The Owain Doull thread

[gavin]

Perhaps a little premature but what does everyone feel about Doull's future on the road? Wiggins compared him to Geraint Thomas after the Team Pursuit but is that fair?

 

[Brullnux]

No, Doull sprints, Thomas doesn't. Doull cannot (and unless another G transformation takes place) will never climb with the best or do long YRs with the best. He will however feature in races like Amstel and maybe Ronde if he can handle the distance and the cobbles - last year's Tour of Britain suggests the distance isn't a problem, so maybe Milan San Remo is another target. He is a similar road rider to Coqaurd, who also graduated on the track. Or maybe a less good Gaviria.

 

[TMP402]

Re:

No, Doull sprints, Thomas doesn't. Doull cannot (and unless another G transformation takes place) will never climb with the best or do long YRs with the best. He will however feature in races like Amstel and maybe Ronde if he can handle the distance and the cobbles - last year's Tour of Britain suggests the distance isn't a problem, so maybe Milan San Remo is another target. He is a similar road rider to Coqaurd, who also graduated on the track. Or maybe a less good Gaviria.

I agree about Doull, but not Thomas. How can the winner of the 2013 Tour Down Under sprints jersey not sprint? Terrible slander.

 

[MatParker117]

Re: Re:

No, Doull sprints, Thomas doesn't. Doull cannot (and unless another G transformation takes place) will never climb with the best or do long YRs with the best. He will however feature in races like Amstel and maybe Ronde if he can handle the distance and the cobbles - last year's Tour of Britain suggests the distance isn't a problem, so maybe Milan San Remo is another target. He is a similar road rider to Coqaurd, who also graduated on the track. Or maybe a less good Gaviria.

I agree about Doull, but not Thomas. How can the winner of the 2013 Tour Down Under sprints jersey not sprint? Terrible slander.

He was still track heavy, why he lost the GC.

 

[Brullnux]

Re: Re:

No, Doull sprints, Thomas doesn't. Doull cannot (and unless another G transformation takes place) will never climb with the best or do long YRs with the best. He will however feature in races like Amstel and maybe Ronde if he can handle the distance and the cobbles - last year's Tour of Britain suggests the distance isn't a problem, so maybe Milan San Remo is another target. He is a similar road rider to Coqaurd, who also graduated on the track. Or maybe a less good Gaviria.

I agree about Doull, but not Thomas. How can the winner of the 2013 Tour Down Under sprints jersey not sprint? Terrible slander.

He won one sprint ahead of Hermans and Javier Moreno, came 4th in an uphill sprint ahead of Visconti (only real 'sprinter' of note); his only flat sprint was 6th, which is very impressive, but by sprint I meant challenge for the win on flat roads, something Thomas doesn't do, and hasn't really done in the past.

Edit: he once had an impressive Omloop sprint, but that's the only one I can remember. He once lost a sprint to Sagan and Oss at E3, and lost out to Sagan and Terpstra in 2014, but he beat the mighty Vanderbergh.

 

[del1962]

Doull finished 25 seconds behind Poels on the Hartside stage of the TOB last year, hardly the performance of someone who can't climb, that doesn't mean he will be a great climber, but he is much more than a sprinter

 

[PremierAndrew]

He's more like Ben Swift, but faster in a sprint and not as good a climber

 

[TMP402]

Re:

He's more like Ben Swift, but faster in a sprint and not as good a climber

So not like Swift at all then?! :lol:

In all seriousness I know what you mean.

 

[Brullnux]

Re: Re:

He's more like Ben Swift, but faster in a sprint and not as good a climber

So not like Swift at all then?! :lol:

In all seriousness I know what you mean.

Like a durable sprinter, Freire type rider if looking to the past or Coquard/Colbrelli/Matthews nowadays. Maybe not as good a climber as Matthews yet.

 

[MatParker117]

Apparently stagging for the rest of the year with Sky ala Peters, probably do some minor stage races and Piemonte.

 

[TMP402]

Re:

Apparently stagging for the rest of the year with Sky ala Peters, probably do some minor stage races and Piemonte.

The Tour of Britain, presumably.