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The official Great Bauke Mollema thread

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Aug 16, 2011
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theyoungest said:
Sprinting for the win is different. Ask Mark Cavendish or Oscar Freire.

Yes it is, but if it's a sprint, you should be sprinting full out. That's the whole point of a sprint, that you leave it all out there in the final. Even if you don't know if it's for the win.
 
Taxus4a said:
I am a little dissapointing with him today, even he was the strongest in the climb maybe, but at very similar level than other 3 riders.
I hope a lot for him this TDF, but he is not a very reliable rider. He is not at top shape anyway, for sure...

I d like to see this 6 years later in Paris:

301991_514277965295042_1192816042_n.jpg

Is that obese Froome?
 
Aug 16, 2011
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Netserk said:
If I sprint for the win I wouldn't mind risking to crash. If I sprint for second... not so much.

It was only 3 guys, was there a really serious risk of crashing? I couldn't see too much of a risk. Maybe in the final couple corners, but they looked fine going through them. And he didn't go full out in the sprint because he though it was for 2nd, doesn't sound like the risk of crashing figured into it too much.
 
Jun 12, 2013
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the mtt is 15kms flat and and the climb is just brutal - 11kms @ 12% :eek:
someone who can put out an ok tt but climb well will win. molema fits that criteria very well. I hope he can do well enough to take the win but costa and roy can also tt ok. would be nice to see andy win also imho :)
 
Afrank said:
It was only 3 guys, was there a really serious risk of crashing? I couldn't see too much of a risk. Maybe in the final couple corners, but they looked fine going through them. And he didn't go full out in the sprint because he though it was for 2nd, doesn't sound like the risk of crashing figured into it too much.

Not really the point. It's just that very few people can give their utmost all if they know they are going for a 2nd place. Unless that person usually is material for a lot lower positions.

You are right, but you also know it's not that simple.
 
Fearless Greg Lemond said:
Lol, that guy is so dumb.

I like Mollema's character, and his technique of course. How old is he now? 25/26? His best is yet to come.
Most of these Dutch DSes are total dumba.sses. Mollema is quite uncharacteristic for a Dutch cyclist, taking up cycling as a university student. When he's not riding his bike he's reading a book.

I can understand it can be quite frustrating for him to work with guys like Blijlevens. The former national coach Leo van Vliet also said he couldn't communicate with Mollema. Probably because Mollema has a vocabulary larger than 100 words.
 
nick101 said:
the mtt is 15kms flat and and the climb is just brutal - 11kms @ 12% :eek:
someone who can put out an ok tt but climb well will win. molema fits that criteria very well. I hope he can do well enough to take the win but costa and roy can also tt ok. would be nice to see andy win also imho :)

More or less 11 about 8 %

What you said is more than Mortirolo, Angliru, Zoncolan,...

;)

It is a good ITT for the strongest man, he could be Mollema, who has show potential sometimes in ITT, Rui Costa or TVG,... but Kreuziger won a MTT in TDS once, the problem with him is that he dont look so strong, and he is very unpredictable at ITT.
Even for Pinot is a good ITT.
 
Apr 20, 2012
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theyoungest said:
Most of these Dutch DSes are total dumba.sses. Mollema is quite uncharacteristic for a Dutch cyclist, taking up cycling as a university student. When he's not riding his bike he's reading a book.

I can understand it can be quite frustrating for him to work with guys like Blijlevens. The former national coach Leo van Vliet also said he couldn't communicate with Mollema. Probably because Mollema has a vocabulary larger than 100 words.
Yeah, funny is that. These guys earn quite a nice salary, see Gesink, and are being led by utter, fill in the blanks. Blijlevens is a typical 'Brabantse boer', we sometimes raced as a junior. He really is not very bright, to keep a bit civilized, he is funny though. That said, how is he going to be of any tactical help? He was driven to the front of the peloton to do his thing at 250 meters from the finishline.

Leo is from a different category, he is like Peter Post was; dont wine, just ride you lazy bone idled w@nkers!

To be fair to the Dutch DS's, I dont think it is nationaly bound, cyclisme has quite a history for being a poor man's/uneducated sport. Ludo Dierxcens springs to mind ;)
 
Fearless Greg Lemond said:
To be fair to the Dutch DS's, I dont think it is nationaly bound, cyclisme has quite a history for being a poor man's/uneducated sport. Ludo Dierxcens springs to mind ;)
I do think in the Anglosaxon world there's a change of IQ in the teams. Blijlevens, Dekker, Maassen were good cyclists, but just too stupid for words. They wouldn't get a job on Garmin or wherever. Whereas a guy like Wegelius wasn't great as a cyclist, but seems to be starting out quite well as a DS.
 

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