This is a very interesting topic although one can probably not really compare riders from different genders, eras and disciplines within the sport. Interesting to note though is that Robbie Hunter has apparently labelled Alan van Heerden ( The Idol) as the best cyclist this country has ever produced.
True, but then again he has won 5 stage races in succession ( if we exclude the Giro) and in the process beat many of the proven top riders in the world. I wonder if any rider in history has ever won 5 week long stage races at WT or Pro level in succession.
My list of top Grand Tour GC contenders on current form:
Tier one: Roglic, Bernal, Pogacar
Big gap.
Tier two: Thomas, Carapaz, Yates x 2
Tier 3: Landa, Almeida, Evenpoel, Porte,
New kid on the block : Vingegaard.
Although I do not doubt Jeroen's assesssment of Pogacar's mental qualities and ability to recover it does not proof much unless it is directly compared to those of his main competitors ( top 10 in GC for example) as measured at the same time.
I will just enjoy cycling for what it is.
Taking England's history in international football tournaments into consideration it will be a miracle if they win regardless of when the match is played.
Lol, I am sort of morally obliged to support England even if the Liverpool captain will probably only be on the bench and I cannot stand the Everton goalkeeper.
To be fair to Qhubeka they were a bit unlucky with Cavendish. He started of well and win 4 stages in the TdF during 2016 and the team must also take credit for allowing him to combine his road and track program in 2016. It enabled him to win an Olympic silver medal on the track during that year.
During 2017 he bacame ill and from then on things went backwards ( Sagan incident, crashes etc.)
Ben was not too bad for Qhubeka and won stages in the Tour of Alps (I think) and also in the Giro. He has improved even more since he left them though, like you pointed out.
Meintjes was a total flop at Qhubeka. I have no idea why.
The current Qhubeka team does not have enough quality outside Nizzolo and maybe Campenaers. I have a lot of respect for Doug Rider though, hopefully the new sponsorship deal works out and they can strenghten their team.
Quickstep is a remarkable team with fantastic riders and management. To see a superstar world champion riding himself into the ground for a teammate in this era where we get so many prima donnas is refreshing to see.
haha... My best ever Cape Town Cycle Tour time was achieved on a slightly too large Reynolds 753 steel framed Lejeune bike with a Shimano 600 groupset. I also drank quite a lot more beer and have never heard of or attempted periodisation back then.
I must admit the course was a bit shorter then.
Interesting that the 5 000 m world record for road track running has hardly improved at all over the last 20 years, while the records for the 10 000 m and the marathon improved by repectively 2 and 3 %. In road cycling the improvements appear to be up to 3x more.
I know all about apples and pears and that we cannot compare road cycling to track and road running for a zillion reasons but such big differences between the improvements will make people suspicious.
Bernal is obviously still their main rider around which they should build their squad , Sosa blows hot and cold while Hart must still proof whether he just got lucky last year due to a weak field.
I think the question is whether it is worthwhile to pay such a big salary to a ageing rider who has a tendency to crash and therefore put his team under huge pressure. If they offer him a reduced contract he will most likely leave.
If he can stay upright he is imo together with Bernal, Pogacar and Roglic part of the tier 1 group of grand tour gc riders in the world.
But he does not stay upright.
Yes I think Pidcock is still going to do the Olympics mtb but it is possible (not ideal) to do both as he will not be targetting the GC.
Re the freshening up of the squad I think they need a genuine GC contender to replace Gee... a younger rider who can also time trial... sort of a Almeida type for example.
I think Ineos will manage Bernal very carefully. Their first prioroty would be to get his back issue fully sorted. He also had Covid and we do not know how it affected him.
If I was Brailsford I would make Yates the Vuelta team leader and reward Martinez by making him the Co- leader ( Co leader as in Co Pilot, therefore not equal to Yates). I will also take Pidcock to gain experience and maybe go for a stage.
Ineos needs to freshen their team up before next season ... not sure whether they must continue with Geraint when his contract expires at the end of the year. They also need a time trialist to take over from Dennis... apparantly they are chasing his fellow Aussie Luke Plapp.
Today was a bit of a bad day for Quickstep as they decided not to chase probably in the hope that Alaphilipe could pull of a win. I guess it was always a long shot as he (AP) has already burned so many matches either attacking or working for Cav that he must be on his last legs. Tomorrow QS will most likely do whatever it takes to get Mark in the sprint.
The only thing a person can learn from Ant is that whenever he makes a prediction it is a dead certainty that it will NOT happen.
I take Simon more serious as he has at least serious credibility as a successful ex pro rider.
