Miguel Ángel Lopez Discussion Thread

[HelloDolly]

DNP-Old you havent a clue what I thought whenI first saw Quintana ... gosh I dont mind you differing from my views but do you have to be such an insulting know it all

 

[Arredondo]

Re: Re:

Fwiw, Quintana showed more at the 2013 Tour than Lopez has here in this Vuelta in all departments if you ask me.

Superman is a massive talent, but whether he'll turn out to be better than Quintana (who really hasn't developed anywhere near as much as he should have) is yet to be seen

I think in the long run, he's got the mind of a champion too. He dares to attack from afar.

Quintana on the other hand, remains a conservative rider.

Quintana also attacked from similar distances before he became a serious GC threat. We are yet to see the mindset of MAL the GC contender who knows the train won't just let him go and sees him as a threat

Maybe you're right. Let's hope he remains that agressive rider he is now!

 

[spalco]

I'm very close to jumping on the hype train, what strength he's shown in this race and he wasn't even designated the leader at the start (I assume he is now). If his TT holds up I think he has the second best chance of winning the race.

 

[Sciocco]

Looks promising but it's best to wait and see his attitude when he's in a podium position. Not another good climber with a race for placings attitude hopefully. Please stay the *** away from Movistar too if he is aggressive.

 

[DNP-Old]

Re:

DNP-Old you havent a clue what I thought whenI first saw Quintana ... gosh I dont mind you differing from my views but do you have to be such an insulting know it all

If that's an insult to you, you might be softer than Charmin.

 

[DNP-Old]

Re: Re:

Fwiw, Quintana showed more at the 2013 Tour than Lopez has here in this Vuelta in all departments if you ask me.

Superman is a massive talent, but whether he'll turn out to be better than Quintana (who really hasn't developed anywhere near as much as he should have) is yet to be seen

I think in the long run, he's got the mind of a champion too. He dares to attack from afar.

Quintana on the other hand, remains a conservative rider.

Quintana also attacked from similar distances before he became a serious GC threat. We are yet to see the mindset of MAL the GC contender who knows the train won't just let him go and sees him as a threat

Agreed to the fullest.

 

[IndianCyclist]

The new Pantani

 

[PremierAndrew]

Anyone know why Lopez got docked 20 seconds on stage 10?

 

[Eclipse]

A well deserved hype train but definitely in agreement with those saying that it's far too early to guess how he's going to ride when teams actually decide he's not allowed to go when he wants.

 

[DNP-Old]

Re:

Anyone know why Lopez got docked 20 seconds on stage 10?

Hanging onto the team car.

 

[HelloDolly]

Re: Re:

DNP-Old you havent a clue what I thought whenI first saw Quintana ... gosh I dont mind you differing from my views but do you have to be such an insulting know it all

If that's an insult to you, you might be softer than Charmin.

You are ***...simples

 

[Red Rick]

Best climber of 2017. Will podium

 

[PremierAndrew]

Re: Re:

Anyone know why Lopez got docked 20 seconds on stage 10?

Hanging onto the team car.

As in drafting right? Not literally doing a Nibali/Froome/Bardet

 

[DNP-Old]

Re: Re:

Anyone know why Lopez got docked 20 seconds on stage 10?

Hanging onto the team car.

As in drafting right? Not literally doing a Nibali/Froome/Bardet

Probably, but that was the information that I received. It had something to do with the team car, that's for certain. Polanc got the same penalty, so very likely it was just drafting.

 

[Sestriere]

When is Sky going to buy him? If not already happened, Brailsford will call his manager tonight for sure.

 

[tristecsinamigos]

Re: Re:

I think we have our next super climber.
Agree with DT and Arredondo, Lopez has the mind of a champion as well.

People said the same about 2013 quintana
Now he is known by a glorious wheelsucker.

wot. Quintana has won everything he wanted except Tour since then.

 

[Inquitus]

Super Impressive in this Vuelta, what has his race schedule been like this year, is he in absolute peak form for this, versus other riders who have already either done the Giro, or are doing a 2nd GT back to back?

 

[DNP-Old]

Re: Re:

I think we have our next super climber.
Agree with DT and Arredondo, Lopez has the mind of a champion as well.

People said the same about 2013 quintana
Now he is known by a glorious wheelsucker.

wot. Quintana has won everything he wanted except Tour since then.

Nairo was expected to be next in line with Contador and Pantani as ultra mythical climber, but he couldn't live up to the hype here - despite winning basically every stage race on the entire calendar but the Tour de France. Watch the same thing happen with Superman, and then they'll just go on to the next hype machine in Bernal.

 

[PremierAndrew]

Re: Re:

I think we have our next super climber.
Agree with DT and Arredondo, Lopez has the mind of a champion as well.

People said the same about 2013 quintana
Now he is known by a glorious wheelsucker.

wot. Quintana has won everything he wanted except Tour since then.

Nairo was expected to be next in line with Contador and Pantani as ultra mythical climber, but he couldn't live up to the hype here - despite winning basically every stage race on the entire calendar but the Tour de France. Watch the same thing happen with Superman, and then they'll just go on to the next hype machine in Bernal.

Absolutely reasonable to have expected Quintana to be the next dominant stage racer after what he showed in 2013 at his age. Instead he's stagnated and just become a rich man's Andy Schleck. He's still possibly got a couple more GT wins in the tank, but don't see him becoming the 5+ GT winner people were expecting

 

[Red Rick]

Geological Colombia is the best place for climbers/gc riders.

With that altitude and amount of climbs, they have a genetical advantage over Euro's already. The only surprise to me are sprinters like Gaviria and Hodeg. Although Colombia has a history in track cycling as well, where that is coming from.

I think it's mostly from positive selection of climbers and exposure to altitude when you're very young.

 

[DNP-Old]

Re: Re:

I think we have our next super climber.
Agree with DT and Arredondo, Lopez has the mind of a champion as well.

People said the same about 2013 quintana
Now he is known by a glorious wheelsucker.

wot. Quintana has won everything he wanted except Tour since then.

Nairo was expected to be next in line with Contador and Pantani as ultra mythical climber, but he couldn't live up to the hype here - despite winning basically every stage race on the entire calendar but the Tour de France. Watch the same thing happen with Superman, and then they'll just go on to the next hype machine in Bernal.

Absolutely reasonable to have expected Quintana to be the next dominant stage racer after what he showed in 2013 at his age. Instead he's stagnated and just become a rich man's Andy Schleck. He's still possibly got a couple more GT wins in the tank, but don't see him becoming the 5+ GT winner people were expecting

Indeed, the hype was certainly justified, but at the same time, people tend to forget how insanely good Nairo was for his age. Nairo didn't do this, Nairo didn't do that. Nairo did exactly what Superman is doing right now. One could argue he was even more impressive.

If Superman doesn't progress as well as we think he will at this moment, he'll just be the next Nairo, and the hype mandem will just hop onto another bandwagon. It'll just the same thing over and over again. I can already see it. ''Move out of the way López. Bernal is the next Colombian Tour de France winner! López was just as impressive at this age? No way, he wasn't ***.''

 

[portugal11]

Nairo always was a overrated climber, he never showed something similar to pre ban contador. Quintana us no longer capable of winning the tour because I think he didn't improve since 2015 (I think he regressed) but he can win a giro or a vuelta

 

[Gigs_98]

Re:

Nairo always was a overrated climber, he never showed something similar to pre ban contador. Quintana us no longer capable of winning the tour because I think he didn't improve since 2015 (I think he regressed) but he can win a giro or a vuelta

Then again, he doesn't have to improve, he just has to try to get the 2015 shape again and that might very well be enough to win the tour. However I agree that he is unlikely to win the tour since I doubt he'll ever have that shape again.

 

[Red Rick]

Quintana is what? 27? I've refused to write Contador off till 34.

 

[DNP-Old]

Re: Re:

Nairo always was a overrated climber, he never showed something similar to pre ban contador. Quintana us no longer capable of winning the tour because I think he didn't improve since 2015 (I think he regressed) but he can win a giro or a vuelta

Then again, he doesn't have to improve, he just has to try to get the 2015 shape again and that might very well be enough to win the tour. However I agree that he is unlikely to win the tour since I doubt he'll ever have that shape again.

2018 is his do or die year. Full focus on the Tour, quite the rest the year prior (won't ride anything for the rest of the season other than the worlds), full leadership, at this point should know how to peak. Either he returns to being this mythical climber, or it's time to say his Tour de France wishes farewell.