Then Contador is no longer the greatest hypothetical rider of all time.Hope he recovers. As Gigs says, I hope the "What if" scenario does not happen.
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Then Contador is no longer the greatest hypothetical rider of all time.Hope he recovers. As Gigs says, I hope the "What if" scenario does not happen.
He may need few weeks off the bike. Needless to say it will heavily impact his performance for the rest of the season, even without any serious complications and with full recovery.
Glad that things are far better than the initial thoughts were.
Feels annoying that it happened in part due to a full bore descent from Nibali that led to nothing for Trek but cost us the greatest young talent in ages. That though is bike racing and you have to be good uphill, on the flat and downhill to win the big prizes.
I also attribute some blame in a way to the DS for DQS in the lead car as they should have been on the radio over the top of the Sormano reminding him how strong he looked and not to panic if a gap opened on the descent and to trust his legs to come back on the flat before the next climb.
Nibali taking advantage of attacking downhill is an expected move. People shouldn't go over their limit trying to stay with him, there may be consequences. Many others have fallen chasing Nibali downhill.
Best to Remco but it sure isn't kosher to be annoyed at Nibali for doing what he is great at!
It's just entitlement reallyNibali taking advantage of attacking downhill is an expected move. People shouldn't go over their limit trying to stay with him, there may be consequences. Many others have fallen chasing Nibali downhill.
Best to Remco but it sure isn't kosher to be annoyed at Nibali for doing what he is great at!
I think the reaction is fine in the Sense that it yielded Trek nothing.
It is like what Pozzato did in MSR 2011. Pulling Gilbert back is fine in itself but if you then Cant win yourself it leaves a sour taste.
Evenepoel was probably the stronger by far but even he might have had a hard time if the others worked against him after the descent.
It hasn't been decided yet if there should be a surgery. Lefevere said if surgery was necessary that they want to do it in Belgium.If he's going back home tomorrow, that seems to indicate that a surgery is not required (or am I assuming too much?). Also, it looks like he had a punctured lung, which suggests at least one broken rib. In the end, he's lucky to be alive with no spinal injury and no head trauma. Very lucky, considering that fall.
At this point my guess is he'll make a full recovery.
Unpopular opinion, but it might be good in the long run. Things were running very smoothly for him this year and this type of bad luck might encourage him to get even better next years and might prevent him from being saturated of success.
There's always a bright side. Now he needs to recover and plan for 2021. The recent success of WVA might help him to get some perspective.
I really doubt this is as bad as Beloki's injury. Beloki broke his femur in two places and it was obvious from the get-go it was crazy serious. Evenepoel had lots of rumours that he did not even have fractures.
Mentally it is also different. You have a 30 year old Beloki who already reached his peak and may not have been as prepared to go through the whole slow revalidation. Evenepoel is much younger. Even if it leaves damage theoretically it is even possible that he returns stronger than he was now without being quite as alien as he otherwise would have been. That would still be plenty and does not sound equally difficult mentally as a beloki who knows what his peak is and Sees himself falling painfully short.
Anyway let's not get pessimistic. Most People I know who watch cycling but don't frequent forums are not even worried about it.
Also Andy Schleck was declining even before the injury. And surely our medical practices have improved since 2003.