't perhaps become a rider like Ion and challenge regularly in races like P-N, Itzulia, Romandie, Pologne, maybe even Suisse
 
mariposa

mariposa

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Re:

Koronin said:
Agreed, Gorka has really stepped up this year. More freedom at Bahrain that at Movistar? Or maybe Bahrain has a better idea of how to use the brothers together? With Ion, I wouldn't be shocked if he's still suffering some effects (even if just mentally) from his crash at the Tour last summer. Remember his injuries were actually more serious than Valverde's and he was told it could be career ending.
Click to expand...

I think Gorka was given some freedom last year by Movistar and looked very good . He had a good Paris Nice , a Giro stage win and a win in The Klasika Primavera. It was almost as though being by himself without Ion gave him that extra bit of confidence. I am pleased to see that he seems to be carrying from there even though he is back in the same team as his brother.

I hope Ion finds his Mojo again. He has always been a little accident prone , probably because he is always pushing himself to the limit, particularly on TTs. It takes time to get back to that level when you have had such a bad accident as he did in the Tour last year.
 
tobydawq

tobydawq

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After a less than ideal preparation to the season including a cyclocross accident, Gorka today won his first race for Astana - the Tour de la Provence.

He was incredibly lucky because Gallopin just needed to have placed himself one place better in one of four sprints the last three days to have gained enough bonus seconds. And Simon Clarke ended up between those two.

But nice start for the Izagirre brothers who have both won all their road races in Astana jerseys.
 
Koronin

Koronin

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Re:

tobydawq said:
After a less than ideal preparation to the season including a cyclocross accident, Gorka today won his first race for Astana - the Tour de la Provence.

He was incredibly lucky because Gallopin just needed to have placed himself one place better in one of four sprints the last three days to have gained enough bonus seconds. And Simon Clarke ended up between those two.

But nice start for the Izagirre brothers who have both won all their road races in Astana jerseys.
Click to expand...


A very nice start for the brothers. Wonder if they'll be going to Paris-Nice together again this year and maybe they can figure out how not to crash into each other on a descent. :D
 
Koronin

Koronin

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Re: Re:

Hugo Koblet said:
Koronin said:
tobydawq said:
That crash must have been a little bit traumatic for them. I'm still certain that Gorka would have won the race otherwise.
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I'm sure it had to be as well. I'm also convinced Gorka wins it otherwise as well.
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Well, Poels would have won if he hadn't crashed out.
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Well that is likely. However, the Izagirre's crashing into each other was funny (because they didn't get hurt). Poels was scary.
 
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