# Levi Leipheimer Is Over Hyped



## fab4 (Jan 8, 2003)

Levi is over hyped. He will never win a grand tour. He is passive not aggressive enough. He sucks wheels in the mountain and never attacks. relies to much on his time trailing skills.


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## Wookiebiker (Sep 5, 2005)

I wouldn't say he was ever "Over Hyped"...everybody knows he doesn't have enough top end power to go on a break or put his competitors into trouble. He's a very strong rider but is a steady climber, not an attacker.

Most didn't pick him to win the Giro, but most had him on the podium...where he still might end up. Without the ability to sprint/attack...one will never be able to win a grand tour.

Levi is a great rider...just not the best and definitely not over hyped...if you want "Over Hyped" look no farther than Tom Danielson


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## fab4 (Jan 8, 2003)

Amen to that. Tommy D. is super hyped. Lance looked good today. He will kick some but in July.


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## jsedlak (Jun 17, 2008)

Overhyped?

I didn't think he really had a true shot at winning the race because of his style. At least he doesn't race like Evans who has the ability to attack but only gets out of the saddle to stay in the draft.

Let's not forget that Levi has had a great season already and has been on top form for so long. Furthermore, if you read his Twitter page you would know that he was struggling (yesterday) and therefore his performance today would most likely follow suit.


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## uzziefly (Jul 15, 2006)

Yeah, you lose time and you're overhyped, washed out, a piece of crap.

WOW!   


He COULDN'T keep up was more like it. That means he's overhyped?

I suppose about 90% of pros would wish they were as overhyped as him in terms of climbing and TT-ing ability.


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## albert owen (Jul 7, 2008)

I think that some American fans are desperate to have a new hero to follow on from the greats - LeMond and Armstrong. Therefore he has, to some degree, been overhyped. He is a really good rider, just not quite good enough to compete with the best when they are on top form. No shame in that!


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## Gnarly 928 (Nov 19, 2005)

Is the race over already? Did I miss something? He lost already?


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## uzziefly (Jul 15, 2006)

Gnarly 928 said:


> Is the race over already? Did I miss something? He lost already?


Statistics say that if you lose time one day, you'll lose the race.

It's all science I tell you. :wink:


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## Wookiebiker (Sep 5, 2005)

Gnarly 928 said:


> Is the race over already? Did I miss something? He lost already?


Well, unless something "MAJOR" happens...Levi isn't winning the Giro. At best he could get back on the podium in 3rd...At Best!

The reality is he has now been relegated to 4th, 5th or 6th...unless he gets a huge dose of "Go-Go juice" for the rest of the week and the others crash out of just go completely flat.


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## jsedlak (Jun 17, 2008)

Wookiebiker said:


> Well, unless something "MAJOR" happens...Levi isn't winning the Giro. At best he could get back on the podium in 3rd...At Best!
> 
> The reality is he has now been relegated to 4th, 5th or 6th...unless he gets a huge dose of "Go-Go juice" for the rest of the week and the others crash out of just go completely flat.


Well it is still possible if DiLuca cracks and Sastre puts in a poor TT performance and Levi does well for the rest of the race...

But these are slim chances IMO.


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## saird (Aug 19, 2008)

fab4 is over hyped.


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## huez (Mar 15, 2002)

yeah, he should have attacked and put out more explosive power as he was getting dropped.


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## mendo (Apr 18, 2007)

If the ITT course was "traditional," I think he would have had a shot at the Maglia Rosa for a day or two, if not longer.


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## iamnotfilip (Jul 9, 2007)

albert owen said:


> I think that some American fans are desperate to have a new hero to follow on from the greats - LeMond and Armstrong. Therefore he has, to some degree, been overhyped.


Excellent observation, I think you hit the nail on the head with this one. I think this explains a lot of the discussions on this forum that precede every GT.


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## jorgy (Oct 21, 2005)

Yea, being on the final podium for multiple grand tours ain't much.


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## spade2you (May 12, 2009)

Perhaps hype isn't appropriate for Levi. He's not calling himself the greatest. As others are noting, Americans are putting high expectations on him that he may or may not live up to, which isn't his fault.

I dunno, I'd see him in the top 10, which is still nothing short of impressive. Perhaps he'll stay conservative and it'll pay off in the end. Keep in mind, anything can happen to him or the people ahead of him........


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## squadra (May 20, 2009)

*I wish*

i could be as "over-hyped" as Levi.
Levi, never started talking [email protected] about being the next big GT rider, guys waaaay to humble for that. Super solid guy, but you can only beat genetics so much. Well, at least he hasn't....


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## Spin42 (Sep 8, 2004)

He's over hyped to your own over hyped expectation.
Give Levi some respect! He didn't preview the Giro, he didn't prepare 12 months for this one race, competing for GC in the Giro more or less feel in his lap. This was suppose to be Armstrong's big race, not Levi's. Levi's going to more then likely finish in the top 10 against the best grand tour riders in the world without specific preparation. 99% of the peleton probably wish they could do that.


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## El Caballito (Oct 31, 2004)

kinda bummed he didn't show up today... even lance looked stronger


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## Infini (Apr 21, 2003)

Yeah I was surprised that Lance looked so much stronger than Levi today,... When Lance was waiting for him, he kept looking back, like maybe he was thinking "come on, jeez, where is that guy?"


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## culdeus (May 5, 2005)

albert owen said:


> I think that some American fans are desperate to have a new hero to follow on from the greats - LeMond and Armstrong. Therefore he has, to some degree, been overhyped. He is a really good rider, just not quite good enough to compete with the best when they are on top form. No shame in that!


I'm fine with the next Andy Hampsten too.


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## function (Jun 20, 2008)

Wookiebiker said:


> Without the ability to sprint/attack...one will never be able to win a grand tour.


Didn't Indurain race GTs like that? Put time in TTs and manage time in the mountains.


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## muscleendurance (Jan 11, 2009)

function said:


> Didn't Indurain race GTs like that? Put time in TTs and manage time in the mountains.


Yep, and Ullrich too I think we could safely say...except for the most part he lost out to lance though  ,same principal though, but just came up against a stronger foe in the TT.


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## Wookiebiker (Sep 5, 2005)

function said:


> Didn't Indurain race GTs like that? Put time in TTs and manage time in the mountains.


Both Indurain and Ullrich raced like that...however, they could for the most part respond to hard attacks...well Indurain could, or he would just ride others off of his wheel, which Levi couldn't.

Ullrich could use that ability until he ran into Lance who had a burst...after that Ullrich was never really all that close to beating him because he lacked the ability to attack.

Also with Indurain, he was so freaking fast in the ITT's that he could lose time in the mountains and just manage them...everybody else knew they were going to lose time when it came to the ITT's. That's not the case with Levi, he didn't even win the first ITT at the Giro and the last one is too short so even if he does win it, it's not long enough to make a huge time difference in the end.

One other thing...tactics have changed over the years with TV and radio. Riders can't just ride others off their wheel without having a burst to be able to get away from them. Unless a rider has that burst...they won't get away.


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## theBreeze (Jan 7, 2002)

Gee, wish I could have such an "overhyped" career.

2009
1st overall, two stage wins, Tour of California
1st overall, 1 stage win, Castilla y Leon 

2008
1st overall, Amgen Tour of California
4th, Prologue, Amgen Tour of California
4th overall, Vuelta a Castilla y León
2nd, stage 1, Vuelta a Castilla y Leon 

2007
1st overall, Amgen Tour of California (plus prologue and stage 5)
1st, stage 19, Tour de France
1st, stage 4 and 5, Tour de Georgia
1st, stage 3, Tour of Missouri
2nd overall, Deutschland Tour
2nd, stage 16, Tour de France
2nd, prologue, Dauphiné Libéré
2nd, stage 3, Tour of California
3rd overall, Tour de France
3rd, stage 8, Deutschland Tour
4th, stage 14, Tour de France 

2006
1st overall, Dauphiné Libéré
1st, prologue, Amgen Tour of California
1st, mountains competition, Amgen Tour of California
1st, stage 5, Deutschland Tour
2nd overall, Deutschland Tour
2nd, mountains competition, Dauphiné Libéré
2nd, stage 11, Tour de France
2nd, stage 6, Deutschland Tour
3rd, stages 3 and 4, Dauphiné Libéré
4th, stage 6, Dauphiné Libéré
5th, stage 7, Deutschland Tour 

2005
1st overall, Deutschland Tour (plus stage 4)
2nd overall, Tour of Georgia
2nd, prologue and stage 3, Dauphiné Libéré
2nd, stage 5, Tour of Georgia
3rd overall, Dauphiné Libéré
3rd, stage 8, Deutschland Tour
4th, stage 7, Deutschland Tour
5th, stage 14, Tour de France
6th overall, Tour de France 

2004
1st, stage 4, Setmana Catalana
5th overall, Vuelta al Pais Vasco
5th, stage 15 in Tour de France
8th overall, Dauphiné Libéré
9th overall, Tour de France
10th overall, Tour Mediterraneen 

2003
7h overall, Dauphiné Libéré 

2002
1st overall, Route du Sud (plus stage 3)
5th overall, Vuelta a Murcia
8th overall, Tour de France
8th overall, Tour de Luxembourg 

2001
1st, mountains competition and stages 6, Redlands Bicycle Classic
1st, stage 1, Sea Otter Classic
2nd overall, Vuelta a Castilla y Leon
2nd, stages 1, 7 and 21, Vuelta a España
2nd, stage 3b, Three Days of de Panne
2nd, stages 1 and 3, Redlands Bicycle Classic
3rd overall, Vuelta a España
4th, world time trial championship
4th, stage 8, Vuelta a España
5th, stage 12, Vuelta a España
6th overall, Vuelta a Burgos
9th overall, Tour de Picarde 

Yeah man, that guy suxx,


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## CabDoctor (Jun 11, 2005)

Yeah seriously, at this point in his career he is better off keeping his old tactics. He could have spent all season trying to build explosive power, but who knows what that would have done to his TT ability.


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## albert owen (Jul 7, 2008)

Levi's track record speaks for itself. He's a very good rider, but not "up there" with the very best of the current crop and well short of being a star.

Of course, compared to most of us who post here, he could beat us while riding a child's tricycle, but then so could any rider who is taking part in the Giro. They are, one and all, awesome athletes.

I would also like to say that we are fans of cycling and without all of us watching, arguing and generally getting excited, there would be no point in having it as a professional sport.


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## thechriswebb (Nov 21, 2008)

After I got off work and watched the race I was a little afraid to come over here to RBR, but here I am. I knew there would be a Levi hate-fest going on. He has one bad day in one of the hottest and most difficult stages in the Giro D'Italia, finished the day three minutes off of the pink jersey over 166 riders, and he is horrendously overhyped. Oh my God. I mean, this is racing and people pick their guy and cheer for him. If a bunch of people picked Levi as their favorite, and he finishes in the top group of riders, what the he11 is overhyped about that? And it's just Levi. Where is the "Basso is overhyped" and "Cunego is overhyped" threads? Basso is two seconds ahead of Leipheimer, but who's hating on Basso. Cunego is eleven minutes BEHIND Levi, and nobody is hating on him. 

Like I said once before, Levi could win the Giro and people would still slam him. Levi is a nice, classy, and talented rider in the highest tier of competitive professional cyclists, and some people like him and root for him when he races. What in God's name about that makes him overhyped? 

Rediculous.

Absolutely rediculous.


ps. Congratulations to Carlos Sastre on an awesome stage win!


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## CabDoctor (Jun 11, 2005)

For the record, I hate Cunego


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## function (Jun 20, 2008)

Wookiebiker said:


> Ullrich could use that ability until he ran into Lance who had a burst...after that Ullrich was never really all that close to beating him because he lacked the ability to attack.


To give Ullrich credit, e.g. he did try and attack in that fateful tour and left Armstrong with his flailing domestiques.. until Jens showed up and shut it down. He really could have put time on Armstrong as he was absolutely flying.



Wookiebiker said:


> One other thing...tactics have changed over the years with TV and radio. Riders can't just ride others off their wheel without having a burst to be able to get away from them. Unless a rider has that burst...they won't get away.


Also don't forget that Basso essentially rode people off his wheel in the 2006 Giro, no hard attacks, just a high pace on a mountain stage and dropped everyone.


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## Wookiebiker (Sep 5, 2005)

function said:


> To give Ullrich credit, e.g. he did try and attack in that fateful tour and left Armstrong with his flailing domestiques.. until Jens showed up and shut it down. He really could have put time on Armstrong as he was absolutely flying.
> 
> Also don't forget that Basso essentially rode people off his wheel in the 2006 Giro, no hard attacks, just a high pace on a mountain stage and dropped everyone.


Well...Ullrich tried to attack every tour, he had no choice against Lance as he was pretty much always down. However, he couldn't match the attacks of Armstrong.

Indurain never really needed to attack on the climbs since he could put 2 - 3 minutes on the field in an ITT then just match others efforts.

The questions is whether the "High Pace" is an attack or just riding somebody off their wheel? They can be considered one in the same. Basically lifting the pace so that others can't match it....then once they are away, they drop back to tempo to recover and maintain that distance for the rest of the climb unless others make up some ground on them.

Right now Levi can't sustain those short term high wattage efforts and gets dropped. Then the other riders slow down and just sustain the distance between them and him, or in the case of today trade off attacks between Di Luca and Menchov...While Sastre rode to the win.


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## uzziefly (Jul 15, 2006)

Waaahhhhhh wahhhh wahhhhh... Levi Sucks. Levi is lousy. He doesn't dance like Di Luca does or burst away like Schleck can.

All he does is consistently finish in the top 3, if not win, every ITT he's entered as of late. Damn him, what a horrible rider who can only TT with the best, time and time again.

Horrible, overrated rider who can climb with the best (Alberto Contador) on steep climbs like the Angliru in La Vuelta last year etc etc. What a pathetic rider he is, finishing 3rd after being a domestique to Alberto.

Ooooh yeah, 1000 other riders did it before, that's why. Ooooh yeah, top 3 spots and a few other top 10 spots on the podium of big races are horrible achievements, especially since 99.9% of the peloton have done it before right? In what world? Oh I don't know, in the world where life is a video game and you can hit restart over and over maybe?

Hmm, Valverde hasn't come close to winning GTs too.. Wonder if he is overhyped? Oh no, coz he's won classics. Levi has ONLY made the podium to the TdF and Vuelta. Pathetic.




Yeah sure.


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## uzziefly (Jul 15, 2006)

Infini said:


> Yeah I was surprised that Lance looked so much stronger than Levi today,... When Lance was waiting for him, he kept looking back, like maybe he was thinking "come on, jeez, where is that guy?"


:lol:

He was worried Levi saw him got dropped maybe.


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## uzziefly (Jul 15, 2006)

theBreeze said:


> Gee, wish I could have such an "overhyped" career.
> 
> 2009
> 1st overall, two stage wins, Tour of California
> ...


Added.


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## Dajianshan (Jul 15, 2007)

And Dan Marino was over hyped because he never won a Super Bowl.


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## alexb618 (Aug 24, 2006)

levi is a poor man's cadel with a nicer personality, end of story


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## jorgy (Oct 21, 2005)

I think he was second in the Vuelta last year.


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## il sogno (Jul 15, 2002)

function said:


> Didn't Indurain race GTs like that? Put time in TTs and manage time in the mountains.


Yeah. Watching Indurain in the GTs was as exciting as watching paint dry. :Yawn:


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## cpark (Oct 13, 2004)

Dajianshan said:


> And Dan Marino was over hyped because he never won a Super Bowl.


You forgot to mention one of my favorite QB, Jim Kelly...


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## btinder (Aug 25, 2007)

Theres a difference between being hyped and being called a bad pro rider. It is BECAUSE Levi is a GOOD pro rider (i.e. finishing on the podium at the TdF and Vuelta) that people hype him up to win it.

I can see the argument for why people say he's hyped, but thats the fans issue. We're the ones who do that, it shouldn't be a reflection on Levi, who is a great rider.


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## albert owen (Jul 7, 2008)

One thing's for sure: Levi's fans are definitely Over Excitable ;-)

PS Prior to this season Valverde had 52 career wins to Levi's 23.


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## Coolhand (Jul 28, 2002)

il sogno said:


> Yeah. Watching Indurain in the GTs was as exciting as watching paint dry. :Yawn:


What? That's crazy talk. Big Mig was the man.


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## bigmig19 (Jun 27, 2008)

Ive said before ill say it again, if you finish top 3 in the hardest races in the world with the best guys giving their best effort of the season, you are by definition a "STAR". Given the liklihood of doping by (consevatively) 50 % of those who beat him, he's possibly one of the best 2 guys in the sport? (yes, he could be cheating too but still).
And another thing RE: Cadel and Levi, do people really think that they are too "passive"? I mean do you really think they sit there in those decisive climbs with excess energy to burn and just decide to watch the countryside go by? Your insane. My guess is they rode themselves to near death to avoid losing GT's by 30-40 seconds.


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## uzziefly (Jul 15, 2006)

bigmig19 said:


> And another thing RE: Cadel and Levi, do people really think that they are too "passive"? I mean do you really think they sit there in those decisive climbs with excess energy to burn and just decide to watch the countryside go by? Your insane. My guess is they rode themselves to near death to avoid losing GT's by 30-40 seconds.



As much as I like to make fun of Cadel sucking (wheels ), I agree with you here.

That's his style of riding. It's boring. So what? It works for HIM and that's all that matters. Why do what people want, only to either : a)blow up and lose a hefty amount of time. b)not succeed. c)lose your rhythm and hence, more time or d)appear exciting and try, to no avail because you're not that type of rider and hence, CAN'T accelerate well.

You don't see people chastising long distance runners who just follow the pace and then on the final lap/home stretch, take the win. It works for them. That's their style. They are tempo riders.

Yes I'm defending Cadel too. But his attitude towards his team, well, that's a different story. As a rider, he's a great rider for sure.


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## Jimbolaya (Jun 2, 2008)

I'm really pulling for levi this year. I would like to see him win a big one before his career is over. Maybe it's just not to be. Same for Hincapie and the spring classics. It seems like levi had one average day in the last 2 weeks and he's off the podium. Winning a grand tour isn't so easy. You need luck as much as anything else.

Attack levi, Attack!


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## PhatTalc (Jul 21, 2004)

Levi is a great rider, he was a genuine favourite for this Giro, but I am very surprised at how good Menchov has been. I expected the Giro to be a "training" race for riders like Menchov and Sastre, although it was clear the Italians would be riding at their best. However, Menchov is flying, and Sastre is really showing what he can do, although I still think he will be stronger in July.
Another thing: to win a grand tour means having the luck where your bad day doesn't lose you time. Levi was unlucky- I honestly think that nobody expected him to crack as badly as he did; it was always more likely he would hang on but lose 10s of seconds here and there, maybe still have a chance in the final TT.


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## fab4 (Jan 8, 2003)

http://www.livestrong.com/lance-arm...tage-15/4d0583e9-3a09-4f40-a244-907f40c0c247/


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## thechriswebb (Nov 21, 2008)

I have to agree with y'all about Cadel. Yes he is whiny and not one of my favorite riders, but I think that the passive and lazy accusations are ill founded. No, he doesn't look as dramatic as Schleck or DiLuca when he is riding, but that doesn't mean that he isn't putting in the effort. Throughout the entire TDF last year, there is one moment that I remember as the pinnacle of suffering in a bike race. That was Cadel desperately clawing his way up Huez trying to limit his losses to Sastre. It was not as exciting to watch as Sastre dancing up the mountain, but the suggestion that Evans was not in a world of self-induced hurt and not competing his heart out to the absolute extent that he possibly could is ludicrous.


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## shabbasuraj (May 14, 2005)

cadel + levi = wheelsucking jersey champs every year since 2006


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## Dan Gerous (Mar 28, 2005)

shabbasuraj said:


> cadel + levi = wheelsucking jersey champs every year since 2006


Who were the champs before 2006?


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