Battle Royal: Gesink vs. Van den Broeck
by Frinking on Dec 16, 2010 9:32 AM EST
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PrintThe battle between.. Belgium and Holland.. Pattaten met friet en zuurkool.. A not working goverment and a non exicsting goverment, between cross and.. korfbal.. Between a beautiful Flemisch accent and a loud G, Schevening FTW!, And between Johan Cruijf and Marc Marie Le Pfaff.. Oh.. and het Rijksmuseum and Manneken Pis.
Start.. Which started out as a Quick Step fan snark, went via a big win Quick Step vs Rabobank, to a van den Broeck vs Gesink fight. (You have to enlarge your horizon if you want to take down Rabobank!) Now both Gesink and van den Broeck want to be good in Valkenberg WC 2012. So they both have the plan to ride the Tour and Vuelta next year (2011). But who's going to win that fight? What does the power of Podiumcafe have to say about this...
Van den Broeck or Gesink
via www.standaard.be
Robert Gesink..
If you talk about the orange flash.. You talk about Gesink.. Who's that orange guy ahead? You talk about Gesink.. Or Nieve.. If you look at suffered face.. It's the work of Gesink.. If you nearly missed the end of the stage because they already finished.. It's the work of Gesink.. You get the idea of this phenomenal. A rider who ride aggressive all the time, always looking for an attack.
At the age of 21 who won Settimana Lomardia and was second in the Tour de l'Avenir after Duenas.. Who? Yeah. A year later.. As neo he was 8th at Fleche Wallone after he started as 60th at Huy.. Also already 56th in the CQranking! With a 5th place in Tour de Germany and 2th in Poland.. After that it went hard, harder, hardst.. With wins, who can say that about van den Broeck :), in Belgium, California, Italy and this year Swizerland, Canada and Italy again
Only GT's. Not that he didn't try. In his first GT, the Vuelta he was 7th.. But a year after.. Fall out of the Tour.. Kilometers he pedaled behind the peloton with his markman Niermann.. Ouch.. In pole position for a podiumspot in the Vuelta.. A fall and a 6th spot was his verdict. The Tour 2010.. Fall, crack in his cubit.. Cobbles to come! But.. he survived.. And steady he grew in the Tour.. With pacing the favorites, try to attack them, helping Menchov and a.. bad TT.. He managed a very solid 6th place for his first Tour..
That TT is the only problem for Gesink.. He rode good tt's.. TT's with a bump in it.. Only straight flat TT's.. Not good.. Even with the wattage he can pedal.. With 41km TT in the Tour that shouldn't be a insurmountable task..
So.. Why is he going to take VDB in the Tour and Vuelta:
1. Because it is one of the heaviest Tour ever..
2. And that is the terrain of this monster.. He is one of the best climbers there is now.
3. With only 24 year of age there is even space for growth.. He will seal the young classification next year probably..
4. He's more consistent
5. He's a winner.. (more or less)
6. He fights for every meter
7. He was already in a testlab to make his position better
8. His grow potential says so
9. He's Dutch
And I know, sort of.. He's going to own van den Broeck.. in both the Tour and in the Vuelta.. And as if you needed this..
Van den Broeck:
28 year belgium rider who rode all his life for * Lotto. Was WC ITT U-23 ITT in 2001. Had his breakthrough season in 2008. Where he got 7th in the Giro d'Italia. Beating Di Luca, Pozzovivo, Simoni and Nibali on the way. After that, he focussed on the Tour 2009. Due a chrash he lost 6 minutes and ended 14th in the Tour.. Instead of 10th.. This year he again slowly progressed leading to a 4th place in the Dauphine and a 5th place in the Tour.. So he is very consistent steadily growing. He's like a new Zubeldia. Spot the similarities. Both good in the Tour and surprisingly.. in the Eneco Tour.
His growing is seen CQranking, as seen below, as in GT performance. With a 46th and 71th place in the TT's in the Tour you notice that that is his weak spot.. Weak? It's gold compared to Gesink.. A very reliable climber he is. And much more of a battle than I expected it to be. Can he make a step up again next year? Or stay ahead of Gesink?
via cqranking.com
Ps. I recognize it's an unbiased fandom post where Gesink has the heads on.. I just don't know much about him.. And he's like Zubeldia the Second.. Or Kevin Puawels. Have it your way.. Feel free to defend van den Broeck.. till he lose
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This is known as a Quarter Pounder Battle in the US
(And I went with option 2, just a hunch.)
Badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger...
My heart yells Gesink, simply because he is the more exciting rider to watch.
He rides many races to win and very often makes the race he enters. My kind of rider, so I voted “Gesink all the way”. However using whatever is left in the head, I think the score will be even.
I lean towards Gesink getting the upper hand at the Tour and doubt he'll be as strong in the Vuelta as a result...
so give the Vuelta to Van den Broeck.
Honestly, it is just so exciting that we have legit contenders all over the place for all these races. The youth in cycling is just so awesome to think about and it’s not just the Schleck/Bert show to chew over anymore. I just hope these two stay on two wheels and make the races exciting.
"Bitches, they were bitches"
- tgsgirl
God, I suck
I was supposed to write the VDB part of this but never got around to it :( Sorry Frinking!
Death before decaf! :D
- gavia
At the start, I thought that confession was going to be a little too private for me.
"It's a lovely thing, feeling that momentum. If you're lucky, it's also about grace." Tim Winton
I think the GT's will be a tie breaker
as far as overall though, Gesink hands down.
"It's a lovely thing, feeling that momentum. If you're lucky, it's also about grace." Tim Winton
None of this includes the Giro so I don't give a damn!
(but it was fun Frinky)
Gesink will do better in the Vuelta until he manages to crash into Anton crashing which all begun when Frank fell over Moncoutie. We’ll see if he can recover.
2010 F1 Champ: Sebastian Vettel-JAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Quitter's People United member # 42
Gesink seems a little fragile to me. (like most good climbers)
Van den Broeck is a tough guy who shepherds Gilbert around most of the year. When Gilbert takes a break around Tour time, it’s ‘Game On’ for VDB. He’s not going miss this grand opportunity. No matter who gets in his way. Ya listening Sarkosy?
By Vuelta time, VDB will be tired. I give that one to Gesink…unless he crashes into Anton, who crashes into Frank…
Fabian Cancellara walks into a bar. "I'd like Tom Boonen on the rocks...make it a double."
Van den Broeck really didn't have to do that much shepherding...
The Ardennes classics, that’s it. The rest of the year he got to ride for himself.
by blackswangreen on Dec 16, 2010 6:48 PM EST up reply actions
He's around in September/October too
Even if he does look rather zombie-like by that time of the season
My fruit bowl is full of sex wax--gavia
by Douglas Ansel on Dec 16, 2010 10:47 PM EST up reply actions
I was thinking about Paris-Nice
It seems my memory is a little off. VDB and Gilbert abandoned on the last stage, but they were probably riding for Peraud. Peraud was also impressive last year.
Fabian Cancellara walks into a bar. "I'd like Tom Boonen on the rocks...make it a double."
No, Peraud and Van den Broeck were joint leaders. But VDB didn't quite have it.
by blackswangreen on Dec 17, 2010 12:51 PM EST up reply actions
So it seems...good form takes time and 'not quite there' races
The ebb and flow of training schedules (peaking v. resting) of VDB, Gilbert, and Peraud was fun to follow in 2010. (it was rather casual following, but fun nonetheless)
Gosh, I just realized how fangirl/geeky my post is. Oh well, no sense in denying it:-)
Fabian Cancellara walks into a bar. "I'd like Tom Boonen on the rocks...make it a double."
Both of them have my respect and admiration!
But said that, I not seeing them doing good in the double Grand Tours.
I think it will be split, Robert in the Tour and VDB in the Vuelta.
You know what else I am admiring? Frinking’s passion and style in writing this post!
I used to be a big fan of the Racer Formerly Known as Bert! But then again, I used to believe in Santa ,Tooth Fairy and innocence of Floyd!
.
or VDB for The Tour and Gesink for the Vuelta.
I used to be a big fan of the Racer Formerly Known as Bert! But then again, I used to believe in Santa ,Tooth Fairy and innocence of Floyd!
.
Gesink has the experience of carrying a higher VDS value into season already.
Van Den Broeck has to prove double digit VDS point values won’t go to his head before I vote for him. He was an excellent value at four points last year though. =p
"It’s nothing secretive but it’s kept internal . . ." - Pat McQuaid
Until this year I didn't quite believe in either of these guys...
…but they were both pretty impressive. So now I believe. Gesink in particular seems like he’s right on the verge of winning something really big… but on contrarian principles I voted for VDB.
What else can I say? I'm really happy. --Vincenzo Nibali
Gesink will do better because he'll have better support.
VDB is on a team that will never provide a support crew to help him.
What would Deming do? (+8:00 GMT)
But...
VDB doesn’t appear to need all that much support. One person to nip back and forth with bottles is all he needs and Matty Lloyd (or Super Mario on the rare days he’s not trying to get in the break) can manage that.
I got a good one too.
Slywester Smyzd vs. CAS
High profile climbing domestiques who get chances to go out on their own.
(I think CAS is the clear winner here. But I’m re-watching the Giro, and Smyzd is always on the front)
"Oh man, it’s going to take days to kill all these people!"
yep
but Szmyd will never ever ride on his own
Sminer: I blame KARMA for everything.
Jens: I've heard it's a bitch
Water Girl: I heard it ran over your dogma
They let him target the Alpe d'Huez stage
"Oh man, it’s going to take days to kill all these people!"
and Ventoux the year before (which he won)
He seems to target the queen stage of the Dauphine as his chance to ride for himself
and that's it
Sminer: I blame KARMA for everything.
Jens: I've heard it's a bitch
Water Girl: I heard it ran over your dogma
oh case closed, CAS
Sminer: I blame KARMA for everything.
Jens: I've heard it's a bitch
Water Girl: I heard it ran over your dogma
Forget that...You don't want to mess with:
"Bitches, they were bitches"
- tgsgirl
by JustJoshinYa on Dec 19, 2010 8:44 PM EST up reply actions
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