What is wrong with Gesink?

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Expected nothing from him, just doesn't seem to be up there with the best on these steep finishes. Maybe he will develop it, but it's no problem if he doesn't.

Do our Gesink fanboys think he will ever develop into one of the top Ardennes riders?

No offence, but he was 3rd in the Amstel as 22 year old and 4th in Fleche Wallone as 21 year old.

In short, he is regressing dramatically on these type of finishes. Which doesn't add up to the progression in all other areas

 

[boomcie]

...
It was always something of a mystery why Gesink couldn't excel at time trials, he produces more watts than some of the better time trialists at Rabobank.

As does this solar powered keychain flashlight .

 

[theyoungest]

As does this solar powered keychain flashlight .

A 500 Watt flashlight?

 

[boomcie]

A 500 Watt flashlight?

It's a joke youngest. Trying to diss Rabobank here...

The flashlight produces a very small amount of watts, which is supposed to make the Rabo riders look bad.

Jezus, I thought this wasn't so hard to comprehend

 

[theyoungest]

It's a joke youngest. Trying to diss Rabobank here...

The flashlight produces a very small amount of watts, which is supposed to make the Rabo riders look bad.

Jezus, I thought this wasn't so hard to comprehend

And I'm dissing your joke. Which, frankly, wasn't very good

But props for the magic flashlight.

 

[boomcie]

And I'm dissing your joke. Which, frankly, wasn't very good

But props for the magic flashlight.

The joke was good. I checked with my mom and she nodded, gently.

Thanks for the props though.

 

[jaylew]

2km at 4.5% average.

Last 500 meters @7.5%

There's really only 4 names for a finish like that:

Tintin, Bala verde, Purito and Phil.

When in-form, I'd add DiLuca and Cunego as well.

 

[Francois the Postman]

If I'm not mistaken, he planned to peak for Amstel, but his climbing has been going downhill since Tirreno. It doesn't add up.

I suspect he has been overdoing the winter training a bit, for personal and, probably, good private reasons, but not if you want to peak around Amstel. Looks like he peaked a month or so too early.

That, or I have reasons to be worried.

It also looks like he has been paying special attention to his weaknesses, which might have come at a small cost to his forte, the long long climb at pace. I never had him down as an explosive climber. Which is the #1 reason why I will never sit easy watching him during the GTs if I have my money riding along with him.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Still, you could ask this same question for somebody like Cunego..
And Hesjedal wasn't exactly overwhelming today either.

 

[md2020]

See the thread title, he was in a real good position at the Mur starting around 6th, then just drops away so easily at the start and slowly climbs his way to 14th.

Has his TT improvement taken such a toll on his climbing? It's kind of starting to worry me, surely Im not the only one?

I wouldn't worry, that finish is a brutal punch and doesn't really favor climbers like Gesink. It's not like Contador looked great either and Andy Schleck was WAY back.

 

[luckyboy]

Contador has won MTFs this season. Andy hasn't shown much uphill.

 

[roundabout]

No offence, but he was 3rd in the Amstel as 22 year old and 4th in Fleche Wallone as 21 year old.

In short, he is regressing dramatically on these type of finishes. Which doesn't add up to the progression in all other areas

I wouldn't necessarily say that he is regressing dramatically. He was 3rd in a group of 3 (lost 8 seconds on the climb) in Amstel and 4th in one of the slowest (15 seconds slower than this year) climbs up the Mur in recent years. Maybe his weight helped him in the rain that day?

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Won in Emilia (twice) and Montreal, weaker fields, but still some of the names who were up there here and last sunday...

Still strikes me as off.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Still, you could ask this same question for somebody like Cunego..
And Hesjedal wasn't exactly overwhelming today either.

that doesn't matter we are talking here about gesink who always used to be constsantly good, unlike a cunego you name

 

[roundabout]

Cunego fell today. Probably wouldn't have got a top-10 anyway.

 

[Bavarianrider]

What is wrong with him?

He is dutch!

 

[maltiv]

I said it already in Oman, he was too early in shape (I don't base this on winning the MTF but beating Cancellara, Pinotti, EBH in a time trial...) and has lost some of his form now. As long as he's able to take a break and actually rest a little he'll be fine for the TDF.

Another theory is that he has used the winter almost exclusively on training for his TT, in which case it's only natural that he struggles with those incredibly steep climbs. If that's the case then he should be a lot better in L-B-L.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Won in Emilia (twice) and Montreal, weaker fields, but still some of the names who were up there here and last sunday...

Still strikes me as off.

Similar types of finishes to Fleche. Gesink would of featured higher if it was ridden a bit differently. He's not a classics specialist but still can excel in a race like Fleche.

 

[Cobblestoned]

What is wrong with him?

He is dutch!

A stunning blonde, a nun, a Dutchman and a German are sitting in a train compartment .
The train enters a tunnel and you can suddenly hear a slap.
You can see the Dutch with a red cheek when the train moves out of the tunnel.

The blonde thinks: Well, he probably wanted to grab me, but has touched the nun and she slapped him.

The nun thinks: He probably grabbed the blonde's laundry and she slapped him.

Dutch thinks: How rude...the German grabs the blonde and I'm getting slapped.

The German smiles and thinks: Hopefully the next tunnel will come soon - then I will slap the Dutchman again.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

not bag cobblestoned

I think he screwed his schedule up a bit. I'm not buying the he trained on tt too much, as it was more of a position change. I think it is more of a case that he wanted to be good in the first race (for personal reasons).
I suspect it has been a hard season for gesink. Motivation and personal issues have apparently affected him.

I assume after LBL he will be having a bit of a break and return for the pre-tour races in better form.

 

[Polka Dot]

Would have loved to see Cuddles and Phil the destroyer on the Huy today. As an Australian it's tough to say, but Phil would have chewed him up and spat him out with that attack!

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Would have loved to see Cuddles and Phil the destroyer on the Huy today. As an Australian it's tough to say, but Phil would have chewed him up and spat him out with that attack!

yeah no one was beating gilbert.
Maybe had some guys gone earlier on the climb.

 

[Jamsque]

Inconsistency remains his largest weakness, which is not all that unusual for a rider of his age. He's shown flashes of being a world-class climber, and this year even flashes of being a world class ITT rider, but he seldom seems to perform to his full potential.

 

[theyoungest]

Inconsistency remains his largest weakness, which is not all that unusual for a rider of his age. He's shown flashes of being a world-class climber, and this year even flashes of being a world class ITT rider, but he seldom seems to perform to his full potential.

Lol. If anything, consistency is his greatest strength. When did you last see him fail completely? Even when not feeling so great (like yesterday) he gets 15th or thereabouts. In his age group, no one else can do that. He just doesn't manage to really peak for the big races.

Havetts, why did you start this thread anyway? Can we merge this with the legendary "Is Gesink soft?"-thread?

edit: and now the Telegraaf mentions that Gesink didn't touch his bike for a while after the Tirreno, and only started training again a week before Pais Vasco. In that light, his current results aren't too bad.

 

[wirral]

Still sixth in this season's world rankings.