Blu is one of this rare breeds of athletes that came out much faster after lock down. Make of that what your want.
Ugly innuendo based on a patent falsehood. Carry on…
I thought they always said gustav was the pure cyclist so is he going too? He doesn’t seem to have been mentioned but I could see him doing ok and he looks fantastic on a tt bike so I’d rather watch him than blu
Blu is one of this rare breeds of athletes that came out much faster after lock down. Make of that what your want.
Ugly innuendo based on a patent falsehood. Carry on…
Yeh it’s a fine line. But I do think this sport has a certain naivety, borderline superiority complex, when it comes to doping.
I’m not sure he’s in the top 10 of current triathlon cyclists. Off the top of my head, I’d guess all or most of these guys could beat him in a race up a mountain . . .
Laidlow
Margier
Chevalier
Dietlev
Long
Alistair
Wilde
Van Riel
Foley
Marquart
Iden (when fit)
Wurf
Kallin?
Sanders
I’m not sure he’s in the top 10 of current triathlon cyclists. Off the top of my head, I’d guess all or most of these guys could beat him in a race up a mountain . . .
Laidlow
Margier
Chevalier
Dietlev
Long
Alistair
Wilde
Van Riel
Foley
Marquart
Iden (when fit)
Wurf
Kallin?
Sanders
You forgot Knibb 
Falsehood? It is factual. You can check his results pre and post COVID here https://triathlon.org/athletes/results/41322/kristian_blummenfelt
And he was already 26 before lock down. Actually he celebrated his birthday on valentine’s day, just like me.
As I said you can make of that what you want. But the facts are there.
I’m not sure he’s in the top 10 of current triathlon cyclists. Off the top of my head, I’d guess all or most of these guys could beat him in a race up a mountain . . .
Laidlow
Margier
Chevalier
Dietlev
Long
Alistair
Wilde
Van Riel
Foley
Marquart
Iden (when fit)
Wurf
Kallin?
Sanders
I would add Mignon, Bergere, and Luis. But yeah, your argument makes sense. Although some could say “yeah, but Blu has a killer run, so he only needs to stay within striking distance to T2” …But even if we assume that he is at the same level as Wurf, Wurf has never won a single race as a Pro Tour cyclist (including pre triathlon seasons) He is maybe top 80 TT against those guys and way too heavy to be anywhere near the front on hilly races. I think Blu has a bit more talent, but to win the TDF over the next few seasons, not even close. I am curious if he will even make his team’s internal selection to even race the tour.
For the sake of argument let’s say he can match Pogacar’s power. They’re about the same height but he’s 20-25 pounds heavier. And then you have the minor issue of the steady state power Pogacar and Venga can maintain BEFORE they throw down. They also go downhill pretty well.
Lastly, he’ll be 34 or 35 the year he plans to win, something Froome, Contador, Lance, Nibali, etc, etc couldn’t do at that age. But maybe Horner has some GT advice for him?
Have the IM courses he has done traversed 13000 feet a day multiple days a week? The kilos in per kilo matters also. Not just the watts.
for context the last 7 stages of TdF this year had 26000m of vertical…around 3xEverest in a week of racing!!! So he will have to lose kilos!!!
So this is 100% happening and apparently he’s aiming to win the TdF.
https://www.tv2.no/...rance-plan/16873864/
Arrogant or delusional ?
Yes. Not pink.
Wasn’t Horner unable to find a team after winning the vuelta? What I heard at the time is that no one wanted to take the risk of being associated with his new breakfast cereals that would explain blossoming at such a late age.
For the sake of argument let’s say he can match Pogacar’s power. They’re about the same height but he’s 20-25 pounds heavier. And then you have the minor issue of the steady state power Pogacar and Venga can maintain BEFORE they throw down. They also go downhill pretty well.
Lastly, he’ll be 34 or 35 the year he plans to win, something Froome, Contador, Lance, Nibali, etc, etc couldn’t do at that age. But maybe Horner has some GT advice for him?
to say nothing of the skill you need to ride at those levels. as we saw in the TT, knibb has all the power on earth and races successfully in draft-legal ITU packs, but pro-tour level handling is a different beast. alpine descents, finish sprints, pack riding for hours at pro-tour speeds. . . i really do think people underestimate the level of actual skill - not just fitness, but skill - involved at that level.
cedrik bakke christoffersen left the norway tri group to go to pro cycling and has basically been a solid mid-tier guy riding on a continental/pro-level team. he’s also got videos showing a VO2 max around 90.
Blus skills in a pack are not that great, he is renowned for changing lines midcorner and cutting others off, he doesn’t have respect for others safety. In a very large peleton where the others can’t get out of his way he will not be well liked, a pile up waiting to happen.
Blus skills in a pack are not that great, he is renowned for changing lines midcorner and cutting others off, he doesn’t have respect for others safety. In a very large peleton where the others can’t get out of his way he will not be well liked, a pile up waiting to happen.
correct
Just to be fair, Dygert and Kopecky crashed in the women’s ITT at the Paris Olympics. Taylor’s brakes were allegedly damaged in crash one impeding her in crash two and later after crash three she asked for a bike change. That’s just shit happening on the course. The damage to equipment can hurt anyone, so it is not an entirely fair data point, because all these riders ride solo in all kinds of scenarios and don’t crash (for context Dygert also crashed into a guardrail at Imola worlds in 2021 when she lost control over her bike…maybe equipment speed wobble but still protour people crashing solo too).
But agreed, Kristian will have to learn to race with people around him. Clearly Jayco feel he can so everyone here doubting him should minimally let is play out and see if he can learn bike handling. Primoz learned going from ski jumping to biking, Mike Woods learned from track to biking, Campanaerts learned going from triathlon to biking, Ritchie Porte did the same coming from tri as did Lance. All to different degrees of bike handling but good enough to be in the peloton. It’s not the same degree of complex skill like learning to do the 400IM in swimming or a tennis serve at pro level or a golf drive a pro level. Enough people learn the skill sufficiently to race at pro whereas no one changes sports and can compete at the above three that I listed without starting out doing those.
You forgot to mention at what ages those people made the switch.
I don’t think this is about Jerseys, stage wins or UCI points
This is milking the Norwegian hype train. They know the hype has limited ability over the next 6 months, so set a trajectory for the next 4 years.
The hype train is now a product. This is all pure product promotion.
Bu is not helping Blu’s potential in the peloton. Other riders see this and “oh, really ?”.
I got the article forwarded to me by a Kiwi rider with a question “are all triathletes this delusional ?”
I got the article forwarded to me by a Kiwi rider with a question “are all triathletes this delusional ?”
.
Yes…
I got the article forwarded to me by a Kiwi rider with a question “are all triathletes this delusional ?”
.
Yes…
You got to love Taylor Knibb however. After that train wreck she joked “they may not allow me back in their peloton”.