blackcat said:
I was talking a Basso if he had held his upward progression. Now Basso is what, 31? This is his peak. He should still be able to take it to Contador on the climbs imo. The only difficulty is the chrono. But Leepy Leipheimer won in 2008 Vuelta, if you subtract the bonifications.
Who wants to compare a 2008 Ricco and a 2008 Leepy to Contador? Hey? He is vulnerable.
Basso is a better tter than Leepy if he gets it back, and the program.
I realise you were talking about Basso if he had not faced Puerto and the ramifications. He'd definitely be better than he is now.
Levi in 2008 had a gun ITT at the Vuelta. Ricco was dominant in the Dolomites and Alps in the Giro, so too was Pellizotti and Sella. Contador is vulnerable, or to phrase this in another manner, he was vulnerable then. AC has improved and will gain more ground in future years, just like Basso would have.
I went over the time bonuses months back for both the 2008 Vuelta and 2007 Tour. Subtract them and Levi and Cadel, respectively would have been much closer, but Contador would still have won, but not by much.
Armstrong is 38. May as well be 48. Dont substitute StrongArm with Basso. He is not the benchmark for Basso. Basso can be a few levels above. Basso was below his potential in 2005, and was still a stronger climber then. Now Armstrong is too old.
Sounds like you think Lance won't be any better than his golden years. I;m in that boat. Better than this year, sure, by a smidgen, nothing more. Benchmarking should only be done on a personal basis, comparing to prior form. Basso from what I have read has a similar VO2max to Armstrong (low 80s), but that is it. He would have reached a higher level than Lance, alas, twas not meant to be. I could certainly see him at the Shack. How old is Basso? I thought he was 32 this year.
What Armstrong proved, is form is just a euphemism for medical program. You get your parameters right, then bingo, there is your form. Just once I would love a commentator to allude to this.
That last bit requires backbone and massive cojones. Men like this don't exist in cycling unless there names are Greg, Paul or David and they hail from a predominantly anglo-saxon nation. All men with the surname Sherwen are excluded by public consensus.
Yeah, but Schleck was prolly on something more. Nibali came to pay his dues, go for a high overall, and just bide his time. Better tter than Schleck.
And dont call Schleck by adding a suffix -let. Sounds like you are a cuckolded fanboi.
I am a fan of Andy Schleck. He is quality you can bank on. Nibali does have a better ITT. He was a surprise, a good one at that. He did very well. I'll be watching next season in greater detail.
Like craig1985, I doubt Basso could have pulled the double in 2006. That is stretching the imagination too far.