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

[Dekker_Tifosi]

He's at the right team for him I think. They do almost everything right there lately

 

[Kwibus]

Re:

It sounds strange, back in 2014 he seemed to be fearless and was always attacking, (not playing the waiting game with Uran and the rest on the Val Martello stage, the whole Dauphine when he was awesome and always attacking), so him having no confidence sounds a bit odd.
Anyway, I like the guy and it's good to see him back on track.

It's not just his confidence in his ability as a cyclist, but as a human. Painful to watch and ofcourse unneccesary as there is nothing wrong with him.
Selfesteem can be complicated.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

I dont care about reaching podium. I just hope he stays on his bike and doesnt get sick like a lot of his teammates.

This guys selfesteem is one of the lowest in the bunch by far. His interviews I always cringe because you can see his selfesteem somewhere at the bottom of a lake. This guy needs success, this guy needs some luck.
Hes a way too nice guy, not very interesting, but a good guy. I just wish him some luck, because I awful feel bad for him

It's so weird though. His physical capabilities are just fine, if he ever believed in them.

Dumoulin at Rabo CT (when Dumo/Kelderman were 20yo's) had a talk with the team leaders and then said he felt he would never be as good as Kelderman. This Giro again he said Kelderman was very close, if not directly on, to Dumoulins own level.

For some reason though, Kelderman always has no confidence. Especially when the spot light is on him. He'll do fine in the shadows, but then suck when something is expected of him. Last year it was unnoticed almost, but he was super strong in both Pais Vasco and Suisse, until everyone started noticing he was doing well, he would almost surely suck the next day.
Hope he's fine now.

Maybe they're ignoring him at the dinner table, so he doesn't feel the pressure

 

[pablohidalgo7]

He is doing great at the moment, I was expecting something like this since quite a while. It is true that he can,t handle the pressure properly, but the crashes is one of the main reasons of his mental fragility, he was crashing all the time when he was in good shape, he even hits the floor in Suisse and Pais Vasco with the leaders jersey apparently without physical consenquences, but I believe that mentally always affected him.

 

[Der Effe]

Re: Re:

It sounds strange, back in 2014 he seemed to be fearless and was always attacking, (not playing the waiting game with Uran and the rest on the Val Martello stage, the whole Dauphine when he was awesome and always attacking), so him having no confidence sounds a bit odd.
Anyway, I like the guy and it's good to see him back on track.

It's not just his confidence in his ability as a cyclist, but as a human. Painful to watch and ofcourse unneccesary as there is nothing wrong with him.
Selfesteem can be complicated.

Not that I want to speculate on someone's personality but Kelderman always comes across as an overly self-aware, sensitive person. Which probably makes him the nicest human being around, but can be hard on a person when you're the centre of (media) attention.

I do believe though that, intrinsically at least, he is the most talented Dutch rider around.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Meh, if only he had more confidence, then he would have attacked earlier today. Looked pretty fresh at the finish. Just lacks the confidence in his own abilities. Too bad, because he is going to lose any chance of podium if he just keeps riding behind the Sky train. And I have to say, deservedly so. Lopez/Zakarin/Nibali deserve it more. they at least try.

 

[Forever The Best]

The guy lacks confidence.

 

[portugal11]

Re:

The guy lacks confidence.

No...the guy is a wheelsucker and he is riding for a podium

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Re: Re:

The guy lacks confidence.

No...the guy is a wheelsucker and he is riding for a podium

No, you have to see his interviews. You don't even have to understand Dutch. The guy just radiates lack of confidence. He's so unsure of his own abilities he rather stays safe.

 

[SafeBet]

Let's see what happens in the ITT. This is a guy who needs a good result more than anyone in that top10 and probably doesn't want risking his chances of podium for an all out attack.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

I get that, but even his interview today. Afterwards "maybe i should have gone earlier.. but i wasn't sure, and it's hard, and i was near my limit". What he doesn't realize is almost everyone is near his limit..

 

[SafeBet]

Of course man but even a top5 would matter more to him than, say, a podium for Nibali. It's not comparable. And after so many years of bad luck and failing it's totally understandable to be conservative.

I think if he gains time in the ITT he might try something in the third week.

 

[telencefalus]

Kelderman please you will never win a grand tour so let get back to be a domestique to tom dumoulin who will win gc only if there are more than 60 km tt

 

[Red Rick]

He makes me think Froome can be glad that Dumoulin didn't show up.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Yeah I dont fault him one second for being conservative either, he has a genuine shot at the podium and even a top-5 would be great. Unfortunately that doesn't contribute much to the race, but what can you do, neither does a far more accomplished rider like Aru, or Zakarin, Woods etc. Thats GT racing.

 

[telencefalus]

imagine tom with kelderman as his dom , very scary for Froome , but i think that dumoulin climbing are overrated in the giro there was not the best Quintana

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Re:

He makes me think Froome can be glad that Dumoulin didn't show up.

Or it just confirms what Dumoulin said at the Giro. That Kelderman is very near his level

 

[yaco]

Think what people are forgetting is that Sunweb gave each of their 3 GC leaders the change to target one GC in 2017 - It has worked well, except for Barguil's temper tantrum.

 

[Ricco']

Re: Re:

The guy lacks confidence.

No...the guy is a wheelsucker and he is riding for a podium

No, you have to see his interviews. You don't even have to understand Dutch. The guy just radiates lack of confidence. He's so unsure of his own abilities he rather stays safe.

Do you know if he is under some sort of psychological guidance?

I've been reading a lot about that matter recently (even for my progression as an athlete), and if properly guided, he should be able to at least overcome in some degree is lack of confidence and fear of failure.

 

[Laplaz]

Can he beat Froome in the ITT?

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

He makes me think Froome can be glad that Dumoulin didn't show up.

Or it just confirms what Dumoulin said at the Giro. That Kelderman is very near his level

Nah. Kelderman was struggling on the Torcal. Today he let Zaka go who was blown off the wheel by Dumoulin on Oropa. He is better than Piancavallo though.

Kelderman, Dumoulin and Oomen should be a decent start to a mountain team for the 2018 Tour

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Sunweb flew in Adriaan Helmantel (kind of the tt specialist trainer) especially for the time trial.
Kelderman rode it on the rest day and was enthousiastic. It should be a course that really suits him.

 

[Der Effe]

Re:

Can he beat Froome in the ITT?

If he rides the best time trial of his life and Froome's performance is average for his standard, he could. Otherwise Froome should definitely gain time on all contenders.

 

[del1962]

After the time trial I think we might see Keldermann second behind Froome on GC, I think he is more dangerous to Froomes ambitions than Nibali

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

No. Kelderman is no danger to Froome. Definitely on the steep climbs on wednesday and saturday Froome is better, and Froome is a better time trial specialist as well. As much as I hope for a miracle, this miracle is not going to happen

He should look behind more. Lopez especially. And after the ITT I think he will be ahead of Zakarin, who in turn will ofcourse attack for podium in the coming stages. So it'll be a lot of defence.