Top 3 Overrated and Underrated Hilly Classics Riders Today

[Asero831]

Overrated
1. Slagter
2. Meersman
3. Sagan

Underrated
1. Degenkolb
2. Gallopin
3. Mollema

 

[Roude Leiw]

Re: Top 3 Overrated and Underrated Hilly Classics Riders Tod

I am impressed about the amount of Sagan bashing going on. He is not a hilly classics rider in the sense of potential candidate to win LBL, Lombardia et al. Neither is Meersman by the way.

Thinking of it, i do not see what Degenkolb does on this list? Same profile than Sagan

Oh well

 

[Red Rick]

AGR, FW, LBL and GdL all have been overrated races the past years, all glorified uphill sprints. Don't really care about the riders that are under/overrated in these

 

[W4llenquist]

Meersman is not a classic rider. He can win uphill finish in stage race but he doesn't have any record in real classics afaik. Somehow he finished 3rd in CSS once but I guess it was just an exception.

 

[Arredondo]

Re:

AGR, FW, LBL and GdL all have been overrated races the past years, all glorified uphill sprints. Don't really care about the riders that are under/overrated in these

That also had someting too do with the bigger competition in these kind of races, and the fact cobblestones will always creating carnage and good races. But winning LBL or GdL is just as good as winning Flanders or Roubaix.

 

[Mr.White]

Re:

AGR, FW, LBL and GdL all have been overrated races the past years, all glorified uphill sprints. Don't really care about the riders that are under/overrated in these

You're talking about some biggest and oldest races in cycling history, yet they're overrated according to you! Let me ask you what races are underrated then?

 

[W4llenquist]

Re: Re:

You're talking about some biggest and oldest races in cycling history, yet they're overrated according to you! Let me ask you what races are underrated then?

Strade Bianche

It's true that both AGR and FW are usually just an uphill finish but it's uphill finish from all the best in the world, that was makes this races as classics. And even if Lombary or LBL are boring recently they are still Monuments and to be there in the finale you have to be really strong and you can't and except Zaugg and maybe Iglinskiy you won't find many surprising winners for those races in recent years.

 

[HelloDolly]

I do not rate the actual hilly classics ...not in comparison to cobbles classics, GTs & stage races in that order
A rider who can win the hilly classics tends to be able to have stamina to last the distance & sprint at the end
I feel they need to look again at he parcours of these races
The same few riders end up competing against each other a the same point each year

 

[LPP68!]

That's specialization and peaking at work for you sir. I agree with W4llenquist; if you are in the final of one of those races, you have had do do some very hard and difficult work the previous hours.
OTOH, everybody, not only riders, can have their preferences. If you don't like one race, there are plenty other races.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

It's hard to find someone truly overrated, since pretty much any of the big guns gets a classic win once in a while.

Underrated riders:
1. Giampaolo Caruso (Perhaps the strongest rider of LBL 2014 - generally lacks attention)
2. Tim Wellens (essentially on an upgoing trend - not underrated on this forum, but in a broader context he's very unknown)
3. Gallopin (People often forget his San Sebastian win. Not so consistent, so he pops up once in a while in hilly terrain)