Not really. What happens is that a guy steadily improves, but because he had health issues or couldn't ride for himself, didn't get to show it, and when he finally does get to show it, it's been a loooooong time since he last could, so he's improved a ton since then.
Rominger is the poster boy for this. The amount of bad luck with injuries and health issues he had that stopped him from showing his talent until he was older is staggering.
Not the case with Kreuziger. He gets to ride for himself and seems to not improve much.
It's extremely common for a rider to show up young and never improve much. Valverde was as good in his 2nd pro season as he is now. Rogers has been around forever and never showed much improvement. If you saw Boonen as a neo-pro you'd think "My god this man is so young, he'll be Eddy Merckx!"....yet he never really improved.
That's why you can never say that, for example, Sagan will be a superstar no matter how good he was as a 19 year old. He may be a legend or he may never improve even slightly.
Edited by issoisso on 03-06-2011 19:57
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"I love him, I think he's great. He's transformed the sport in so many ways. Every person in cycling has benefitted from Lance Armstrong, perhaps not financially but in some sense" - Bradley Wiggins on Lance Armstrong
Since you're mentioning Boonen, he said lately he wouldn't compete in mass sprints any more. Given he's not as much stronger than the rest of the field as he used to be in cobbles races, what kind of rider will he become now ?
"I love him, I think he's great. He's transformed the sport in so many ways. Every person in cycling has benefitted from Lance Armstrong, perhaps not financially but in some sense" - Bradley Wiggins on Lance Armstrong
issoisso wrote:
Not really. What happens is that a guy steadily improves, but because he had health issues or couldn't ride for himself, didn't get to show it, and when he finally does get to show it, it's been a loooooong time since he last could, so he's improved a ton since then.
The thing is, there are athletes from individual sports aswell who have had these seasons where they all of a sudden improve a whole lot, and they don't have to work for their teammates so it's not like they've tried their hardest before. They have always had the chance to do as good as they are capable of. So during this "breakthrough" season they take a huge leap into the top division, from being among the weakers ones. There are people who don't improve as much in one giant leap but smaller ones instead. It's not the same for everyone, and there's no guarantee that someone will "steadily improve". It's not like it happens overnight either, but over a period of time. So basicly they improve alot more one year then they do another, and they could still be training as much.
issoisso wrote:
Not really. What happens is that a guy steadily improves, but because he had health issues or couldn't ride for himself, didn't get to show it, and when he finally does get to show it, it's been a loooooong time since he last could, so he's improved a ton since then.
The thing is, there are athletes from individual sports aswell who have had these seasons where they all of a sudden improve a whole lot, and they don't have to work for their teammates so it's not like they've tried their hardest before. They have always had the chance to do as good as they are capable of. So during this "breakthrough" season they take a huge leap into the top division, from being among the weakers ones. There are people who don't improve as much in one giant leap but smaller ones instead. It's not the same for everyone, and there's no guarantee that someone will "steadily improve". It's not like it happens overnight either, but over a period of time. So basicly they improve alot more one year then they do another, and they could still be training as much.
What? Without health issues or something else masking their improvement? Doesn't happen. Name an example.
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"I love him, I think he's great. He's transformed the sport in so many ways. Every person in cycling has benefitted from Lance Armstrong, perhaps not financially but in some sense" - Bradley Wiggins on Lance Armstrong
Not to be a jackass, but we're talking about Kreuziger, so wrong sport
The preceding post is ISSO 9001 certified
"I love him, I think he's great. He's transformed the sport in so many ways. Every person in cycling has benefitted from Lance Armstrong, perhaps not financially but in some sense" - Bradley Wiggins on Lance Armstrong
