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The New Danish Generation

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Valv.Piti

Valv.Piti

Aug 3, 2015
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Re: Re:

memyselfandI said:
Valv.Piti said:
Thing is, Søren Kragh is the best rider from a talent perspective IMO
Click to expand...

Maybe.

Mads Würtz Schmidt, Mikkel Bjerg, Magnus Cort go even above Søren Kragh from a talent perspective IMHO, but they have not reaped benefits and results out like SK. Well Mikkel B is very young yet. Mads W..dunno what holds him, he has two rainbow jerseys already and some days it can be seen he is lightspeed fast tt'er but.. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Cort, no. Mads Schmidt, no. Those are far away from Kragh IMO.

Mikkel Bjerg is exciting for sure, but one dimensional.
 
Broccolidwarf

Broccolidwarf

Mar 26, 2015
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Re: Re:

memyselfandI said:
Valv.Piti said:
Thing is, Søren Kragh is the best rider from a talent perspective IMO
Click to expand...

Maybe.

Mads Würtz Schmidt, Mikkel Bjerg, Magnus Cort go even above Søren Kragh from a talent perspective IMHO, but they have not reaped benefits and results out like SK. Well Mikkel B is very young yet. Mads W..dunno what holds him, he has two rainbow jerseys already and some days it can be seen he is lightspeed fast tt'er but.. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

What makes The Kraghen special, in my view, is his tactical sense....... and I agree completely with the comparison to Rolf Soerensen.

He had nothing he was best at, he wasn't the fastest, or the strongest, or the best on a TT bike, or a particularly great climber.

But, he had one of the best "noses" for sniffing out opportunity - a keen tactical sense - which brought him many victories.
- and was one of the most tenacious MOFOs the sport has ever seen.... which helped.

Kragh actually has greater potential, because he is a very good TT rider, and better than Soerensen was on most physical parameters.
 
Akuryo

Akuryo

Apr 19, 2014
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So how about Asgreen? Can time trial, is good on cobbles and apparently is not the worst climber either. Also has a decent sprint (at least from what we have seen in California). Is there anything this guy is bad at? Compared to some other riders he went to the pros fairly late. He is 24 and this is his first full year in the World Tour but so far he has more than impressed! Evenepoel, Pogacar, Bernal and others started with 20 or even before that. But since Asgreen is only on a pro team for 13 months, his results are excellent. Especially when we consider the team he rides for: Usually they have a lot of "known" riders and youngsters will have to play the support role. To stand out in such a strong squad is even harder.
 
RedheadDane

RedheadDane

May 5, 2010
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Re:

Akuryo said:
So how about Asgreen? Can time trial, is good on cobbles and apparently is not the worst climber either. Also has a decent sprint (at least from what we have seen in California). Is there anything this guy is bad at? Compared to some other riders he went to the pros fairly late. He is 24 and this is his first full year in the World Tour but so far he has more than impressed! Evenepoel, Pogacar, Bernal and others started with 20 or even before that. But since Asgreen is only on a pro team for 13 months, his results are excellent. Especially when we consider the team he rides for: Usually they have a lot of "known" riders and youngsters will have to play the support role. To stand out in such a strong squad is even harder.
Click to expand...

I don't think we should expect to see him on Tourmalet (if he makes the Tour team).
 
Akuryo

Akuryo

Apr 19, 2014
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Re: Re:

RedheadDane said:
Akuryo said:
So how about Asgreen? Can time trial, is good on cobbles and apparently is not the worst climber either. Also has a decent sprint (at least from what we have seen in California). Is there anything this guy is bad at? Compared to some other riders he went to the pros fairly late. He is 24 and this is his first full year in the World Tour but so far he has more than impressed! Evenepoel, Pogacar, Bernal and others started with 20 or even before that. But since Asgreen is only on a pro team for 13 months, his results are excellent. Especially when we consider the team he rides for: Usually they have a lot of "known" riders and youngsters will have to play the support role. To stand out in such a strong squad is even harder.
Click to expand...

I don't think we should expect to see him on Tourmalet (if he makes the Tour team).
Click to expand...

He probably wont win there but Mt. Baldy showed that he could at least be of help for Mas in the mountains to a certain point. And that alone is some valuable information. Before the Ronde most people thought of Asgreen as a time trial rider only. Then he added cobbles to his repertoire. And now we know that he can at least climb a little bit. Maybe not enough to challenge for a result in the high mountains himself but as a helper! And lets be honest, Quickstep does not have the best mountain support right now. Capecchi, Knox and Serry are probably their best riders without any ambitions of their own. Sure, Alaphilippe and Jungels are also decent climbers but wont ride for Mas for 21 days. So knowing that Asgreen is capable of some climbing brings him actually much closer to a Tour spot.
 
Logic-is-your-friend

Logic-is-your-friend

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Netserk said:
I'm looking forward to see the Danish national team in the WCRR. I'm unsure though if the route favours a more defensive approach with everyone for Mads Pedersen, but with this cohort of riders I hope they'll be active there. Especially since the national cohesion seems to be quite good.
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If they ride defensively, it would be very dumb imho. There are too many Danes that have an actual chance on this route if they make the race hard or if they go on the offensive. They have a much better team than the Netherlands and probably even Italy, for this course. Belgium will probably be the team everybody will be looking at, but i feel Denmark is close behind, if not equal. Asgreen and Kragh Anderson should be the ones to attack deep in the final, Pedersen may be able to wait. But it's not just those three. In support there are plenty of guys who could go in an early break, or who could stay at Pedersen's side.

I think, considering the wealth in numbers, with multiple guys that could actually win here, that everyone for Pedersen would be a mistake. He might be their best sprinter, but other than that he is not superior to Asgreen or Kragh Anderson for instance, i would even argue the opposite on this terrain. It would be a humongous screw up to babysit Pedersen, have a deciding break slip away, just to come to the conclusion Pedersen isn't having his day and you clipped the wings of your other top riders. Let's also not forget Asgreen is no slouch either when it comes to a small groupsprint. In a scenario where he gets away with a group while van Aert, van der Poel, Alaphilippe and Pedersen keep looking at each other in a reduced peloton, Asgreen could well take it.

If they are to ride defensively, i feel it would even benefit the Netherlands and Belgium, because the Netherlands don't have the team for this route. Other than van der Poel, their biggest stars are GC riders. In case of Belgium, they will likely be riding for van Aert, since the hierarchy is much clearer in Belgium. We all know that while Van Avermaet, Naesen, Wellens, Stuyven... are great riders, that they are not at the same level as van Aert, but also do not have the same engine as Asgreen or Kragh Andersen. Benoot on his day perhaps. The only real joker Belgium have, is Evenepoel, in case he's riding. He could, just like SKA or Asgreen, try to go solo in the final.
 
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Logic-is-your-friend

Logic-is-your-friend

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Netserk said:
As said, I don’t know just how selective the route is, but Asgreen and Kragh would mark moves, not tow the peloton. I could see that work, even if I too would much rather see the opposite.
Click to expand...
Marking moves in order to go in the break? Or marking moves to reel them back in? In case of the latter, i would again say they were doing the work for van der Poel as much as for Pedersen.

The route starts in Antwerp but the most selective part of the route, is on parts you'll know of Brabantse Pijl. The finish in Leuven is not flat either. They pass by there during Grote Prijs Jef "Poeske" Scherens. Some pros who've already done a recon, said the course is harder than it would seem going by merely the profile.

The final +/-500m, is on the road parallel to the one you can see here (10m 20s into the video), it is on the outer "ring road" while in the video they are riding inner ring, but it's the same road and the same %.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLKucDVmDIs&t=620s
 
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