Professional Cycling For the Fans - Soler?

Why does this guy look so WEIRD when he rides. Looks like he has a huntchback...like he doesn't look comfortable at all lol.

Anyone else notice his position as REALLY WEIRD

bumpdizzle

He keeps a third lung tucked up the back of his jersey.

Does he have a condition or does he just like to ride that way?

he started riding at age 17, so maybe he had no real idea what he was supposed to be doing.. I heard he saw a race that went past his house, thought.. I can do that.. and then won it the next year.. sounds nuts i know.

thats pretty intense. Ya I heard one of the guys say, "He picked up a bike at 17 and said to himself 'hey this is interesting maybe i should try this'" and has been winning ever since...

It looks like he's still riding the same bike he picked up when he was 17.

you guys obviously don't remember Fernando Escartin or Francesco Mancebo.

escartin looked like dracula, lol

http://i15.tinypic.com/6ayzfo9.jpg
http://i15.tinypic.com/63hfkt0.jpg

personally I lov ethis guy, I think he is great for the tour. he is probably the best climber in the tour, just no experience at all. I mean the rest of the GC contenders have scope many of these stages prior to the tour, I doubt " la Cucaracha" has a team budget for that.

His riding style with his helmet and pointy face make him look all aerodynamic and stuff. Hes all over his rig when the going gets tough.

I like the "Roach" for his nickname. Keep in mind, this guy rides a 60cm bike, so he is not short by any measure, which might explain the somewhat hunched over style.

What alarms me more is his labored pedal stroke style. Notice in these climbs that he will be in a pack, witht everyone else spinning away, and this guy's entire body is bobbing up and down. Either he really developed some odd cycling habits or he rides a lower gear ratio, causing him to have to really hammer up these hills.

you guys obviously don't remember Fernando Escartin or Francesco Mancebo.

Mancebo. Oh yeah! Don't remember Escartin though.

They ride like how I imagine a hung-over Stephen Hawking would ride. :D

How tall is he? Compared to the other climbers, he looks like Wilt Chamberlain, but he can't be that huge.

he is kind of like escartin...skinny guy with a big shnozz.

http://i11.tinypic.com/6h2okzq.jpg

Escartin was awesome.

a lot of really great climbers have kind of unorthodox styles...escartin was one. And remember Pantani? Hunched over and climbing in the drops...it looked completely impossible but he did it. Just shows how good he really was.

Does Soler have boobs? or does he store stuff in the front of his shirt?

Interesting he's not riding the ceramic bearing SI...that's the first side photo I've seen of him.

The best part was when he was offering water to Ras...if he was more experienced, I'd have thought it was a ploy to get into Ras's head, but he's not experienced enough to try stuff like that.

But it did make me really laugh.

me too!

+1

I think Soler is just having fun... like a little kid

The best part was when he was offering water to Ras...if he was more experienced, I'd have thought it was a ploy to get into Ras's head, but he's not experienced enough to try stuff like that.




This is normal professional etiquette on a big climb.

This is normal professional etiquette on a big climb.es verdad.

I can dig it. Phil and Paul called him "The Angry Spider" the other day. Also, "Mr. Gangley". He's like the new guy on the group ride who always attacks and is all over the road.

He keeps a third lung tucked up the back of his jersey.

Okay - that is STILL making me laugh! :roflmao: :roflmao:

... Brad

Interesting he's not riding the ceramic bearing SI...that's the first side photo I've seen of him......



Yeah, he'd probably be in the yellow jersey if he was riding the ceramic bearing BB....

Nice to see this kid emerge. Also, what about the two Euskatel riders in the top 10?

i like mr gangly. When he attacked Ras and Contrador was the first time i really paid attention to him and I was in pain watching him, but he has grown on me,

This is normal professional etiquette on a big climb.

Yeah, I remember all the times that Merckx would share his water bottles with his competitors on the final climbs...

Hinault, it was like a big picnic.

Indurain, one for all and all for one....

Lance used to give Ullrich/Beloki/whomever loads of extra drinks when they were within 10k of the finish.

Please alert me to the next time you see top riders on final ascents passing around the communial bottle.

What's funny is I am active on another forum that is populated with people that have seriously raced and several have done so professionally. That was a big topic, mostly of humor, amongst the group.

But this is Bikeforums...
:)

Yeah, when Contador and Rasmussen were getting into it the other day, they were discussing who would bring the drinks next time.:D

Soler looks like a frog and moves like an inch worm.

Contador and Rasmussen look so smooth compared to him.

But you can't knock Soler's style since he's up there with the rest of the top climbers.

Hi...

The roach!... well thats not new for colombians. Actually in south america the colimbian team was called "The colombian beetles/Roaches', Why? Years ago colombian riders where short, short like levi or even shorter than him, -110 pounds and with dark skin, probably sun burned. So if u see somebody climbing with those characteristics u'll think that looks like a black beetle riding a bike so the nick name "roaches or beetles" was applied to them long time ago. The other thing that many people ignore is that Colombia is a place with a lot of mountains, so is not rare to guess that soler should be an excelent climber, about his style. that is not a surprise for me also because i have seen a few really good colombians riders riding like amateurs but OMG they kicked the pedals stronger than BULL!!! Anybody remember the 1st time "cafe de Colombia" show up in the TDF? they sucked in the flats but in the mountains they were able to take hours from you, then Hinault hired 2 of them so then he was able to climb just as they did...? hope somebody remembers...

I think Dagget said something a few days ago like "this man do not know this mountains, he is not afraid of them"... actually, for sure he didnt know (dagget) that Soler is used to mountains like the pirenees or the Alpes because Colombia is like that or even worse...

These are pictures of Portillo and farellones in Chile (The Andes), Pavel Tonkov won a stage in here when he was amateur racing for the URRS... only to get to this snails or switchbacks (not that sure about the word) u have to ride like 2+ hours going uphill and then u see a "wall" with a road in it, thats the stuff Soler is used to... The problem he is having in my oppinion is that the racing pace is killing him...

http://www.apmaths.uwo.ca/~mkarttu/photoarchive/portillo-wide.jpg

http://es.geocities.com/perspectivavisual/caracoles.jpg

http://alanformstone.com/images/aconcagua/caracoles.html

http://www.motosul.blogger.com.br/30%20Caracol.JPG

http://www.masterlyinactivity.com/andes/caracoles.html

Thanks...

it'll be interesting to see where his career takes him in the next few years.....this TdF may just be a fluke for him, but i do like his style he's actually having fun out there.......he's been one on my fave riders to watch.

as long as he's making it to the top faster than everyone else.. that's all that matters. Hopefully we'll see more of him in the future.

I'm glad he's taken the KOM jersey from chicken. (I'm not a fan of superchicken)

http://www.digital-sledgehammer.com/superchicken/graphics/sc-head.gif

i put in a second vote for "the angry spider"

Is he really Angry?

A lot of style for taking all those points and still finishing high up on the stage. (16)

When he first won a stage, I figured it was just being in a well placed breakaway and being the best climber of the bunch. But he's really impressed me by going out and riding hard on all the climbing stages since then, mixing it up with some of the best climbers in the Tour. I expected him to go on a suicidal breakaway for KOM points today, but I was really impressed by how well he climbed right up to the end of the stage. As much as I like the Chicken, I hope Soler manages to win the KOM.