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The Pro Road Cycling Thread
- Thread starter Shands
- Start date
Rascal
El Presidente
Great finish today. Wiggo on the attack was brilliant to see :)<br /><br />-- Mon Mar 18, 2013 3:48 pm --<br /><br />
he he he
It was good to see, agreed and really lit up the closing stages
Shands said:Stannard yesterday, the skipper today - obviously SKY have taken my constructive criticism to heart. It's a brave new dawn, you're welcome Mr Brailsford ;-)
he he he
It was good to see, agreed and really lit up the closing stages
Rascal said:Watching the highlights of Milan - San Remo just now
And Stannard is up with some real class riders.
I know he is British champion but how good is he?
In the absence of someone much more clued in I’ll try to answer.
I think it’s hard to say Rascal. He’s clearly got a lot of physical ability, but, as with any number of riders in the Peleton, predicting just how much he can achieve is very difficult to do. Take Milan-San Remo as an example, that was a great ride, made all the more impressive given the fact that he wasn’t team leader and had already done a fair bit of work in support of Thomas and EBH. Had he been team leader from the off, and thus kept fresh and protected a bit more, could he have won the race? Quite possibly yes. Having said that would he have been able to cope mentally with the pressure of leading the team and assessing the race from the off tactically? We just don’t know.
In my, very unqualified opinion, I can’t ever see him as a Grand Stage podium contender. I’m not aware how good he is a TT’s, but I think given his build he would struggle with repeated high climbs (having said, even on finishing fourth in 2009, I would never of picked Wiggins to win one either) As a domestique on the flat and low slopes though I think he’s invaluable and could set a real tough pace. I’m sure all teams would love to have him in their ranks for that.
In terms of wins though that then leaves the one day classics as his main target (as SKY seem to have identified). He clearly has a great engine so I think punishing races like M-SR and Paris-Roubaix and Tour Of Flanders are plausible targets for him. My only concern would be how he actually wins them. He’s unlikely to ever out-sprint or out-climb a Sagan, and the more other riders become aware of Stannard’s prowess, the more likely they are to try and mark any move he makes to ensure he can’t solo away to the finish. He does however have the advantage of being with SKY who have several riders that they can position for a win, which makes it difficult for the rest of the teams to cover every option. I’d say if a tough day like Sunday comes along, where it almost becomes survival of the fittest, then yes he’s always going to be in the mix.
A fine rider though, no doubt about that.
Dave Ewing's Back 'eader
Well-Known Member
I want a City cycling shirt!
Dave Ewing's Back 'eader said:I want a City cycling shirt!
How about a City backed cycling team? I think our blue livery would sit quite nicely in the peloton. Although we’d have to boycott the Vuelta or any other race that uses a red jersey..hmm this may need to be reconsidered.
Actually I wonder what a City TDF team would be like.
GC Contender/ Team Leader: Milner
Sprinter: Aguero
Lead out man: Kolorov
Workers on the flat: Rodwell, Kompany, Nasty
Mountain goats: Clichy, Silva, Zabba (lots of kamikaze solo efforts)
In other news it sounds like Stannard followed up his weekend efforts with another impressive and aggressive ride on the cobbles today.
Catalunya was pretty disappointing, none of them seemed to want to try anything. A 13k climb with no action till the final kilometre. Very impressive sprint from Quintana though. Let’s see what tomorrow brings.
Rascal
El Presidente
Shands said:Exciting stuff in Catalunya today :)
What an effort from the Brummie Dan Martin, that's going to go down as one of the rides of the year, tremendous stuff!
Yeah great stuff.
Wont ruin it for people wanting to watch the highlights<br /><br />-- Thu Mar 21, 2013 3:56 pm --<br /><br />
Shands said:Dave Ewing's Back 'eader said:I want a City cycling shirt!
How about a City backed cycling team? I think our blue livery would sit quite nicely in the peloton. Although we’d have to boycott the Vuelta or any other race that uses a red jersey..hmm this may need to be reconsidered.
Actually I wonder what a City TDF team would be like.
GC Contender/ Team Leader: Milner
Sprinter: Aguero
Lead out man: Kolorov
Workers on the flat: Rodwell, Kompany, Nasty
Mountain goats: Clichy, Silva, Zabba (lots of kamikaze solo efforts)
In other news it sounds like Stannard followed up his weekend efforts with another impressive and aggressive ride on the cobbles today.
Catalunya was pretty disappointing, none of them seemed to want to try anything. A 13k climb with no action till the final kilometre. Very impressive sprint from Quintana though. Let’s see what tomorrow brings.
Would you have Mancini in the Brailsford role :)