Professional Cycling For the Fans - Biggest disappointments so far

Just been thinking what or who hasn't panned out.

For me

1. Wiggins - I wasn't expecting a podium, but top 5 for sure and at least a more antagonistic role. It is a climbers tour but he is 7:39 / 16th back and interviewing like it's all good. This guy is tanking like Waterworld and it's not done yet.

2. Micheal Rogers - same as Wiggins - wasn't expecting a ton but maybe 7th or 8th at this point, not 7:47 / 17th. Winning the TOC isn't a huge deal in European cycling but it's only gonna get worse from here on with the Pyrenees.
I know both will pull back some time on the ITT but it seems their slide isn't over yet.

Who are your disappointments?

I've never been a huge believer in either of those two (Wiggins and Rogers) on the Tour.

Liquigas, as a team has been disappointing to me. I know it's not over, but I don't see them making significant gains.

I'm a bit disappointed that Sagan didn't get to ride the Tour. I know he's young, but he showed what a great future he has in the ATOC. I'd also like to have seen what Tony Martin could have done if he were the protected GC rider. I know, he has plenty of time ahead of him, and he theoretically isn't the climber that Rogers is, but in a year or two, he'll be one of the GC men.

I've not heard Michael Barry's name mentioned a single time on the Vs coverage. I realize he's a "lowly domestique", but he's also Canadian, so why not mention him when they show where the American riders are in the standings?



Just been thinking what or who hasn't panned out.

For me

1. Wiggins - I wasn't expecting a podium, but top 5 for sure and at least a more antagonistic role. It is a climbers tour but he is 7:39 / 16th back and interviewing like it's all good. This guy is tanking like Waterworld and it's not done yet.

2. Micheal Rogers - same as Wiggins - wasn't expecting a ton but maybe 7th or 8th at this point, not 7:47 / 17th. Winning the TOC isn't a huge deal in European cycling but it's only gonna get worse from here on with the Pyrenees.
I know both will pull back some time on the ITT but it seems their slide isn't over yet.

Who are your disappointments?

Frank crashing out.

Id like to say i was disappointed in Cadel but i would say i expected it to much to be disappointed.

Stage 2 being neutralized.

Renshaw being tossed.

LA puncturing on the Pave.

...I've not heard Michael Barry's name mentioned a single time on the Vs coverage. I realize he's a "lowly domestique", but he's also Canadian, so why not mention him when they show where the American riders are in the standings?

Ask, and ye shall receive. Thanks, Bobke. :D

1. Lance- thought he might finish 5-7
2. tie between Frank Shleck and Vandevelde- thought both of these guys might finish top 10.
All 3 had bad racing luck but thats part of the game.

Pretty disappointed in Lance. I wanted to see him atleast try or make an effort to finish well on one of the stages, but that seems unlikely. He seems to just want to race without taking any more risks.

I'm dissapointed Frank didn't last, not his fault though. I wanted to see him and Andy team up and battle everyone.

Even though I don't care either way for Wiggins, I like the result to be up in the air, so if he was in there, it would be more exciting. The more contenders the better I say, as now it's a 2 horse race.

Frank crashing out.

Yeah what a damn shame, I was really looking forward to watching the brothers stir the pot. Damn.

I've not heard Michael Barry's name mentioned a single time on the Vs coverage. I realize he's a "lowly domestique", but he's also Canadian, so why not mention him when they show where the American riders are in the standings?
I could have sworn they were talking about him today for a while, made it a point of discussion. When is Canada going to field a team.

Bummer about Frank Shleck crashing out...it would have been so much better with both the Shleck brothers!
ivan basso hasn't done much so far but the big mountain stages are still to come and he seems to be in pretty good form.
I'm not that disappointed in Lance...he's 38 and I didn't expect he'd finish that high this year. I am SUPRISED he crashed as much as he did...

So many frenchies in contention for KOM
VDV crashing out.
Lance crashing so much.
No 3rd contender. Andy & Alberto are going to finish 10 minutes ahead of 3rd place.
Farrar just quiting.
Cav not getting demoted a step for Renshaw's stupidity.

Fabian Cancellara not in contention for KOM
Jan Ullrich not competing
Floyd Landis not showing up in France and getting arrested

Fabian Cancellara not in contention for KOM
Jan Ullrich not competing
Floyd Landis not showing up in France and getting arrested

:lol:

I've never been a huge believer in either of those two (Wiggins and Rogers) on the Tour.

Liquigas, as a team has been disappointing to me. I know it's not over, but I don't see them making significant gains.

I'm a bit disappointed that Sagan didn't get to ride the Tour. I know he's young, but he showed what a great future he has in the ATOC. I'd also like to have seen what Tony Martin could have done if he were the protected GC rider. I know, he has plenty of time ahead of him, and he theoretically isn't the climber that Rogers is, but in a year or two, he'll be one of the GC men.

I've not heard Michael Barry's name mentioned a single time on the Vs coverage. I realize he's a "lowly domestique", but he's also Canadian, so why not mention him when they show where the American riders are in the standings?

yeah, hoping they light it up starting on stage 14.

on the other side of things...impressed that young nicolas roche is still hanging tough in the top fifteen!

next two gc contenders out of the top ten...van den broeck and levi.

next two gc contenders in the top ten...i daresay vino and sastre!:D

I agree about Wiggins. Sky were pretty confident about his form coming into the tour, and clearly thought that based on his figures he'd climb better than last year. Which makes me wonder, is it that he has underperformed or are the climbs being attacked more aggressively this year? It isn't just Wiggins - Sastre, Basso and other good climbers have struggled when the pressure has been applied. So it may be that standards, at least in the mountains, are higher this year.

Didn't like the refusal to race on stage two. Thought the Renshaw decision was dubious at best. Otherwise, it's pretty much all good. This has been one of the more interesting tours of recent years and we haven't even reached the Pyrenees. The Giro was of a similarly high standard; long may it continue.

this tdf will haveta ramp it up a little more to match this year's giro. the first week was a good start; the second
was decent. here's hoping the third week exceeds the organizers' wildest dreams...

My disappointment is that no one covers the giro on tv around here! it's always been my favourite of the grand tours anyways...it's much more fun, and during the Lance years of the tour, it had a lot more suspense than the tour. I've always loved the giro!

I have no disappointments with any riders. The TDF is so difficult , it's easy for us "mortals" to just look at the TV and say .... "why can't he ride faster!" One look into the mirror of my own life, and I see why.

I've not heard Michael Barry's name mentioned a single time on the Vs coverage.

Wow, I didn't even know he was in the race until reading your post. Talk about being anonymous.

Lance has been the greatest disappointment. Not his less then stellar racing performance but in finding out that he tried to pay to have Lemond blackmailed. Lance is a criminal and deserves to go to jail.

http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory?id=11192419

I want to believe that this story is not true. But it would be par for the course for Armstrong.

Wiggins for sure - after last year, I expected him to be in the top 5 or so, at the very least. I am also surprised by Lance and how far off the back he has fallen. And related to a post made by me earlier, in the relatively obscure department - Jesus Hernandez. He was my sleeper pick to stand out in the mountains this year.

Basso - not a surprise, not so soon after the Giro. Cuddles is Cuddles - he did better than I expected.

I am disappointed in Armstrong. Ok, he has no shot at the yellow jersey, but why just lay down and give up? Sad way to leave the sport...

Armstrong is the most disappointing followed by Wiggins. Those two and their teams were probably among the most hyped up before the TdF began. Both are now way below the top 10. Other teams which are disappointing are Liquigas and BMC.

I've never been a huge believer in either of those two (Wiggins and Rogers) on the Tour.

Liquigas, as a team has been disappointing to me. I know it's not over, but I don't see them making significant gains.

I'm a bit disappointed that Sagan didn't get to ride the Tour. I know he's young, but he showed what a great future he has in the ATOC. I'd also like to have seen what Tony Martin could have done if he were the protected GC rider. I know, he has plenty of time ahead of him, and he theoretically isn't the climber that Rogers is, but in a year or two, he'll be one of the GC men.

I've not heard Michael Barry's name mentioned a single time on the Vs coverage. I realize he's a "lowly domestique", but he's also Canadian, so why not mention him when they show where the American riders are in the standings?

This has got my vote as well. They've been almost a non-factor. They're probably wishing they had brought Nibali.

Basso and Liquigas.

They won the Giro and I understand that 1) It's possibly too close in time for Basso to have recovered and 2) A lot of the big guns (AC, The Schlecks, etc... weren't in Italy.

Still, Evans had a good race in Italy, Menchov did not this year, won the Girio last year and looked strong today.'

It appears that the climbing tempo has been a bit too fast for Basso and I've really only seen him in the top group on a climb, once. So I assume this years TdF is at a different level then this years Giro.

Euskaltel Euskadi

Had to look to see if they were even in this years race.

Roman Kreuzinger is another Liquigas guy who hasn't done much.

Euskaltel Euskadi

Had to look to see if they were even in this years race.

Ummmmm...the Olympic Champion has been in 3rd for quite a while now. If anything, this is a better showing than they typically have in the tours.

I don't think lance has given up, but he has only a week left in his career, so he probably figures why kill himself? he has nothing left to prove, really. He didn't look too good today...interesting that he's never liked the heat, and yet he grew up in texas!
Yes, basso just won the giro for the second time, he would love to win the tour and get the double, but not this year! if he ever wants to win the tour he'll have to skip the giro...
Bradley wiggins has admitted he just doesn't have the form this year.
Robbie McEwen has been a non factor,I'm surprised he's still in the race! he's injured as well...i bet he bails out this week. Not too many sprint stages left....

Ummmmm...the Olympic Champion has been in 3rd for quite a while now. If anything, this is a better showing than they typically have in the tours.

Doh! Totally forgot this talented rider.

Euskaltel Euskadi

Had to look to see if they were even in this years race.

It was pretty funny how two of their riders crashed into each other on a climb, taking Lance's bike with them.

Comedic shenanigans wins points.

So many frenchies in contention for KOM
VDV crashing out.
Lance crashing so much.
No 3rd contender. Andy & Alberto are going to finish 10 minutes ahead of 3rd place.
Farrar just quiting.
Cav not getting demoted a step for Renshaw's stupidity.

You posted here so I know you have internet access. Stop listening to the Vrs. anouncers and actually bother to go to a site on the net that gives the standings. The rider who finishes third is most likely to be closer than second usually is. And as things stand now if Andy has one bad day he stands to finish 3rd or possibly even worse.

One thing I've noticed is the Versus factor. They are the masters of building false hope. Wiggins, Rogers, VDV, Leipheimer, Lance, really weren't disappointing unless you bought into the Versus hype. Going in we knew AC and AS should have been the strongest riders. The big question was if AS had improved his TT to truly challenge AC. I guess there is still a stage to go, but based on the prologue, that is doubtful. The other guys were never really going to challenge unless something happened to AC and AS.

I think Menchov is a big disappointment. He skipped the Giro to focus on the Tour. He's got two grand tour victories, can climb and tt. Seemed like he should have been a factor. Still think Liquigas is the biggest team disappointment.

really unfortunate for Ivan Basso. I think it's one thing to DO the giro but another to WIN it and then do the tour...i can't believe he even finished!

really unfortunate for Ivan Basso. I think it's one thing to DO the giro but another to WIN it and then do the tour...i can't believe he even finished!

Yep, saw the same thing with Menchov last year.

Biggest dissapointment so far? Various BF poster proclaiming how bad this TDF is.

really unfortunate for Ivan Basso. I think it's one thing to DO the giro but another to WIN it and then do the tour...i can't believe he even finished!

makes those you have done (and won) the double even more impressive.

Biggest dissapointment so far? Various BF poster proclaiming how bad this TDF is.

this.

Friend of mine and I have a scorecard on this.

Most disappointing rider is defined as the rider in the pre-race top 10 favorites who finishes lowest or quits first. I don't have the list now, but I think that's F. Schleck.

ok, let's focus on the race itself shall we? lol

big surprise though, that robbie mcewen still going...i thought for sure he'd be gone but he wants to go all the way to paris. He only has one or two chances left and he's not in the green jersey competition....gotta admire his moxie!

Frank Schleck's injury and subsequent withdrawal from the Tour.

Basso's performance, though that's not totally surprising. It's very difficult to do well in the Tour after winning the Giro. I heard that he has bronchitis, which is hindering his performance.

Lance. I'm not disappointed with his performance, but more with his attitude. Maybe I've been watching the wrong TV coverage (German Eurosport) and reading the wrong websites, but I never heard Lance say something along the lines of, "I'm out of it now so I'm going to do what I can to help my teammate Levi get onto the podium." If he had said and done that, I would have regained some of the respect that I lost for him last year. But he seems to be out for himself again this Tour.

biggest diappointment for me is the fact that schleck couldn't drop contador yesterday and make it a bit more interesting but hats off to him he tried:)

I really don't think Evans, Wiggens, etc. performed that bad. I just think AC and AS along with their teams are so much better than everyone else that they wore them down and made them un-competative. The thing I kept noticing was how the peloton kept coming into towns beating the fastest estimated times for arrival. Saxo Bank and Astana (Vino) kept pushing the pace of the race till any other contender was beat before the end of a stage.

I really don't think Evans, Wiggens, etc. performed that bad. I just think AC and AS along with their teams are so much better than everyone else that they wore them down and made them un-competative. The thing I kept noticing was how the peloton kept coming into towns beating the fastest estimated times for arrival. Saxo Bank and Astana (Vino) kept pushing the pace of the race till any other contender was beat before the end of a stage.

Evans has a doctors note.

Wiggins doesn't get paid to be 41:03 back on GC regardless of how good 2 guys are. He has sucked it huge this tour. Vaughters is laughing his azz off with Rider Hesjadel sitting 8 minutes off GC. just sayin