wasted talents

[hrotha]

Someone mentioned Moreau. Personally I think he did much better than expected.

 

[ultimobici]

Three Giro di Lombardia wins
Amstel Gold win
2nd in the 2008 world champion road race
2nd in the 2008 UCI ProTour
Very high placings at a number of classics

His career has turned out different than it looked like it would in 2004, but he has had a very successful career. He has become a threat at hilly one day Classics, including LBL, Fleche-Wallonne, Amstel Gold, and Lombardia.

He is my pick for the WC RR this year.

Really? The high point of the 2011 course is a heady 59m and there's barely 100m climbing per lap. Cunego will not win, nor will he probably even be selected.

 

[gregrowlerson]

Only read the first 5 pages of this very popular thread.

Can't agree too much with Kloden. A great talent certainly, but two 2nd's in the TDF is still pretty good. And let's not forget that his climbing has never been on par with the ABSOLUTE best. Klodi's wastes were in '08. Chance to win or at least podium the Giro and got sick/blew up in the mountains, then crashed and lost buckets of time early in the Vuelta when maybe he could have also podiumed. Hopefully he doesn't waste his opportunity in the upcoming TDF.

I agree with Mayo. After Alp duez in '03 he looked like a world beater. And then there was the Daupne in '04. But then he did ****** all. He was a wasted talent long before he was booted out of the sport.

Someone that I haven't seen mentioned is Michael Rogers. The 3 world TT championships is great, but he was touted for many years as a GT podium contender; this never materialised. Obviously his crash in the '07 TDF was a career disaster, but I still think that he should be considered a waste in the GT's, as he could have had numerous top 10 finishers and potentially even cracked the top 5. Injuries aside, he was always a massive disappointment in the TDF TT's. Anyone have any theories on that? Other than that he was tired from the previous days of racing?

 

[Kwibus]

Tommy D. I think was just major hype, as the saying goes "that's why they actually race the races", many riders test or do well at their local races but to make it to the Pro's you have to race them as well. I wonder how long his climbing record (some mountain near his home) will stand if they actually had a ProTour race up it? Not long. I'm surprised he still hasn't been shipped off to race on a Conti team, he's still eating up a spot on a ProTour team many other riders could at least TRY to make it on.

I wasn't following cycling closely when there was apparently a hype around Danielson, but looking at the guy now I'd say he's a very good rider. He had a very nice Vuelta last year and he's doing pretty good in the TdS as well. He isn't a big guy in the peloton, but he certainly isn't keeping a spot occupied in a WT-team. He deserves to be in a WT team.

 

[Kwibus]

Really? The high point of the 2011 course is a heady 59m and there's barely 100m climbing per lap. Cunego will not win, nor will he probably even be selected.

08-08-09, 00:36

That was the date of BroDeals post. This is an old thread

 

[Parrulo]

08-08-09, 00:36

That was the date of BroDeals post. This is an old thread

lol ya

cunego was actually considered the main favourite for the 2009 worlds after his 2 wins at the vuelta.

 

[meat puppet]

Been good to see Vastaranta gradually picking it up again on MTB, though. He just won silver in European XC Marathon champs and will hopefully get it together in XC proper as well. We'll see. London olympics is his main goal, obviously.

Apart from the results alreayd mentioned here, Vastaranta also frequently won/podiumed in Finnish XC skiing nationals as a junior. If I remember correctly, one year as a 17yo his time on the 10k freestyle event was only half a minute slower than 18yo Matti Heikkinen's (who became WC in XC skiing this spring) and some seconds slower than 20yo Sami Jauhojärvi (who also has won Medals in the WC). As XC skiing was only his secondary sport, it is no exaggeration to say that he was (and still is) a huge talent indeed.

Still baffles me what went on during the Rabo years. Not satisfied with the typical condescending lament that he became soft, since this clearly cannot account for the case in its entirety. Maybe he matured really soon, and the others caught up, or something?

 

[Clemson Cycling]

Danny Pate has to be on this list. U23 World Time Trial Champion in 2001 and does not really have notable wins over his long career.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Been good to see Vastaranta gradually picking it up again on MTB, though. He just won silver in European XC Marathon champs and will hopefully get it together in XC proper as well. We'll see. London olympics is his main goal, obviously.

Apart from the results alreayd mentioned here, Vastaranta also frequently won/podiumed in Finnish XC skiing nationals as a junior. If I remember correctly, one year as a 17yo his time on the 10k freestyle event was only half a minute slower than 18yo Matti Heikkinen's (who became WC in XC skiing this spring) and some seconds slower than 20yo Sami Jauhojärvi (who also has won Medals in the WC). As XC skiing was only his secondary sport, it is no exaggeration to say that he was (and still is) a huge talent indeed.

Still baffles me what went on during the Rabo years. Not satisfied with the typical condescending lament that he became soft, since this clearly cannot account for the case in its entirety. Maybe he matured really soon, and the others caught up, or something?

vastaranta matured early on. he was world class in juniors but not anymroe in u23. the line went downwards after that.

 

[Michielveedeebee]

Van Goolen finally won something!

 

[simo1733]

Jamie Burrow.......Who? Exactly!
Or Malcolm Elliot He had many good results even recently,but several pro's have said he is the most naturally gifted rider they ever saw.

 

[Nastyy]

Been good to see Vastaranta gradually picking it up again on MTB, though. He just won silver in European XC Marathon champs and will hopefully get it together in XC proper as well. We'll see. London olympics is his main goal, obviously.

Apart from the results alreayd mentioned here, Vastaranta also frequently won/podiumed in Finnish XC skiing nationals as a junior. If I remember correctly, one year as a 17yo his time on the 10k freestyle event was only half a minute slower than 18yo Matti Heikkinen's (who became WC in XC skiing this spring) and some seconds slower than 20yo Sami Jauhojärvi (who also has won Medals in the WC). As XC skiing was only his secondary sport, it is no exaggeration to say that he was (and still is) a huge talent indeed.

Still baffles me what went on during the Rabo years. Not satisfied with the typical condescending lament that he became soft, since this clearly cannot account for the case in its entirety. Maybe he matured really soon, and the others caught up, or something?

Exceptional talent, but he had a severe disease that forced him off the bike.
From another thread

Maybe he wouldn't be a star but he would be a decent pro. In his last year in Rabobank he suffered from some weird disease that nobody managed to diagnose. Rabobank basically said to him that he's a lazy f*ck who doesn't train, while his problems were caused by too much training. A vertebra was pushing some nerve and took the power out of his legs. He also couldn't digest well or breathe well on the bike. Poor gesture was what lead to his problems. He already quit cycling, but then a doctor found out what was wrong with him and then a Finnish masseur massaged him so he got better. But still nowadays his girlfriend has to massage him so he can keep racing. And now he is on his way to MTB glory.

His girlfriend Sonja massages him 12 hours a week and without it he couldn't compete.

 

[Scansorial]

How about Ricco? With a decent head on his shoulders he might have had a good career.

 

[saganftw]

How about Ricco? With a decent head on his shoulders he might have had a good career.

proly the best italian climber since pantani,lets hope he wont end like marco

 

[jens_attacks]

indeed riccardo is in the top of my list of wasted talents.too crazy even for professional cycling.

 

[Bye Bye Bicycle]

indeed riccardo is in the top of my list of wasted talents.too crazy even for professional cycling.

Hard to see any talent in a guy who's been loaded since his junior time.

 

[webvan]

Right, what is he worth without the dope?

The biggest mystery to me has to be Jean-François Bernard...guess he just didn't have the character.

 

[rghysens]

jempi monseré?

 

[pugdog]

Without doubt a wasted talent, David Moncoutié who drives his team crazy, the french commentators crazy and his fans crazy.

 

[hrotha]

jempi monseré?

He didn't waste his talent, he made great use of it while he could.

 

[Bye Bye Bicycle]

Without doubt a wasted talent, David Moncoutié who drives his team crazy, the french commentators crazy and his fans crazy.

Please elaborate. He made the best out of his possibilities.

 

[ingsve]

Please elaborate. He made the best out of his possibilities.

He is very much a mood rider. If he's not in the right mood he simply won't bother pushing himself to stay in contention which is why you often see him do well in various stages but it's rather rare to see him do well on GC.

 

[theyoungest]

Please elaborate. He made the best out of his possibilities.

Not really, he has the capacity to go for a top-10 at the Tour, but basically he chooses not to. Which is both the annoying thing and the charm about this rider.

 

[pugdog]

Please elaborate. He made the best out of his possibilities.

To quote what he himself says, if it's raining he won't train, unless it rains four days in a row, in which case he might use the trainer. He likes croissants for breakfast, so he'll have half a dozen of them if he wants.

He really doesn't like physical contact in the peloton, so he stays right at the back with the result that he is almost always caught out if there are echelons formed. I believe it was Cyril Guimard who said Moncoutié has one of the biggest 'motors' in cycling today. It shows, when he decides to ride hard he usually does very well. He even came 5th in a TT I believe, though it had some climbs. can't remember which race it was or when. Sorry.

 

[Bye Bye Bicycle]

To quote what he himself says, if it's raining he won't train, unless it rains four days in a row, in which case he might use the trainer. He likes croissants for breakfast, so he'll have half a dozen of them if he wants.

Now what's wrong with that? I'd do exactly the same.