2015 'PRO' cycling discussion

[spdntrxi]

Phinney in action

Thank you very much




More 80's greg maybe

[Powerful Pete]

Cool Shimano neutral service video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2XWtbNtNao

From several years ago, two Vittoria Servizio Corse videos... make me miss cycling back home in Italy...

Strade Bianche: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzYKpHr3Gto

Giro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rFb-seRhGE

[LouisN]

Wait till drones get the green light from the aerial control authorities to be able to film the sport events ...


Louis

[LeDuke]

http://53x12.com/do/show?page=indepth.view&id=160

[KWalker]

This one was more interesting, suggesting that both Porte and Landa have climbed faster than many dark years times: http://53x12.com/do/show?page=indepth.view&id=158

[tymon_tm]

love to read Ferrari's pieces. such an elegant reality check

[xnavalav8r]

Wait till drones get the green light from the aerial control authorities to be able to film the sport events ...


Louis

I was thinking this very same thing...

[djconnel]

WRT Landa: Astana was so clearly on a separate level in the Giro it rang the alarm bells, but they couldn't follow through with a stronger team in the Tour. The more rigorous testing in France or simply more competition?

[LeDuke]

I'm waiting to see who the other six Astana riders are. Their Giro team was, well, unbelievable. They had 6-7 dudes at the front of a <20 man lead group quite often.

[jooo]

Just because I disagree with your opinion does not give you the right to call me a retard troll etc etc.

It was just a meme, try being less uptight

I am pointing out Facts.

No you're not, you're giving your opinion.

What had JV Summeren won at Phinney's age? Kristoff? Terpstra? Sweet FA, in comparison. The kid is good, and he was only getting stronger when he was taken out in a pretty horrific accident. Every cycling fan should be glad to see him back, not just the yanks.

I'm happy that he's recovered from a injury and back racing. That's a given.
You should not make assumptions. I was talking about his racing career nothing else.

The riders I mentioned have all have delivered a big win in the majors ....that's my point, Phinney has not. That's a Fact.

But it's not a facts. Read some stats and quit making things up.

Sure, Kristoff and Degenkolb have picked up more victories, but they're both sprinters. I also don't quite understand how you think they haven't been hyped? They've both been talked up solidly for their whole pro careers. From the riders you've mentioned, I'd argue that only Degenkolb has been a fairly consistent winner from the beginning of his career. Kristoff has been talked up his whole pro career but didn't win much of note his first few seasons. Sure he showed promise and won some smaller races, but he's really only started to become a prolific winner since MSR 2014, less than 18 months ago. Funnily enough Phinney has barely been on the bike since then.

Phinney is the youngest of the riders mentioned. Phinney only has 4 fewer pro wins than Terpstra despite having a shorter career and not racing for over a year now (Terpstra has picked up 4 of those victories this last year alone). Terpstra's only 'big' win has been his PR victory. Vansummeren's only 'big' victory was also PR, before that his only 2 other pro victories were in the tour of Poland in 2007! Phinney has only been a pro since 2011 and his best win is the opening stage of the Giro, maybe not quite as prestigious amongst cycling fans as PR, but last time I checked it was a 'big' race.

There's a whole other world outside of the Pro Tour and Phinney hasn't done too badly there. Out of all of the riders you've mentioned, Terpstra is the only other rider to have raced a decent amount on the track yet he hasn't had anywhere near the success there as Phinney, who's been a world champion twice!

Personally, I think the US cycling media focus on him a little too much, but it's not hard to see why. Success on the track and in junior events mean he was always going to have a fair bit of exposure. Throw in his family heritage and it's no wonder some people have high expectations of him. Anyway, I see why he's still popular even if you think he hasn't lived up to expectations. He's enthusiastic, good to interview and will likely still have a long successful career ahead of him. Also, let's be realistic here, who else has the US got that actually has a chance of winning a cobbled classic?

[gravity]

i've said it once here but I think it it worth repeating:

English speaking riders from english speaking countries will always get a whole lot more media coverage compared to the non-native english speaking rider. Cyclingnews, Velonew, Pez, Rouler, PelotonMagazine, CyclingTips, INRNG (who writes in english) they are all originated from english speaking countries so there's no secret that Phinney, Tejay are all hyped up. I tend to believe that Lequipe, Sporza, La Gazetta cover a lot of stories for French, Belgian, Italian riders and these riders may be perceived as a hyped rider in their countries but for readers who only read english -- we wouldnt know.

alpsandes.com is super interesting but their association with ManualForSpeed is bit less to my liking.

[micky]

No big news about Danielson, or is it?

Meanwhile it seems that Betancour didnt show up at the start of Tour of Poland with no official statement from either rider or team.

[maquisard]

I'm sure Cannondale Garmin will be glad to see the back of Danielson, one of the last of the old guard. The team needs to move on.

As for Betancour I think his career is going along the lines of that Rujano

[ak47]

Knowing very well one of the world tour riders all I can say that if you believe any of the pro cyclist at this level is 100% clean you are a very gullible person. All of them take something that is illegal, some take more, some take less, but they all do. You might disagree with me, but that is the truth.

[Norregard]

Quintana confirming that he'll ride the Vuelta. If Froome rides as well, it's shaping up to be an exciting Vuelta!