McNulty wrote:
Racing "styles" is always an interesting conversation.
Boonen was a favorite of mine but I saw him give away one Roubaix by attacking his group that had gotten away. No one in the group could have beaten him in a sprint. It was simply bad ass machismo which was cool on the one hand but made me groan at the time. They of course caught him and
I forget who won. I used to watch him work in a break group and he'd always do more than or at least as much as the others. It's the code, the way you're supposed to ride. Sagan is the same way. Swashbuckling and what not.
umm, obviously Hayman?
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Boonen ripped Degenkolb for sitting on him last Roubaix, said it was cowardly riding. Others would say smart. Degenkolb might say it was all he could do to hang there. It was T Boonen after all.
It drives me nuts to see all these guys looking at each other and not working and blowing races. I get it, it's such a fine point at that level, you can't burn matches but you gotta be in it to win it. Sagan used to do too much and he's now shown he will let a race go if he has to. That's a big development. And the other guys sure don't want to tow him in but they end up with no shot instead of some shot.
I think there are certain personality types out there.
The Tom Sawyer- He is charming as hell, and convinces you and others to paint the fence, that it will be fun. And then drops you. But you can't help but like him.
The Jackel- He is not to be trusted, period. And he will assassinate you and you'll never even know he did it. Denny Menchov. I don't think Menchov said 5 words his entire career. Those 5 words may have been, "Where is my blood bag?"
The Scorpion- He is just not right. He's in it to start shit. The frog as he's ferrying the scorpion across the pond: "Why'd you sting me? Now we both drown and die." "I'm a scorpion. It's what I do." (Shrug....) The scorpion doesn't win much and just effs things up for others. No one ;likes him. Bouhanni.
The Diva- Always whining about something and very high maintenance. Bouhanni
The Foxhole guy- He'll always be working for his mates, and they'll take full advantage of him because his mates are scorpions and jackels. He never wins but if he does, everyone is really happy for him. Nicest guy out there. Matt Hayman
The Alpha Dog- Everyone knows he's the man, he doesn't have to tell them, he wins a lot but also works for others and is respected. Boonen.
The Faux Alpha Dog- He think he's the man, but everyone knows he's not and if he ever works for others they hear about it for a calendar year. Voeckler
Guess this all makes it a great poker game.
chapeau.
Yeah, Voeckler is definitely the type. Never works well when the camera isn't on him, but starts pulling hard (both in terms of physical exertion and facial muscle movement) when the limelight is on him...
As alluded to by @Carl Spackler, one helluva Foxhole guy is now on Bora. Another (in the form of Marcus Burghardt) is also on Bora.
As for Divas, Wiggo and Froome are the biggest onse of the past decade.
Bernard Hinault is the embodiment of a Jackal. Pulled some really underhanded shit. Vino is the most Jackal of riders in the past decade, and that honor has been passed to Valverde. Neither dude can be trusted. I'd argue that Stijn VDB is the most-Scorpion like (more than Bouhanni). A look at his actions during the 2015 Spring Classics tells you all you need to know re: his character
fulla wrote:
I always thought cancellara was a diva whenever he lost...used to always whine about something rather than just accept a loss.
exactly. Mind you FC whinged after having won the MSR, RvV, and PR, as only after he's won one of each did people refuse to work with him. Cancellara is also quite arrogant, as evidenced by his performance at Mendrisio Worlds. He decided to take it to climbers by attacking on the climb and the descent, and then whinges when he's forced to close gaps (well, if you are so dominant, you should close gaps), and then whinges some more when no one would pull through after the gap is closed. At the same time, the group that was just caught has now sailed up the road.
I like Sagan's attitude (and Sagan) a lot more. That would have been difficult to say five years ago, but he's matured a lot.