What's wrong with Steegmans?

[issoisso]

Seriously, what the hell is wrong with this guy? His performances dropped off a cliff ever since he went to Katusha.

 

[The Hitch]

I thought he was back with a very impressive top speed (though very poor positioning), here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yA2OyxD3nhc (see 3.17)

 

[theyoungest]

I thought he did a great leadout which won Boonen the race in Gent-Wevelgem? And he won that other race... is it Nokere Koerse? I also remember him doing leadouts for Boonen in Qatar.

Not exactly the best results, but last year he was out for a long time when he got literally blown off the road by a whirlwind in the Paris-Nice prologue, and this year he crashed in the Tour and was out for some time.

 

[El Pistolero]

Body of a champion

Not the mind of a champion.

His words.

 

[greenedge]

Hopefully next year he can have a resurgence winning some races ( but i doubt they will be GT stages ). He shall be instrumental in helping Boonen and Ciolek though.

 

[B_Ugli]

I quite rate Steegmans also and concur with what others have said.

The thing is that going from being super domestique to a classics contender is sometimes one step to far for some riders and if it doesnt gel in the new team where they are meant to assume that role then they are somewhat in the wilderness. Pozzato is another ex Boonen domestique who fell into that trap.

I also reckon that what some teams promise to riders in contract negotiations they cant always deliver on. I bet this is frustrating if you are gearing yourself up for a classics campaign and the strongest team members are down in Murcia preparing for the Grand Tours instead of on the grit and mud of Northern Europe.

There is also illness and injury which happens to everyone at some point.

Despite what you may think of Lefevre he does have the knack of getting the best out of certain riders.

 

[canyonball]

There is also illness and injury which happens to everyone at some point.

I was under the impression that while at Katusha he was sidelined for some time because of sciatica. Although that was a while ago and I don't know what effect it still has.

 

[orangerider]

He's fast enough, just misjudges the line. Still remember the Tour stage where he lead out Boonen but ended up whooping him to take the stage.

 

[Stingray34]

This happened to him

The poor guy. Land a peach, ride like one.

 

[Kvinto]

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/10973/Gert-Steegmans-looking-for-his-best-season-ever.aspx

 

[roundabout]

Given the "resurrection" of Belgian teams there will be a lot of people riding for QS and Lotto who will have their "best" seasons ever

 

[Kvinto]

i'm more interested in young QS guys like Fenn and Trentin tbh and Steegmans says this:

“Fenn is strong and has been impressive with us when were training."

i hope this is true

 

[greenedge]

I was considering Fenn for my CQ but decided not to. However after this year adjusting to the pro peleton everyone will want him.

I hope Steegmans can still can consistently lead out for his leaders ( that will be his way of him getting back on track, at least for the moment )

 

[daveinzambia]

Seriously, what the hell is wrong with this guy? His performances dropped off a cliff ever since he went to Katusha.

Read McEwans book recently and he talked about Steegmans a bit. Basically seemed to make out that he had fantastic power but really did not have the brain required to make the most of that. As his leadout man Robbie would constantly be telling him where and when to go and he was fantastic but on his own just did not quite seem to click.

Also cannot have helped him that he barely raced for Katusha because he refused to sign an anti doping policy.

 

[laziali]

Rode with Steggles the other day. He's cool. Gonna be a good season for him.