The New Danish Generation

[Broccolidwarf]

Sure, but the presence of a significant amount of facilities for, and attention given to, cross-country skiing and related sports is probably a significant factor in why these countries produce fewer cyclists than Denmark. Not only the climate factor, but that there's a higher number of endurance sports with high public profile that are competing for those elite talents.

Agreed though it should be noted, that Norway still manages to also have a very big road cycling scene, while Sweden is virtually a non-entity in (especially men's) road cycling.

So in Norway they actually manage to do both, with great success.

 

[Broccolidwarf]

Sadly Honore is out of Amstel, apparently because of the stitches he got in his arm, following the crash at Brabantse Pijl.

Meanwhile Jumbo has confirmed Vingegaard is racing it as a protected rider.

 

[OlavEH]

I was never really on board the CSC/Saxo Bank/Tinkoff train myself, mainly because I felt that Danish TV2 was forcing me to root for them which I didn't like. With the results we see now, I don't really think it matter much if there's a Danish WT team or not as long as the youth development is on a high level, and there are Danish staff on other WT teams.

CSC/SaxoBank didn't have do many Danes among their more important riders either. Breschel and the two Sørensens were probably the best Danish riders in those years. Basso, Sastre, Schleck were the main guys on that team. Not they same level they have now with Asgreen, Pedersen, Kragh Andersen and Valgren. I think QS needs competition as the top classics team . A mainly Danish team with Scandinavian support and some other riders aiming for one-day classics and not GTs and defitely not sprints.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

CSC/SaxoBank didn't have do many Danes among their more important riders either. Breschel and the two Sørensens were probably the best Danish riders in those years. Basso, Sastre, Schleck were the main guys on that team. Not they same level they have now with Asgreen, Pedersen, Kragh Andersen and Valgren. I think QS needs competition as the top classics team . A mainly Danish team with Scandinavian support and some other riders aiming for one-day classics and not GTs and defitely not sprints.

I agree that DQS should have more competition, and I would be alright with it coming from Danish riders, but it wouldn't require a Danish/Scandinavian team for that to happen. But for teams to be able to compete with DQS they will need money, and if that money can be found in Scandinavia, I definitely wouldn't mind it.

Uno-X looks like a great mix of talented Norwegian and Danish riders/staff, and I hope the women's team will prove to be the same. And if they together with other teams can continue to develop Scandinavian WT riders, I don't see a need for those teams to be on WT level themselves.

It's true that most of the young Danish riders in the CSC/SaxoBank years probably wasn't as talented as they are now, but it also seemed to be harder for them to get a WT/ProTour contract back then, especially if Riis wasn't interested. And if he was, they wouldn't necessarily get the same opportunities to shine as they do now. But again that was presumably also due to a lack of talent.
Now it seems to be much easier for Danish riders to get contracts with good teams, because they have a good reputation. I also guess that things have changes, now that riders are younger when they get offered WT contracts, whereas some riders burned out in the past before they got those chances.

 

[RedheadDane]

I also guess that things have changes, now that riders are younger when they get offered WT contracts, whereas some riders burned out in the past before they got those chances.

Or got a WT contract too soon, and then burned out, like Guldhammer and Lander. And of course both Cort and Würtz used that as a reason for waiting with going WT.

 

[Broccolidwarf]

I think QS needs competition as the top classics team . A mainly Danish team with Scandinavian support and some other riders aiming for one-day classics and not GTs and defitely not sprints.

On paper it is a great idea, but the problem is the best Danish riders are very expensive these days, so it would need to be a top 5 budget team, in order to afford it (imagine if DQ and Lotto had all the best Belgian riders).

But yeah, it could be a pretty powerful classics team, with the necessary budget:

Cobbles:
Asgreen
Mads P
Kragh
Casper P
Bjerg
Wurtz
Juul

Ardennes:
Fuglsang
Vingegaard
Honore
Kron
Valgren
Cort
Skjelmose

(And yeah, some of them can do both).

 

[RedheadDane]

Ardennes:
Fuglsang
Vingegaard
Honore
Kron
Valgren
Cort
Skjelmose

FUGLGREN!

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Or got a WT contract too soon, and then burned out, like Guldhammer and Lander. And of course both Cort and Würtz used that as a reason for waiting with going WT.

Sure that might happen to more riders as a consequence. I'm hoping Frederik Wandahl will be able to "survive" the transition, cause I guess it's a huge change to become a WT rider at 19 after a weird 2020 season with limited racing. Right now he looks to be doing fine.

FUGLGREN!

You want them to make a baby or to be cloned?

 

[RedheadDane]

Sure that might happen to more riders as a consequence. I'm hoping Frederik Wandahl will be able to "survive" the transition, cause I guess it's a huge change to become a WT rider at 19 after a weird 2020 season with limited racing. Right now he looks to be doing fine.

Teams seem to be better at developing riders now, than some years ago. He's got a three-year-contract, and is under now pressure to perform.

You want them to make a baby or to be cloned?

"Fuglgren" was a thing that happened during the 2018 season.

 

[SafeBet]

You want them to make a baby or to be cloned?

Put them in Dr. Brundle's machine together and see what comes out.

Not sure the kids can get this reference though.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Teams seem to be better at developing riders now, than some years ago. He's got a three-year-contract, and is under now pressure to perform.



"Fuglgren" was a thing that happened during the 2018 season.

Depends though, there's only so many roster spots at top teams, and the instant success of people like Bernal, Evenepoel and Pogačar has led to something of a scramble for young talents for fear of missing out on the next sensation. There are only so many race days to allocate around and if they're handling some of the youngsters with kid gloves, it'll put a lot of race days in the legs of the veterans, and some of the younger riders that aren't perceived as the budding superstars but could have become top riders if handled well might get leant on more than is best for them, because their level at age 22 or what have you is not perceived as being as high.

This might, in the medium-term, rejuvenate the ProConti ranks, with riders who were signed super young to the WT and didn't make the cut filling out the ProConti ranks, and some of them then becoming strong riders later on - or riders who bloom late in the domestic scenes who are rejected by the top teams because they're busy hunting the younger prospects, and this could be a really good thing for the wildcard system as we go back to the days when wildcard teams really added something to the races because there will be riders out there with a point to prove, and several that could be genuinely top level talents, but overlooked because of age, or abandoned by the top tier team that had signed them because they needed to make room for the next lottery ticket of a 19-year-old hyperprospect they just got into a bidding war over.

Or, conversely, it might lead to a lot of riders who could have made it abandoning the sport early because they're either overworked young, or they end up like an Alex Peters, a Josh Edmondson, a Thomas Vedel Kvist, a Remmert Wielinga and are chewed up and spat out by the top level and just disappear for years, if they ever return to the sport.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Teams seem to be better at developing riders now, than some years ago. He's got a three-year-contract, and is under now pressure to perform.

I wanted to point out that there still was some kind of pressure, but then Libertine wrote something much better.

"Fuglgren" was a thing that happened during the 2018 season.

They may still be able to profit from eachothers even when if don't ride for the same team. Let's hope they are both in stellar form the coming week.

Put them in Dr. Brundle's machine together and see what comes out.

Not sure the kids can get this reference though.

I didn't get it, but I'm probably not the most literary member of the forum. I know of the movie(s), but I never bothered to watch them.

 

[RedheadDane]

So, the women might not have won anything - yet - this season, but here's a pretty cool statistic; there has been a Danish rider in the top-10 of every Women's WorldTour One Day Race (obviously one day race) so far this season:

SB: Uttrup, 5th
Alfredo Binda: Uttrup, 3rd
De Panne: Norsgaard, 2nd
G-W: Norsgaard, 9th
Vlaanderen: Uttrup, 7th
Amstel: Uttrup, 7th

As you can see, you clearly needs to have 'Cecilie' in your name to do well as a female Danish pro cyclist this year.

 

[Dk one]

So, the women might not have won anything - yet - this season, but here's a pretty cool statistic; there has been a Danish rider in the top-10 of every Women's WorldTour One Day Race (obviously one day race) so far this season:

SB: Uttrup, 5th
Alfredo Binda: Uttrup, 3rd
De Panne: Norsgaard, 2nd
G-W: Norsgaard, 9th
Vlaanderen: Uttrup, 7th
Amstel: Uttrup, 7th

As you can see, you clearly needs to have 'Cecilie' in your name to do well as a female Danish pro cyclist this year.

And there were two in top 10 at de panne, with Leth in 10th.

 

[RedheadDane]

And there were two in top 10 at de panne, with Leth in 10th.

Stop coming in here and destroying my "Cecilie-statistic"!!!!!!!

 

[Samu Cuenca]

So, the women might not have won anything - yet - this season, but here's a pretty cool statistic; there has been a Danish rider in the top-10 of every Women's WorldTour One Day Race (obviously one day race) so far this season:

SB: Uttrup, 5th
Alfredo Binda: Uttrup, 3rd
De Panne: Norsgaard, 2nd
G-W: Norsgaard, 9th
Vlaanderen: Uttrup, 7th
Amstel: Uttrup, 7th

As you can see, you clearly needs to have 'Cecilie' in your name to do well as a female Danish pro cyclist this year.

Imagine what a rider named Cecilie Pedersen would be able to achieve.

Stop coming in here and destroying my "Cecilie-statistic"!!!!!!!

Let it be known as a -lie statistic from now on, because then it would still work if Dideriksen were to join in at some point.

 

[tobydawq]

Imagine what a rider named Cecilie Pedersen would be able to achieve.



It shall be known as a -lie statistic from now on, because then it would still work if Dideriksen were to join in.

Maybe that is really what the Chamber of Lies is all about.

 

[RedheadDane]

And while the guys seem to be in a bit of a winning drought (no wins since Honoré in Itzulia! ), Emma Norsgaard has picked the pace up in Luxembourg, taking both road stages, and the overall win (and some other jerseys) in the Festival Elsy Jacobs.