Top 10 GT riders 2016

[Red Rick]

Well, riding for a week with muscle injuries can't be good for your condition. In 2014 he left the Tour in great condition except for a bone fracture. Now he was empty and ill when he left the Tour.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

How can Contador be 4th? He finished 1 GT and was 4th. Chaves 2nd at the Giro and 3rd at the Tour, Bardet with 2nd at the Tour, Valverde with 3rd and 6th should all rank above him.

That awkward moment when LaFlo is protesting a high placement of Contador in a fan top-10.
Also, you mean the Vuelta, right? Chaves was third at the Vuelta.

Woops yeah I mean the Vuelta of course

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Okay my hypothetical list which is heavily influenced by bias is
1 Froome
2 Contador
3 Quintana
4 Kruijswijk
5 Nibali
6 Chaves
7 Bardet
8 Valverde
9 Lopez
10 Porte

But for all I know Contador could have finished 5th at the Tour without any crashes and perhaps Superman Lopez would have struggled to finish top 10 at the Vuelta anyway

If I had to make a list purely based on what evidence my eyes saw
1 Froome
2 Quintana
3 Nibali
4 Chaves
5 Bardet
6 Valverde
7 Kruijswijk
8 Contador
9 Porte
10 Yates A
The Tour-only riders rank quite low compared to their Giro and Vuelta counterparts because I feel the level of competition was really low besides Froome.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

I'm surprised how low people are ranking Contador. Where do y'all think he would have finished in the Tour without any bad luck?

It's not really surprising, he got dropped on nearly every hilly/mountain stage at the Tour and Vuelta, even taking into account his crash it's hard to rate him higher than riders who actually performed at a decent level. I only ranked him 2nd because before the TDF I felt Contador would be close to Froome and Quintana's level and both looked very beatable during the race (I only watched the first 9 stages), but I am not quite sure what to make of his Vuelta performance, his crash must have been *really* bad to explain that and it didn't seem that bad to ours eyes because he kept on riding until the first rest day, so many people may feel he just isn't good enough anymore.
If he'd just ended his season after the TDF I think many people would have ranked him 2nd or 3rd instead of 4th-6th.

 

[Forever The Best]

Re:

Well, riding for a week with muscle injuries can't be good for your condition. In 2014 he left the Tour in great condition except for a bone fracture. Now he was empty and ill when he left the Tour.

Probably that was the reason - combined with a crash in Vuelta too - why he was very bad in Vuelta.

 

[staubsauger]

Re: Re:

Okay my hypothetical list which is heavily influenced by bias is
1 Froome
2 Contador
3 Quintana
4 Kruijswijk
5 Nibali
6 Chaves
7 Bardet
8 Valverde
9 Lopez
10 Porte

But for all I know Contador could have finished 5th at the Tour without any crashes and perhaps Superman Lopez would have struggled to finish top 10 at the Vuelta anyway

If I had to make a list purely based on what evidence my eyes saw
1 Froome
2 Quintana
3 Nibali
4 Chaves
5 Bardet
6 Valverde
7 Kruijswijk
8 Contador
9 Porte
10 Yates A
The Tour-only riders rank quite low compared to their Giro and Vuelta counterparts because I feel the level of competition was really low besides Froome.

Apart from Contador that's actually the list I can identify most with. The first one. There's no way Chaves can be listed above Kruijswijk based on the 2016 season. Kruijswijk certainly would've won the Giro without his major crash. Chaves wasn't even close to winning a gt nevertheless he lost the pink jersey on the penultimate day.

 

[vedrafjord]

Re: Re:

There's no way Chaves can be listed above Kruijswijk based on the 2016 season. Kruijswijk certainly would've won the Giro without his major crash. Chaves wasn't even close to winning a gt nevertheless he lost the pink jersey on the penultimate day.

On the other hand Chaves podiumed two GTs this year, Kruijswijk's Giro crash was due to his own lack of skill, and Kruijswijk probably would have finished nowhere in particular in the Vuelta had he finished, as the parcours really didn't suit him.

 

[MADRAZO]

1. Froome
2. Quintana
3. Porte
4. Contador
5. Kruijswijk
6. Nibali
7. Chaves
8. Bardet
9. Valverde
10. A. Yates

 

[Alexandre B.]

I've yet to see Kruijswijk numbers in the Giro but the performance of Bardet on stage 19 was physically super strong. His best ever.

 

[DFA123]

No love for Mollema in this thread? He might well have finished 2nd without the crash in the Tour. Seems a bit strange to be ranking Contador so highly based on what he could have done, while ignoring Mollema, who actually was second strongest rider in the Tour for 18 stages.

He certainly should be above the likes of Aru, Porte and Yates. Kruijswijk should be top 5 as well for similar reasons.

 

[Velolover2]

The new king of the one-week races: 1. Ion Izagirre. A complete rider who is good in prologues, flat TTs, hilly TTs, mountain TTs, hilly stages, mountain stages, a great rouleur and now on cobbles too.

In the last couple of years, he has done well in pretty much every one week race he has been in. He is even able to get into top 10 in a classics-themed race like Eneco Tour. Finished in top 10 on the Geraardsbergen stage as well as overall.

Hope he will get to lead a GT as a captain in the future. Should be abe to get a safe top 10 in the Giro or Vuelta. Maybe even the Tour as well.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

No love for Mollema in this thread? He might well have finished 2nd without the crash in the Tour. Seems a bit strange to be ranking Contador so highly based on what he could have done, while ignoring Mollema, who actually was second strongest rider in the Tour for 18 stages.

He certainly should be above the likes of Aru, Porte and Yates. Kruijswijk should be top 5 as well for similar reasons.

Actually I just forgot about him, lol

 

[42x16ss]

Re:

No love for Mollema in this thread? He might well have finished 2nd without the crash in the Tour. Seems a bit strange to be ranking Contador so highly based on what he could have done, while ignoring Mollema, who actually was second strongest rider in the Tour for 18 stages.

He certainly should be above the likes of Aru, Porte and Yates. Kruijswijk should be top 5 as well for similar reasons.

You beat me to it!

 

[Billie]

Re:

No love for Mollema in this thread? He might well have finished 2nd without the crash in the Tour. Seems a bit strange to be ranking Contador so highly based on what he could have done, while ignoring Mollema, who actually was second strongest rider in the Tour for 18 stages.

He certainly should be above the likes of Aru, Porte and Yates. Kruijswijk should be top 5 as well for similar reasons.

Mollema has cracked in the last couple days of every Tour. Whether it was because of sickness, crashes or riding a bad TT bike. 4 years in a row make it a tendency and he cannot be considered a top GT rider unless he can somehow fix/avoid it.

Saying he should be ahead of a GT winner with multiple podiums i don't understand that

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

No love for Mollema in this thread? He might well have finished 2nd without the crash in the Tour. Seems a bit strange to be ranking Contador so highly based on what he could have done, while ignoring Mollema, who actually was second strongest rider in the Tour for 18 stages.

He certainly should be above the likes of Aru, Porte and Yates. Kruijswijk should be top 5 as well for similar reasons.

Mollema has cracked in the last couple days of every Tour. Whether it was because of sickness, crashes or riding a bad TT bike. 4 years in a row make it a tendency and he cannot be considered a top GT rider unless he can somehow fix/avoid it.

Saying he should be ahead of a GT winner with multiple podiums i don't understand that

Becaue the GT winner with multiple podiums (we're talking about Aru right?) was hopeless in 2016 and looks to have gone massively backwards. While it seemed a breakthrough season for Mollema despite his final position. The win at San Sebastian a week later confirmed for me a new step up in his level - he clearly still had good legs despite three weeks of racing, and was most probably undone by the crash.

 

[Nirvana]

1)Froome
Pretty the same level of Quintana at the Vuelta but superior in the Tour.

2)Quintana
He clearly had some problems at the Tour but was at the same level with Froome in Spain.

3)Kruijswijk
He was the most impressive of the year in my opinion, without the crash he would have easily won the Giro by minutes but i want to see him against Froome and Quintana to evaluate his real level.

4)Chaves
Two podiums and very aggressive in some stages.

5)Bardet
Second at the Tour but a bit lucky with poor form of Quintana and Porte puncture in the second stage, without this and with the Quintana seen at the Vuelta he would not been on the podium.

6)Valverde
Podium at the Giro and sixth at the Tour while working for Quintana, his mistake was wanting to ride three GT in a year, with only Giro and Vuelta could have been two podiums at least.

7)Nibali
Always lucky and overrated, in a GT with all the best at top form and without problems i can't see him in the top 5.

8)Porte
Great ride for him at the Tour, i thought he can't survive three weeks but he denied me, without the puncture in the second stage he would have been second.

9)Contador
He crashed out of the Tour then he was never impressive at the Vuelta (but he crashed again), if the crash didn't affect his performaces in Spain he's done.

10)Mollema
mpressive for his standard in the Tour but he collapsed in the final weekend.

 

[PremierAndrew]

Re:

No love for Mollema in this thread? He might well have finished 2nd without the crash in the Tour. Seems a bit strange to be ranking Contador so highly based on what he could have done, while ignoring Mollema, who actually was second strongest rider in the Tour for 18 stages.

He certainly should be above the likes of Aru, Porte and Yates. Kruijswijk should be top 5 as well for similar reasons.

Except Porte was better in the Tour than Mollema?

 

[Ramon Koran]

Tbh, imo only the tdf should count as it is the ultimate GT. The giro and vuelta as nice as they are, are just lesser versions of the tour.whats more 2015 means nothing so imo the top ten should be the top ten from the 2016 tour, that seems accurate

 

[topcat]

Re:

Tbh, imo only the tdf should count as it is the ultimate GT. The giro and vuelta as nice as they are, are just lesser versions of the tour.whats more 2015 means nothing so imo the top ten should be the top ten from the 2016 tour, that seems accurate

The tour is a lesser version of the giro.

 

[topcat]

Re:

1)Froome
Pretty the same level of Quintana at the Vuelta but superior in the Tour.

2)Quintana
He clearly had some problems at the Tour but was at the same level with Froome in Spain.

3)Kruijswijk
He was the most impressive of the year in my opinion, without the crash he would have easily won the Giro by minutes but i want to see him against Froome and Quintana to evaluate his real level.

4)Chaves
Two podiums and very aggressive in some stages.

5)Bardet
Second at the Tour but a bit lucky with poor form of Quintana and Porte puncture in the second stage, without this and with the Quintana seen at the Vuelta he would not been on the podium.

6)Valverde
Podium at the Giro and sixth at the Tour while working for Quintana, his mistake was wanting to ride three GT in a year, with only Giro and Vuelta could have been two podiums at least.

7)Nibali
Always lucky and overrated, in a GT with all the best at top form and without problems i can't see him in the top 5.

8)Porte
Great ride for him at the Tour, i thought he can't survive three weeks but he denied me, without the puncture in the second stage he would have been second.

9)Contador
He crashed out of the Tour then he was never impressive at the Vuelta (but he crashed again), if the crash didn't affect his performaces in Spain he's done.

10)Mollema
mpressive for his standard in the Tour but he collapsed in the final weekend.

Nibali clearly beat Chaves in the Giro (and Chaves had no excuses), so I don't see the logic in ranking Chaves higher.
Or is there no logic to this?

 

[Nirvana]

Like i said two podiums for Chaves.

 

[42x16ss]

My list. Overall it's ranked a little loosely, but this is how I see the GC riders over the last 2-3 years. There are some riders in Tier 3 capable of beating those in Tier 2, while those in Tier 2 are capable of mixing it up against Tier 1, but struggle to get the win.

Tier 1:
Froome
Quintana
Nibali

Tier 2:
Aru
Chaves
Contador
Bardet
Kruijswijk
Mollema
Valverde

Tier 3:

A. Yates
Porte
Pinot
Uran
Martin
Dumoulin

 

[lenric]

1 - Froome

2 - Quintana.










3 - Nibali.
4 - Chaves.
5 - Bardet.
6 - Valverde.
7 - Contador.
8 - Kruisjwick.
9 - Porte.
10 - Majka.

 

[dacooley]

there is a glaring gap between top 10 grand tour riders based just on the 2016 season and top 10 gt riders as of 2016-2017 mid-season imo. contador and aru both failed this year's gt campaign, however they continue to be considered stronger gt riders than porte or kruijswijk with good reason.

based on 2016

1. froome
2. quintana
3. nibali
4. chaves
5. bardet
6. porte
7. valverde
8. contador
9. kruijswijk
10. a. yates

 

[DFA123]

Re:

My list. Overall it's ranked a little loosely, but this is how I see the GC riders over the last 2-3 years. There are some riders in Tier 3 capable of beating those in Tier 2, while those in Tier 2 are capable of mixing it up against Tier 1, but struggle to get the win.

Tier 1:
Froome
Quintana
Nibali

Tier 2:
Aru
Chaves
Contador
Bardet
Kruijswijk
Mollema
Valverde

Tier 3:

A. Yates
Porte
Pinot
Uran
Martin
Dumoulin

This is pretty much exactly how I see it. Although perhaps would put Nibali at the top of Tier 2 rather than bottom of Tier 1. I think Nibali is closer to the others in Tier 2 than he is to Quintana and Froome.

Landa would have to be in there as well I guess. Probably bottom of Tier 2, but there's a lot of guesswork with him.