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View Full Version : Is Cancellara going to be the next great all-rounder?

caleb
04-11-2008, 01:13 PM
The pictures posted on Belgium Knee Warmers today (http://www.belgiumkneewarmers.com/) make it look like Cancellara has lost some weight, and it sounds like he's really strong.

Will he be the next great all-rounder? A threat in the grand tours?

http://bp1.blogger.com/_MSkdtPZIzjU/R_-hSRwn9rI/AAAAAAAAAg0/Q7d7qbzkVOE/s400/Cancellara_PR_Training_mm%40PhSpt.jpg

http://bp3.blogger.com/_MSkdtPZIzjU/R_-hmxwn9tI/AAAAAAAAAhE/SH3F-uaGmw8/s400/Cancellara_Tired_mm%40PhSpt.jpg
EDS
04-11-2008, 01:37 PM
I vote no. I don't think he has a chance in the big mountains. That said, he is an absolutely fantastic cyclist just the way he is and will likely remain a real threat in the classics and time trials for some time to come.
JMerring
04-11-2008, 01:44 PM
i also vote no because he can't hang with the big dogs (or is it goats) in the high mountains. still like him alot, tho.
Fixed
04-11-2008, 01:48 PM
bro as much as we would like there will never ever be another cat like eddy
and this cat ain't it either imho
cheers
johnnymossville
04-11-2008, 02:21 PM
My guess is he's trying to be more of an all-rounder, but he got dropped badly at the Tour of California in the mountains and needed his whole team to pull him back up front. Even with that, couldn't catch Levi at the end.

So, nah, he's not going to win the Tour de France.
jerk
04-11-2008, 03:26 PM
My guess is he's trying to be more of an all-rounder, but he got dropped badly at the Tour of California in the mountains and needed his whole team to pull him back up front. Even with that, couldn't catch Levi at the end.

So, nah, he's not going to win the Tour de France.


dropped badly? what tour of california were you watching? he was in the front group every day.

jerk
dauwhe
04-11-2008, 03:51 PM
Di Luca won a monument and a grand tour last year. Cunego had done the same in 2004...

Dave
Big Daddy
04-11-2008, 03:56 PM
Di Luca won a monument and a grand tour last year. Cunego had done the same in 2004...

Dave

clean rider examples please. :beer:
EDS
04-11-2008, 04:29 PM
Di Luca won a monument and a grand tour last year. Cunego had done the same in 2004...

Dave

Di Luca and Cunego are much better climbers then Cancellara. I think a guy like Valverde has a better chance of winning a classic and a tour then Cancellara.
paczki
04-11-2008, 04:33 PM
My guess is he's trying to be more of an all-rounder, but he got dropped badly at the Tour of California in the mountains and needed his whole team to pull him back up front. Even with that, couldn't catch Levi at the end.

So, nah, he's not going to win the Tour de France.

Riders taper.

Anyway remember a cat named Indurain? There are different ways to win, and if EPO use is down maybe extra-special-look-back-at-Jan style accelaration from guys who can time trial will be down as well.

(I know about Delgado, and the rumors about Indurain BTW, but the point holds)
1centaur
04-11-2008, 06:09 PM
Di Luca and Cunego are much better climbers then Cancellara. I think a guy like Valverde has a better chance of winning a classic and a tour then Cancellara.

Valverde's talent is staying with the final selection and winning the sprint (see both classics wins and his Tour stage win). He will lose a GC to a guy who can stay with the final selection (Evans?) and TT well or a guy who can TT top 15 and take 2 minutes on a climb (Contador). Also, can he ride in the final selection in the mountains for 2 days in a row? I've never seen it. That makes him, dare I say it, more like Vino with less TT ability. Not a GC recipe, IMO.
dauwhe
04-11-2008, 06:16 PM
clean rider examples please. :beer:

The only rider I'm SURE is clean is my nephew Matthew. He's nine years old, but is already racing on the road and the track.

:banana:

Dave
Elefantino
04-11-2008, 10:03 PM
No.

At least not for Team Riis. The Schlecks have that sewn upmo.
Avispa
04-11-2008, 10:34 PM
There I go...

I think Cancellara may actually be the next guy that gets busted if he keeps winning like he has been.

But that's just me, I always spoil these kinds of threads with my opinoin. :eek: :eek: It's just too damn bad I have not been wrong too often on this subject.

..A..
swoop
04-11-2008, 10:57 PM
he already is an all arounder. no one said the grand tours are the pinnacle. some of us don't guve a damn about them beyond the spectacle. some of us think bike racing is aall about one day races.
this time of year he's an all arounder.


grand tours.... that's not his color parachute. he does have his moments... but i don't like the suggestion that he isn't already complete.
Elefantino
04-11-2008, 11:37 PM
he already is an all arounder. no one said the grand tours are the pinnacle.
Very true.

If you can win classics and Grand Tour stages, then you already rock.

But the GT podiums are for the whippets.
stevep
04-12-2008, 05:59 AM
The only rider I'm SURE is clean is my nephew Matthew. He's nine years old, but is already racing on the road and the track.


matthew failed to show up for his required...
pre adolescent blood test.
he's been suspended for 12 years from riding a bike with his friends.
too bad.

cancellara's a great rider.
he'll never be a climber.
classics and tts all day.
different skillset.
jeffg
04-12-2008, 09:11 AM
Very true.

If you can win classics and Grand Tour stages, then you already rock.

But the GT podiums are for the whippets.

Cancellara does rock ... but it was great to see Hinault win Roubaix, Liege, Lombardy and all three Grand Tours multiple times ... We may never see that again