Climber Danielson?
January 4th, 2007 |
The latest issue of ProCycling magazine is devoted to climbing.
One of the articles interviews two of the “best pure climbers of their respective eras,” Andy Hampsten and Tom Danielson.
WTF!?
OK, I can see Hampsten.
– At 23 years old he won a stage in the Giro d’Italia
– At 24 he won the Tour of Switzerland and was 4th overall in the Tour de France
– At 25 he won the Tour of Switzerland again
– At 26 he won the overall at the Giro d’Italia as well as the mountains classification
– At 28 he was 3rd overall in the Tour of Switzerland
– At 29 he was again 3rd overall in the Tour of Switzerland as well as the mountains classification
– At 30 he was 4th overall in the Tour de France and won the stage to Alpe d’Huez.
Not bad. Although I would suggest that Hampsten winning the 1988 Giro was more about his tolerating the weather rather than being due to his climbing ability. But his victories in the mountains classifications at the Giro and the Tour of Switzerland certainly qualify him as a great climber.
But Danielson?
– At 24 he won the Mount Washington hill climb in New Hampshire
– At 25 he won the Tour of Langkawi as well as some domestic stage races
– At 26 he won the Mount Evans hill climb in Colorado
– At 27 he won the Tour of Georgia
– At 28 he was second overall in the Tour of Georgia, won the Tour of Austria and a won stage in the Vuelta a España
Best pure climbers of his era? Are you kidding me? His results are bereft of any real international climbing success and the guy is almost 30 years old. I have said it before, but if Danielson was going to show himself as the next great American hope he would have done it by now.
This guy is totally over rated and this article in ProCycling just contributes to his unwarranted reputation.
By the way, this is what a real pure climber looks like:
