Teams & Riders Nairo Quintana discussion thread

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

It's not about where he lost time per se, but about where he failed to play to his strengths to make up for it. After all, he can't possibly expect to lose any less time than what he lost on stages that didn't suit him at all, like the crosswinds or the ITT. Conditions were already as favourable as they could be for him.

Then it just comes down to how you define 'losing in the mountains'. So do you think Quintana actually will be stronger again, but again choose to ride conservatively? I dont.

 

[Valv.Piti]

"The first quarter of the calendar will be much smoother and I will have the intention of doing recon of the different stages of the Tour. So I will get to the Tour and the Olympics with fewer racing days. Then I will have something left for a good Vuelta," he said.

That's good. Quintana and Valverde's schedules seem to be even more focused on the GT's. Im guessing T-A and Pais Vasco. You can maybe throw a prep race in before T-A or San Luis? I dont know about Romandie or Ardennes, I think he should call it a day after Pais Vasco and focus on the 3 biggest objectives, TdF, Vuelta and Rio.

 

[Escarabajo]

It is a risk to do a longer race before the Tour because they would have to shorten the altitude training and that's the last thing they want to do. My 2 cents.

 

[Taxus4a]

Re:

In the mountains.

I dont think so. Quintana will be the best in the mountains next year. He was last year, except the first one, but this year the first week is much less important, so thee will get the first mountain stage in similar condition, o Froome wiill be similar to him that day, and maybe worse in the best days for climbers.

Froome will get at least one minute in the fisrt ITT, other way he has very difficult to win this Tour. It is one of the best Tours for Quintana, but anyway the ITT is there, is hard, but not for pure climbers.

 

[Escarabajo]

So it looks like Valverde has his focus on the Giro and the Classics. So it is 100% for Quintana for the Tour. I think it was but now it looks more official.

He also wants Gold in Rio. That parcours better be mountainous.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/quintana-aiming-for-tour-de-france-and-rio-olympic-gold-in-2016/

 

[Jspear]

Interesting quote from VN:

“Alejandro will race the Giro, and later accompany me in the Tour,” Quintana said. “I am always going to be the leader of the Tour, and [Valverde’s] compromise next year will be even more to try to help me win the Tour.”

http://velonews.competitor.com/2015/10/news/quintana-confirms-tour-rio-ambitions-for-2016_388356

 

[Mr.White]

Re:

So it looks like Valverde has his focus on the Giro and the Classics. So it is 100% for Quintana for the Tour. I think it was but now it looks more official.

He also wants Gold in Rio. That parcours better be mountainous.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/quintana-aiming-for-tour-de-france-and-rio-olympic-gold-in-2016/

Well, let's see.., Bala said that his main goal of the season is Rio, don't know how smart it is to ride Giro+Tour before his main goal. I think Nairo speaks his wishes, we got to wait for Don Alejandro to speak

 

[damian13ster]

Re:

Interesting quote from VN:

“Alejandro will race the Giro, and later accompany me in the Tour,” Quintana said. “I am always going to be the leader of the Tour, and [Valverde’s] compromise next year will be even more to try to help me win the Tour.”

http://velonews.competitor.com/2015/10/news/quintana-confirms-tour-rio-ambitions-for-2016_388356

Jesus, he could use some PR training..... Taking serious shots at Valverde, who surely won't be happy with decreasing his Rio chances.
He might go to the Tour but as a training block rather than do work
Unless that last sentence is just a really poor language skills.

 

[Jspear]

Re: Re:

Interesting quote from VN:

“Alejandro will race the Giro, and later accompany me in the Tour,” Quintana said. “I am always going to be the leader of the Tour, and [Valverde’s] compromise next year will be even more to try to help me win the Tour.”

http://velonews.competitor.com/2015/10/news/quintana-confirms-tour-rio-ambitions-for-2016_388356

Jesus, he could use some PR training..... Taking serious shots at Valverde, who surely won't be happy with decreasing his Rio chances.
He might go to the Tour but as a training block rather than do work
Unless that last sentence is just a really poor language skills.

I hope it's not poor language skills. It would be nice to see Valverde work for him. Also PR isn't always good. It's nice to hear someone state something the way it is...so long as they do it civilly. He was civil.

 

[jens_attacks]

it's all missed in translations so far from that first colombian article i've seen.
there is no confirmation, not even from quintana

 

[slosada]

there is not such claim (that Valverde would work for him during Tour) on the article they linked (El Universal)
http://www.eluniversal.com.co/deportes/ciclismo/nairo-quintana-en-la-nomina-visa-para-los-juegos-olimpicos-rio-2016-209584

Other links to media reporting the press conference:
http://www.elcolombiano.com/deportes/por-encima-de-todo-tour-y-oro-olimpico-XF2997437
http://www.eltiempo.com/deportes/ciclismo/nairo-se-compromete-por-el-oro-en-los-olimpicos-de-rio/16414301

OTOH, it's clear that Quintana needs to improve his PR speech, sometimes he says inappropriate things.
But all in all, I don't see Quintana challenging for medals in Rio... He can pass the last climb in the lead, but it's unlikely that he can stay alone in the flat or beat someone in the sprint. So is Visa pressing for his selection in the national team? Because I can mention several riders more suited for this parcours.

 

[Taxus4a]

Re:

He has great recovery in a GT and is always a beast in the 3rd week, but in my humble opinion he should ride a longer preparation race before the Tour and not just Route du Sud, I get the fact that the team wants to avoid a big showdown with Froome right before the Tour and doesn't want him to race Dauphine because of that, but for someone with his recovery TdS could be a good preraration race.

I think that if the mountains stages are at the begining of a GT and the last week is flat and with an ITT he will be weak in that ITT and very strong in the first week.

It is not a question of recovery, he is good in recovery as all the big names for GT, but he is not better that Froome in that, for instance, he is a better climber and for that reason as the end of several mountain stages he is better.

If Quintana want to race Tour and Vuelta, Dauphine is too much for him. he showed in his first TdF he can be second coming from Colombia.

 

[damian13ster]

Re:

there is not such claim (that Valverde would work for him during Tour) on the article they linked (El Universal)
http://www.eluniversal.com.co/deportes/ciclismo/nairo-quintana-en-la-nomina-visa-para-los-juegos-olimpicos-rio-2016-209584

Other links to media reporting the press conference:
http://www.elcolombiano.com/deportes/por-encima-de-todo-tour-y-oro-olimpico-XF2997437
http://www.eltiempo.com/deportes/ciclismo/nairo-se-compromete-por-el-oro-en-los-olimpicos-de-rio/16414301

OTOH, it's clear that Quintana needs to improve his PR speech, sometimes he says inappropriate things.
But all in all, I don't see Quintana challenging for medals in Rio... He can pass the last climb in the lead, but it's unlikely that he can stay alone in the flat or beat someone in the sprint. So is Visa pressing for his selection in the national team? Because I can mention several riders more suited for this parcours.

Yeah, talking about GT rider other than Nibali as a favorite for Rio is too much. They first need to show multiple times that they can handle the long distances.

 

[Taxus4a]

Rio is for people as Quintana, Valverde, Purito, Nibali, Contador, Urán, Dan Martin, even Froome or Landa.

Quintana can win, but he is not the main favourite. especially for the final flat.

Quintana has been with the best in Lombardia when he was really young, better than Contador.

 

[damian13ster]

Re:

Rio is for people as Quintana, Valverde, Purito, Nibali, Contador, Urán, Dan Martin, even Froome or Landa.

Quintana can win, but he is not the main favourite. especially for the final flat.

Quintana has been with the best in Lombardia when he was really young, better than Contador.

There is no way that those 3 that I bolded do not finish above Quintana if they are in semi-decent shape. I would also put Uran, Dan Martin, and Froome (big question mark though when it comes to handling distances well) ahead of him. Not sure about Contador (same questions as Froome)

 

[Taxus4a]

Re: Re:

Rio is for people as Quintana, Valverde, Purito, Nibali, Contador, Urán, Dan Martin, even Froome or Landa.

Quintana can win, but he is not the main favourite. especially for the final flat.

Quintana has been with the best in Lombardia when he was really young, better than Contador.

There is no way that those 3 that I bolded do not finish above Quintana if they are in semi-decent shape. I would also put Uran, Dan Martin, and Froome (big question mark though when it comes to handling distances well) ahead of him. Not sure about Contador (same questions as Froome)

Of course there is a way. Quintana is the best climber of the world and the climb is hard, so he can drop everybody in the climb. I think there are people more favorites, but there is a way, of course.
If my country work rogether for a lider would be different, but it is difficult to see Contador or Purito working for Valverde. Dani Moreno or Landa yes, but someone must work in the flat.

 

[bassano]

Re: Re:

Of course there is a way. Quintana is the best climber of the world and the climb is hard, so he can drop everybody in the climb. I think there are people more favorites, but there is a way, of course.
If my country work rogether for a lider would be different, but it is difficult to see Contador or Purito working for Valverde. Dani Moreno or Landa yes, but someone must work in the flat.

Quite courageous statement, but OK if I will not argue with this and I will suppose he will drop everyone in last climb, still he will have minimal chance to win because of that 20km of flat where someone will catch him and outsprint him
and he did not prooved yet he is competitive in such long one day races where not only numbers from powermeter can decide but also how you are able to race and how clever you are
I think Uran is one level above him for that race and columbia should send there someone who can help him, Quintana in my opinion is not even worth to go there in hard columbia competition

 

[Taxus4a]

My favourite is Uran, but if someonne drops everybody in the last climb the rest has to work together to catch him, and that not always happend.

As well, if someone climb with the rest the last climb and he dont waste energy climbing, he can attack the rest in the flat and win, as we see with Landa and Contador en Aprica. Contador is much better thann landa in a false flat, but Landa climbed the Mortirolo very easy (that is something i talked with Landa and he admitted it), so he was stronger eniught to leave Contador in Aprica.

So if Quintana is more rested than Purito, Valverde or Nibali in the final flat he could make the stronger attack.

I dont think he will be so strong to do that, becouse the race is not only the 3 climbs, it has even cobbles at the begining, but that is a poibility, he could reach the climb with 10 second and win with one minute, you cant rule out that, it is a long race and the stronngest will be at the end.

But the race can develop in very different ways, and it is easy that people as Gallopin, Dumoulin, Yates,.. will be there, even Van Avermaert, but if the race is hard the climb is too much for him, annd even the pure climber like Landa, chaves, Pinot, etc will play an important role.

the last part is mostly flat, but it has at least one small climb close to the finish.

 

[damian13ster]

Re:

My favourite is Uran, but if someonne drops everybody in the last climb the rest has to work together to catch him, and that not always happend.

As well, if someone climb with the rest the last climb and he dont waste energy climbing, he can attack the rest in the flat and win, as we see with Landa and Contador en Aprica. Contador is much better thann landa in a false flat, but Landa climbed the Mortirolo very easy (that is something i talked with Landa and he admitted it), so he was stronger eniught to leave Contador in Aprica.

So if Quintana is more rested than Purito, Valverde or Nibali in the final flat he could make the stronger attack.

I dont think he will be so strong to do that, becouse the race is not only the 3 climbs, it has even cobbles at the begining, but that is a poibility, he could reach the climb with 10 second and win with one minute, you cant rule out that, it is a long race and the stronngest will be at the end.

But the race can develop in very different ways, and it is easy that people as Gallopin, Dumoulin, Yates,.. will be there, even Van Avermaert, but if the race is hard the climb is too much for him, annd even the pure climber like Landa, chaves, Pinot, etc will play an important role.

the last part is mostly flat, but it has at least one small climb close to the finish.

He won't even have a gap on top of the climb. It is too short, too far from the finish. And he is not an agressive rider + he is bad on the flat and downhill. There is no way in hell that he comes close to the podium. Uran does have a good chance to medal. He will never be a favorite for gold though against likes of Rodriguez or Valverde unless they make huge tactical mistake.

 

[Taxus4a]

In cyclist we must always talk about probabilities, not that way

Quintana is a good descender.

Lot of things can happens, but the only thing is for sure is the rider who win must be a good climber, and all the good climbers of the world will get a good shape for this inusual oportunity.

 

[Brullnux]

Re: Re:

My favourite is Uran, but if someonne drops everybody in the last climb the rest has to work together to catch him, and that not always happend.

As well, if someone climb with the rest the last climb and he dont waste energy climbing, he can attack the rest in the flat and win, as we see with Landa and Contador en Aprica. Contador is much better thann landa in a false flat, but Landa climbed the Mortirolo very easy (that is something i talked with Landa and he admitted it), so he was stronger eniught to leave Contador in Aprica.

So if Quintana is more rested than Purito, Valverde or Nibali in the final flat he could make the stronger attack.

I dont think he will be so strong to do that, becouse the race is not only the 3 climbs, it has even cobbles at the begining, but that is a poibility, he could reach the climb with 10 second and win with one minute, you cant rule out that, it is a long race and the stronngest will be at the end.

But the race can develop in very different ways, and it is easy that people as Gallopin, Dumoulin, Yates,.. will be there, even Van Avermaert, but if the race is hard the climb is too much for him, annd even the pure climber like Landa, chaves, Pinot, etc will play an important role.

the last part is mostly flat, but it has at least one small climb close to the finish.

He won't even have a gap on top of the climb. It is too short, too far from the finish. And he is not an agressive rider + he is bad on the flat and downhill. There is no way in hell that he comes close to the podium. Uran does have a good chance to medal. He will never be a favorite for gold though against likes of Rodriguez or Valverde unless they make huge tactical mistake.

That's more likely than either of them winning tbh.

 

[Escarabajo]

So Quintana is not a good descender and is not an attacking rider. Your memory of 2015 Tour is clouding people's minds. Not to say that he did attacked. Maybe at the wrong tomes but he did. Other than that he has been an attacking rider throughout his career.

 

[Gigs_98]

Re: Re:

He will never be a favorite for gold though against likes of Rodriguez or Valverde unless they make huge tactical mistake.

That's more likely than either of them winning tbh.

+1

Besides that, it seems like some people here are underestimating Quintana's TT skills. He isnt an extremely good TT'er, but he is decent, while other favorites like Purito are simply bad. Lets say Purito, Valverde, Uran and Kwiatkowski + some other good climbers like Froome, Nibali, Uran,... together come over the top of the last climb and only Quintana is 15 seconds in front. What would happen?
Uran wont work because his teammate is in front, the bad sprinters wont work because they don't have a chance against Valverde or Kwiatkowski, Kwiat wont work because there are two spanish riders and Purito doesnt want to work for Valverde. In the meantime Quintana doesnt have to think about who will lead, because he is alone, so he can ride a steady, high pace. Ofc, there might be attacks from behind but attacks on the flat often don't make the race faster, if the attacking rider gets caught again and yeah its not that unlikely that one rider is working but situations in which a large group couldn't catch the leader because they don't work together very well happen. Do you remember stage 13 of this years vuelta? Oliveira attacked and a break of 23 riders wasnt able to catch him. Why shouldnt that happen in the Olympic RR

 

[damian13ster]

Because Rio has different meaning than a single stage at Vuelta.

In the situation you mentioned, Kwiatkowski, Valverde and Rodriguez will work together for 2km to get Quintana since they know they will outsprint others anyway, and then still have time to recover once everything comes together

 

[Jspear]

Because Rio has different meaning than a single stage at Vuelta.

In the situation you mentioned, Kwiatkowski, Valverde and Rodriguez will work together for 2km to get Quintana since they know they will outsprint others anyway, and then still have time to recover once everything comes together

Seriously I doubt they would. Valverde can be that stubborn/dumb. Kwiatkowski would definitely try to work with them.