CrankyOne

I've held on to a lot of optimism but it's quickly fading. He doesn't seem to have the mental desire or physical ability to go up against the best. Maybe it's not even physical but purely lacking in enough hunger to deal with the pain?

Maybe a podium one day but never a winner?

dstrong 

He has it...unfortunately there are others that have more of it.

bikecrate

In the Quintana/Froome era I'm going to say no. He has more of a diesel engine and can't seem to handle those hard attacks. The stars would have to align in some strange way for him to pull off a win.

PepeM

+1

I don't think he'll ever win a TdF, no. He should probably target the Vuelta.

DLBroox

I've wondered that about Quintana in the last few days.

gsa103

Nope. He gets a lot of press simply because he's the best American. At the end of the day, he's kind of like the 10th best quarterback in the NFL. There's a short list of riders who are stronger GC contenders, so for him to get a win would like something truly absurd to happen, like Froome having his bike destroyed by a motorcycle...

Having said that, I think he's having one of his better tours. He just needs to avoid that day where he loses 30min to the top GC guys. Once he gets through a grand tour without that bad day I'll consider him a legitimate contender.

And yes, Quintana doesn't seem to have it either. Last year he made up a bunch of time in the Pyrenees, but its easy to make up time when you're way back and Froome gives you a long leash...

PepeM

Quintana might if there is another Tour with basically no time trialing, like last year. He is still young and maybe Froome will fade a bit.

HardyWeinberg

He's better than Colin Kaepernick or Alex Smith, 16th out of 180 in today's TT. He was 2 ahead of Yates today but is 34 seconds behind him on GC as if TJ's time is passing before it's even arrived. So, the best American for now...

DiabloScott

Quintana has to have the ugliest time trial form ever... it's like his femurs are attached too high up in his pelvis or something.

Dennis, Mollema, and Yates - these are time-trialing, hill-climbing all-arounders that can contend and have a little more of "it" than Tejay.

gsa103

I don't know, that seems like the perfect analogy. Remember both of those players came very close to winning the Super Bowl and had great playoff runs. I'm not trying to knock on TJ, he's clearly a very talented rider, but he needs to improve his consistency to really contend.

Time trial results are tricky to interpret given that only 20-30 riders actually bother trying, the rest are just making time cuts. The TT specialists going for a stage win and the GC contenders hoping to make time. Everyone else is basically on a rest day.

HardyWeinberg

Very good points.

MinnMan

Yates is going to have to up his TT game to be truly competitive, but he's off to a great start. Froome is going to be king for some time now (unless his secret dope habit is revealed, etc.), but I would bet on Yates as his eventual successor before Quintana. Quintana can be a great climber and should focus on the Vuelta.

Andy_K 

Has anyone ever seen Teejay make a serious attack? It doesn't seem to be his thing. I think he's a lot like Cadel Evans in that regard -- great at keeping up with the best climbers, not so great at beating them. He's got a track record of having one bad day every year at the tour, but I think he can overcome that.

I think he could beat Quintana in a grand tour because he's capable of matching Quintana's strengths and is strong where Quintana is weak. I don't think he could beat Froome unless Froome met some misfortune because Froome shares Teejay's strengths and is better at all of them.

PepeM

He attacked last year on the Dauphine, if I recall correctly.

PepeM

Maybe it was Catalunya:

2ering

"Will Tejay ever have it?" I think he's had it...you must have blinked and missed it.

sloclimb

Yeah, Tejay has been the top U.S. rider in europe for several years. I know Talansky's Dauphine was a great win, but Tejay has a very good palmares, and short of last years illness, he's once again going into the third week looking at a top ten finish for the fourth time at the tour. That is not an easy feat. Hopefully one year the stars will align and he can have a Cadel type Tour. I do really hope he gets a podium one year, even though I have to agree, a win would be a real longshot.

Caretaker

Chris Horner won the Vuelta Espana in 2013. Still the only U.S. rider to win a grand tour since Greg Lemond.

Wildwood 

TJ's low weight makes him look vulnerable (fragile?); whereas, for example, Chris Froome seems healthier given an equally thin body shape. TJ is also known to hate the cold and rain. I put him in a Frank and Andy Schleck (sp?) category. Although Andy was awarded a TdF after finishing 2nd.

DLBroox

Ouch! But I agree.

jamesdak 

LOL, shameful of me I know. But when I see the OP's question the first thing that comes to mind is, "not unless he dopes/cheats like the rest". Honestly, having been fooled by Armstrong I now look at Froome's "dominance" and wonder how he's cheating to keep doing it over and over.

Am I the only one?

Homebrew01

How can you judge that, unless you're his coach or teammate ?

DLBroox

Let's not start this.

jamesdak 

Sorry, just keeping it real.

I enjoy the race no matter what. It's just entertainment like any other sports. There a preponderance of historical cheating in all sports so why would anyone believer that sports are clean?

DLBroox

Mods have asked to keep the doping talk out of grand tour threads that are not about doping. There is a sticky explaining it. If you want to talk about doping, start a separate thread. Otherwise the conversations get hijacked into doping arguments.