[Sintesi]

Does anyone think any of these guys could ever return to their former glory? Or are they headed to the dust bin?

Remember how excited everyone was about Mayo two years ago? The Mont Ventoux climbing record? We used to talk about him as much as we do Valverde and Boonen today. He was the next "great one" in many minds.

Poor old Beloki looked like he was finally going to graduate from wheel sucking school when that awful disaster befell him in 2004. He probably would be hitting his peak maturity as a rider right now if that hadn't happened.

Yes, I know Simoni didn't exactly suck in last year's Giro but still it was a far far cry from his '01-'03 form. If the 2003 Simoni had shown up in 2005 everyone of those guys would have been clocked by a couple minutes at least. His bar is set a bit higher in my estimation. The others had the potential to be great. Simoni WAS great.

 

[55x11]

Does anyone think any of these guys could ever return to their former glory? Or are they headed to the dust bin?

Remember how excited everyone was about Mayo two years ago? The Mont Ventoux climbing record? We used to talk about him as much as we do Valverde and Boonen today. He was the next "great one" in many minds.

Poor old Beloki looked like he was finally going to graduate from wheel sucking school when that awful disaster befell him in 2004. He probably would be hitting his peak maturity as a rider right now if that hadn't happened.

Yes, I know Simoni didn't exactly suck in last year's Giro but still it was a far far cry from his '01-'03 form. If the 2003 Simoni had shown up in 2005 everyone of those guys would have been clocked by a couple minutes at least. His bar is set a bit higher in my estimation. The others had the potential to be great. Simoni WAS great.

You have the funniest signature I have ever seen, dude! (I would have added "Ciao!" in the end though).

Ditto on your analysis. I liked Simoni, especially how he would mouth off about dominating TdF and showing Lance and Ullrich what the real climbers can do to them, and then he would show up and get blown away in the mountains. I think Mayo may have been saying similar things in 2004 or 2005, followed by uneventful tour.

Euskaltel always seems to have a few climbers that are "on" for a year, but then they disappear into oblivion.

I also would have liked to see another Simoni/Cunego match up, especially since they are now on different teams, but I guess Simoni's time is up.

 

[rcnute]

Beloki might have sucked wheels. But he was the only one who could keep up. And attacked when he could.

 

[nwilkes]

Beloki might have sucked wheels. But he was the only one who could keep up. And attacked when he could.

1. Beloki gets mad respect for even attempting a comeback after that crash. He isn't looking to bad considering he probably just got full hip mobility last year.
2. I stand my prediction that Mayo will continue to underperform, get dropped by EE, picked up by Telekom, underperform again and then get picked up by CSC. From there he and Sastre will destroy the Vuelta.
3. The only thing I liked about Simoni was watching him get his a$$ handed to him in the tour. Was it him who fell in the TTT and the rest of the team left him down to cross the line?

 

[Under ACrookedSky]

Simoni WAS great.

Simoni IS great, and it's unfair to lump him in with the likes of Mayo. Last year he was number one challenge to Savoldelli's lead. He did everything possible to win and came up a little short. Without whatever deal Disco made with other teams, he may have won. If Rujano had done something other than suck wheels during the queen stage, Gibo might have won.

The year before that he was the only one who challenged Cunego. Before that two Giro victories.

Given his age this year may be his last chance to win the Giro again. The course is good for him and looks to be in good form.

 

[BarryG]

Look for Beloki to have a noticeable presence for LS in the mountains this July. He's making a long valiant comeback from horrific injuries. Former glory? Odds are against him (next year?), but definitely not the dust bin.

 

[zosocane]

I agree with CrookedSky -- don't lump Gibo in with Mayo. Other than winning a stage up to L'Alpe in 2003 and winning the Dauphine in 2004, Mayo has done little else.

And at least Beloki podiumed at the TdF, and his terrible 2003 accident for all practical purposes destroyed his greatness. That wasn't his fault.

Gibo, on the other hand, has won the Giro twice (not an insignificant feat) and last year had a solid year taking Mont Faron at Paris-Nice and finishing second at the Giro (by what was it, 23 seconds?) and the Tour of Lombardy (losing in a sprint to an on-fire Bettini). If not for Wim van Hueffel pacing Savoldelli up to Sestriere because Disco DS Sean Yates and the Davitamon DS are good friends, Gibo wins the 2005 Giro making it three Giro victories, and he would be entering the 2006 Giro as defending champ. So if Gibo is going to be written-off, please do so AFTER his performance at the 2006 Giro which even Gibo admits might be his last one because he's pushing 35.

FORZA GIBO

 

[mav616]

Does anyone think any of these guys could ever return to their former glory? Or are they headed to the dust bin?

Remember how excited everyone was about Mayo two years ago? The Mont Ventoux climbing record? We used to talk about him as much as we do Valverde and Boonen today. He was the next "great one" in many minds.

Poor old Beloki looked like he was finally going to graduate from wheel sucking school when that awful disaster befell him in 2004. He probably would be hitting his peak maturity as a rider right now if that hadn't happened.

Yes, I know Simoni didn't exactly suck in last year's Giro but still it was a far far cry from his '01-'03 form. If the 2003 Simoni had shown up in 2005 everyone of those guys would have been clocked by a couple minutes at least. His bar is set a bit higher in my estimation. The others had the potential to be great. Simoni WAS great.

Simoni is still working on a plan to make LA die in the mountains....

 

[Argentius]

Does anyone think any of these guys could ever return to their former glory?

Nope.

Simoni was a great rider, but his time is done. He'll be 35 at the end of the season, and will have one last swan song Giro. He'll do decent, probably top-5, but his age and the TTT will hurt him.

Mayo is yesterday's news.

Beloki will continue to be a great team player with Liberty, and his experience may help the younger spanish riders of the team in GT's, but he won't be a tour contender again.

Just MHO.

 

[Bianchigirl]

Just to set the record straight about Mayo - in 2001 he won the Classique des Alpes, the Midi Libre and a stage of the Dauphine - that was when some of us sat up and started taking notice, and is hardly the palmares of someone who has done virtually nothing - in fact he has 19 wins to his credit which, in these days of specialization, is a respectable palmares - Beloki only has 14 victories and nothing as prestigious as Midi-Libre or the Dauphine to his name, not even a TdF stage win, which Mayo has - and at the Alpe at that.

 

[carlos]

its amazing how people can predict thing here isnt it? does anybody here knows the next lottery numbers please?

 

[orange_julius]

3. The only thing I liked about Simoni was watching him get his a$$ handed to him in the tour. Was it him who fell in the TTT and the rest of the team left him down to cross the line?

It's not easy to peak twice in 3 months' time, and hold that form for 3 entire weeks at a time.

Re: the TTT crash, he and his team thought that since the crash was in the last km, he'd be protected by the "crash in the last km and everybody gets same time" rule. Unfortunately, this rule applies only to mass-start events.

 

[Argentius]

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