The official Great Bauke Mollema thread

[Parrulo]

i am very happy for mollema he has done very consistent week and has been by far the best rabo this season.

 

[hrotha]

It's hard to imagine Mollema actually winning races at the top but he's becoming very consistent so who knows what'll happen if he keeps improving.

 

[Havetts]

At first I didn't think he'd be much of a classics rider. But he handled himself pretty well. A podium in a monument is not out of reach!

Thought the same myself, but seems he is the best Dutch hilly rider by far.

 

[Maaaaaaaarten]

Thought the same myself, but seems he is the best Dutch hilly rider by far.

I guess Weening is our hope now

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

I guess Weening is our hope now

bull****.

Mollema had a flawed prep for the ardennes after being ill for a week. He did ok in AGR and FW (top 10 once again). But in a race like LBL you can't hide your true form.
Imho he had a valid excuse for sucking today.

But there's not much hope for any dutch rider to win an ardennes classic the coming years. Very maybe Slagter, who looked better in LBL and FW then he did in Amstel

 

[Maaaaaaaarten]

yeah yeah I know, I'm just frustrated because I thought he was good because of AGR and FW

Slagter looked pretty decent today though, for his first LBL.

So what's the rest of TGBM's season like? I know he'll do the TDF after that, but will he try another peak for the worlds and Lombardia, which are suited to him?

 

[maltiv]

bull****.

Mollema had a flawed prep for the ardennes after being ill for a week. He did ok in AGR and FW (top 10 once again). But in a race like LBL you can't hide your true form.
Imho he had a valid excuse for sucking today.

But there's not much hope for any dutch rider to win an ardennes classic the coming years. Very maybe Slagter, who looked better in LBL and FW then he did in Amstel

He still got beaten by Nordhaug, who has been sick/injured all winter

Actually the two of them are going on an altitude camp together now. That probably means they'll be the two leaders for TDF, with Mollema going for GC and Nordhaug probably going for stage wins.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Nordhaug had the chance to gradually become better with PV as preparation then AGR/FW to sharpen form for LBL

Mollema was in great shape until just before PV, got sick. Just trained a few days, could do a good AGR/FW purely on base form but in LBL that's not good enough.
Not recovered enough to do 3 races in a week.

Also Blanco is probably happier with 2 top 10 places by Mollema then a 15th place by Nordhaug in LBL so nordhaug still dissappointed the most.

 

[maltiv]

Nordhaug had the chance to gradually become better with PV as preparation then AGR/FW to sharpen form for LBL

Mollema was in great shape until just before PV, got sick. Just trained a few days, could do a good AGR/FW purely on base form but in LBL that's not good enough.
Not recovered enough to do 3 races in a week.

Also Blanco is probably happier with 2 top 10 places by Mollema then a 15th place by Nordhaug in LBL so nordhaug still dissappointed the most.

So you say Blanco would rather have a guy come in 10th after being invisible, than a guy in 15th who was on the attack all day? I doubt that. Sponsors value exposure.

Nordhaug fell in F-W, so hard to take conclusions from that, and was arguably stronger than Mollema in AGR and definitely stronger than him in LBL.

Anyway, I was just mocking you. Obviously neither of them had an optimal approach to the race, but it's hard to say who had the worst. They would be a very good duo for the Ardennes if the two of them were in top shape. Unfortunately we'll probably never see that, as I guess Blanco will disappear next year.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

what race have you seen? ... lol your smugness is unbelievable

 

[TANK91]

You Dutch love an excuse lol

 

[Pentacycle]

You Dutch love an excuse lol

As the great Einstein once said: 'Supporting Dutch riders equals the effect of running naked around a tree at 87 km/h; there's a chance of ****ing yourself.'

 

[theyoungest]

He still got beaten by Nordhaug, who has been sick/injured all winter

Actually the two of them are going on an altitude camp together now. That probably means they'll be the two leaders for TDF, with Mollema going for GC and Nordhaug probably going for stage wins.

They'll go on altitude camp now? For what? The Tour of Norway? Mollema hates altitude camps, he never does them. I wonder how that will turn out.

I don't think Nordhaug has been assigned team leadership for the Tour, I did read the names of Gesink and Ten Dam (apart from Mollema obv). On the road it will probably be every man for himself, trying to earn a contract for next year.

 

[l.Harm]

Gesink won't be leader in the Tour. He said himself that if he would do the Tour, it would be for a stage and helping Mollema.

 

[El Pistolero]

Gesink won't be leader in the Tour. He said himself that if he would do the Tour, it would be for a stage and helping Mollema.

Mollema is riding for GC?

Might as well not even bother going to the Tour. At least make your goal something believable like trying to get a stage win from a breakaway and place as high as you can in the KoM competition.

 

[theyoungest]

If he doesn't have bad luck (he's Dutch and rides for Rabo/Blanco, so that's a big 'if') top-10 in the Tour is possible. If Haimar Zubeldia can do it, then so can Mollema.

And they don't have many other options, no real stage hunters (except for Luis Leon, but, you know) and no sprinters who can compete at this level. So they might as well give it a shot.

 

[nesocip]

If Haimar Zubeldia can do it, then so can Mollema.

At the end of his career, if Bauke's GT GC palmares looks as good as Zubeldia's, he can consider himself lucky.

 

[theyoungest]

At the end of his career, if Bauke's GT GC palmares looks as good as Zubeldia's, he can consider himself lucky.

I mean the current incarnation of Zubeldia.

 

[l.Harm]

Mollema is riding for GC?

Might as well not even bother going to the Tour. At least make your goal something believable like trying to get a stage win from a breakaway and place as high as you can in the KoM competition.

Yes he is.


Lol about Zubeldia. Mollema already achieved a 4th place in the Vuelta. A place Zubeldia never got to in a GT.

 

[Hugo87]

Yes he is.


Lol about Zubeldia. Mollema already achieved a 4th place in the Vuelta. A place Zubeldia never got to in a GT.

5th and 6th on Le Tour are way more important and difficult than a 4th place in the Vuelta.

 

[theyoungest]

5th and 6th on Le Tour are way more important and difficult than a 4th place in the Vuelta.

Definitely. That's another era though. Last year's result came as a bit of a surprise, and his current level isn't better than Mollema's. I could have mentioned someone else, Brajkovic for example.

 

[Hugo87]

Definitely. That's another era though. Last year's result came as a bit of a surprise, and his current level isn't better than Mollema's. I could have mentioned someone else, Brajkovic for example.

No doubt, Zubeldia is almost finished and Mollema could be a regular presence on GC's top-10 for many years given the chance.

 

[l.Harm]

5th and 6th on Le Tour are way more important and difficult than a 4th place in the Vuelta.

Ofc, but still Zubeldia never achieved 4th in Vuelta.

 

[will10]

Mollema is riding for GC?

Might as well not even bother going to the Tour. At least make your goal something believable like trying to get a stage win from a breakaway and place as high as you can in the KoM competition.

You mean like VDB2?

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

I don't think that there's anything ridiculous about Mollema going for a Tour top 10 at all. He has the talent and if he's improved his GC riding from his excellent Vuelta a season and a half ago, he could do it.

That said, it does seem strange to me for Mollema to ride for GC while Gesink stage hunts. Mollema has a better small group sprint and also is much more likely to be let up the road than a relatively big name like Gesink, while Gesink has already shown he can get a good GC result at the Tour. Let Mollema lose some time and then chase stages and the KoM.

The only way that particular division of labour makes sense to me is if Gesink is making a real run at the Vuelta central to his season.

(Speaking of Dutch GC hopes, Kruijswijck seems to have fallen off the side of the earth since his breakthrough Giro).