Teams & Riders The official Wilco Kelderman is the new Merckx-thread

[Der Effe]

17th

......

14th in the time trial. In both, actually.

 

[Midrider]

17th

......

In the GC yes, but in the TT he finished 14th.

Wilco said it himself, there aren't many TT'ers here. The course seems to favour
specialists, despite the climbs. I think he can do very well here, top 5 should be possible in this form.

 

[SafeBet]

14th in the time trial. In both, actually.

My bad, I thought we were talking about GC.

 

[ItalianGigolo]

Kelderman should gain some time in the upcoming TT but I'm not sure if he can stay with the big guys in the big mountain stages. I think a top 8 would be a very good result for him. I hope he will have more luck than one of my favourites cyclists Gesink!

PS:Kelderman is not the new Merckx. Caleb EWAN is!

 

[Afrank]

Your all wrong, It's Kwiatkowski who is the 2nd coming of Merckx. Because he can do it all just like Merckx could.

 

[Kwibus]

Yeh it would be awesome if we could stop saying Keldermerckx, allthough it's an obvious joke.

Keldermans biggest challenge comes in the 3rd week. I hope he keeps his form until that moment. Stages with more then 1 big climb in it that will be raced hard is an part he is yet to proof himself in.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Kelderman should gain some time in the upcoming TT but I'm not sure if he can stay with the big guys in the big mountain stages. I think a top 8 would be a very good result for him. I hope he will have more luck than one of my favourites cyclists Gesink!

PS:Kelderman is not the new Merckx. Caleb EWAN is!

Caleb Ewan might be the new Axel Merckx.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

“I couldn’t have gone any faster and I’m definitely happy with this result,” said Kelderman. “It’s always nice to move up a few places. It’s just a shame that Rafal Majka (Tinkoff-Saxo) was so strong. The white jersey stayed out of my reach because of that. I’m now fifth overall and for the rest of the race, I will give my all to defend that position. However, finishing in the top ten is still my main goal.”

Motorbike issue
Kelderman didn’t start the time trial as he’d hoped. “A TV motorbike was riding next to me a few times so I couldn’t cut some of the corners as I would’ve liked. I was a bit ****ed off because that took away some of my focus. The final part went a lot better.”

 

[ILovecycling]

Lol that s:cks big time,the thing with motorbike

Edit:thanks for the article dekkie

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

Impressive. I mean, not Aru impressive, but impressive

 

[Netserk]

Very good, but I think he will blow up big time one of these stages.

 

[theyoungest]

Maybe, but he doesn't look like the most likely one to blow up. I think he's proven now that he really is a climber, not just an allrounder who can climb reasonably.

Incredibly impressive considering his three crashes in the first few days (which might come back to haunt him, energy-wise).

 

[Arnout]

It's always good to have some excuses at hand

 

[Gloin22]

It's always good to have some excuses at hand

Haha, indeed Almost all GC contenders crashed somehwere lol

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

He might blow up, but that isn't bad.

Young Nibali blew up a couple of times in his early GT's, when he tried to follow the best riders for too long.
It only makes you stronger.

He climbs more impressive now than Gesink and Mollema ever did, except Gesink 2009 ofcourse

 

[Arredondo]

He might blow up, but that isn't bad.

Young Nibali blew up a couple of times in his early GT's, when he tried to follow the best riders for too long.
It only makes you stronger.

He climbs more impressive now than Gesink and Mollema ever did, except Gesink 2009 ofcourse

Good you say it, i already felt the need to respond on that

Kelderman is just a fantastic rider. Really allround, and therefore a good GC contender. But i think he still will have a bad day the next weak.

Which is normal for a young rider though.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Great ride by Kelderman. Very impressive.
Should give him more confidence.

 

[Midrider]

Good you say it, i already felt the need to respond on that

Kelderman is just a fantastic rider. Really allround, and therefore a good GC contender. But i think he still will have a bad day the next weak.

Which is normal for a young rider though.

Gesink in 2009 was just ridiculous. If he kept that climbing form and his TT improvements over the following 2 years, he might just have been able to podium a GT.

Kelderman is looking very solid. He's outclimbing most already, and I'm very eager to see his progress in TT's and steeper climbs. Heck, he's only 23.

 

[hfer07]

Gesink in 2009 was just ridiculous. If he kept that climbing form and his TT improvements over the following 2 years, he might just have been able to podium a GT.

Kelderman is looking very solid. He's outclimbing most already, and I'm very eager to see his progress in TT's and steeper climbs. Heck, he's only 23.

Indeed. Belkin better nurture him with care, because everything about him is in place to become one of the best

 

[SafeBet]

I absolutely love the fact he tried to stay with the best before cracking a bit in the finale. It shows true ambition. Belkin better not spoil me another young talent. He's quickly replacing Bobby G in my heart.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Gesink in 2009 was just ridiculous. If he kept that climbing form and his TT improvements over the following 2 years, he might just have been able to podium a GT.

Kelderman is looking very solid. He's outclimbing most already, and I'm very eager to see his progress in TT's and steeper climbs. Heck, he's only 23.

Actually he would've already in 2009 itself, since in all normal circumstances he'd finish that Vuelta as 2nd or 3rd. But yeah, we all know what happened. Looking back nobody knows that was his best chance to finish podium

Hope this is also not Keldermans last chance to finish podium, you never know

 

[Marco Pantani]

I'm impressed with him so far, but the big stages are still to come.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

So, really long climbs are still somewhat of a problem for young Wilco.
But he held on and finished with Pozzovivo, Kiserlovski and Evans. Not that bad.
If he doesn't get an off-day, he can finish in the top 8.

 

[TANK91]

This is normal for his abilties at this age. As he gets stronger he will limit even better. I think Wilco will be a wiggins type but maybe a little better in climbs but worst in the ITT. Wilco is going fine but their will always be an Aru and Quintana in his generation but hey he as improved from last year and why not improve next year.

I think he will be a great TDF rider. Am i wrong to think a nice TDF with 60-80 kms ITT will help him? I no you say he struggles on long climbs and the Tour climbs are long but maybe gradient will suit him better.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

I can definately see Tour climbs suiting him better. But yeah, the competition is steep.

Think he's still more of a Paris-Nice etc kind of rider.