What Impedes Beloki?

musette

Why is Beloki still struggling? Are his problems physical/form-related, stemming from the 03 fall on the way to Gap? Are are they more complex (leaving aside the fact that he now has to be domestique, including in the Giro)?

What examples are there of good cyclists who were once leader, became domestiques and then earned leader status again (or co-leader)?

The LSW website indicates: "At 31, this year will be decisive for his future, either he returns to what he was or he thinks seriously about retirement."

musette

What humiliation that Beloki is working for this guy, based on his description from the LSW website:

"At 25 and only 3 years as a professional, this Italian has achieved a total of 8 victories. That’s not a bad letter of presentation for this Italian from Jesi who comes to Liberty Seguros-Würth from Domina Vacance. With this team he won 6 victories last year: the Lombardy Week, where he won 2 stages, the Race of Peace where he obtained one victory and another in the Copi and Bartali Week. He comes with the aspect of being a great climber and one of the best promising talents of Italian cycling. Since he arrived in the team, Manolo Saiz has set him homework to do. He’ll be leadering Liberty Seguros-Würth in the Giro de Italia, where he came 16th in 2003. There he’ll receive the support of his fellow countrymen and the reciprocal support of another recently signed rider, Joseba Beloki, who’ll be competing with him."

I'm not sure that Beloki is any longer viewed as a co-leader for the Giro. Then, to have to work for Heras at the Tour -- how sad -- when he used to have Ace and others working for him...

ed073

He's the next Jean-Francois Bernard.

El Loto

I remember watching Beloki up ALpe d'Huez live on the 03 Tour. He was awesome and was definitely going to push Lance all the way to Paris. It was such a shame that he crashed and now its a terrible waste that his career seems to have stalled. Sometimes sportsmen are stronger after suffering terrible injuries (Michael Schumacher and Henrik Larsson in particular) but he just hasn't been able to get his form going. I hope he gets back to his old trick soon.

musette

Ironically, Beloki had been criticized, for a while before his fall, on not taking enough proactive steps to try and challenge LA. Then, he was really aggressive in 03 and he had his fall. To a certain extent, Saiz and Beloki should have realized the temperatures were having the melting effect they had on Beloki's wheels. It was not necessarily a completely unavoidable accident, sad to say.

tcklyde

What? Are you kidding? What top contender wasn't riding carbon rimmed tubulars that day? I'm not sure what the conscensus is -- whether Beloki locked up the rear wheel and then rolled the tubular or whether the tubular got rolled first, or what exactly happened -- but I'd really like to know how Beloki and Saiz made an equipment decision that caused the accident. As far as I can tell, everyone was riding substantially similar equipment. If LA had crashed out, I suppose it would have somehow been Beloki's fault, too?

__________________
Harry

ed073

Didn't the road tar melt (as it always does on hot days in the mountains), causing Beloki to slip sideways and roll a tyre? Not really an equipment failure.

Or am I missing something??

tcklyde

Yeah, I believe that was it and then he locked up and rolled it or just rolled it or I don't know, but whatever it was, not exactly Beloki's fault.

__________________
Harry

musette

"The back wheel locked up and he couldn't control it, and then the back tire rolled and exploded," said Armstrong, recalling his rival's crash.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/cy...strong_tues_ap/

"The road was in a very bad state because of the heat and it was not safe to go down at that pace," said Armstrong. "His tyre exploded and it was impossible for him to stay on his bike."

http://sport.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=769192003

Tyler: "It was a dangerous ride as well since the tar was soft and pretty slippery in some spots. It was really a shame to see Beloki go down like he did. My read on the crash was that he had hit a slick spot where the tar had melted, had his wheel slip out, then got caught up on dry pavement. The speeds combined with the elements made it impossible for him to control his bike. It was a bad situation. And it could have happened to any one of us."

http://www.cervelo.com/tyler-diary....ly%2018,%202003

Bob Roll: "The Spaniard lost control of his bicycle on a nasty piece of melted tar, and went down hard, breaking his femur. His tire seemed to roll off the rim and sheer the valve stem out of the tube, causing a blowout. In the best of situations, it’s hard to control, and during a serpentine, tortuous descent in the Tour de France, it proved to be absolutely lethal for Beloki’s overall chances in this bike race"

http://www.olntv.com/tdf03/roll9.html

"Temperatures during the mountainous stage reached 95 degrees Fahrenheit on the plains and 77 degrees atop the day's two major climbs, the Col du Lautaret and the Col d'Izoard. Those are wilting temperatures in France, where a day in the mid-80's is considered torrid."

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/14/s...artner=USERLAND

Chris Brewer, LA site manager: "Bombing down the descent into Gap, ONCE's Beloki had come to the front to help drive the chase. Phil and Paul had just said how hot it was and that the roads were basically melting under the riders' wheel. A slight bend to the right came up, and Beloki overshot the angle and when he went to correct it, it looked like he used too much rear brake and just locked it up. His rear wheel slid left as the tire rolled off and and then blew - he face / shoulder / elbow / hip planted hard - with Lance about .05 seconds behind him on his wheel."

I'm not saying that Beloki caused his own crash, but he is not entirely blameless in it. First, temperatures were very high and everybody knew it. Second, LA and JB were on a fast descent and going at high speeds trying to catch Vino. I'm not saying that these factors were THE cause of Beloki's crash, but they were contributing to the crash and JB (and LA) should have thought about them.

Dead Star

it was a racing accident. it's just cruel luck that it happened to him and not someone else.

ChangMan

It is rather unfortunate, because Beloki used to be one hell of a rider. I would give him until 2006 Tour de France to see if there is any hope in saving his career.