Widar Wonderkid

[Logic-is-your-friend]

That said though, I'm not totally down and out on Nordhagen, given his (allegedly) absurd VO2 max. Maybe something hasn't quite clicked with his training or nutrition or whatever. I'll wait for another couple of years, who knows how his body develops.

He's been at Visma for years. I think it's safe to assume if any of these guys has been close to maxing out their current potential, it's going to be Nordhagen. Of the favorites in Avenir, he was the oldest. Still a very good result and he's "in the general conversation", just not the "best climber among his peers" conversation as he has been heralded for years. You never know how these guys develop (same story for guys like August) so it's safer to wait and see. But for the time being expectations should be lowered. Del Toro is only 14 months older and just podiumed the Giro, Aysuso was half a year younger when he podiumed the Vuelta, Uijtdebroeks was his age when he finished top 10 in Vuelta, Suisse, Romandie, Catalunya...

 

[ingsve]

He's been at Visma for years. I think it's safe to assume if any of these guys has been close to maxing out their current potential, it's going to be Nordhagen. Of the favorites in Avenir, he was the oldest. Still a very good result and he's "in the general conversation", just not the "best climber among his peers" conversation as he has been heralded for years. You never know how these guys develop (same story for guys like August) so it's safer to wait and see. But for the time being expectations should be lowered. Del Toro is only 14 months older and just podiumed the Giro, Aysuso was half a year younger when he podiumed the Vuelta, Uijtdebroeks was his age when he finished top 10 in Vuelta, Suisse, Romandie, Catalunya...

Where did that perception of him being generational even come from? That one stage in Eroica juniors? Or just him being a skier or something?

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Where did that perception of him being generational even come from? That one stage in Eroica juniors? Or just him being a skier or something?

I don't know where it came from, i'm going mainly on impressions of other people i didn't follow him closely (still don't tbh) before he became U23. I'm also not sure whether it was just about his climbing chops or as a (GC) rider in general.

 

[ingsve]

I don't know where it came from, i'm going mainly on impressions of other people i didn't follow him closely (still don't tbh) before he became U23. I'm also not sure whether it was just about his climbing chops or as a (GC) rider in general.

Possibly also hype because Visma was targeting him already before he became a junior.

 

[Brullnux]

He's been at Visma for years. I think it's safe to assume if any of these guys has been close to maxing out their current potential, it's going to be Nordhagen. Of the favorites in Avenir, he was the oldest. Still a very good result and he's "in the general conversation", just not the "best climber among his peers" conversation as he has been heralded for years. You never know how these guys develop (same story for guys like August) so it's safer to wait and see. But for the time being expectations should be lowered. Del Toro is only 14 months older and just podiumed the Giro, Aysuso was half a year younger when he podiumed the Vuelta, Uijtdebroeks was his age when he finished top 10 in Vuelta, Suisse, Romandie, Catalunya...

No for sure, I agree. He's not in the future GT winner camp, not yet at least.

On a different note, I wonder if the hoarder teams (UAE, Red Bull, Visma) will start to lessen the load or expectations on younger riders to avoid burnout. Training and racing like a professional cyclist is a more ascetic lifestyle than that of, say, a footballer, and doing it from age 17/18 surely takes its toll. Obviously if you football style development set-ups it gets riders to their potential quicker, but it also probably sucks the joy out of life at an earlier point.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

No for sure, I agree. He's not in the future GT winner camp, not yet at least.

Well, there is a big difference between winning the TDF or the Giro/Vuelta and depending on opposition. For the moment he certainly seems close enough to be considered a potential future Vuelta winner for instance. But the same can be said for Widar and others. Carapaz, Yates, Hindley, Hart are all GT winners after all.