Surely Evenpoel is like 2007 Messi, while Bernal is probably Mbappé.Not Messi, but Mbappé.
But then I read Marc Hirschi was compared to Mbappé.
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Surely Evenpoel is like 2007 Messi, while Bernal is probably Mbappé.Not Messi, but Mbappé.
But then I read Marc Hirschi was compared to Mbappé.
Taken from procyclingstats:
RNK. RIDER POINTS POINTS SCORED TODAY 1 - SAGAN Peter 83 4 2 ▲1 BENNETT Sam 83 9 3 ▼1 KRISTOFF Alexander 80 3 4 - TRENTIN Matteo 61 7 5 ▲1 NIZZOLO Giacomo 51 5 6 ▼1 EWAN Caleb 50 - 7 - COQUARD Bryan 43 6 8 - BOL Cees 32 - 9 - ALAPHILIPPE Julian 30 - 10 - PEDERSEN Mads 30 -
Roglic with that almost full-face mask and the glasses and the cap... what will everybody say looking at these pictures in 15 years...
Didi is awesome... almost 70 years and still jumping like a teenager!! I'm 41 and I believe he jumps higher than me...And the original devil as well
I'd also say that Tour ITT was an anomaly for Alaphilippe and it was probably the weakest field in a Tour ITT in many years. And it suited him absurdly well.I don't doubt that Alaphilippe could become a better gc rider than he is now, I just doubt that he has already become that. The Thomas or the Wiggins transformations didn't happen over night either, they both became very successful one week stage racers before they took it to the next level. Meanwhile as of now the only reason people see a gc winner in Alaphilippe is because his most impressive climbing performance was pulling a Voeckler. There is nothing Alaphilippe has ever done in mountain stages that made me think "if he can do that for three weeks he can win the Tour".
Also the very single reason I think the thought of him becoming a gc contender are at least a little merited isn't his climbing in last years Tour but his time trial. That's really the huge difference between him and Wiggins/Thomas/Dumoulin. Those guys were mainly known as really good TT'ers, while Alaphilippe is mainly known as a puncheur and we have known for years that if a TT specialist is able to lose weight without losing power he can grind his way up mountains and is extremely hard to drop. Meanwhile there is nothing in the skill set of the average puncheur that suggests potential as a gc rider. That's the reason I always found the shouts for Sagan to transform into a gc specialist so stupid. A gc rider has to climb and TT well and Sagan does neither while being good at things that are completely useless as a gc rider. With Alaphilippe it's almost like that, just that he seems to have such a massive engine that he can be an elite TT'er. If he can transform that into grinding up mountains Dumoulin style he might become a threat. But people have to realize that this basically means giving up on the thing he is most known for right now, being a puncheur.
seems like Evenepoel could probably have taken it this year already based on the competition...
He's never come within 5 minutes of winning a Tour de France, although he probably would have in 2017 considering the route and how the race unfolded. I don't think he'd ever have started a Tour de France as team leader with Sky, his ceiling was just barely too low imo. Even so, he too could have won a Tour, but again, it would have taken the stars aligning to happen.
True but he had shown glimpses before. I think he won the Paris-Nice TT in 2017 in pretty dominant fashion, although that of course wasn't exactly against top competition either.I'd also say that Tour ITT was an anomaly for Alaphilippe and it was probably the weakest field in a Tour ITT in many years. And it suited him absurdly well.
Wiggins and Thomas were always riders with huge engines, not at all like Alaphilippe. Thomas actually took years to get to the point of being a contender over 3 weeks. Wiggo didn't magically transform as soon as he got to Sky, he'd already improved his climbing a lot at Garmin. Froome- yeah well who knows what happened there.Underestimate Alaphilippe at your own peril. I don't think he is going to do better than last year... but last year he showed to be an able if not top notch climber, and a great time trialist. You never know if he will improve further. And who knows if he's been training his climbing abilities?
Wiggins, Froome and Thomas also quickly improved on their way to GT wins. Why wouldn't Alaphilippe be able to do that?
Like Valverde getting completely destroyed by Froome and Quintana uphill in 2013? Or how he finished 2 minutes down on AdH as well.Valverde was going to have a difficult time winning the TdF in the Jean Marie LeBlanc era because we had 50 km flat TTs. If Valverde had come of age in Prudhomme era I have no doubt he could’ve won a TdF. He probably could’ve been very close in 2008 without his crashes. As well he looked the only rider capable of competing with Froome in 2013 before he got caught out and loss an absolute boatload of time in the crosswinds.
He also missed a few of his best years in the naughty chair, so who knows.
I don't doubt that Alaphilippe could become a better gc rider than he is now, I just doubt that he has already become that. The Thomas or the Wiggins transformations didn't happen over night either, they both became very successful one week stage racers before they took it to the next level. Meanwhile as of now the only reason people see a gc winner in Alaphilippe is because his most impressive climbing performance was pulling a Voeckler. There is nothing Alaphilippe has ever done in mountain stages that made me think "if he can do that for three weeks he can win the Tour".
Also the very single reason I think the thought of him becoming a gc contender are at least a little merited isn't his climbing in last years Tour but his time trial. That's really the huge difference between him and Wiggins/Thomas/Dumoulin. Those guys were mainly known as really good TT'ers, while Alaphilippe is mainly known as a puncheur and we have known for years that if a TT specialist is able to lose weight without losing power he can grind his way up mountains and is extremely hard to drop. Meanwhile there is nothing in the skill set of the average puncheur that suggests potential as a gc rider. That's the reason I always found the shouts for Sagan to transform into a gc specialist so stupid. A gc rider has to climb and TT well and Sagan does neither while being good at things that are completely useless as a gc rider. With Alaphilippe it's almost like that, just that he seems to have such a massive engine that he can be an elite TT'er. If he can transform that into grinding up mountains Dumoulin style he might become a threat. But people have to realize that this basically means giving up on the thing he is most known for right now, being a puncheur.
True but he had shown glimpses before. I think he won the Paris-Nice TT in 2017 in pretty dominant fashion, although that of course wasn't exactly against top competition either.
Chartaud style.And he won Polkadots despite being apparently average in the mountains
Valverde was in 2nd place coming out of the Pyrenees in 2013. After the crosswinds he was out of contention. I’m saying that an in his prime Valverde could have possibly won a Tour on one of Prudhomme’s crappy courses like 2016. I’m not saying he was going to ever better than Armstrong, Contador, or Froome. I do think he could’ve beaten Sastre had he not crashed early on in 2008.Like Valverde getting completely destroyed by Froome and Quintana uphill in 2013? Or how he finished 2 minutes down on AdH as well.
Valverde's climbing in the Tour has never suggest he was a Tour winner apart from outsprinting Armstrong once.
Surely Evenpoel is like 2007 Messi, while Bernal is probably Mbappé.
Sagan can TT. He’s never had to because you don’t get green jersey points for it, but on the rare occasions where he’s been in gc contention, he’s been able to produce top 10 and top 20 performances against good fields. Similarly for Alaf.I don't doubt that Alaphilippe could become a better gc rider than he is now, I just doubt that he has already become that. The Thomas or the Wiggins transformations didn't happen over night either, they both became very successful one week stage racers before they took it to the next level. Meanwhile as of now the only reason people see a gc winner in Alaphilippe is because his most impressive climbing performance was pulling a Voeckler. There is nothing Alaphilippe has ever done in mountain stages that made me think "if he can do that for three weeks he can win the Tour".
Also the very single reason I think the thought of him becoming a gc contender are at least a little merited isn't his climbing in last years Tour but his time trial. That's really the huge difference between him and Wiggins/Thomas/Dumoulin. Those guys were mainly known as really good TT'ers, while Alaphilippe is mainly known as a puncheur and we have known for years that if a TT specialist is able to lose weight without losing power he can grind his way up mountains and is extremely hard to drop. Meanwhile there is nothing in the skill set of the average puncheur that suggests potential as a gc rider. That's the reason I always found the shouts for Sagan to transform into a gc specialist so stupid. A gc rider has to climb and TT well and Sagan does neither while being good at things that are completely useless as a gc rider. With Alaphilippe it's almost like that, just that he seems to have such a massive engine that he can be an elite TT'er. If he can transform that into grinding up mountains Dumoulin style he might become a threat. But people have to realize that this basically means giving up on the thing he is most known for right now, being a puncheur.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.I don't like comparing Evenepoel to Messi. Messi is beauty. Evenepoel is just strong.