Alexi Grewal: worst teammate ever
 

On Dec 12, 7:32*am, "A. Dumas" wrote:
Kurgan. presented by Gringioni. wrote:

could call it "emotional", but it's a bit more than that. Some people
are emotional and manifest it outwardly in a positive way.

Definitely agreed. Lots of emotional people who make it big in sports,
cycling included. Think of hothead sprinters or nervous climbers.

dumbass,

i was referring to emotional roller coaster guys. guys who flip put
over a perceived slight or have a bad day on the bike and pack up and
go home or stop training for the rest of the season. these are the
same guys that get overly euphoric when they win. it goes hand in
hand.

grewal i think did mellow out and raced for a long time on domestic
teams (mostly coorslight) but even then he was always inconsistent.
i'm not sure if it was a matter of being focused or physical frailty.

Alexi Grewal: worst teammate ever
 

On Dec 12, 1:13*pm, Amit Ghosh wrote:
On Dec 12, 7:32*am, "A. Dumas" wrote:

Kurgan. presented by Gringioni. wrote:

could call it "emotional", but it's a bit more than that. Some people
are emotional and manifest it outwardly in a positive way.

Definitely agreed. Lots of emotional people who make it big in sports,
cycling included. Think of hothead sprinters or nervous climbers.

dumbass,

i was referring to emotional roller coaster guys. guys who flip put
over a perceived slight or have a bad day on the bike and pack up and
go home or stop training for the rest of the season. these are the
same guys that get overly euphoric when they win. it goes hand in
hand.

grewal i think did mellow out and raced for a long time on domestic
teams (mostly coorslight) but even then he was always inconsistent.
i'm not sure if it was a matter of being focused or physical frailty.

It wasn't physical frailty til he flipped his jeep.

With the exception of the Olympics, his palmares are very Danielson-
esque
http://www.cyclingarchives.com/coure...coureurid=9420
http://www.cyclingarchives.com/coure...coureurid=2587

Alexi Grewal: worst teammate ever
 

On Dec 12, 4:50*pm, Plano Dude wrote:
On Dec 12, 1:13*pm, Amit Ghosh wrote:



On Dec 12, 7:32*am, "A. Dumas" wrote:

Kurgan. presented by Gringioni. wrote:

could call it "emotional", but it's a bit more than that. Some people
are emotional and manifest it outwardly in a positive way.

Definitely agreed. Lots of emotional people who make it big in sports,
cycling included. Think of hothead sprinters or nervous climbers.

dumbass,

i was referring to emotional roller coaster guys. guys who flip put
over a perceived slight or have a bad day on the bike and pack up and
go home or stop training for the rest of the season. these are the
same guys that get overly euphoric when they win. it goes hand in
hand.

grewal i think did mellow out and raced for a long time on domestic
teams (mostly coorslight) but even then he was always inconsistent.
i'm not sure if it was a matter of being focused or physical frailty.

It wasn't physical frailty til he flipped his jeep.

With the exception of the Olympics, his palmares are very Danielson-
esquehttp://www.cyclingarchives.com/coureurfiche.php?coureurid=9420http://www.cyclingarchives.com/coureurfiche.php?coureurid=2587

dumbass,

danielson has had a lot better career than grewal.

he will probably not be the GC contender some people imagined but he
has been racing as a euro pro for 6 yrs or so and has a few euro
results.

grewal had like three half-seasons.

Alexi Grewal: worst teammate ever
 

On Dec 12, 4:24*pm, Amit Ghosh wrote:
On Dec 12, 4:50*pm, Plano Dude wrote:



On Dec 12, 1:13*pm, Amit Ghosh wrote:

On Dec 12, 7:32*am, "A. Dumas" wrote:

Kurgan. presented by Gringioni. wrote:

could call it "emotional", but it's a bit more than that. Some people
are emotional and manifest it outwardly in a positive way.

Definitely agreed. Lots of emotional people who make it big in sports,
cycling included. Think of hothead sprinters or nervous climbers.

dumbass,

i was referring to emotional roller coaster guys. guys who flip put
over a perceived slight or have a bad day on the bike and pack up and
go home or stop training for the rest of the season. these are the
same guys that get overly euphoric when they win. it goes hand in
hand.

grewal i think did mellow out and raced for a long time on domestic
teams (mostly coorslight) but even then he was always inconsistent.
i'm not sure if it was a matter of being focused or physical frailty.

It wasn't physical frailty til he flipped his jeep.

With the exception of the Olympics, his palmares are very Danielson-
esquehttp://www.cyclingarchives.com/coureurfiche.php?coureurid=9420http://...

dumbass,

danielson has had a lot better career than grewal.

he will probably not be the GC contender some people imagined but he
has been racing as a euro pro for 6 yrs or so and has a few euro
results.

grewal had like three half-seasons.

Ok, I expressed myself badly. I should have said that both have left a
lot to be desired for their respective expectations.

Alexi Grewal: worst teammate ever
 

On Dec 12, 5:36*pm, Plano Dude wrote:

Ok, I expressed myself badly. I should have said that both have left a
lot to be desired for their respective expectations.

dumbass,

there's lots of examples of that - riders that steamroll the
competition at a lower level but are "average" at the euro pro level.

Alexi Grewal: worst teammate ever
 

On Dec 10, 2:47*pm, Marco wrote:

In my experience, 95+% of the riders that take the line at any level don't have the passion
to win. I know I didn't, and still don't. Clearly there are good genetics in the family (e.g., Rishi too) but I think Alexi did as well as he did because of his rare ability to tap into and fuel off of raw emotion.

Unless all winners come from the same 4-%, you can only conclude that
passion to win isn't all that important, certainly not a defining
factor...

Fred

Alexi Grewal: worst teammate ever
 

First ever bike race I ever saw (not counting the TdF on tv), I
watched AG soft-pedaling up a climb after he'd come unglued from a
breakaway group. It was a stage race, and I had no idea about or
appreciation of why he'd just sit up like he did. In retrospect, I
know exactly why he eased up, but at the time I didn't understand.

Anyway, not knowing any better, I tried to encourage him up the
climb. He could've just graciously accepted my cheers, but no, he has
to say something truly smart-ass. All I could think at the time was
what an ass he was.

Fred

Alexi Grewal: worst teammate ever
 

Amit Ghosh wrote:

On Dec 10, 4:47*pm, Marco wrote:

My point is, from an early age, he showed the fire and scrappiness
that would define his entire bike racing career. In my experience, 95+
% of the riders that take the line at any level don't have the passion
to win. I know I didn't, and still don't. Clearly there are good
genetics in the family (e.g., Rishi too) but I think Alexi did as well
as he did because of his rare ability to tap into and fuel off of raw
emotion.

dumbass,

some riders can be very good but they can't be a good pro because they
are injury prone or they get sick too often, a disability if you will.
in grewal's case it was his emotions.

he sabotaged what could've been a long pro career. a guy like andreu
did not have the same ability but he was a solid pro for over a decade
not to mention some of the others that he beat at the olympics.

these emotional type guys (decanio is another) are actually
narcissists. guys that succeed long term are always more level
headed.

Grewal and Decanio likely exceeded their potential because of their manic
hyper-emotions. Their overall underachievement long-term was probably due
to typical genetic shortcomings vis-a-vis not having what the GT guys have
(with or without dope).

Guys like Tom Danielson, Pantani, and F. Vandenbroucke are more like the
headcases you described. And in another month, Robbie McEwen once he finds
out the only offer he has is from Fly V Australia for $25,000/year.

Magilla

Alexi Grewal: worst teammate ever
 

On Dec 13, 12:56*am, MagillaGorilla wrote:

Grewal and Decanio likely exceeded their potential because of their manic
hyper-emotions. *Their overall underachievement long-term was probably due
to typical genetic shortcomings vis-a-vis not having what the GT guys have
(with or without dope).

on their best days they were good enough to be euro pro (if not GT
winners) but they didn't succeed in that arena. hyper emotions can't
make up for not having the underlying ability.

Guys like Tom Danielson, Pantani, and F. Vandenbroucke are more like the
headcases you described. *

i wouldn't put danielson in the same boat. all those other guys had
depressive phases where they walked out on their teams or pulled
disappearing acts and stopped training for long stretches.

if a guy is still training and showing up to races, he isn't in that
depressive state. danielson is more of a typical superstitious
hypochondriac.

Alexi Grewal: worst teammate ever
 

On 12/13/2010 9:02 AM, Amit Ghosh wrote:
On Dec 13, 12:56 am, wrote:

Grewal and Decanio likely exceeded their potential because of their manic
hyper-emotions. Their overall underachievement long-term was probably due
to typical genetic shortcomings vis-a-vis not having what the GT guys have
(with or without dope).

on their best days they were good enough to be euro pro (if not GT
winners) but they didn't succeed in that arena. hyper emotions can't
make up for not having the underlying ability.

Guys like Tom Danielson, Pantani, and F. Vandenbroucke are more like the
headcases you described.

i wouldn't put danielson in the same boat. all those other guys had
depressive phases where they walked out on their teams or pulled
disappearing acts and stopped training for long stretches.

if a guy is still training and showing up to races, he isn't in that
depressive state. danielson is more of a typical superstitious
hypochondriac.

Dumbasses,

For an awful lot of riders a top ten in a grand tour represents their
top end, and especially if they aren't exceptional bike handlers.

He's never shown any indication that he's capable of more.

Fred Flintstein