Frosty Posted May 20, 2017 Posted May 20, 2017 Did I hear right? Tommy D is the first non-Italian to win in Oropa.
Frosty Posted May 20, 2017 Posted May 20, 2017 http://www.velonews.com/2017/05/giro-ditalia/van-garderen-maybe-not-grand-tour-rider_438724 Tejay van Garderen said he is trying to get his career back on the rails after struggling through grand tours. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com FORLI, Italy (VN) — Tejay van Garderen is at a career crossroads.Following three punishing stages that saw him plummet out of contention at the Giro d’Italia, the BMC Racing rider is left wondering what his future holds.Van Garderen came into his Giro debut with high hopes of getting his career back on track. BMC was supporting him without piling on the pressure that comes with the Tour de France and everyone was cautiously optimistic that a podium finish could be in the cards. Three disappointing stages in a row with major time losses — he started Thursday’s 12th stage in 35th at 27:25 back — saw van Garderen fade out of the GC frame. After fifth-place finishes at the 2012 and 2014 Tours de France, van Garderen was once touted as America’s next grand tour champion. At 28, after abandoning three of his past four grand tours, he admits he’s struggling to find his footing in the peloton.In a heartfelt interview, van Garderen sat on the steps of the BMC Racing bus before the stage 12 start to speak to VeloNews. Here’s what he said about this Giro and his future:VN: Things haven’t gone as you expected. How do you assess your situation now?Tejay van Garderen: I definitely had high hopes coming into this event, and this is not how I envisioned my Giro going. I don’t really know what else to say. VN: Are you suffering from an illness or any physical problem?TVG: I don’t really want to make excuses. Every time I try to make an explanation, everyone says, oh, he’s just making more excuses. It’s a lose-lose situation; if I try to give an explanation, then it’s an excuse, and if I don’t, then people don’t accept that, either. Right now, my body is just kind of failing. I don’t know why — I did feel a little bit of a heat stroke on the day before Blockhaus, but I was able to dump some water over my head. I ate and drank, and I felt like I dodged a bullet. Since then, I feel like I can’t really get into the red. That’s the only explanation I can come up with. I don’t know …VN: You seemed like you were on track in your approach to the Giro.TVG: I feel like I put in a perfect month of training. I feel like I did everything right. I wasn’t doing anything stupid or experimental — I was keeping everything simple. And Romandie was good. I felt like I showed the legs were good there. I was up there on the summit finish and the time trial, I had that small crash in the prologue, but even with the crash, I wasn’t that far behind … [pauses] … It’s really confusing, frustrating. I know what people are probably saying about me — I don’t even look at cycling websites anymore, and I deleted my social media accounts — I know what people are saying. Every time I want to prove them wrong … I don’t know why it’s not working.VN: It must be frustrating because you’ve shown in the past you could be at the top level.TVG: Sometimes I tell myself, maybe I am not a grand tour rider. That doesn’t mean I am not a good rider. But other times I look at who’s up there, and wait a minute, I’ve beaten these guys before — I’ve beaten them just last week. I should be up there. Maybe I am not up there at the level of [Nairo] Quintana or [Chris] Froome, but I could be up there. For some reason, sometimes my legs … I don’t know.VN: We know Max Sciandri spoke with you; what is he telling you to get through this Giro?TVG: He’s trying to keep the morale up. Keep the team morale high. Reassess, try to use these couple of days to recover and get my body feeling like itself again, and then take any opportunity I can. Right now, I need to get my career back on track. In order to do that, you need to seize any opportunity that comes your way.VN: You lost more time on Wednesday. What was happening there?TVG: It was a hard, hard day. I was suffering to stay on the wheel. At the time, it only takes a split second, maybe we should just, instead of digging the hole deeper, let’s save it for a breakaway. And you can justify it in your mind at the time. Looking back, I don’t know if it would have been better to fight and stay there, or a good idea and save the legs and go for a breakaway. Hopefully I can get in one and have a good showing. And make that decision worthwhile.VN: What’s next after this Giro?TVG: I just want to get my career back on track. I don’t know what I’ll do after the Giro. But any race I go to, see it as an opportunity to do that.
Thor Buttox Posted May 20, 2017 Posted May 20, 2017 Gooooooo, Tommy D! Maybe I finally called one right... What a day's racing!
Pure Savage Posted May 20, 2017 Posted May 20, 2017 There is nothing better in the world to watch a light climber getting time put into him on a climb!!! When he put his hands in that TT position there may have been a fizzle in my pants!! The mental strength not to panic and to just ride to your power is amazing!
Bub Marley Posted May 20, 2017 Posted May 20, 2017 The funniest part of every stage now is when the commentators are screaming Van Garderen dropped again. Almost like it's a surprise. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Pure Savage Posted May 20, 2017 Posted May 20, 2017 The funniest part of every stage now is when the commentators are screaming Van Garderen dropped again. Almost like it's a surprise. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ProOr when they say, this is where nairo will gain time on tom, then at the end of the stage they just gasping for air.
GrumpyOldGuy Posted May 20, 2017 Posted May 20, 2017 That was an impressive win by Tom, all be it a perfect incline for him, it was still a very good show of ability. Quintana will be seeing the Giro slipping away, getting shelled today wasn't a great sign and the others will be taking notes. Jakarin did well, up 5 places is no mean feat in this field, but Nibali looks cooked, I think he will drop a few more places next week.
'Dale Posted May 20, 2017 Author Posted May 20, 2017 Big blow by Tommy D to other GC favourites today.The final time trialling effort suited him well. This makes for a thrilling run to Milan. Quintana will be relying on the high altitude mountain passes in week 3 to drop the maglia rosa.
Patchelicious Posted May 20, 2017 Posted May 20, 2017 Forget the man, forget the speculation, forget the circumstance. Pantani was a rider before I knew about the Giro. But think about the impact he had on a nation. Riding up Stelvio last year, we saw this..... the Giro wasn't even going up Stelvio that year. Trying to talk about this little man to locals only resulted in folklore type worship, Bormio hotel owners spoke about him like supernova. https://instagram.com/p/BFy68cRtf18/ Finding this message painted on a wall at 2700m up a climb that the Giro wasn't even seeing shows true national pride. This picture I took might not seem like the best to those who haven't been to Italy, but being there in isolation it will always be the most eerie that I have ever taken!
Gen Posted May 21, 2017 Posted May 21, 2017 Forget the man, forget the speculation, forget the circumstance. https://youtu.be/IWmClFQNwgY Pantani was a rider before I knew about the Giro. But think about the impact he had on a nation. Riding up Stelvio last year, we saw this..... the Giro wasn't even going up Stelvio that year. Trying to talk about this little man to locals only resulted in folklore type worship, Bormio hotel owners spoke about him like supernova. https://instagram.com/p/BFy68cRtf18/ Finding this message painted on a wall at 2700m up a climb that the Giro wasn't even seeing shows true national pride. This picture I took might not seem like the best to those who haven't been to Italy, but being there in isolation it will always be the most eerie that I have ever taken!Yeah. He didn't celebrate that victory because he didn't know that he had won. ... a fighter for sure.. and a icon to the Italian nation. The Italians sure are passionate about their sporting heroes, will be a long time before they adore another rider like they did him. Few cyclist receive that kind of adoration. Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
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