Ex-cyclist wrote:
LewisElliot wrote:
Right now, with the swimmer upper body and everything, he's a Pro-Tour level cyclist. If he focused only on riding, he could be a GOOD Pro-Tour rider.I appreciate the insights and agree with everything you've written except this statement about Chris Lieto. I'd give a decent domestic pro rating at best. Not sure he would have ever made it as a pro-tour rider. He had a few good results racing as an amateur against mid level domestic pros, but nothing that would suggest pro-tour greatness.
Here is something to chew on. It is a file from the last stage of the Tour of Quatar from Ian Stannard. Stannard is a domestique on Sky. Definitely not one of the stars of the pro-tour.
https://www.trainingpeaks.com/...4IQRAQIR7QWAB3DP6CSE
I don't think Chris has it in to produce those kind of numbers..
Agreed. I say this knowing that Chris is by far the more experienced triathlete and having a good bike sets up a good run... but why does anyone think Lieto (or any triathlete) is remotely in Lance's cycling universe? The comments like "Lance will have a top-3 bike split" or "He'll be close to Lieto" just sound absurd to me. I think it's absurd if he doesn't have the top bike split unless he plays it real conservative this weekend just because it's an unknown to him. I wouldn't expect him to be conservative after this race. Lance is arguably the greatest cyclist who has ever lived. Out of the billions of people that have ridden a bike, he's #1. Lieto couldn't beat the worst TdF rider on his best day. Lance won the f'n thing 7 times and came in 2nd just three years ago (moving him up from third due to Contador losing the crown).
He swims as good if not better than Lieto and will be in the mix on the swim. He has no equal on the bike. The run is the big question. I expect him to be first out of T2 at any race he wants. Can he hold on? We shall see. He certainly isn't going to win any foot races against the likes of Crowie, Raelert, Macca, and many others. His strategy won't be unlike Lieto's strategy in building a cushion on the bike in an attempt to hold on. It works okay for Chris in most places outside of Hawaii.
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