Tony Martin

[MellowJohnny]

Might have been said before but am I right in thinking that if Cavendish hadn't of sat up and took 3rd, he'd be in Yellow right now?

 

[SeriousSam]

Yes. Cavendish is focused on himself to the extent that he doesn't even realise this photo:

Mark Cavendish ‏@MarkCavendish 7m7 minutes ago

Look at this photo. If I could hang on for 3rd, I could hang on for the win... Some imbeciles think cycling is a...

Doesn't support that he was blameless. *** that guy.

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

See stage 2 thread. Aprox. 80% of posts discussing this issue once Greipel stood on podium to receive his stage honors... heck, even as soon Cav stopped pedaling the discussion started. IOW: It´s almost all said and done about yet another infamous Cavendish saga.

 

[Happy dude]

Let's keep this thread about martin, as Cav is discussed lots on the stage 2 thread.


I feel for the guy, I really do, he was close to crying in his interview, and he is one of the guys who deserves a yellow yersey

I'm hoping that he gets it in a prologue next season, or maybe tomorrow idk

How many hills before stage 9?

 

[MellowJohnny]

And after all Tony Martin has done for him, chasing breaks and even leading him out, Patrick Lefevere might see things differently in his contract offers for next season perhaps.

 

[Carols]

It was dreadfully sad to see the Panzerwagen close to tears because Cav screwed him. Tony is one of the nicest Champions this sport has ever seen, total class!

 

[del1962]

Is their a possibility he could get the jersey in TTT?

 

[MellowJohnny]

In time Martin will get the Yellow Jersey, Much sooner than the rapidly fading Cavendish.

 

[robin440]

Re:

Let's keep this thread about martin, as Cav is discussed lots on the stage 2 thread.


I feel for the guy, I really do, he was close to crying in his interview, and he is one of the guys who deserves a yellow yersey

Which interview? the one from german tv?

 

[hrotha]

Re:

Is their a possibility he could get the jersey in TTT?

It's possible but not very likely. He'll lose a bit of time on Huy and there's no reason to believe he'll do particularly well on the cobbles. If Etixx does really well in the TTT, it could happen, I guess.

 

[Carols]

I just Saw a Patrick L interview. He said Tony is Amazing, he was the only one on the team that didn't blame Mark. Total Class is Tony!

 

[pedromiguelmartins]

Don't you guys think that Tony is a bit of a disappointment? Great, fantastic rider, but what about results besides TTs? Compare him to Fabian. While he might catch up to him at a exclusive TT point of view, what does Tony have to show at 30yo?

Besides the best TTer, he is a great leadout man with a few stage races under his belt, races that had almost 0 difficulties and 1 TT (at least).

Not only is Fabian (together with Tom) the best monument/classics rider of the 2000s, he also won Suisse, T-A, has 30 days in yellow and so on.
I'm not saying that Tom has to like like Fabian, but he damn well could be more than he is now if he focussed on classics, no?

What is the problem? Lack of sprint? Fear? Tactics? He's at Etix FFS!

 

[hrotha]

IMO that's like saying Boonen is a disappointment because he never became a world-class time-trialer. Martin's niche overlaps with Cancellara to some degree, but he's ultimately a different kind of rider.

I would have expected him to win more one-week stage races though.

 

[Jagartrott]

Re:

Don't you guys think that Tony is a bit of a disappointment? Great, fantastic rider, but what about results besides TTs? Compare him to Fabian. While he might catch up to him at a exclusive TT point of view, what does Tony have to show at 30yo?

Besides the best TTer, he is a great leadout man with a few stage races under his belt, races that had almost 0 difficulties and 1 TT (at least).

Not only is Fabian (together with Tom) the best monument/classics rider of the 2000s, he also won Suisse, T-A, has 30 days in yellow and so on.
I'm not saying that Tom has to like like Fabian, but he damn well could be more than he is now if he focussed on classics, no?

What is the problem? Lack of sprint? Fear? Tactics? He's at Etix FFS!

You seem to have missed last year's Tour and his epic and heartbreaking near-win in the Vuelta (2013?). Have you seen Cancellara fighting for the win on the Mont Ventoux? Tony did exactly that. Et cetera et cetera.

 

[DFA123]

Re:

Don't you guys think that Tony is a bit of a disappointment? Great, fantastic rider, but what about results besides TTs? Compare him to Fabian. While he might catch up to him at a exclusive TT point of view, what does Tony have to show at 30yo?

Besides the best TTer, he is a great leadout man with a few stage races under his belt, races that had almost 0 difficulties and 1 TT (at least).

Not only is Fabian (together with Tom) the best monument/classics rider of the 2000s, he also won Suisse, T-A, has 30 days in yellow and so on.
I'm not saying that Tom has to like like Fabian, but he damn well could be more than he is now if he focussed on classics, no?

What is the problem? Lack of sprint? Fear? Tactics? He's at Etix FFS!

The problem is that his anaerobic power isn't good enough to win classics. He can put out a huge amount of power in and around threshold (more than almost anyone else in the history of cycling). But he can't do repeated hard efforts at 800-1000w like you need to win Paris Roubaix or RVV.

Cancellara is an insane talent that has both incredible aerobic and anaerobic power (much like Valverde), which allows him to compete and win at multiple disciplines. I don't think you can call Martin a disappointment for not competing in the classics - he just doesn't have the abilities needed to win them.

I'm sure he could have won more week long races and a lot more stages in Grand Tours if he was a bit more selfish and was an outright team leader.

 

[pedromiguelmartins]

Re: Re:

Don't you guys think that Tony is a bit of a disappointment? Great, fantastic rider, but what about results besides TTs? Compare him to Fabian. While he might catch up to him at a exclusive TT point of view, what does Tony have to show at 30yo?

Besides the best TTer, he is a great leadout man with a few stage races under his belt, races that had almost 0 difficulties and 1 TT (at least).

Not only is Fabian (together with Tom) the best monument/classics rider of the 2000s, he also won Suisse, T-A, has 30 days in yellow and so on.
I'm not saying that Tom has to like like Fabian, but he damn well could be more than he is now if he focussed on classics, no?

What is the problem? Lack of sprint? Fear? Tactics? He's at Etix FFS!

The problem is that his anaerobic power isn't good enough to win classics. He can put out a huge amount of power in and around threshold (more than almost anyone else in the history of cycling). But he can't do repeated hard efforts at 800-1000w like you need to win Paris Roubaix or RVV.

Cancellara is an insane talent that has both incredible aerobic and anaerobic power (much like Valverde), which allows him to compete and win at multiple disciplines. I don't think you can call Martin a disappointment for not competing in the classics - he just doesn't have the abilities needed to win them.

I'm sure he could have won more week long races and a lot more stages in Grand Tours if he was a bit more selfish and was an outright team leader.

You make a lot of sense. I just thought that such a strong and powerful TTer (not high cadence BS), that can attack at km0 and win a very hard stage, should be able to do well at, let's say, Roubaix.

Way better than leading out Cav, year after year.

 

[BYOP88]

Re:

IMO that's like saying Boonen is a disappointment because he never became a world-class time-trialer. Martin's niche overlaps with Cancellara to some degree, but he's ultimately a different kind of rider.

I would have expected him to win more one-week stage races though.

I agree with this

 

[Jagartrott]

Absolutely gutted for this guy. Three times in second place to a different yellow jersey in consecutive stages.

 

[Gigs_98]

Re:

Absolutely gutted for this guy. Three times in second place to a different yellow jersey in consecutive stages.

+5 --> +3 --> +1 --> ???
-1 would be logical but as I know his luck he will probably be 2nd again with 3 seconds back

 

[Kwibus]

Bloody hell. Some bad luck for Tony Martin!

I reallllly hope he gets the jersey tomorrow.

 

[Fernandez]

Despite being spanish, I really love this guy. Always working, always fighting. I always wish the best for him.

 

[SeriousSam]

One second behind Froome. Is there some conceivable way for him to take yellow?

 

[SlickMongoose]

Has he ever done anything on cobbles?

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Man that's tough luck. 1 second after Dennis, 1 second after Cancellara and now 1 second after Froome!

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Re:

Has he ever done anything on cobbles?

No, says he doesn't like them iirc.

Too bad, I think he could do very well with experience.