Tom Danielson and the Tour De France

[yakhillclimb]

This thread reminded me of this article

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news...vaughters-on-the-enigmatic-tom-danielson.html

Nice article - thanks!

 

[joe_papp]

I think you guys all make good points. Reading between the lines here, I have to conclude that his record time up Mt Evans in 2003(?) may have been accomplished with certain aids not entirely of a legal nature? Obviously he wasn’t there competing against high-caliber pro-tour racers (only certain national level pros), but it was a very inspiring performance nonetheless. Time to ratchet up to cynicism in bike racing up another notch. How much higher can we go?

TomD has infinitely more talent and natural physical capacity than I did. But he 1) lacks the killer instinct (or intestinal fortitude) and 2) is hobbled by a total lack of self-confidence.

With his physiology, I would have won the Vuelta already.

Read almost any tweet, message or blog post from him, and note the always-present EXCUSE(s) detailing why he rode like sh#t, which he either delivers directly, or which he propagates through the ether to be repeated by those reporting on him. Heck, one could start a "Tom Danielson Excuse-of-the-Day" website, which would probably be useful for Tom to keep track of which excuses he'd already used, and when. Jesus, WHO gets a contract with Fassa and then comes home halfway through the season b/c he doesn't like the "environment"?

"I moved forward so quickly because every team that I jumped into bought [the hype]. They were 100 per cent behind me. At Saturn I could barely ride in the peloton but those guys sacrificed themselves for me so I'd be in a position to go up the last climb and beat everyone. It was the same at Discovery [Channel]. At Fassa [Bortolo] there was an example of where I took a step back, there was a team that said, 'Well you can't really ride in the peloton so we'll worry about the other guys on the squad'. I didn't flourish in that environment." - http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/tom-danielson-the-human-lottery-ticket

Examples:

6.19.10: Tom makes the break in Stage 8 at Tour de Suisse

With around 30 kilometres completed the day’s break took shape, comprised of Tom and 8 other riders. Tom rode strong and finished 7th on the stage. Tom said he felt good but his hip and back injuries sustained in a crash prior to the Tour of California are still hurting a bit and causing discomfort. However, each day he feels better and the form is coming along nicely. Look for a strong second half of the season! - http://www.tomdanielson.com/


4.22.10: CyclingReporter.com – 4 part interview with Tom

Posted by dcho on Thursday Apr 22, 2010 Under Media
"The 2009 season proved to be a pivotal one for Tom Danielson. After two difficult years, during which the Garmin-Transitions rider fought his way through some tough times and rough rides, including illness and crashes that left him with more than just minor injuries, the affable former collegiate mountain-bike sensation and Grand Tour stage winner was making a comeback to the top ranks of world cycling.
Having worked hard last winter in the States and all season long in Europe, racing both the Giro and the Vuelta—not to mention several Classics and stage races—Tommy D looked to be on his way to the Vuelta podium after riding strongly into the top 10, and as high as 4th on GC for several key stages. With his promising TT win and third place overall earlier at the Vuelta a Burgos, the Connecticut native looked poised to finally snatch a top 3 in Spain.
But with less than a week left in the tour Danielson was forced to pull out. Though he tried to race through it, he eventually succumbed to a nasty flu, and the 31-year-old had to abandon Spain’s Grand Tour, one of his favorite races and biggest goals of the year. Yet it didn’t stop him from finishing the season strong: He rode a respectable TT at the World Championships, was in the thick of the road race until the final selection was made on the last lap, and helped teammate Dan Martin to a top 10 at Lombardia.
I caught up with Danielson for a candid conversation. In this four-part interview, the easy-going, always optimistic rider talks about getting through a long season of ups and downs, learning to battle in one-day races, Evans and Vandenbroucke, and why he’ll be going into 2010 with the best form of his career."


10.28.09: Tom talks with CyclingReporter.com

Posted by dcho on Wednesday Oct 28, 2009 Under Media
In part one of our interview, Garmin-Slipstream rider and Connecticut native Tom Danielson talks his Giro di Lombardia, the importance of training on days you don’t want to, fly-fishing, and why he’s riding better than ever.
Daniel McMahon: How are you? What’s new?
Tom Danielson: Good, thanks. I’m back at home just about a week now from Europe. It’s nice to be back in Colorado and back in the U.S. I’m really enjoying my down time.
DM: You did the Giro di Lombardia. How did it go?
TD: It went okay. It’s kind of a difficult race for me. I prefer stage racing, so one-day races are really challenging for me, mainly because I don’t have very much experience doing them. The years I was on Discovery, I focused primarily or solely on stage racing. It wasn’t until I came to this team, to Garmin, that I started dabbling with one-day races, so I’ve got a lot to learn.
I mean, I’m not quite there yet, but I had good form going into the race but I’m not 100 percent accustomed to one-day racing, so I didn’t really know where to be at the right times. I ended up getting caught behind a split toward the end of the race, and that kind of took me out of the final. But it worked out well. We had Dan [Martin; 8th place] in the breakaway early on.
Read the complete interview HERE.

(Note: By the time you're 31/32, if you don't know how to ride one-day races, it's a little late to be learning - and I certainly wouldn't make an effort to point-out the fact that I had no idea what I was doing. And isn't a stage race just a bunch of one-day races ridden consecutively? Sheesh. Why Vaughters continues to employ this guy, when he fired Mike Friedman, is a mystery. Friedman, for as nice a guy as he is, has the killer instinct and drive to succeed that Danielson can only fantasize about. For as gullible as Giancarlo Ferrettiproved himself to be, getting taken-in by the Sony Ericsson sponsorship hoax, at least he did what Vaughters doesn't seem capable of, and didn't indulge Danielson when it became apparent that he had no technical skills or tactical understanding of road racing and wasn't going to be able to develop it - something he clearly still hasn't.)

 

[gregkeble]

...lasts forever... ...is just temporary

A comment I saw recently was that the reason Tom's career never really blossomed as expected was probably due to his 'strong moral upbringing'

If that is true then I have a lot of respect for the guy. Made me think of the line:

'sporting success built on ethics and strong morals lasts forever, fame and glory gained from being a lying cheating scumbag is only temporary'

 

[Tom T.]

My favorite TD moment is from last year's Pais Vasco when he tweeted at the beginning: "It's Pais Vasco time!" Less than 24 hours later he had dropped out after eating bad horse meat or some such nonsense. Nice guy but he's got the prototypical million dollar body with a ten cent head.

 

[Deagol]

Thanks Joe for the thorough explanation. I found myself laughing at times and nodding my head in agreement at others.

 

[this_is_edie]

As Joe pointed out, my biggest question re Danielson is why does JV keep him on board?

 

[carl spackler]

Tom Danielson in 20 per cent Eskimo in his heritage, and this probably contributes to what I can only describe as a uinique metabolism. He has a strong tendancy to store fat, not use it as fuel, if untrained.

that explains why the eskimos have never been able to put together a decent pro tour team

 

[Ripper]

I was thinking Maaskaant or Van Summeren... but with stage 3 you might be right.

To be honest, I'd rather see Hesejdal riding for himself at the Vuelta and Danielson helping VdV at the Tour as opposed to the reverse... but that's more a matter of preference.

Some interesting comments. The thing is, and this might just be my opinion, to be a really good D, you need some race smarts and sketchy riding is not a good thing.

 

[Anonymous]

I am not sure what details there are of the head case statement. Any specifics Scott?

I would say Jamsque is more accurate although I am not deeply involved in watching him.

Has anyone considered the possibility he just doesn't hate cancer enough?

I don't know TD personally but have seen him racing since the Saturn days with Horner. The guy clearly has lots of talent and genetics but can't seem to put it together. At Fasa Bortolo he was regarded as the most nervous rider in the peloton. He wore out his welcome there, at Disco and it appears JV has grown weary.

He does not seem to have the mentality to be at an uber-elite level IMO. I think he has the physical ability but not the mental ability. Just an observation.

 

[BroDeal]

that explains why the eskimos have never been able to put together a decent pro tour team

If Danielson were an eskimo, they would have left him out on the ice long ago.

Still thinking that sometime somewhere, when the planets align and a surprise comet appears, TD will get everything to click, and he will win something big...

 

[joe_papp]

Thanks Joe for the thorough explanation. I found myself laughing at times and nodding my head in agreement at others.

Maybe Danielson's nickname should be "The Joker" for making everyone laugh with his increasingly-redunkulous excuses?

For a great blog post on Tommy the Shark, check out this gem that appeared at Burt Hoovis' Doucheblog Cyclist...

Excerpt:

"Here's an observation that I (and others) have made over the past few years: The cycling establishment in the US (i.e., those people who make decisions about riders who get opportunities) are in bleary-eyed ****ing ga ga love with Tom Danielson. I can't figure out why, but I am completely sick of it."

 

[Inner Peace]

What's with the TD bashing, Joe? That's some pretty selective quotes you've found there...

Have you ever noticed that after a race, when these bike rider people are interviewed, that the journalists ask them how they felt during the race, and they ask them what went wrong, and they ask them why they didn't have the legs???

It's not an excuse, it's simply a response to the negative questions that journalists always harp on!

Same thing with Contador after he suffered a little in the Dauphine, same thing for Evans in last years Tour, same thing for Leipheimer in last years Giro.. simply when a rider who is expected to perform suffers, then the journalists ask them why

I don't know why you bothered looking back and noting those few examples where Danielson literally just answered some questions.. it seems a little bit lame, almost like you have a hidden agenda or something

 

[Polish]

TomD has infinitely more talent and natural physical capacity than I did. But he 1) lacks the killer instinct (or intestinal fortitude) and 2) is hobbled by a total lack of self-confidence.

With his physiology, I would have won the Vuelta already.
]

You would have won the Vuelta?
Seriously?
Clean?

Maybe Danielson's nickname should be "The Joker" for making everyone laugh with his increasingly-redunkulous excuses?
]

I think TD, along with JV, are actually being sneakily silly. Inside joke.

They make up a new excuse and watch the hilarity ensue.
Although TD's excuse making started out in earnest, it has now become a "schtick". TD's excuses have made him a lot more famous than his results.
Garmin/Slipstream get some attention. JV is a smart cookie.

JV and TD must have had a good laugh when "the eskimo" excuse was taken seriously

 

[joe_papp]

What's with the TD bashing, Joe? That's some pretty selective quotes you've found there...

No hidden agenda. Those quotes were all accessible via the front page of his website. I went out of my way to note that Tom Danielson has significantly more natural physiological capacity than I ever did, but that doesn't excuse the fact that he's failed to deliver the major victory he is supposedly capable of, yet doesn't look like a candidate for the role of super-domestique. And on top of it all, seemingly every single Danielson post-race quote has a "factor-outside-of-his-control" excuse appended to it.

It's approaching the absurd, and I think it would be humorous to start cataloging all of the excuses Danielson offers for his poor performances. I suspect they'd fall into the categories of: psychological self-sabotage; illness; and crashing, with no-tactical-sense a possible fourth channel.

I'm not making fun of Tom Danielson the man, husband, ex-husband, son, whatever. But Tom Danielson the pro bike rider is in danger of becoming a caricature.

 

[joe_papp]

You would have won the Vuelta?
Seriously?
Clean?

If I lived in Tom Danielson's body, mastered the technical skills of Salvodelli and had the desire-to-win of Valverde, with the right doping program I could win the Vuelta.

 

[Jamsque]

If I lived in Tom Danielson's body, mastered the technical skills of Salvodelli and had the desire-to-win of Valverde, with the right doping program I could win the Vuelta.

If I had some ham, I could have some ham and eggs, if I had some eggs.

 

[carl spackler]

If I lived in Tom Danielson's body, mastered the technical skills of Salvodelli and had the desire-to-win of Valverde, with the right doping program I could win the Vuelta.

me too and I just got smoked in the local cat 5/4 crit

 

[BroDeal]

ACF clued me in to this great pic from the Garmin training camp. Tommy D. is looking pretty fly for a 135 pound white guy. I truly feel that this could be his year.

 

[Ferminal]

I can see him on the podium in Paris for sure.

 

[Ripper]

ACF clued me in to this great pic from the Garmin training camp. Tommy D. is looking pretty fly for a 135 pound white guy. I truly feel that this could be his year.

Depends on what you mean by "his year". He might finally win something, but don't start piling the pressure on him Bro, or he'll crumble.

 

[Ripper]

I can see him on the podium in Paris for sure.

Does DL finish in Paris?

 

[thehog]

Danielson should just go back to "preparing" like he did in 2003 whilst on Saturn, and all this unpleasantness could end and he'd finally win another GT stage...

And on Disco. Was it the 2006 Giro when they got him on the full program? Il Falco had won the year before but Hog put TommyD up front. The guys was way too sensitive. Blood transfusions made him sick and he felt uncomfortable and was guilt ridden. He's ex phoned Bruyneel and told him to leave her man alone. Tommy D dumped her for the Hog. Wasn't long after he got that "mystery" stomach virus. Which came from a transfusion. He was never going to much but Johan liked to see what he could do with athletes when he got them the full suite of products.

One good thing Vaughters did with him was send him to Belgium to ride a series of Kermises. This helped his bike handling skills no end.

 

[Ferminal]

Does DL finish in Paris?

Tour of the Gila 2011 Paris ITT Finale, Tommy D H2H Bottle.

 

[auscyclefan94]

If I had some ham, I could have some ham and eggs, if I had some eggs.

Well said!

ACF clued me in to this great pic from the Garmin training camp. Tommy D. is looking pretty fly for a 135 pound white guy. I truly feel that this could be his year.

I am surprised that you haven't had more of a field day in mocking Tommy D!

In all honesty, as much as the guy is not right in the head, why didn't people who worked with him or his teams that he was with get his problems sorted out. It would be interesting to find out why he is so nervous in the peleton.

 

[Jamsque]

Could this be the year for tommy d?