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Most impressive rider in TDF.
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| Kentaurus |
Posted on 23-07-2016 19:25
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Okay simple little poll now that the TDF is all but over. Which rider impressed the most? Whether living up to expectations, or suprisingly better than you thought they would be, which rider made you say "Wow!"
The options I'm putting up are my shortlist of riders who I thought really impressed. Let me know if you think I'm missing anyone.
Reasons I've listed these riders:
Spoiler
Chris Froome - Sure he was expected to win, but he has made this look easy.
Wout Poels - Clearly the best support for Froome, made climbing attacks pointless for most riders.
Romain Bardet - Doubt many picked him to finish 2nd.
Adam Yates - White Jersey, and 4th. Better than expected.
Richie Porte - Finished top 5, if you give him back the 1'45 from his puncture on stage 2, would have been 2nd overall.
Greg Van Avermaet - Took yellow jersey, held it longer than expected.
Daniel Martin - Looked more like a GC rider than expected for someone considered more a classics guy.
Bauke Mollema - For much of the tour seemed the best climber aside from Froome and maybe Porte.
Peter Sagan - Again took the green jersey, but also had yellow early on.
Rafal Majka - King of the Mountains
Tom Dumoulin - Did he secure himself as the favorite for the Olympic TT here?
Mark Cavendish - Clearly the best pure sprinter (again) after most had written him off.
Jarlinson Pantano - I wish he would have done a bit more early, he looked great the last week.
Added:
Thomas de Gendt - 2nd in KoM, frequently in breakaways. Stage Win on Ventoux.
My vote went for Mark Cavendish, who I feel most thought would be the 3rd or 4th best sprinter here and turned out to be far and away the best of the bunch.
Edited by Kentaurus on 23-07-2016 20:38
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| whitejersey |
Posted on 23-07-2016 19:28
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Sagan, the fact that he won the greenjersey with the new format and got supercompatif says it all. Even on days where he had nothing to gain from going into a breakaway he helped his teammates achieve greatness.
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| trekbmc |
Posted on 23-07-2016 19:29
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Dani Navarro/Thomas De Gendt would be my picks. 
"What done is, is one." - Benji Naesen
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| ivaneurope |
Posted on 23-07-2016 19:37
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I voted for Jarlison Pantano - even though I'm a Sagan fan and I'm happy to see him in his familiar Vert, simply I couldn't bypass the fact that IMO Pantano made the Tour of his career. With IAM essentially gone, he has placed himself on the big boys table which most likely will earn him a ride in Trek-Segafredo. Now it seems that the team is concentrating on the efforts of providing El Pistolero Contador one last shot at the illusive Maillot Jaune, but with proper build up I'd like to see Pantano as the next GC contender in near future
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| talkCYCLING |
Posted on 23-07-2016 19:47
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Thomas de Gendt. |
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| Kiserlovski01 |
Posted on 23-07-2016 19:51
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Cavendish for me, as he came back from being the man who could never beat Kittel to showing to be the fastest in all pure bunch sprints. Pantano was a fantastic discovery and I was happy to see him confirm his good Tour de Suisse. Still every rider in the poll deserves respect for his personal performance in this Tour.
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| trekbmc |
Posted on 23-07-2016 20:06
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Also, where's Laporte? 
"What done is, is one." - Benji Naesen
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| Waghlon |
Posted on 23-07-2016 20:16
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Sagan would be the obvious call, but while he did a lot of great work, I was actually more impressed to see Majka always be on the offensive.
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 24-11-2024 18:56
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 23-07-2016 20:16
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I´m also missing Thomas de Gendt...voted for Pantano though...
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| Kentaurus |
Posted on 23-07-2016 20:34
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Okay I added De Gendt for those of you that want to vote for him. He almost made the list the first time though, but I already had the KoM winner in the listing. Certainly feel Majka was better, but can also understand that he was expected to be better also.
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| trekbmc |
Posted on 23-07-2016 20:42
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Kentaurus wrote:
Okay I added De Gendt for those of you that want to vote for him. He almost made the list the first time though, but I already had the KoM winner in the listing. Certainly feel Majka was better, but can also understand that he was expected to be better also.
I can understand your reasoning but De Gendt did win a stage (on Ventoux, no less), joined heaps of breaks and should of won super combatif (well imo Navarro should've if he finished but I already got into an argument over him so I'll stay out of that now  )
Anyway, thanks for adding him
"What done is, is one." - Benji Naesen
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 23-07-2016 21:04
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Most Impressive - Split between Wout Poels, the most super of super domestiques, and Peter Sagan. Sagan won green, but tbf that wasn't a surprise but he was impressive in how he went about winning it with more attacks that expected and ruined the sprint stage in the cross winds. Poels doing the Froome of 2012, dragging his man over every mountain and especially in the 3rd week rarely cracked. I'd probably go for Poels because he was the more unexpected of the two.
Most Surpising - Lots more open this one. Bardet i didn't expect to be so strong. Porte i thought would crumble after stage 2 puncture. Cavendish i knew would win, but not 4 times. I was also impressed by Meintjes (what spelling!) who was keeping up with the best on pure merit. Mclay had a few good sprints, as did Coquard, neither got a win but both stepped it up a level from what i had expected.
I'd go with Cav's though, 4 wins is damn impressive whoever it comes from, let alone someone hunting Track in Rio and who was "over the hill" so to speak.
Don't think GVA was that impressive over the three weeks, nor De Gendt honestly. Both kinda did what was expected, which did turn into results but nothing they did was expetional or really beyond them.
Majka i thought might have tried to take over from Contador for GC, but his KoM whilst good is not surprising and sorry to say but that competition hasn't been impressive in many a year. It's good to win but it wasn't much of a fight.
Team Sky as a whole were noteworth for changing things up. Not just stiffling but 1-2 attacks from riders and they tried to do things a bit different. Plus their overall strength was better than every.
Most Dissapointing - Movistar in general, Quintana kinda lucking onto the podium after the whole team at no point challenged Froome or Sky. They need to up their game if they want Nairo in Yellow.
Is it unfair to put Mollema here?
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| Choklets |
Posted on 23-07-2016 21:42
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Tough one, Pantano is the biggest discovery of the Tour imho
but Sagan...top 3 in bunch sprints AND also in breakaways in the high mountains. Crazy shite!
Mollema, unexpected and thus kinda impressive but not the most impressive.
Bardet, we knew he's good, he just delievered. Shouldn't be a surprise to anyone!
Porte, ah yes, impressive how Sky managed to sneak a 10th rider into the tour. Smart move. Apart from that he was mentioned in that Speedo ad. Real feat.
GVA is simply GVA. All or nothing. Attacking and nailing it or going home. Real cyclist or a one trick pony if you're a cynic.
Martin, his explosive acceleration sure is impressive and his attacks were too but they didn't stick and he even lost ground. Not too impressive.
Dumoulin as expected. He said he'd go for stage wins and the TTs and he did.
de Gent, solid. Not impressive or surprising, just solid. |
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| ianrussell |
Posted on 23-07-2016 22:15
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Should also have Nairo on the list - disappointed everybody but somehow third without looking good at any point nor having a single attack stick for longer than 50m - it was more Zubeldia and van den Broeck than El Condor but he still got a podium :/
Bit harsh really given another way of looking at it is he was off form but still came third but can't help but be disappointed as expectations are so high. |
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| ianrussell |
Posted on 23-07-2016 22:24
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Has to be Sagan but with a good side serving of De Gendt, Pantano and Cavendish.
Sagan - just brilliant everywhere, sprints, crosswinds, breakaways and as domestique too.
De Gendt - constant attacks (easier said than done), 2nd in a stage, great and impressive win on Ventoux and made a fight of the mountain jersey for a little bit.
Pantano - as exciting going down as up but hung in there when he appeared to be cracking on multiple occasions and rewarded with a stage win and two second places too. Strong in the third week holds promise for the long term even if he eased into the Tour.
Cavendish - renaissance - incredible positioning and timing in very chaotic bunch sprints. He reckons the track has honed his split second decision making and racing nous more than anything else and it's hard to argue with him. |
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| Riis123 |
Posted on 23-07-2016 22:28
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Sagan, no doubt
If we are talking relative to what we had expected, which I dont think we are, Pantano has been doing well. |
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| Kentaurus |
Posted on 23-07-2016 22:30
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ianrussell wrote:
Should also have Nairo on the list - disappointed everybody but somehow third without looking good at any point nor having a single attack stick for longer than 50m - it was more Zubeldia and van den Broeck than El Condor but he still got a podium :/
Bit harsh really given another way of looking at it is he was off form but still came third but can't help but be disappointed as expectations are so high.
I really can't have him on the list, he would be on my list of least impressive. A guy that was supposed to compete for the yellow jersey, yet he was never close to getting it. 3rd is a failure for him at this tour and he was never really in the competition for the yellow.
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| ianrussell |
Posted on 23-07-2016 22:37
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Kentaurus wrote:
ianrussell wrote:
Should also have Nairo on the list - disappointed everybody but somehow third without looking good at any point nor having a single attack stick for longer than 50m - it was more Zubeldia and van den Broeck than El Condor but he still got a podium :/
Bit harsh really given another way of looking at it is he was off form but still came third but can't help but be disappointed as expectations are so high.
I really can't have him on the list, he would be on my list of least impressive. A guy that was supposed to compete for the yellow jersey, yet he was never close to getting it. 3rd is a failure for him at this tour and he was never really in the competition for the yellow.
Sorry, was a sarcastic venting of my frustration with his limp performance |
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 23-07-2016 23:37
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As much as I wanted to vote for Froomey, I just think that Sagan lit the Tour up with his constant breaks. |
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| teamdoubledragon |
Posted on 24-07-2016 00:37
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Tough decision outside of my fanboying for Bardet (who I obviously voted for... XD). It really comes down to how you define "impressive."
Sagan will obviously get the majority of votes, as well as the breakaway boys like De Gendt and Pantano, and certainly they were. Although, with the last couple of years being the reign of Sagan, I'd have been disappointed with anything less. His confidence is obviously through the roof, and rightfully so.
Further, De Gendt has been doing what he did the past three weeks all season long. He's really become a breakaway expert, if you will. Which is strategically a lot more complicated then just riding up the road, and rather undervalued I think. However, while the breakaways certainly kept this year's tour from being the equivalent of watching paint dry, they don't have to weigh their exertions on the same level as the GC contenders.
Which brings me back to Romain... He's having a terrific season, and has made a lot of strides in the past handful of months. This is his third straight top 9 in the tour, and he's never finished out of the top 15. He also never looked like a serious contender, finishing sixth in '14 in arguably the weakest final field in memory. And you'd have to make a real deep argument he was a contender this year, mostly because no one outside of Froome really ever looked like winning.
So why is any of this impressive? While it was great seeing Bauke almost finally get through the entire tour at the top, or seeing Yates announce himself, or even Porte almost pull it out of the fire after the big time loss early on, Romain was really the only GC guy who 1) never had an off day and 2) consistently defied the Sky train when he had legs. Also the only GC guy not named Froome to win a stage.
Plus he's French. Which I don't think should be underestimated. They always find a way to crush their talents under unwaveringly high expectations. To be second, just like in the Dauphine, shows he really could be a GT winner if his flat TT improves. He seems to have found a balance between his aggressive riding style (which makes him a lot of fun to watch) and keeping enough in the tank to be a contender after three weeks. There's still a ways to go, sure. Froome crushed everyone without trying, Quintana was obviously not 100%, Nibili wasn't aiming for this race, and Contador crashed out. That said, he outperformed Aru consistently, was better than Porte in the last week, rode within himself pretty well. This could, COULD, be a marker for a new GT threat. Something France has desperately wanted for more than many of our lives now. #fanboylogicend |
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