Author Topic: Giro d’Italia 2020  (Read 19686 times)

Re: Giro d’Italia 2020
« Reply #175 on: 26 October, 2020, 01:10:26 pm »
I do think this is a terrific result - and a terrifically romantic story.  I hope the pundits and press don't heap the pressure on TGH: I think this Giro has had one of the weakest line-ups I can remember.  There are obvious calendar reasons for this and I have to emphasise that I think TGH did a tremendous job, especially up the Stelvio (that day had Merckx written all over it, for me) and in the appalling weather.  I wonder what Ineos will do about pecking orders from here?

In the meantime - Brilliant from TGH.  He's the first to win without wearing the leader's jersey until the race was over, too!

Re: Giro d’Italia 2020
« Reply #176 on: 26 October, 2020, 01:13:10 pm »
According to the Grauniad: "He [Tao Geogeghan Hart] was also a swimmer, part of a relay team swimming the Channel at the age of 13." Compared to that the Dunwich Dynamo at 10 seems easy-peasy.

But yeah, cracking Giro with a deserving winner. It must be gutting for Wilco Kelderman to lose so much time in those final mountain stages. This was his best and possibly final chance to win a GC. I think that is true for all the "old" guys in the peloton: Roglic, Dumoulin, Froome, Thomas. I don't see them beating the new generation in the coming years.

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Re: Giro d’Italia 2020
« Reply #177 on: 26 October, 2020, 01:23:36 pm »
Roglič is 30 and Dumoulin 29, which makes them mere striplings compared with the likes of Froome, Thomas and Valverde :demon:
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Re: Giro d’Italia 2020
« Reply #178 on: 26 October, 2020, 01:59:34 pm »
Roglic and Dumoulin are the biggest victims of the new generation, yes. Normally, they would've had a couple of their best seasons. But a late career victory for Thomas or Froome seems almost impossible at this point.

Re: Giro d’Italia 2020
« Reply #179 on: 26 October, 2020, 05:58:45 pm »
Where does the old generation end and the new one begin? Alongside the older GT winners like Nibali Thomas and Froome, you have the likes of Aru and Quintana who are both 30 but with their best years behind them. Of the recent grand tour winners, there's Roglic (30), Dumoulin (29), Yates (28), Carapaz (27), and then the "youngsters" like Tao (25), Bernal(23), Pogacar (22).
Also, if you look at the list of grand tour winners, they seem roughly split between people with brackets after their names (showing which of the multiple wins that was), and those with no brackets signifying that this is their only GT win. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Tour_(cycling)#Grand_Tour_winners
A few of the guys I named are going to end up as single GT winners, but the only one I would put the house on winning another is Pogacar.

Edit - the guys I feel slightly sorry for are the nearly guys approaching their 30s.  Bardet (29) has come second and third (and 3 other top 10s) at the TdF (and second at the worlds). Thibaut Pinot (30) finished 3rd at the TdF aged 24, and hasn't cracked the podium at another GT (4th at the Giro in 2017). Mikel Landa (30) has a third and two 4th places in the last few years since he got to lead a team. Superman Lopez (26, so not quite so old) had two third places in 2018 but seems to have gone backwards the last couple of years. All of them would have thought themselves ahead of Yates and Roglic a couple of years ago, now you have to wonder if their opportunity to win GTs has gone.

Re: Giro d’Italia 2020
« Reply #180 on: 26 October, 2020, 07:24:30 pm »
It's difficult to pinpoint this to a specific age, but there are a lot of new riders coming out of nowhere (Kämna, Hirschi). And van der Poel, you have the feeling he would perform better at a proper team. And even younger riders like Evenepoel with big results. Have I mentioned Pogacar, yet? I'm honestly wondering why the post-1995 generation is doing so well at such an early age.

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Re: Giro d’Italia 2020
« Reply #181 on: 26 October, 2020, 08:20:56 pm »
To be fair, pro riders used to peak around 25-28 years old and rely on cunning to compensate for declining powers as they aged. They’d retire around 32-34 years old.
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Re: Giro d’Italia 2020
« Reply #182 on: 26 October, 2020, 08:29:43 pm »
Give it a year or two and the current 23/24-year olds will be being overtaken by Remco Evenepoel.

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Re: Giro d’Italia 2020
« Reply #183 on: 28 October, 2020, 12:33:55 pm »
To be fair, pro riders used to peak around 25-28 years old and rely on cunning to compensate for declining powers as they aged. They’d retire around 32-34 years old.
Keirin riders can go on until their 50s.  There's not much wilier than an old keirin racer.
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Re: Giro d’Italia 2020
« Reply #184 on: 28 October, 2020, 03:20:45 pm »
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Re: Giro d’Italia 2020
« Reply #185 on: 01 November, 2020, 05:39:08 pm »
To be fair, pro riders used to peak around 25-28 years old and rely on cunning to compensate for declining powers as they aged. They’d retire around 32-34 years old.

I was told that the wilier anglophone pros would head for the USAnian road scene to earn a bit more money after their european days were over. Of course there were always riders like Poulidor who kept going forever (but he didn't need to win to assure his popularity at the end of his career; that must be a french thing so expect Bardet to have a few more years). How old were Patrick Sercu, Barry Hoban and Hugh Porter when they retired? (I should know but can't be bothered to look when someone else will know straight away)

Re: Giro d’Italia 2020
« Reply #186 on: 01 November, 2020, 07:13:36 pm »
I haven't checked, either but I imagine Sercu was doing 6-dayers forever and Barry Hoban had a really long career (I think).

Re: Giro d’Italia 2020
« Reply #187 on: 03 November, 2020, 10:39:26 pm »
Some of them re-emerge as vets. They were too good to be in races with me when I was younger, now I’m back in the same races!
It happens particularly in Belgium, Wim de Wal is very successful as a vet. Paul Watson from the UK took the vets free federation worlds a couple of years back.
There aren’t many sports where you can end up racing with your heroes when you get old!