Inquiring minds (especially those who like Team Garmin) want to know:
by Cyclingrush
on Jun 21, 2008 2:45 PM EDT
What's the deal w/ Bubble Boy? [ed: Tom Danielson] From a broken shoulder & ruptured disc in last year's Vuelta (and a long history of other injuries - hence the nickname) to being overweight and undertrained earlier in the year, to talking about how his power meter was smoking on one of the Route du Sud climbs during training to finishing the mountain TT more than 4 minues in arrears to being a no-show in today's mountain stage, I'm left wondering whether the "Great White Hope" tag should be changed to "Great White Hype."
I understand if his divorce earlier in the year had a huge impact on his training. And I understand that there may be reasonable explanations for the other negative points. But it just seems to me that the optimism we always hear from/about him hasn't met reality, and I wonder if he'll just disappear quietly in the near future and start selling cars or something. I really like him (or do I just like the hyped version of him?), but I also really wonder sometimes if he's in the right line of work.
Thoughts, anyone?
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I follow TD a good bit because he showed so much promise. I think he has a 6th and 7th place finish in the Vuelta. That may build up a good bit of pressure.
In the video of him training on his website, he appears to climb well. If I remember, Armstrong said that Danielson broke most of his (Armstrong’s) records at how fast he could climb a hill in training.
All of that creates a great deal of expectation. I kind of wonder if the pressure is a bit much. He seems to do better in training than in the race.
This year he seems to have been hurt a great deal. It may be that it takes time to come back from some injuries. Vande Velde got dropped from Postal because it took him a few years to respond to some injuries he had. Now, he’s riding extremely well.
I wish Danielson the best. I love to ride my bike, but I wonder how much I would love it if it were a job? Mental toughness might be more important than physical talent. I wonder if it wouldn’t help Danielson to race more in the US and just enjoy racing?
I wish him well, but it is obvious he is not riding like a stage race contender. I guessing neither he nor the team management know exactly what is wrong.
by John.. on Jun 21, 2008 3:07 PM EDT 0 recs
hmmmphhh . . .
When I want advice about skinny blondish women with issues and money, I’ll try to get in touch with Armstrong’s people.
Opinions about who’ll make a Tour de France winner? Nah . . . It’s too hard to separate his “say anything” bs from a considered opinion. Remember him trying to talk Hincapie up in ‘06? Or Devolder this year?
Danielson’s story so far is a sad one, but at 30ish, he’s simply not going to develop good pack skills or race tactics. If he still wants or needs to race, he’d be best off going back to the dirt side.
by R Mc on
Jun 21, 2008 10:08 PM EDT
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I think in a sport as demanding as cycling
mental toughness counts 10 times as much as phisical talent. Much is said about the off the charts testvalues of riders like Indurain and Armstrong, and of course there are those who are simply so talented that they can hardly avoid winning. The other 98% of the top riders are probably separated from hundreds or thousands of equally physically talented guys only by their mental toughness.
I would guess that TD’s sheer talents have brough him further than his mentality can support and he now finds himself in very deep waters.
by Jens on
Jun 22, 2008 2:46 AM EDT
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Anyone want to forcast the Garmin Tour Team?
Here’s my shot at it:
David Millar
Trent Lowe
Ryder Hesjedal
Danny Pate
Christian Vande Velde
Magnus Backstedt
Julian Dean
Tyler Farrar
Martjin Maaskant
by John.. on Jun 21, 2008 3:13 PM EDT 0 recs
That's probably a good guess
Being that this lists pretty much all of their heavy hitters.
If I just had one more gear, I...
by SpunOut on
Jun 21, 2008 3:43 PM EDT
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not a bad list at all
dan martin is currently winning route du sud, also. i think that might count for something in the considerin’
by gavia on
Jun 21, 2008 9:22 PM EDT
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except that JV says Martin won't ride the Tour this year
by guidemd on
Jun 22, 2008 12:29 AM EDT
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bene
thanks – i wondered about that. still a kid, really.
great ride in la route! and a lovely comment there from jv.
by gavia on
Jun 22, 2008 11:21 AM EDT
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Whoever is lowest on GC
If I just had one more gear, I...
by SpunOut on
Jun 21, 2008 11:18 PM EDT
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This list is missing someone I wanted to see
but is a list I would expect to see.
"The most wasted day is that in which we have not laughed."
by nikki on
Jun 23, 2008 2:25 AM EDT
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I agree about TD
Something I posted on another thread:
Seriously, I understand that everyone gets sick, but he clearly isn’t cut out for the rigors of pro bike racing. You can have all the ability in the world, but if your body can’t take the abuse, then you can’t race. I hate to say this, but if I’m JV, I cut my losses and find somebody that can give me a return on my investment.
Much has been said about TD’s lack of pack skills, but that seems to pale in comparison to his weak constitution. He’s had a ton of chances to get his sheit together but he hasn’t done it. I don’t get it. The doctors that he has at his disposal couldn’t get him sorted out, so I doubt it’s just a physical thing. But sport psychologists are everywhere now, so that can’t be his excuse anymore. I think you got it right when you said he was the “great white hype”. That pretty much sums it up.
If I just had one more gear, I...
by SpunOut on Jun 21, 2008 3:55 PM EDT 0 recs
Isn't he is on a 2yr contract with JV?
I honestly think the best thing for the guy is a little tough love by JV.
He needs to be slotted as a gregario for any race he is in and made to race like one.
Enough of the endless training camps and all that; go get the coke.
He then can make the decision to support his team, or break his contract and go home.
Despite him being a basket case, he is a pretty nice guy and I do hope he would choose to support his team.
by Ryan_Liles on
Jun 22, 2008 2:27 AM EDT
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dunno
I’d have agreed with the tough love thing a year or more ago. But there’s something clearly wrong with the guy – those sorts of illnesses and problems aren’t psychosomatic. Not to say that some of it can’t be an issue of toughness. At the core, though, I think it’s a serious medical issue. I’d like to be wrong, and I suppose we’ll see.
by Sui Juris on
Jun 22, 2008 10:14 AM EDT
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Pretty sure, yes
That he has a two year contract at Garmin.
It sounded like JV was going to try the tough love approach this year – sending him to a bunch of cold, hard, French races in the early season. That all got derailed by his back problems. Too bad, because I think JV had the right idea with all that.
One thing that has always struck me about his career, is that it all came pretty easily. That is, he went from mountain biking (and not especially brilliantly) to having the biggest team in the US – saturn – dragging him around big races. Then, he won some hill climbs and went to Fassa, where Ferretti quickly lost patience with him. Then he was the next Lance. He never really had to claw his way through the hierarchy both in terms of the sport or within a team the way most riders do. The guys who make it to the elite levels in Europe, eh, U23 racing is freakin’ hard, both physically and psychologically. TD missed all of that experience, and I think it makes it more difficult more him to push his career further – he’s just missing some hugely important physical and psychological tools that the other guys have.
by gavia on
Jun 22, 2008 11:44 AM EDT
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not super familiar with his past history
- as an MTB’er, TD was pretty much only doing MTB and then having to learn the road racing skills after having switched over? I’m contrasting this in my mind to others like Cadel Evans, who was 3rd in the junior worlds TT even while riding MTB and I think was riding road races in the MTB off-season before switching over entirely – same as Ryder Hesjedal I believe (think he was riding both road and MTB for a year or two before switching over entirely to road).
by guidemd on
Jun 22, 2008 12:31 PM EDT
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Si...
He didn’t race as a junior on the road. And he started mountain biking relatively late in the game also. 2002, he joined Mercury late in the season, but was still mostly a mountain bike racer. 2003, he destroyed the US scene riding for Saturn. By all accounts, they did a lot of directing – here TD, ride this way, follow my wheel. They were the uber-team that year, and really controlled every race they did. That made it easy for them to keep him out of trouble. After that, he went to Europe with Fassa, then on to Discovery where the PR machine took over and turned him into the Next Lance. His main claim to fame was not only the big 2003 season where he really did win lots, but also a sucession of hill climb records at various spots in the US. There was also a lot of blah blah in the press about his lab numbers and whathaveyou.
He still has no international or national championship results. Always, there was some reason or another that he missed those races. Or, one year he crashed out of the national crono.
Yes, both Ryder and Cadel did some of both before switching. They also had long careers on in the dirt before they hit the road, were part of their national team structures from an early age, etc. Very different backgrounds than TD.
by gavia on
Jun 22, 2008 12:54 PM EDT
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The year he got picked up by Saturn
He went from a Cat 3 to Cat 1 in about 2 months, IIRC. Then Saturn came a knocking. I remember him saying when he rode TdLangkawi that the other teams would do their best to put him in the gutter all the time and part of Saturn’s job was riding guard around him. The gregarios must have loved that….......
"Hey, hey, settle down boys and girls or Krusty will have to bring out his old friend Corporal Punishment again."
by Drew... on Jun 23, 2008 12:29 PM EDT 0 recs
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