who are the most overrated riders in the peloton in your opinion?

[McLovin]

Rogers, with all that Cormet de Roselend talk, when he suposed to be in yellow at Tignes.

 

[theyoungest]

He's a talented rider, obviously, but he probably wouldn't even have made the podium in the 2009 Vuelta if he'd managed to stay on his bike. I don't think he has improved much since then.

Based on... what? It's fine if you don't like the guy, but don't try to find arguments for a sentiment.

 

[Spine Concept]

Second attempt at the Tour.

He's a talented rider, obviously, but he probably wouldn't even have made the podium in the 2009 Vuelta if he'd managed to stay on his bike. I don't think he has improved much since then.

I only take issue with the notion that he's the number one favorite for that 3rd podium spot, as many seem to believe. I'm not saying it's impossible.

Let's try and not be a consummate ignorant mkay? Gesink didn't make it past stage 5 of the Tour in 09 due to a fall, which is why he later contested the Vuelta. Thus, it hardly counts as an attempt at the tour now does it?
As fas as the Vuelta goes, I will not say he would have made the podium no doubt, because anything could have happened in that final ITT. However, he was very strong indeed in that Vuelta, so it wouldn't have been a surprise if he held on for that podium spot. If the numbers Timmy mentioned earlier are true than it would be even more likely that he would have held on.
As far as that last step on the podium in the tour goes, there are many candidates for that spot. It comes down to subjectivity, many people fancy Gesink for that spot. You obviously have a different opinion, which you are entitled to. Is that so hard for you to comprehend?

 

[Parrulo]

Nibali isn't overrated, he is an over achiever.

why is he an over achiever? this bring me back to the days when people were saying that kreuziger was much more talented then nibbles.

 

[theyoungest]

why is he an over achiever? this bring me back to the days when people were saying that kreuziger was much more talented then nibbles.

I wouldn't say he's an overachiever, he's someone who has cleverly assessed his own possibilities. The guy has already won a GT, plus podiumed in two. Whereas if he'd stuck to doing the Tour he probably would have reached the bottom half of the top-10 a few times more.

 

[Spine Concept]

I wouldn't say he's an overachiever, he's someone who has cleverly assessed his own possibilities. The guy has already won a GT, plus podiumed in two. Whereas if he'd stuck to doing the Tour he probably would have reached the bottom half of the top-10 a few times more.

Agreed. Even though Gesink is more likely to finish in the top half of the top 10 in the Tour maybe he ought to take the Nibali route. He'd have a much more impressive palmares by the end of his career. The tour isn't going anywhere, he could always contest it at some later point in time, which I'm certain Nibali will do as well. Nibbs has done well for himself in that regard, smart guy.

 

[The Hitch]

I wouldn't say he's an overachiever, he's someone who has cleverly assessed his own possibilities. The guy has already won a GT, plus podiumed in two. Whereas if he'd stuck to doing the Tour he probably would have reached the bottom half of the top-10 a few times more.

Isnt that part of the game though? You often defend the ttt and the argument goes that if riders are stupid enough to go to **** teams they deserve to lose time.

Well if riders capable of winning gts go to the Tour every year and dont have a gt, then surely thats just the same.

Nibbles went to the Giro and the Vuelta. This year same. He has great results. Good for him. CHapeau.

Besides he finished 7th in the last Tour he rode and in that he would have been 6th without a ttt.

The guy has more talent than for example VDB who finished 5th so he definately could have made top 5 last year.

 

[jilbiker]

Andy is overated

Andy reminds me of Ullrich, all talent and no discipline. In any sport, it is NOT talent that makes great champions its whats between the ears (brains). Thinking out out tough situations, planning, strategy, long hours of practice are 70% of the job, talent is minor. Ask Woods, Federer, Agassi etc. Ullrich never fufilled his potential because while Lance was in the mountains in Christmas training, he was having a fine German Beer..chuckle.

Andy's chain falling down, he continues to talk about it, tells me he ain't learned nothing. Yes, I would attack without hesitation, AC had nothing to apologize about, part of competition. I do not see Formular race drivers stop of wait from another driver when his car has a fault??? Your engineers should have fixed it. I don't see Tyson Gay waiting for Bolt if he has a stomach cramp when running or his running shoes breaks up.

So much noise about the Leopard Trek team. Really?? they ain't won anything this year! Noticed that? Count out Cancellera's wins, he can win if his team was a pack of ducks, which 1 week stage event have they won? Because they are weak in strategy. Again the brains part, so much talent, no much in the planning area.

On brains and mental toughness, AC wins hands down. Andy is a very good rider, he isn't a great rider. Agassi when he first started had all the talent, he could flick the ball, spin the ball and do fun and amazing things in court, yet he won nothing and he trained when he felt like. then he got a new coach, wake up 4am and run miles up the mountain, train for days, got focused and started winning. Seen Jordan in court? He takes no prisoners, he will NOT wait for you if your chain fell off.

 

[theyoungest]

The guy has more talent than for example VDB who finished 5th so he definately could have made top 5 last year.

Why are you so certain about that?

 

[Parrulo]

I wouldn't say he's an overachiever, he's someone who has cleverly assessed his own possibilities. The guy has already won a GT, plus podiumed in two. Whereas if he'd stuck to doing the Tour he probably would have reached the bottom half of the top-10 a few times more.

exactly he is smart. he is making the best he can out of his professional career and no1 can blame him for that. in the future i could see nibali with a vuelta and a giro and maybe a GdL and a M-SR podium. while some1 like VdB2 will prolly have a few top 10's at the tour(something that nibali can easily achieve i would say) and nothing else to his name. and lets not forget that nibali is also one of the few GT contenders who has a clearly visible progression over the past 3 or 4 years, and by this i don't mean indications of getting better i mean getting better and better results each year.

well this is just my opinion and wouldn't surprise me if some1 like D_T or ryo showed up with the usual "he can't climb, he can't time trial and he can't descend as good as people say he can" stuff

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

why is he an over achiever? this bring me back to the days when people were saying that kreuziger was much more talented then nibbles.

What I mean is, although Nibbles is very talented rider, there are riders more so, but achieved less.

Considering the abilities and what I have seen from him, he has more less got the best results from himself.

The guy has more talent than for example VDB who finished 5th so he definately could have made top 5 last year.

I'm not so sure.
On a whole tho he appears to be a much more talented rider. In the climbs I guess I'd give the nod to VdB. But yes, cycling is more then climbing.

well this is just my opinion and wouldn't surprise me if some1 like D_T or ryo showed up with the usual "he can't climb, he can't time trial and he can't descend as good as people say he can" stuff

I think the thing with nibbles is that he really isn't a natural climber, or at least non a top tier climber. Yet he really grinds results out. He pushes himself. He appears to be riding with maturity as well, finding his own rhythm. Zoncolan performance was impressive.

And yeah he can hold his own in the itt.

As for not descending, well at least he gives it a go and often gets gaps. I hardly see how he could be an overrated descender when the so called good ones don't show themselves.

 

[Cimber]

Oh btw, the spartacus bike is here:

http://yfrog.com/klbmdnj
http://yfrog.com/klyvhtj
http://yfrog.com/ki4j4jj

Tbh I both dig and loath it at the same time (0: Guess it wont be long til he rides with a look-a-like gladiator helmet

 

[No_Balls]

Overrated
Anything that is given too much credit and hype.See:

Ford Mustang
Notorious B.I.G.
Vince Carter
Dragonball Z
Myspace
Andy Schleck

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=overrated

 

[Franklin]

I don't actually think very many posters here overstimate Hushovd so much. Most realize that he belongs in the category of Pozzato, Flecha, Ballan instead of the super-elite Gilbert, Boonen, Cancellara Classics group. Impressive company, nonetheless

I beg your pardon????

Thor's Palmares isn't as good as Tom's, but the guys you bunch him up with certainly haven't reached Thor's Palmares (not even Ballan).

 

[Franklin]

Devolder, Evans, Gesink, Sastre, Wiggins, Hushovd...

I don't see how you can say Tom Boonen is overrated if you look at his palmares. Just because he is over his top, doesn't mean he didn't deserve the respect and hype we all know him for/from. I haven't seen Eddy Merckx win anything lately. Doesn't mean he's overrated.

This is not making any sense at all if you say Palmares is the indicator.

Sastre actually won the biggest race and Hushovd has an incredible Palmares (just not Tom's).

Wigins, Evans, Gesink: Ok, dislike for nationalistic hype goes a long way to understand your sentiment. I'd say it's a bit unfair, but sure, they are overhyped and thus overrated.

Devolder is a special case... he won the Ronde twice, which is amazing. But that's about it. He's not just overrated, he's a strange one.

 

[Franklin]

And to stir up some controversy:

Underrated: Thomas Dekker!

Doped or not, the guy won a lot and his steady progress in the classics was clear.

If he hadn't been popped I would have ranked him above Gesink as GT hopeful.

 

[theyoungest]

And to stir up some controversy:

Underrated: Thomas Dekker!

Doped or not, the guy won a lot and his steady progress in the classics was clear.

If he hadn't been popped I would have ranked him above Gesink as GT hopeful.

Absolutely not, he never was and never will be better in the high mountains.

 

[No_Balls]

I wonder how to define "overrated". For example, someone mentioned Fabian Wegmann.

If you rate a guy, which has won zero despite building a season upon one race, as on par with a Sixth GT-champion, then he not only is overrated, but brings a new dimension to the word.

But if "overrated" means, that the winning potential credited to a rider exceeds his true potential by far, than I cannot understand why Andy Schleck so often is mentioned here.

You can´t? And yet you has the guts to compare a proven champ visavi an "almost-could-be" rider. That is the overrating in itself.

He can win the Tour without a doubt.

Yeah, we have heard that year after year. When will he actually deliver? You can´t play the forever-young-card always given that he is not next-big-thing anymore.

I can't see AC being a better climber anymore. Of course, he is a better ITT-rider. But as we have seen in last year's Tour, this years's Giro and the Spanish championships, AC seems unable to reach his unnatural ITT strength of 2009 again. So Andy has a real chance to win this years Tour on the road.

What part of "not-being-in-top-shape" doesn´t you understand? Take the final time-trial for example. Is that a Contador in full flight for you? He had a battle for seconds with the very mediocre Andy Schleck, which says it all really.

"Unnatural ITT-strenght is missing"? Do you only watch in July when Schleck is competing"? He won the mountain time-trial at the Giro. Was third in the last time-trial after celebrating the overall for the last kilometer or so and the Spanish National race was the first race after resting from the Giro.

But of course you had to compare the races they have together for over a year back. Schleck obvisously hides from competition until July.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Absolutely not, he never was and never will be better in the high mountains.

indeed.

dekker was the better all rounder.

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

Anyway He was well on his way to a podium at the 09' vuelta.
ASIF he was going to lose time on that last mountain stage. After that he only needed to a ITT about 25 seconds better (considering he had a hole in his knee this shouldn't be an issue) to get podium.

I stand corrected. I didn't realize it was that close... 25 seconds. Sanchez struggled to find his form, though.

 

[ergmonkey]

I beg your pardon????

Thor's Palmares isn't as good as Tom's, but the guys you bunch him up with certainly haven't reached Thor's Palmares (not even Ballan).

My comment was about the Classics. Among Hushovd, Ballan, Flecha, and Pozzato, only Ballan has won more than one major Classic (i.e. a monument or Worlds). They all have comparable numbers of semi-classic wins and podiums in major races (Classics, semi-classics, and former World Cups), too.

Hushovd victories: Worlds '09; Gent-Wevelgem '06; Het Nieuwsblad '09
Hushovd podiums: Roubaix '09 and '10; Milan-San Remo '05 and '09; Het Nieuwsblad '08

Pozzato victories: Tirreno-Adriatico GC '03; Cyclassics Hamburg '05; Milan-San-Remo '06; Het Nieuwsblad '07; E3 Prijs '09;
Pozzato podiums: Cyclassics Hamburg '06; Milan-San Remo '08; Roubaix '09

Ballan victories: Flanders '07; GC 3 Days of DePanne '07; Cyclassics Hamburg '07; Worlds '08
Ballan podiums: Roubaix '06 and '08; E3 Prijs '06

Flecha victories: Meisterschaft von Zurich '04; Het Nieuwsblad '10
Flecha podiums: Gent-Wevelgem '05; Roubaix '05 and '07 and '10; Het Nieuwsblad '07 and '09 and '11; Flanders '08; Brabantse Pijl '08; E3 Prijs '10

 

[Oreknan]

What part of "not-being-in-top-shape" doesn´t you understand? Take the final time-trial for example. Is that a Contador in full flight for you? He had a battle for seconds with the very mediocre Andy Schleck, which says it all really.

contador says he sleep bad the day of TT

the thing of contador "not being in top shape" is not a fact, im not sure if it is a real true, can be true or not, i see the two possiblities here. but a lot of people take it like a fact and giving no credibility to andy schleck performance in mountains, for sure thats the way for underrating a rider not overrating
contador is supossed that he peaked early or late?

 

[No_Balls]

contador says he sleep bad the day of TT

Don´t really belive that has anything to do with it. Indurain could perform with a very high fever back in -93. Alberto seldom admits when he is going trough bad moments and is out of shape (could be that he won´t display weakness).

the thing of contador "not being in top shape" is not a fact, im not sure if it is a real true, can be true or not, i see the two possiblities here

Not that he has said it directly and openly. But you can see that he failed to shake off, at some points, competitors like Menchov who he blew out of sight at the Giro, he also did not won a single stage, which isn´t normal really.

but a lot of people take it like a fact and giving no credibility to andy schleck performance in mountains, for sure thats the way for underrating a rider not overrating contador is supossed that he peaked early or late?

Yes, and for the very same reason, the Schlecks fanboys take Tour de France 2010 as role-model for Albertos very best, to prove that Andy is "closer" in terms of competitiveness.

Andy did a good Tour in 2010. But it was very clear to me Alberto wasn´t like in 2009 and for that matter, this years Giro.

 

[Franklin]

Absolutely not, he never was and never will be better in the high mountains.

You are indeed a young man, so I guess it's no problem that you confuse GT with climbing

This strange myth is being disproven year after year, but somehow some people are still starstruck by the dramatic television images of climbing riders. But even recently both Denis and Alberto have shown time upon time that the key is the TT.

A GT is won in the TT.

Dekker was so much better at that discipline that he had indeed a much bigger chance to win a GT than RG.

Unless RG does a top ten TT in a GT he will never win one. Simply because he can't shake those who are better at the TT. This is why I hope Kruijswijk will deliver as I truly don't see how RG is ever going to win a GT unless he dramatically improves.



you know what is so sad... that even on this forum simple facts are always being snowed under by emotions. It's not a coincidence that as a neopro AC first shone in TT's. But people only see him as the uber-climber. he is that of course, but it's based on a solid TT.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

You are indeed a young man, so I guess it's no problem that you confuse GT with climbing This strange myth is being disproven year after year, but somehow some people are still starstruck by the dramatic television images of climbing riders. But even recently both Denis and Alberto have shown time upon time that the key is the TT.

A GT is won in the TT.

Dekker was so much better at that discipline that he had indeed a much bigger chance to win a GT than RG.

unless he rode a ITT @ 70km p/hr i doubt that.