Who will be the next great French GC rider?

[Havetts]

The first one to dope.

Very bitter .

 

[jens_attacks]

The first one to dope.

do you mean this?

nah he's way too dead.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Even of those out there today, I don't think Mickaël Larpe is really a GC contender.

Neither is Aurélien Duval, but I don't really class diet suppressants in the same league of cheating as EPO. Said with a picture of Marta Bastianelli in my avatar...

 

[Microchip]

"Who will be the next great French GC rider?"

In my mind it's Voeckler...

Yes, Thomas Voeckler!

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I've changed my mind.

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot.

Current Junior World RR champ, double Junior World MTB champ, twice second in the Junior World TT champs, European U23 ITT champ, second in the European U23 RR, and just came top 10 in the women's CX worlds.

And she's 19.

 

[Esroh the Hoss]

You would also have difficulty coming up with a more French name than Nicolas Roche, unless you can find a rider called Pierre Baguette.

If people of Irish extraction born abroad start declaring for the land of their actual birth it would be a national disaster! Not only would we lose three quarters of our ProTour riders, we'd never have a decent football team again.

And Sam Bennett our young rider with most potential was born in Belgium.

 

[Hawkwood]

Am I right that Robert Millar had a son by a French wife, has he taken up cycling, if so he could he could be quite useful?

 

[Mambo95]

It is really amazing to think that the French haven't won their home race since 1985. For one entire generation of French people, they haven't had a rider capable of winning the Tour. I don't think that is going to end any time soon.

It's not nearly as bad a Britain's record at Wimbledon, by far the worst record of a nation at one of it's own sporting institutions. (At least Britain have a 'hope' though)

 

[craig1985]

I've changed my mind.

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot.

Current Junior World RR champ, double Junior World MTB champ, twice second in the Junior World TT champs, European U23 ITT champ, second in the European U23 RR, and just came top 10 in the women's CX worlds.

And she's 19.

I googled her straight away, sounds like she is pretty good across all disciplines, France's answer to Marianne Vos perhaps?

 

[The Hitch]

she is pretty

Agreed...............

 

[craig1985]

Agreed...............

I see what you did there

 

[leadville]

Next great French GC rider? Unfortunately i don't see it happen anytime soon.
Sicard could have a shot though.

 

[theyoungest]

I googled her straight away, sounds like she is pretty good across all disciplines, France's answer to Marianne Vos perhaps?

Marianne Vos was elite world champion on the road and 'cross at age 19, so not quite

But Ferrand-Prévot has the makings of a superstar, if you know what I mean.

 

[yetanothergreenworld]

In order to answer this question you first need to address the causes of the French drought; and that's a tough call. It's really not clear to me why French cycling experienced such a rapid drop-off after the 80s. All of the other traditional cycling powers have continued to produce big talent. The Dutch too have had a bit of a dry spell, but nothing like the French case. People whose memory of the sport goes back less than a decade often say that it's a result of cycling's "internationalization," but that's a bit silly. If Belgium, Spain and Italy -- hell, Switzerland and Luxembourg -- can still produce top riders, why can't France?

 

[Roland Rat]

Agreed...............

Is she the one on the left?

 

[The Hitch]

Is she the one on the left?

I dont know, but whatever the answer, it doesn't effect the validity of my statement

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I googled her straight away, sounds like she is pretty good across all disciplines, France's answer to Marianne Vos perhaps?

Perhaps. Vos is more Track+Cross+Road, while Pauline is MTB+Cross+Road, which makes me think that she may be more GC-oriented than Marianne (though apart from the Giro and the now sadly defunct Tour de l'Aude, Marianne could compete in any GC anyway), and less sprinty.

Marianne Vos was elite world champion on the road and 'cross at age 19, so not quite

But Ferrand-Prévot has the makings of a superstar, if you know what I mean.

Well, you can be somebody's answer to Marianne Vos without actually being as good as Marianne Vos (though saying "not as good as Marianne Vos" is not really a criticism since Marianne's probably the best active cyclist in the world right now).

As for superstar, I assume you mean in the "successful+marketable" sense, and I guess I agree.

Is she the one on the left?

Yea, that's Pauline on the left.