Tour de Med (Spoilers) - taken from Nico thread

Eamonnator

Off topic, I know. But nice to see Chris Jensen, formerly of Sorrento C.C.
named in Team Saxo-Tinkoff's squad for Tour Med.

sy

See Roche finished 20th in Tour Méditerranéen today.
Thor Hushovd looks like he might be in form for the Spring Classics

flying11

Tour de Medditeranian: very good time trial from Roche today, he finished 8th on the stage. Must have worked hard on his time trialing over the winter

Chips Lovell

8th in a TT. That's bloody good for him.

montac

He did the best time in his team - beating Michael Rogers by around a minute. Good to see.

elduggo

tomorrow's stage cancelled

Rastadoyle

bit of a farce that. Leader be happy tho!

happytramp

Rastadoyle wrote: »

bit of a farce that. Leader be happy tho!

Last year was curtailed by the weather too. May need a bit of a rethink.

D3PO

happytramp wrote: »

Last year was curtailed by the weather too. May need a bit of a rethink.

tomorrow was only ever going to be a sprint finish anyway so not a huge issue. Winner will be decided on Saturdays stage

riparooo

I think todays result, as long as its not a freak one, is a total gamechanger. If Roche has got his TT in order then he has the ability to actually win GTs. I've heard from reliable people that he spent a lot of time in Saxo wind tunnel and they changed both the bike and his position.

Today he beat a bunch of seriously solid time trailers, he was very consistent last year in the mountains and I think augurs well for this season.

elduggo

happytramp wrote: »

Last year was curtailed by the weather too. May need a bit of a rethink.

its not cancelled because of the weather

maloner

http://app.strava.com/activities/40078425

Laurens Ten Dams stats for the same time trial (I assume...). The last 1.6km is @ 10.5%

Muller_1

maloner wrote: »

http://app.strava.com/activities/40078425

Laurens Ten Dams stats for the same time trial (I assume...). The last 1.6km is @ 10.5%

My brother has a house near yesterdays TT finish, was up the final climb in Sete it's a b!tch. I see the winner Lars Boom didn't use a TT bike. I'd say Nico made up a lot of time on the climb.

They used the same climb in the Tour last year when the finish was in Cape d'Adge and Nico was in the first 10 at the top.

TheBlaaMan

Muller_1 wrote: »

I see the winner Lars Boom didn't use a TT bike.

Are you sure....?

www.cyclingfans.net/2013/images/2013_tour_mediterraneen_stage2_time_trial_lars_boom_victory1a.jpg

Other pics there show no-one on a regular road bike..........

Chips Lovell

He must needed a bike change.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/tour-mditerranen-cycliste-professionnel-2013/stage-2/photos/251411

ednwireland

TheBlaaMan wrote: »

Are you sure....?
.

musta swapped
plenty here
http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/tour-mditerranen-cycliste-professionnel-2013/stage-2/photos

Chips Lovell

Yep, swapped his bike:

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/13891/Tour-Mediterraneen-Lars-Boom-powers-into-the-lead-in-stage-two-time-trial.aspx

As a former cyclocross World champion, Boom was able to perform a 'cross-style bike change at the foot of the final climb; jumping from his time trial bike onto a normal road bike, held out by a team mechanic

MPFG

Don't think roman kreuziger was too happy with his performance ..Afterall he is suppoesd to be the better Time Trialer....

His Tweet "but i have to do a lot of work to be with the best!!!! Keeping focus "

Mind you it was so windy that the bigger you were the better the advantage yesterday ...I can only imagine J-Rod would have been blown into the sea (fell de see as the Tailor would say) .......
Dan Martin did well too at 27th at about 40 seconds behind Nico which isn't bad for him esp given his light weight

manwithaplan

Vladimir Kurtains wrote: »

Yep, swapped his bike

Didn't know you could do that in a TT (barring a mechanical). Very clever.

DDC1990

See nothing about it here yet, so:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/garmin-sharp-bikes-stolen-at-tour-de-med

This race gets more and more bizzare! Poor Dan Martin, was sitting in a nice position and all.

16 Top class bikes stolen, but they left the TT bikes? Bizzare.

Captain Havoc

DDC1990 wrote: »

See nothing about it here yet, so:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/garmin-sharp-bikes-stolen-at-tour-de-med

This race gets more and more bizzare! Poor Dan Martin, was sitting in a nice position and all.

16 Top class bikes stolen, but they left the TT bikes? Bizzare.

Maybe TT bikes aren't as in demand so harder to sell.

MPFG

DDC1990 wrote: »

See nothing about it here yet, so:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/garmin-sharp-bikes-stolen-at-tour-de-med

This race gets more and more bizzare! Poor Dan Martin, was sitting in a nice position and all.

16 Top class bikes stolen, but they left the TT bikes? Bizzare.

Could have won todays maybe

D3PO

Roche 9th on the stage. Monfort into the lead overall by 1 second. Roche 5th overall 22 seconds back. His old AG2R Teammate Peraud won the stage

Henlars67

Nico finished fifth overall, decent result for him and he's bound to be pleased with his time in the TT.

New team and methods obviously working wonders.

CptMackey

Is this on Eurosport? Good to see N Roche doing well

Henlars67

CptMackey wrote: »

Is this on Eurosport? Good to see N Roche doing well

it's over now, wasn't shown on TV

dooverylittle

I seen a quote from roche saying he just concentrated on keeping a constant power output and heart rate, thats a big step forward from not having a TT bike 2 years ago.

manafana

I heard boom finished on a normal bike, but in race with no live coverage pictures can sometimes get muddled up.

I have question roche suddenly going from a poor tt rider to someone with such strong showing just 2months in his new team.

Leroy42

manafana wrote: »

I heard boom finished on a normal bike, but in race with no live coverage pictures can sometimes get muddled up.

I have question roche suddenly going from a poor tt rider to someone with such strong showing just 2months in his new team.

Early season race, so strong TT showing is relative to others, few of which would be going full bore. It is also massive the difference that actually training for TT makes. Mental side is huge

D3PO

manafana wrote: »

I have question roche suddenly going from a poor tt rider to someone with such strong showing just 2months in his new team.

:rolleyes: Idiotic comment. Early season, better prepared in terms of route, better technique on TT riding from heavy training in wind tunnel including position tweaks, reported severe cross winds hampering many riders, climb to the finish that suited him, the level of competition he was riding against etc etc

lots of reasons why he would do a TT like he did, posting crap like that is just stupid.

godtabh

Finished 5th overall. Seems like a good result.

He was aiming for 3rd overall. One thing he isnt lacking in is confidence!

Henlars67

D3PO wrote: »

:rolleyes: Idiotic comment. Early season, better prepared in terms of route, better technique on TT riding from heavy training in wind tunnel including position tweaks, reported severe cross winds hampering many riders, climb to the finish that suited him, the level of competition he was riding against etc etc

lots of reasons why he would do a TT like he did, posting crap like that is just stupid.

The fact that he is now on a team managed by Riis and lead by Contador means that there will be speculation which he wasn't really subject to previously (obviously not on here as it's not allowed) and some people who previously gave Roche the benefit of the doubt may not be do anymore.

Nico has nobody to blame but himself.

godtabh

Henlars67 wrote: »

Nico has nobody to blame but himself.

Blame for what?

As far as I'm aware he hasnt been found guilty of anything.

MPFG

godtabh wrote: »

One thing he isnt lacking in is confidence!

I disagree ...one thing he is lacking is confidence ...He better than his results and should be in the top 3 in a 2.1 race......But when he should be focused and a bit ruthless I think he seems to bottle it ......fear of failure I think they call it..The directuer at AG2M I think has remarked on this and how he loses so much energy before a TT being agitated and anxious

The other reason why I feel he has little confidence is he seems to seek approval ...His dad has also remarked on this..not the action of the confident

Get his head right and his confidence up and he will be so much better.....

sy

Henlars67 wrote: »

The fact that he is now on a team managed by Riis and lead by Contador means that there will be speculation which he wasn't really subject to previously (obviously not on here as it's not allowed) and some people who previously gave Roche the benefit of the doubt may not be do anymore.

Nico has nobody to blame but himself.

We all know about Riis and Contador but casting aspersions about Roche is a little bit much. Guilty by association ? I think not. Anyway here's a photo of him in action the other day. I like the kit

Henlars67

godtabh wrote: »

Blame for what?

As far as I'm aware he hasnt been found guilty of anything.

I never said he has been found guilty of anything. i have always believed he is clean and still do.

But because he has joined up with Riis others will always suspect him.

He shouldn't have went near Riis.

RobFowl

Henlars67 wrote: »

He shouldn't have went near Riis.

Show me a team without dopers/ex dopers or those with allegations of doping (trust me on this there are none at protour or pro conti level)

dastardly00

manafana wrote: »

I have question roche suddenly going from a poor tt rider to someone with such strong showing just 2months in his new team.

*facepalm*

He came 8th in a 24km long time-trial in a 2.1 ranked race at the start of the season.

It's not exactly the TdF prologue!
You have to take his result with a pinch of salt tbh.

Who did he beat in the TT?
Kreuziger, Peraud, Ten Dam, Rogers.
Roche was quicker than the aforementioned riders in Stage 9 of the 2012 TdF, which was a 41.5km time-trial, when he was riding with AG2R.

He beat Larsson by 3 seconds in the Tour de Med TT, and Larsson beat Roche by 13 seconds in that particular TT in the TdF.

Who was faster than Roche in the Tour de Med TT?
Monfort and Roy. They were also quicker than Roche in that particular TT in the TdF.

You have to accept that there can be a great variation in performances in time-trials. The top 1-5% will generally include Wiggins, Martin, Cancellara. But from ~5-30%, positions vary hugely. There are so many factors to considers, such as weather etc. as the other posters have mentioned.

godtabh

MPFG wrote: »

I disagree ...one thing he is lacking is confidence ...He better than his results and should be in the top 3 in a 2.1 race......But when he should be focused and a bit ruthless I think he seems to bottle it ......fear of failure I think they call it..The directuer at AG2M I think has remarked on this and how he loses so much energy before a TT being agitated and anxious

The other reason why I feel he has little confidence is he seems to seek approval ...His dad has also remarked on this..not the action of the confident

Get his head right and his confidence up and he will be so much better.....

What I meant was that he alsways thinks the can do better than he does.

He truly believes he can get into the Top 10 on a TdF and win stages. What lets him down is poor decision making which usually ends with him blowing up in the final stages of the race or losing a wheel and being dropped.

I put it down to the poor management of him by past teams

MPFG

godtabh wrote: »

What I meant was that he alsways thinks the can do better than he does.

He truly believes he can get into the Top 10 on a TdF and win stages. What lets him down is poor decision making which usually ends with him blowing up in the final stages of the race or losing a wheel and being dropped.

I put it down to the poor management of him by past teams

I agree with you on poor management ...he should have stayed at a big team when younger and learned and built slowly rather thna going for team leader at a young age...he could now be looking to be overall team leader at a team

As for him thinking he can do better ...I think you have to to succeed...plus he also carries alot of expectation on his shoulders so I suppose he is trying to live up to it

dave2pvd

MPFG wrote: »

I disagree ...one thing he is lacking is confidence ...He better than his results and should be in the top 3 in a 2.1 race......But when he should be focused and a bit ruthless I think he seems to bottle it ......fear of failure I think they call it..The directuer at AG2M I think has remarked on this and how he loses so much energy before a TT being agitated and anxious

The other reason why I feel he has little confidence is he seems to seek approval ...His dad has also remarked on this..not the action of the confident

Get his head right and his confidence up and he will be so much better.....

I think that may be a large part of the battle.

Cavendish, in his biography has an interesting commentary on the psychology aspect of coaching. When he contrasted the approaches of British Cycling's Steve Peters and Shane Sutton, he noted,

"What I needed was the approach favored by ....Shane Sutton. Basically, I needed sunshine blown up my arse".

Peters' more logic-based approach worked very well for Hoy and Pendleton. Didn't work at all with Cav.

"I don’t want the truth—I just want to be told I’m the best"

Perhaps Nico has moved from a DS that couldn't extract the best from him to one that understands and relates to him more effectively?