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Suggestion for all these guys talking about The Tour / Giro Double....

Last Post 11/30/2018 01:01 PM by Cosmic Kid. 6 Replies.

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Posts:4209

11/29/2018 08:51 AM
.....try and win ONE Grand Tour first before you start talking about The Double, 'k? https://www.velonews.com/2018/11/news/landa-aims-for-giro-tour-double-in-2019_481806

Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!

Posts:3189

11/29/2018 11:04 AM
CK. I see this a little differently. Only a very small number ever win grand tours. (Very roughly - 300 grand tours and winners but 45,000 riders. (100 years of tours X 3 and 150 riders/per tour. Not counting duplicate riders or winners.) A rider has about a 10 year window where you even could possibly win. But riding back to back tours as a contender is an accomplishment that puts that rider in a place very few humans will ever see. It is also something that a truly elite rider can do. I have been saying for many years that the Tour (and nearly so, the other two) is the hardest major athletic event on the planet. Doing it twice in two months is a step beyond. In a culture that is all about winning, doing the double marks you as a loser, unless you are one of those really rare animals (see Eddy Merckx). But the rider who does the double can put his grandkid on hiss knee and tell him about it like my granddad did re: WWI. Lifetime memories and life-changing for me. Ben

Posts:4499

11/29/2018 12:07 PM
What Ben said. Landa says he wants to ride both, there's no indication he wants to win them or even a claim to leadership role. Heck he hasn't even talked to his DS yet. Maybe he just wants to become the next de Gendt who will have a lot of stories to tell to his grand kids.

Posts:4209

11/30/2018 09:45 AM
When you have the ability and talent to win a Grand Tour, IMO, you need to focus first on achieving that goal. It doesn't need to be a Tour win, but Landa is clearly capable of winning a Giro or a Vuelta. Similarly, Bardet was talking about potentially doing The Double this year (but has since backed away form the idea). That would have been complete idiocy on his part....the Tour route this year is extremely favorable to a rider of his capabilities. Riding the Giro beforehand simply scuttles any serious attempt in July. If your goal is to "tell tales to your grandkids", what would impress them more....when you tell them the tale of your victory in one of the biggest races on the calendar, or the time when "I managed to finish in the Top 10 in 2 big races one year."

Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!

Posts:1767

11/30/2018 10:46 AM
Posted By Cosmic Kid on 11/30/2018 09:45 AM If your goal is to "tell tales to your grandkids", what would impress them more....when you tell them the tale of your victory in one of the biggest races on the calendar, or the time when "I managed to finish in the Top 10 in 2 big races one year." I told my grandson we had black and white TV when I was his age and he was more stunned than had I told him I won the Giro, Tour, Vuelta, and Worlds all in the same year. Make of that what you will But to the point... One GT win > 100 top ten finishes Alway has been, always will

Posts:4499

11/30/2018 11:55 AM
Grand kids will be most impressed if grandpa can actually afford a chair so he can sit them down on his knee while telling stories (although they will most likely be glued to grandpas big screen TV if he can afford it). Kids don't care about wins or placings, its us adults telling them that this is the only thing that matters. By time kids do care (as teens & young adults once we've perverted them sufficiently), they no longer want to sit on your knee. For Landa it's about getting a good contract beyond 2019, and he's identified a good way of getting there, knowing full well that Movistar will line him up at Tour regardless. He has a snowball's chance in hell of winning either Giro (too much TTing), or Tour (between co-leadership and level of competition) but Vuelta is too late for contact negotiations. He needs to show his mettle beforehand in whichever way (stage wins, solos etc). The more he races the better the odds and the Giro offers more freedom to do so. The only problem as I see it, is that Velonews have somehow translated Landa's strategy as "going for Double" even though he has made no such proclamation.

Posts:4209

11/30/2018 01:01 PM
I wasn’t referring to Landa winning THIS Giro, but the race in general. Agreed he does not have the chops to win in July (although this year suits him better than most).

Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!