kyle21121 Posted August 4, 2017 Share Posted August 4, 2017 20 hours ago, mse326 said: Do you think Froome hangs it up when he isn't really a good shot at the TDF Yellow Jersey or does he transition to like the 2nd GC guy and race the Giro then and not the Tour? As others have mentioned it is certainly unlikely he would want to continue on as a second banana. I want to recommend the 30 for 30 on the 86' tour if you haven't seen it I believe it's called Taming the Badger it starts with Hinault winning the 85' TDF with the help of new addition Greg LeMond with a promise of him riding for LeMond in 86' to help him win the tour. Now LeMond won but Hinault also wanted to win. It's a fascinating watch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyle21121 Posted August 4, 2017 Share Posted August 4, 2017 7 hours ago, kempus said: Bardet has confirmed that he's racing the Vuelta. Another GC guy to throw into the mix. This could be the stongest GC field we've seen for a while. Also, Nieve has signed with Orica-Scott, who are assembling a very decent squad. That's awesome to see. I didn't think he would attempt this. Good on Orica-Scott for getting him. They certainly have a pretty solid team going forward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UKTexans Posted August 4, 2017 Share Posted August 4, 2017 12 minutes ago, kyle21121 said: As others have mentioned it is certainly unlikely he would want to continue on as a second banana. I want to recommend the 30 for 30 on the 86' tour if you haven't seen it I believe it's called Taming the Badger it starts with Hinault winning the 85' TDF with the help of new addition Greg LeMond with a promise of him riding for LeMond in 86' to help him win the tour. Now LeMond won but Hinault also wanted to win. It's a fascinating watch. That tour was ridiculous. La Vie Claire had 1st, 2nd, 4th, 7th, 12th and 23rd riders in the GC. 1st, 3rd, 8th and 10th in the KotM 1st and 3rd in the young riders 3rd and 4th in the sprint jersey. I can't think of a tour team more dominant in recent times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kempus Posted August 4, 2017 Author Share Posted August 4, 2017 I'll check out that 30 for 30. Haven't seen that one. Yeah, Froome, Bardet, Nibali, Aru and Dumoulin is a superb field. Just missing Porte and Quintana, really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kempus Posted August 4, 2017 Author Share Posted August 4, 2017 http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/froome-nibali-aru-bardet-contador-headline-vuelta-a-espana-provisional-start-list/ Provisional start list for the Vuelta. Dumoulin isnt racing, which I'm a bit surprised about. Other than that, it's an amazing field. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kempus Posted August 4, 2017 Author Share Posted August 4, 2017 There are some superb storylines for this Vuelta. Can Froome do the double and equally can anyone stop him? Can Bardet and Aru make it harder on Froome in the mountains? The Yates bros vs Jongels for the White jersey. Will Barguil attack as he did at the Tour or is he going to ride as more of a GC guy? Can Contador and more likely Nibali, rekindle some of the old form and challenge for the title? This is probably the best line up at a Grand tour other than The Tour De France, that I can rememeber. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UKTexans Posted August 4, 2017 Share Posted August 4, 2017 What I wonder is how the Yates brothers ride. I mean does one sacrifice for the other? Or do they go full Brownlee? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kempus Posted August 4, 2017 Author Share Posted August 4, 2017 11 minutes ago, texans_uk said: What I wonder is how the Yates brothers ride. I mean does one sacrifice for the other? Or do they go full Brownlee? Good question. I don't think we really know at this point. I guess whoever is feeling better will be the leader, but I would expect them to attack off eachother relentlessly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyle21121 Posted August 6, 2017 Share Posted August 6, 2017 On 2017-08-04 at 9:24 AM, kempus said: Good question. I don't think we really know at this point. I guess whoever is feeling better will be the leader, but I would expect them to attack off eachother relentlessly. Yea I imagine that'll be the case. Adam may be in better shape right now having not just done the tour. I'm surprised Dumoulin isn't in this but I can understand it. I don't think he's ever done two GTs in the same year or if he has I don't think he's finished them both. He wants to focus on the world championships and also Barguil has one final shot with Sunweb and he'll be gone and be the true leader on another team and Dumoulin can pick and choose what he wants to do next season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kempus Posted August 7, 2017 Author Share Posted August 7, 2017 Yeah, I expect Adam to be the fitter of the two. Dumoulin possibly looked at the GC line up and didn't fancy it. A World TT championship will be much easier to win for him. I don't think Barguil will be a true GC guy. I think he will race similar to the Tour De France. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UKTexans Posted August 7, 2017 Share Posted August 7, 2017 http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/40848355 Not a complete surprise, he's 34 and hasn't been truly competitive for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kempus Posted August 7, 2017 Author Share Posted August 7, 2017 5 hours ago, texans_uk said: http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/40848355 Not a complete surprise, he's 34 and hasn't been truly competitive for a while. Yeah, it's about time. Has been in steep decline over the past couple of years. Great career, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mse326 Posted August 7, 2017 Share Posted August 7, 2017 As someone new to paying attention where do some of the riders of today rank all time (a range would be fine) So like Froome, Contador, Nibali, Valverde and any others that are significant. And other than the obvious like Merckx, Hinault, and Indurain who are some of the other all time greats. If you feel like doing a top 5 or top 10 to help that would be great, but I don't know how difficult that is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UKTexans Posted August 7, 2017 Share Posted August 7, 2017 Cavendish = GOAT sprinter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kempus Posted August 8, 2017 Author Share Posted August 8, 2017 (edited) 8 hours ago, mse326 said: If you feel like doing a top 5 or top 10 to help that would be great, but I don't know how difficult that is. Yeah, thats very tough to do. Incredibly hard to compare eras, as it is in any sport. You also have the question of top 10 in what? GC rider, sprinter or classics guy? For GC, I would say Contador is a top 10 rider all time. Froome is poised to join the top 5, with a Tour-Vuelta double or another TDF. Nibali is in the top 15-20, or higher. Given that he has won all three Grand Tours. I'm not sure anyone else from the current crop are particularly note worthy. Quintana, perhaps, if he ever wins the Tour. For sprinters, as Tex said, Cav is the GOAT. Kittel and Greipel are two others who are arguably top 10, Kittle will probably be higher when he's done. For Classics, recently retired, Cancellara and Boonen are in the top 10 for wins. Cancellara was an unbelievable rider in his day, also winning 4 World TT titles. Tony Martin is another rider that you could argue is one of the GOAT TTers. Peter Sagan is also one of the all time greats of cycling. His all around skill set is fairly unmatched. So, Sagan, Cavendish and Froome are the all time greats from this generation of riders. With Contador and Cancellara very arguable, imo. Edited August 8, 2017 by kempus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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