Pidcock: discuss

[Lgibjones]

I think he’s fun to watch.

Netflix, like any other reality show, is a skewed to give the viewer heros and villains.

[Fat Cat]

Originally Posted by Lgibjones

I think he’s fun to watch.

Netflix, like any other reality show, is a skewed to give the viewer heros and villains.

Heroes and villains are fun ! Being a pro rider maybe not so much.

[fourflys]

regardless if you like him or not, he's a heck of a rider.. <snip, I was mixing up Remco and TP for a sec, sorry>.. to leave him off any roster that he wants to race on is crazy for any team, but esp Ineos right now.. obviously something going on behind the scenes.. but to say "oh, he's a jerk" is just funny since MANY top of the heap athletes are often jerks, in cycling and other.. some off the top of my head- Merckx, Hinault, Cav, LA.. and those are just the cyclists, now think about NFL, NBA, MLB, Futbol.. when you are that good (and have have that drive), you are aren't like the rest of us, esp when things aren't going like you'd like them to.. not trying to make excuses, but stop trying to act like Pidcock is an anomaly..

[saab2000]

Originally Posted by fourflys

regardless if you like him or not, he's a heck of a rider.. current double Olympic Champ, prior WC, etc.. to leave him off any roster that he wants to race on is crazy for any team, but esp Ineos right now.. obviously something going on behind the scenes.. but to say "oh, he's a jerk" is just funny since MANY top of the heap athletes are often jerks, in cycling and other.. some off the top of my head- Merckx, Hinault, Cav, LA.. and those are just the cyclists, now think about NFL, NBA, MLB, Futbol.. when you are that good (and have have that drive), you are aren't like the rest of us, esp when things aren't going like you'd like them to.. not trying to make excuses, but stop trying to act like Pidcock is an anomaly..

About 33 years ago I had the opportunity to meet Eddy Merckx and get a personal tour of his bike factory and chat for about an hour. He’s not a jerk. He was a consummate gentleman and no air of arrogance about him. In the larger public view he appears to understand his place in the sport but in person he was completely friendly and humble.

[tellyho]

Hard for me to know where the truth on Pidcock is outside of Unchained. He was definitely edited to seem selfish in those episodes. He's obviously a talented rider and clearly must have some struggles with a role in the greater team.

[fourflys]

Originally Posted by saab2000

About 33 years ago I had the opportunity to meet Eddy Merckx and get a personal tour of his bike factory and chat for about an hour. He’s not a jerk. He was a consummate gentleman and no air of arrogance about him. In the larger public view he appears to understand his place in the sport but in person he was completely friendly and humble.

that's awesome, but do you think he was as laid back as a racer? I mean, he probably wasn't called the cannibal for nothing, right?

[litcrazy]

I think that the special treatment afforded great athletes seems to breed jerks. Many struggle when their results don't/no longer justify the hidden costs that their being a jerk entails.
It's interesting to think how high those costs must be for TP given that he's still providing great results, just not on a GC level.
I imagine it's a two-way street too. Ineos seems likely to have a group of leaders who over-value their status as a team based on results that seem long ago to many young riders.
Thomas did note that TP seems to be surrounding by folks given problematic advice, which also seems common at his level.

Originally Posted by fourflys

regardless if you like him or not, he's a heck of a rider.. current double Olympic Champ, prior WC, etc.. to leave him off any roster that he wants to race on is crazy for any team, but esp Ineos right now.. obviously something going on behind the scenes.. but to say "oh, he's a jerk" is just funny since MANY top of the heap athletes are often jerks, in cycling and other.. some off the top of my head- Merckx, Hinault, Cav, LA.. and those are just the cyclists, now think about NFL, NBA, MLB, Futbol.. when you are that good (and have have that drive), you are aren't like the rest of us, esp when things aren't going like you'd like them to.. not trying to make excuses, but stop trying to act like Pidcock is an anomaly..

[trener1]

I have no idea on Pidcock, but just a note on unchained in general.
In season one they painted Wout as a selfish jerk that wouldn't work for Vingo, and it has been proven to be pretty much the opposite, we saw how Sepp turned himself inside out at the Vuelta to get Wout that stage and Sepp and I think even Vingago have openly stated that Wout is the best teammate.

I'm not trying to derail the thread and Pidcok may well be a jerk, just trying to point out that just because it's on unchained does not mean it's accrete.

[baker]

My guess was that he was insisting on being the sole leader, but the team wanted to have multiple leaders, and he was being a prima donna about it. Lombardy is a tricky race - it was to be Pidcock’s first time racing it and he’s arguably never shown the level of climbing needed to win, so if that was the team’s position it does make sense.

[rothwem]

Personality aside, does anyone find his career aspirations kinda strange?

I guess it’s not totally unexpected to want to win the tour, but I’m not totally sure why Pidcock is so adamant on being a GC contender. He doesn’t really seem to have the ftp watts/kilo required to climb well in a grand tour (despite looking borderline malnourished) and he’s not a great TT performer. I feel like it I were Pidcock, I’d be hitting the stacks and getting more absolute power to be able to crush the classics like Van der Pol or Van Aert then work as a super domestique in the grand tours.

[fourflys]

so I was mixing up Remco and TP for a minute in my post above.. Pidcock is still a heck of a racer regardless, just might be a bit better at MTB and Cross than road.. not something we haven't seen before.. still kind of weird to leave him off the roster though for a team that is struggling to badly..

[Jaybee]

Originally Posted by rothwem

Personality aside, does anyone find his career aspirations kinda strange?

I guess it’s not totally unexpected to want to win the tour, but I’m not totally sure why Pidcock is so adamant on being a GC contender. He doesn’t really seem to have the ftp watts/kilo required to climb well in a grand tour (despite looking borderline malnourished) and he’s not a great TT performer. I feel like it I were Pidcock, I’d be hitting the stacks and getting more absolute power to be able to crush the classics like Van der Pol or Van Aert then work as a super domestique in the grand tours.

This I agree with. He's not really even a top 5 GC contender if all the right people show up, and that's not even considering that the top 2 or 3 are light years ahead of everyone else.

He's a tremendously gifted rider, but his world class strengths are in punchy climbs less than 10 minutes, bike handling, and lactic recovery. Which is why he wins at MTB and CX courses that aren't pure watt mudfests.

[Stonerider]

Pidcock always has a bad day in a Grand Tour. Plus he can't climb with Tadej, Jonas, Remco or Primoz. Heck, he can't even climb with his teammate, Carlos Rodriguez. Which makes it selfish for him to declare he's not working for him. Pidcock is delusional about his current abilities on the road. He needs to go to work this offseason if he wants to prove me wrong.

[BdaGhisallo]

Pidcock is better on the MTB - and he enjoys that most of the three disciplines he races, he's said - but the big money is on the road.

That's his conundrum.

[sweitee]

Escape Collective released an article on some of the rationale behind the move.