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

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

if kelderman is the new merckx then I really wonder what quintana is. the next god?

is he racing Tour de l'Avenir this year?

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

yes. it will be interesting to see though. kelderman could defeat him in flat or downhil. he needs to take time somewhere. I don't know how hard the course is though.

 

[the asian]

lol. no reason not to hope success. silly logic, really silly/ edit i see boomcie beat me to the punch.
But I mean he has to show his talent in the pro ranks before he is touted as such. At the moment he is one of the biggest talents in the espoirs, but as we have seen in the past it doesn't always mean huge success. Time will tell.

I do think Holland have one of the best talent pools currently tho.
A lot of great youngsters coming through.

And currently our best GC men are all pretty young.. Gesink, Kruijswijk, Mollema.
It was a shame poels was injured at le tour, I think he could have done ok on a stage or two also.

Yr. rabobank seem to be doing some good work. Continental team is doing well.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

I hope it is tough, I want to see what level Wilco has compared to Nairo and such.

Colombia have a pretty great climbing team, and they used that to their advantage last year, so I'd assume they would win again with a difficult course.

 

[TeoSheva]

I think that Bol Jetse, Dutch as well, is much better...

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

I think that Bol Jetse, Dutch as well, is much better...

totally different riders lol.

Jetse Bol is having a pretty good season also, and rightly got a spot with wilco in the pro team next year.

I think Kelderman considering his age (almost 2 years younger) and performances this year is no doubt the bigger talent of the two tho. But ofc he may not live up to this potential.

Wilco did recently say however that he likes the Cols. I think after his norway victory. So he seems to be heading in that GC rider area.

 

[Lupetto]

yes. it will be interesting to see though. kelderman could defeat him in flat or downhil. he needs to take time somewhere. I don't know how hard the course is though.

Seems to be medium difficult. 6,6km tt, a few hilly stages and one mountain top finish. Difficulty of that finish depends on the road they take.

To me Giro Valle d'Aosta fits Quintana better.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

I think that Bol Jetse, Dutch as well, is much better...

he is a sprinter

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Seems to be medium difficult. 6,6km tt, a few hilly stages and one mountain top finish. Difficulty of that finish depends on the road they take.

To me Giro Valle d'Aosta fits Quintana better.

are there any profiles yet of the other stages?

one huge advantage this time for quintana is that rabo will want to controll the race for kelderman, while last year it was everyone against the colombians in every stage. the colombians beating them with their own medicine by having especially pantano attack early who was 3rd in gc. this year colombia on paper will have a much stronger team though.

 

[Lupetto]

are there any profiles yet of the other stages?

Not yet. There are only two maps for the stages 6 and 7 in Italy. Both are hilly circuits, so quite good for Kelderman.

 

[Spine Concept]

Quintana is definitely the better climber, but that's about it, right? Admittedly, I haven't been following Quintana as closely as say Ryo, so maybe he can shed some light on a proper comparison between the two.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

quintana is also strong itt rider(not of level of kelderman of course), especially considering how he looks(52-54 kg), he's rujano type of rider. except mentally more stable. but maybe equally as talented. what he showed in castilla leon this year I couldn't believe. only anton and pozzovivo could follow with some colombians(atapuma and baez)

quintana is so much better than anyone else in the mountains in his age category that even in the hills I don't see him lose any time at all except if it's a final sprint but only some seconds maybe. last year he also lost time nowhere.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Not yet. There are only two maps for the stages 6 and 7 in Italy. Both are hilly circuits, so quite good for Kelderman.

I can't make out much of those maps. we have to wait I guess

 

[Spine Concept]

quintana is also strong itt rider(not of level of kelderman of course), especially considering how he looks(52-54 kg), he's rujano type of rider. except mentally more stable. but maybe equally as talented. what he showed in castilla leon this year I couldn't believe. only anton and pozzovivo could follow with some colombians(atapuma and baez)

quintana is so much better than anyone else in the mountains in his age category that even in the hills I don't see him lose any time at all except if it's a final sprint but only some seconds maybe. last year he also lost time nowhere.

I see. Thanks for that man. Albeit supporting Kelderman my money is on Quintana for this year's tour l'avenir. However, I'm very intrigued at how the former will fare, by the look of things he ought to do well.

 

[boomcie]

Yes, that's what makes Belgium a much bigger cycling nation than the Dutch, who currently watch from the sidelines while the big boys play. And that's why it's surprising that your last winner of the Tour (i.e. the biggest cycling race on earth) was 35 years ago.

It's not surprising that there aren't any threads about Belgian cycling talents, because you have actual pros that deliver results. We don't, and thus we desperately cling to any kid that has shown some measure of talent.

The Dutch talent pool is really quite impressive, but it's true that it does not guarantee future success.

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

Still, the way I see it, chances are rather slim none of these Dutch talents will perform in the future.

 

[El Pistolero]

Yes, that's what makes Belgium a much bigger cycling nation than the Dutch, who currently watch from the sidelines while the big boys play. And that's why it's surprising that your last winner of the Tour (i.e. the biggest cycling race on earth) was 35 years ago.

It's not surprising that there aren't any threads about Belgian cycling talents, because you have actual pros that deliver results. We don't, and thus we desperately cling to any kid that has shown some measure of talent.

Pfft Lucien van Impe should have won a second time and Michel Pollentier could have won as well

And Joopke only won because Hinault dropped out

 

[Tuarts]

The Dutch talent pool is really quite impressive, but it's true that it does not guarantee future success.

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

Still, the way I see it, chances are rather slim none of these Dutch talents will perform in the future.

I'm actually quite impressed with the Rabobank system and the amount of talent they seem to have and continue to produce. Time will tell if its anything more than just talent but it looks promising.

 

[Kwibus]

I'm actually quite impressed with the Rabobank system and the amount of talent they seem to have and continue to produce. Time will tell if its anything more than just talent but it looks promising.

The Worldtour squad of Rabobank always misses a bit of flair, but I'm really happy with Rabobank as a sponsor. They have put over 200million in cycling atleast since they started to sponsor the Rabobank team.
Specially their investment into youth is great.

 

[Kwibus]

p.s. Last year someone showed a site that had a lot of info about the cycling talents in the world. It also had a top50 of young talent.

I had it bookmarked, but my PC died a few months ago so I lost it. If someone knows what I'm talking about then please give me a link.
Any other sites about U23 cycling are always welcome.

 

[Kwibus]

he is a sprinter

Isn't he a bit more then a sprinter? U23 is hard to compare with the pros, but he seems to be quite decent in the hills as well. Or atleast an slighty uphill finish etc. He won sprints, but also won in breakaways on a hilly stage.

 

[theyoungest]

quintana is also strong itt rider(not of level of kelderman of course), especially considering how he looks(52-54 kg), he's rujano type of rider. except mentally more stable. but maybe equally as talented. what he showed in castilla leon this year I couldn't believe. only anton and pozzovivo could follow with some colombians(atapuma and baez)

... and then he got dropped himself on the final tempo climb. So that's possibly his weakness.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

... and then he got dropped himself on the final tempo climb. So that's possibly his weakness.

yeah he's best in steep climbs but keep in mind he was still the one of the strongest u23 riders in that race and that climb, so against his own aged riders I don't see him having any trouble in les steep climbs. he didn't have last year

 

[theyoungest]

yeah he's best in steep climbs but keep in mind he was still the one of the strongest u23 riders in that race and that climb, so against his own aged riders I don't see him having any trouble in les steep climbs. he didn't have last year

Slagter seemed to do okay on that climb. And he's built like a Colombian.

 

[Duartista]

Slagter seemed to do okay on that climb. And he's built like a Colombian.

There is some truth in what you're saying - after the race the Colombian DS said that his riders had struggled with the rhythm imposed by the European teams on 4-5% gradients. However, bear in mind that Slagter had not been on the attack on the previous climb.

 

[theyoungest]

There is some truth in what you're saying - after the race the Colombian DS said that his riders had struggled with the rhythm imposed by the European teams on 4-5% gradients. However, bear in mind that Slagter had not been on the attack on the previous climb.

Slagter actually wasn't very far back on the previous climb, he was the first guy to return in the descent.