The Is Marc Soler the Next Great Spanish Climber Thread

[Cordi333]

Re:

Soler is the new Contador.
Remember, Contador's first big win was Paris-Nice 2007 too. He won stages at Romandie, Suisse, Pais Vasco but didn't have a big GC win.

I have always connect Soler with Valverde (with less sprint but more GC consistency) and Mas with Contador.

 

[Cordi333]

Last years, the level of Spanish amateur races has been marvellous. They doesn't use to bright internationaly because are use to less kilometers and less rithm, but there have been great races and very promising riders who now are starting to bright proffesionaly.

 

[yaco]

Coronin has the best idea of what team Movistar should send to the TDF - Send the wrong team and they lose 2+ minutes.

 

[Koronin]

Re:

Coronin has the best idea of what team Movistar should send to the TDF - Send the wrong team and they lose 2+ minutes.

Thanks. Yeah, they could loose any hope of a podium in the TTT if they take the wrong team. What they are going to actually end up doing, who knows. There are times I don't think anyone knows what they are doing.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

Soler is the new Contador.
Remember, Contador's first big win was Paris-Nice 2007 too. He won stages at Romandie, Suisse, Pais Vasco but didn't have a big GC win.

I have always connect Soler with Valverde (with less sprint but more GC consistency) and Mas with Contador.

Funny.

I associate Mas' hairline with Valverde's

 

[Netserk]

Is he going bald?

edit: yeah, I see what you mean.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Great ride by Soler. This is a win that doesn’t say much about his ability as a GC rider. He wasn’t among the strongest climbers in what was a weak field. But it says a huge amount amount about his bravery and toughness. Chapeau.

 

[Valv.Piti]

So I finally got to watch the race.

Soler was damn impressive on Peille, first acceleration away from the peloton, then effortlessly dropping Ion Izagirre. Had Ion held on there there's no doubt in my mind he would have won the race. It looked weird and I have seen some of the comments in the P-N-thread, byt why in the world would Ion drop himself? I just think Soler (and Cruz) was super strong today.

Soler was dropped a lot of times, both uphill and downhill in the final, but kept calm. On a sidenote, damn Fraile is great downhill. It got a little too close in the end, but had the Izagirre brothers not crashed, I do think Gorka would have won the race with a couple of seconds. Bahrain Merida really could have won this race, but luck wasn't really on their side today. Its still a great result for them.

I wouldn't have thought Soler had this in him, I thought such performances were reserved for longer MTFs where he has proved immensely strong when he is on (lets not also forget his Route du Sud victory). He looked tired and worn down, but as I noted during last year's Vuelta, his recuperation is very good. That and his time trial will make him a threat in GTs by 2019 and obviously a threat in week long stage races right now. But damn he was strong on Peille today, remembering Contador the right way.

The best guy maybe didn't win this race overall, that was Poels, but Soler sure as hell deserves this one. What an attack and what finish!

 

[rick james]

Re:

Is he going bald?

edit: yeah, I see what you mean.

Nothing wrong with going bald

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re:

So I finally got to watch the race.

Soler was damn impressive on Peille, first acceleration away from the peloton, then effortlessly dropping Ion Izagirre. Had Ion held on there there's no doubt in my mind he would have won the race. It looked weird and I have seen some of the comments in the P-N-thread, byt why in the world would Ion drop himself? I just think Soler (and Cruz) was super strong today.

Soler was dropped a lot of times, both uphill and downhill in the final, but kept calm. On a sidenote, damn Fraile is great downhill. It got a little too close in the end, but had the Izagirre brothers not crashed, I do think Gorka would have won the race with a couple of seconds. Bahrain Merida really could have won this race, but luck wasn't really on their side today. Its still a great result for them.

I wouldn't have thought Soler had this in him, I thought such performances were reserved for longer MTFs where he has proved immensely strong when he is on (lets not also forget his Route du Sud victory). He looked tired and worn down, but as I noted during last year's Vuelta, his recuperation is very good. That and his time trial will make him a threat in GTs by 2019 and obviously a threat in week long stage races right now. But damn he was strong on Peille today, remembering Contador the right way.

The best guy maybe didn't win this race overall, that was Poels, but Soler sure as hell deserves this one. What an attack and what finish!

Impressively strong yes, but the information from this race that’s most relevant to his future as a GT GC man is that he wasn’t very good on the mtf even though he was up against a field that was notably weak. It says more about his ability to be the next Tim Wellens than to be a new Contador, Froome, Quintana or even Porte. Which is fine by me as a fan: I prefer Wellens to any top GC man.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Well his performances doesn't really make sense since he was super mediocre yesterday on a route which really suited him, then today he was pretty much the strongest rider out there. I don't think we should put too much stock in him not doing well yesterday - might just have been an off day seeing how he went today. But yeah, he didn't look good against a pretty weak competition on the MTF.

Lets see how he goes in Catalunya on the MTFs.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re:

Well his performances doesn't really make sense since he was super mediocre yesterday on a route which really suited him, then today he was pretty much the strongest rider out there. I don't think we should put too much stock in him not doing well yesterday - might just have been an off day seeing how he went today. But yeah, he didn't look good against a pretty weak competition on the MTF.

Lets see how he goes in Catalunya on the MTFs.

His performance makes sense if he’s a very strong rider who isn’t a top level climber (at least at this point in his career).

Has he ever really put in a great climbing performance? I ask that seriously, not as a rhetorical jab at him. After today you would have to be a one eyed Yates fan not to like him. His signature climbing performance, as far as I can recall, is his route du sud win but that was against a field much weaker than even yesterday’s one.

I agree about Catalunya. It will be very interesting to see how he does.

 

[Koronin]

I think with his age, and that it appears Spanish riders are a bit behind everyone else when they first get to the pro levels right now, he still has some time to learn and gain experience. This win, regardless of competition will help his confidence. Now he goes to Catalonia (and he said specifically to work for Valverde). Let's see how he is there. Still this is an excellent result because he was leading the team as well so add that pressure to him. Now he goes to Catalonia where Valverde will take the pressure of leadership and Soler can again try to get a podium while helping Valverde. I still love last year's podium picture with Soler looking over at Valverde and Contador and you can see the awe and amazement in his eyes along with a great respect for the two riders he was on that podium with.

 

[Netserk]

Re: Re:

Well his performances doesn't really make sense since he was super mediocre yesterday on a route which really suited him, then today he was pretty much the strongest rider out there. I don't think we should put too much stock in him not doing well yesterday - might just have been an off day seeing how he went today. But yeah, he didn't look good against a pretty weak competition on the MTF.

Lets see how he goes in Catalunya on the MTFs.

His performance makes sense if he’s a very strong rider who isn’t a top level climber (at least at this point in his career).

Has he ever really put in a great climbing performance? I ask that seriously, not as a rhetorical jab at him. After today you would have to be a one eyed Yates fan not to like him. His signature climbing performance, as far as I can recall, is his route du sud win but that was against a field much weaker than even yesterday’s one.

I agree about Catalunya. It will be very interesting to see how he does.

Catalunya last year on Mont Caro 8,4 km@8,9% (which was a super fast ascent):

Valverde 24:04
Froome, Contador +13''
Soler +25''
A. Yates +32''
D. Martin +46''

 

[tobydawq]

After having gotten over the Izagirre disappointment, I have come to appreciate just what a marvelous performance it was by Soler.

Nobody would have expected him do attack - much less from such a range. He was sitting at a nice sixth place in the GC with the youth jersey and was about to get some WorldTour points to his account. To risk all that with an attack from so far out in that weather was actually really brave - which is a word I very rarely use about bike riders.

Impressive mindset to wake up in the morning thinking that "I've got this if I do it like Berto". Chapeau (I don't think you can say "Sombrero" as the equivalent idiom in Spanish ).

It is even more impressive, considering that his only previous victory was a Route du Sud stage gifted to him by Quintana. It would have been rather nice to have his first win as an outright victory in Paris-Nice, but oh well.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re: Re:

Well his performances doesn't really make sense since he was super mediocre yesterday on a route which really suited him, then today he was pretty much the strongest rider out there. I don't think we should put too much stock in him not doing well yesterday - might just have been an off day seeing how he went today. But yeah, he didn't look good against a pretty weak competition on the MTF.

Lets see how he goes in Catalunya on the MTFs.

His performance makes sense if he’s a very strong rider who isn’t a top level climber (at least at this point in his career).

Has he ever really put in a great climbing performance? I ask that seriously, not as a rhetorical jab at him. After today you would have to be a one eyed Yates fan not to like him. His signature climbing performance, as far as I can recall, is his route du sud win but that was against a field much weaker than even yesterday’s one.

I agree about Catalunya. It will be very interesting to see how he does.

Catalunya last year on Mont Caro (which was a super fast ascent)
Valverde
Froome, Contador +13''
Soler +25''
A. Yates +32''
D. Martin +46''

That actually is pretty good. Certainly better than his rds win and miles better than yesterday. Is it an outlier so far or does he have a few memorable climbing performances? (Again, I’m serious about the question, not running him down).

 

[Netserk]

Outlier, definitely. Let's see what the rest of spring brings.

 

[Koronin]

I'm also going to say that Soler's attack today from so far out also shows that Movistar may not actually be the conservative team that everyone views them as. The team obviously allowed Soler to race this the way he wanted to and didn't put any restrictions or constraints on him. Just maybe we have this impressionism of Movistar because Valverde is a conservative rider for the most part (and when he does attack from any real distance it's a bit of a surprise because he'd rather rely on his sprint to win with). Plus he's really an outlier when it comes to GC riders. I didn't start watching racing until 2003 so my knowledge of the sport before that is limited. However, I get the impression that Indurian was also a more conservative rider and relied on his TT ability. Marc is a different type of rider and more aggressive rider. He's willing to risk it all to try to win it all and his team is willing to allow him to do so.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Just looking at the results from Mont Caro (the MTF in last years Catalunya) doesn't do Soler enough justice, you got to catch the stage on Youtube, ZV. At least the last 5 km or so - its great racing. He was a beast and was pulling the lead group for several kilometers and really putting the hurt on the best climbers in the world. Outlier? So far, probably, but I think thats the level we can expect from him, hence the high expectations on the big MTF in Paris-Nice where he disappointed a bit.

But he is a superb rouleur which really helped him yesterday. Very versatile rider, I like it.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

After having gotten over the Izagirre disappointment, I have come to appreciate just what a marvelous performance it was by Soler.

Nobody would have expected him do attack - much less from such a range. He was sitting at a nice sixth place in the GC with the youth jersey and was about to get some WorldTour points to his account. To risk all that with an attack from so far out in that weather was actually really brave - which is a word I very rarely use about bike riders.

Impressive mindset to wake up in the morning thinking that "I've got this if I do it like Berto". Chapeau (I don't think you can say "Sombrero" as the equivalent idiom in Spanish ).

It is even more impressive, considering that his only previous victory was a Route du Sud stage gifted to him by Quintana. It would have been rather nice to have his first win as an outright victory in Paris-Nice, but oh well.

Are you rooting for them equally? Personally I like Ion better since he is younger and more talented, but Gorka has really developed lately. I loved the pictures on the MTF on Gorka, he looked super hardcore with his face covered in mud and the big earring he rocks.

 

[Escarabajo]

Great performance by Soler. I am really impressed by his win.

I am not reading too much into his bad day in the mountain. I am more interested in his attitude that he took for the win. I am more interested about his tenacity on his bad day. Those performances sometimes tell you more about a rider than the good days.

Anyway, congratulations Soler.

 

[Oliver]

Great win, great rider!

 

[Koronin]

Re:

Great performance by Soler. I am really impressed by his win.

I am not reading too much into his bad day in the mountain. I am more interested in his attitude that he took for the win. I am more interested about his tenacity on his bad day. Those performances sometimes tell you more about a rider than the good days.

Anyway, congratulations Soler.

I agree with this. He showed a lot of determination and it appears he's learning to limit his looses on his bad days. That can be just as important as how good you are on your goods, maybe in some ways more important as it gives you a bit of insight into the rider as well.
I'm very happy with his performance.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Unzué thought out loud in Marca about bringing Soler in for Paris-Roubaix, just for some experience on the cobbles. That probably wouldn't hurt and he isn't your typical spanish climber, he is more robust, but yeah, I don't really get it since he won't be a protected rider anyways in the Tour (if they choose to bring him). Unzué said something about that the Vuelta would be a safer choice, I think the Giro is out of question after this hard spring, but the Tour still is an opportunity.

Soler also said (I think in some other interview) that his biggest motivation was Le Tour, but that he still has a long way to go obviously.

 

[Red Rick]

Honestly if you don't let Soler lead the Giro then there's no reason to not send him to the Tour. Landa, Quintana and Valverde are all going Tour/Vuelta so it's not like Soler can go for a GC there either. He's one of the best allrounders they have, and Movistar need their allrounders come July.