"Off the pace" performances of some TDF "stars"

[Big H*]

My wife says Quintana looks like one of those funny kiddy toys that you have to press on the stomach to make a squeek. I laugh when he just turn his head sideways to kiss the podium candy. Others have to bend down. At least he had a smile yesterday. Must be thinking of all the coke he will be able to buy in Columbia with his prize munny.

[Tumbleweed]

Most have had their hay day, bit sad to see given all the expectations, like Cadel in the groupetto. I don't think it really has to do with being clean, other factors like age mostly. Although look at Jens at 41!

 

“The flame that burns Twice as bright burns half as long.”

 

― Lao Tzu, Te Tao Ching

 

Is that where that line comes from? It was used well in Blade Runner.

Edited July 20, 2013 by Tumbleweed

[NOFX]

Today's stage is going to be hot, hot , hot..... Gotta love those mountain top finishes......

[deanbean]

I hate to see Cadel so tired. He had a good Giro. Maybe shouldn't have done the tour.

[kosmonooit]

Is that where that line comes from? It was used well in Blade Runner.

 

Yup I just found that out myself. Google is wonderful

[Christie]

Doing the Giro and TDF in the same year is hard - Contador tried it recently and it dit not work. Even when the peleton was full of epo, double wins or good performances in both were rare. I think age is against Cadel too - perhaps he is using he TDF for training, and will go hard at the Vuelta? Best for Cadel would have been not to do the TDF, but I think the sponsors were getting desperate, with the BMC trophy cabinet being so empty, compared to the superrstars on the team.

[Jaco-fiets]

Did he not initially wanted to skip the Giro to prepair for the tour but team management decided he should do both?

['Dale]

I reckon Froome-dawgs training around the Cradle is what has given him the edge

 

Like

[Vanstone]

Yeah - there was much hype about the huge battle expected between Cav and Sagan for the Green Jersey and at the end of the day Sagan walked it.

 

Yes I know Cav had a big get off in the opening stages but so too did Mr Sagan.

 

Mountainbikers handle falls much better by the looks of it then

[Dustbug]

With the cleaning up of the sport riders are not going to be able to recover as quickly and the heavier program riders with big build ups and too much hard racing ahead of a grand tour based on old training principles are going to suffer, organisers are going to have to spread these multi stage races a bit more, its nice to see a new generation of riders coming through who hopefully have not been exposed to the muck and dirt of the past and we will see true racing and tactics come into play as riders will need to plan multiday races and recover cleverly while racing. As riders get older they will naturally fall off the peak pace the odd one will be an exception so I think we can still expect to see some good racing from many of these slightly older riders for a few years to come but they are not going to be able to take on everything that comes their way as they will simply not maintain. Its a simple fact age equals longer recovery time between races. A little less racing prior to the tour would have done many of them a favour, they are going to have to decide with races and tours which ones they are racing and which ones they are supporting other team members in and using as training.

[GoLefty!!]

Am I the only one thinking that, after many years of these riders being up at the Yellow end of the TDF, that this year these TDF hopefuls are finding themselves t the middle/back of the pack because they are now riding clean:

 

Gesink

Evans

Schleck

Contador.........not the man he once was

There are many more.

 

Do you reckon it's because they are now just average riders because they are now riding clean? If not, what do you reckon the reason is?

 

I'm in two minds about it but I reckon it could be the first reason.

 

Then that makes Froomie super-human.

Ps I do believe Froomie is riding clean.

 

 

I figure most of them are tired after a tough Giro. Evans just did not recover well enough and at 36, he's clearly no Jens Voight.

 

Contador was probably tired as well and did not time his peaking well. He seems to peak around about the beginning f week three but t did not last long nough. Now he reckons he won't go for podium in the Vuelta either. Thats fatigue which would not be there if he on IT.

 

Schleck has always seems a fragile fickle rider. he had a bad first week and never recovered. He needs to be nursed everyday to get the best out of him.

 

 

then factor in that most of them are approaching the twilight of their careers. In the past, the clean rider career effectively came to an end by the time they reached 32/33 yrs of age, espcially a grand tour rider. Very few raced competitively beyond that. Sean Kelly was one such person, Jens Voight is another . Evans wasa top level mountainbiker before he started road cycling and is the only MTB'er to make a transition from MTB to GT winner that I know of. I rceal Christoph Dupoy and Miguel Martinez also make the switch but never won any GT's

Evans was flat beascially becase he is too old to race two GT's competitively back to back. He will not be able to compete against the younger riders in the GT's going forward.

Edited July 22, 2013 by GoLefty!!

[Tumbleweed]

Lefty, you mean Giro...

[javadude]

Good point GoLefty. Merckx won his last tour before he turned 30, Big Mig at 30, LeMond at 29 and Hinault at 30.

[Red Zone]

Cycling is a supremely physically demanding sport. When you are required to be trained to peak performance for a few key races each year, getting to that peak on time and staying on that peak when required is an imperfect science. Go a little too hard at the wrong time and fact injury or illness and then your form is gone. With hopefully a cleaner sport, it is more difficult to cope with the demands of training and racing and there will be more guys who just dont have form at the right time.

[GoLefty!!]

riders who hav emy suspicion turned up are the young guys who turned up in "that individual" 's shadow, appeared to be heading places and suddenly aren't heading anywhere. Thats smells like a doper with cold feet

[JGR]

riders who hav emy suspicion turned up are the young guys who turned up in "that individual" 's shadow, appeared to be heading places and suddenly aren't heading anywhere. Thats smells like a doper with cold feet

such as?