Teams & Riders Nairo Quintana discussion thread

[Põhja Konn]

Today showed that nothing is wrong with his form, and yesterday was just a single bad day. Contador was somewhat stronger, but this was always likely to be the case, as the course was more suitable to his more explosive nature. There was not that much between them in Catalunya, where the most decisive climb played much more to Quintana's strenghts.

Nairo certainly looked stronger than in the same race last year which bodes well for his Tour prospects.
Now, its on to Romandie, where I expect Froome to be very good whereas Nairo's own form could be slightly on a downward trajectory. Interesting to see how they fare against each other this time.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Today showed that nothing is wrong with his form, and yesterday was just a single bad day. Contador was somewhat stronger, but this was always likely to be the case, as the course was more suitable to his more explosive nature. There was not that much between them in Catalunya, where the most decisive climb played much more to Quintana's strenghts.

Nairo certainly looked stronger than in the same race last year which bodes well for his Tour prospects.
Now, its on to Romandie, where I expect Froome to be very good whereas Nairo's own form could be slightly on a downward trajectory. Interesting to see how they fare against each other this time.

Pretty much agree with this, good post.

 

[Valv.Piti]

"It's a nice finish for us in this race - clearly a progression from where we were at on Monday. Before the start I was still feeling not quite well, due to the virus which affected most within the team, and also missing two valuable team-mates in the Izagirre brothers. That really changed our way to tackle the race and look for our chances. Seeing we're now on the overall podium on Saturday, knowing that I recovered way faster than we all expected, is a great feeling, a boost in our morale before the big, upcoming goals.

"We did quite a good time trial, though we're obviously a bit sad since we couldn't win it. We took a strong gamble with that bike chance, hoping we could ride faster into the final stretch, and even though it helped, it wasn't enough for the win. It's still worth as we couldn't leave this race without trying something different, and this test will be useful for the future. We didn't win the race, Alberto was stronger this time, but we were close and we're happy about that."

Good stuff and the last part, kinda interesting when looking at the mountain ITT in Le Tour

 

[Valv.Piti]

Quintana is in the Pyrenees with Gorka Izagirre and are looking at the stages in TdF. Afterwards he'll be in Germany for some sponsor meetings and ride L-B-L and Romandie in late April.

Then he'll probably head home for Columbia, but its very much up in the air what he'll be doing in June still. He would also have to look at the Alps at some point.

 

[Taxus4a]

Re:

Quintana is in the Pyrenees with Gorka Izagirre and are looking at the stages in TdF. Afterwards he'll be in Germany for some sponsor meetings and ride L-B-L and Romandie in late April.

Then he'll probably head home for Columbia, but its very much up in the air what he'll be doing in June still. He would also have to look at the Alps at some point.

To be in Colombia works for him, so...maybe is enough to see him in Route du sud.

It is good to see him in Lieje, hope to see him on the attack looking for Valverde, as Valverde is for him in TdF.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

Quintana is in the Pyrenees with Gorka Izagirre and are looking at the stages in TdF. Afterwards he'll be in Germany for some sponsor meetings and ride L-B-L and Romandie in late April.

Then he'll probably head home for Columbia, but its very much up in the air what he'll be doing in June still. He would also have to look at the Alps at some point.

To be in Colombia works for him, so...maybe is enough to see him in Route du sud.

It is good to see him in Lieje, hope to see him on the attack looking for Valverde, as Valverde is for him in TdF.

Or maybe he doesn't even need to ride Tour du Sud, in 2013 he was amazing in the Tour right after Columbia, T-A 2014 he won, Catalunya 2015 he also won.. wouldn't be surprised if he just chose to skip them all. But I still hope to see him in Suisse, then he will be able to do a little reckon in the Alps afterwards.

 

[Publicus]

Re:

Quintana is in the Pyrenees with Gorka Izagirre and are looking at the stages in TdF. Afterwards he'll be in Germany for some sponsor meetings and ride L-B-L and Romandie in late April.

Then he'll probably head home for Columbia, but its very much up in the air what he'll be doing in June still. He would also have to look at the Alps at some point.

Is he planning to ride the Dauphine?

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

Quintana is in the Pyrenees with Gorka Izagirre and are looking at the stages in TdF. Afterwards he'll be in Germany for some sponsor meetings and ride L-B-L and Romandie in late April.

Then he'll probably head home for Columbia, but its very much up in the air what he'll be doing in June still. He would also have to look at the Alps at some point.

Is he planning to ride the Dauphine?

Dauphine is probably the least likely of RdS, Suisse and Columbia all June, so no

 

[Escarabajo]

Because his formula of staying in Colombia in May and June has worked for him in the past, Dauphine might be one of those races that Quintana will keep skipping unfortunately.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

Because his formula of staying in Colombia in May and June has worked for him in the past, Dauphine might be one of those races that Quintana will keep skipping unfortunately.

Yep, very unfortunate.. but he obviously does whatever is the best for him, so I dont really have a problem with it at all, I just need him to be as good as he can be in July.

 

[dacooley]

does nairito plan to ride route de sud to scratch up racing miles before the tour, any info?

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

does nairito plan to ride route de sud to scratch up racing miles before the tour, any info?

As I said above, I think RdS is the most likely if he does decide to do a race, but thats just a guess, I dont have any info what so ever, any info would be appreciated.

 

[Gigs_98]

I think he should try the TdS. The route suits him extremely well and winning it will look quite good on his Palmares since this is a way more important race than the route de sud.
Nevertheless I think he will simply do the same preparation as last year.

 

[Valv.Piti]

I think he should try the TdS. The route suits him extremely well and winning it will look quite good on his Palmares since this is a way more important race than the route de sud.
Nevertheless I think he will simply do the same preparation as last year.

Totally agree.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

I think he will not do any race before the tour. maybe even a colombian race in june, although I think the vuelta is then.

 

[sir fly]

I think he should try the TdS. The route suits him extremely well and winning it will look quite good on his Palmares since this is a way more important race than the route de sud.
Nevertheless I think he will simply do the same preparation as last year.

Totally agree.

TdS looks like the perfect race for warming up his diesel, so he could perform equally well in the both mountain ranges. But this year, with the Alps the way they are and the Olympics (and probably Vuelta), the lighter racing schedule seems reasonable. But he shouldn't enter the Tour without a race in June.
With TdS in his legs, I believe he wouldn't have lost so much on Pierre St.Martin (if he'd have lost anything at all).

 

[Valv.Piti]

I think he should try the TdS. The route suits him extremely well and winning it will look quite good on his Palmares since this is a way more important race than the route de sud.
Nevertheless I think he will simply do the same preparation as last year.

Totally agree.

TdS looks like the perfect race for warming up his diesel, so he could perform equally well in the both mountain ranges. But this year, with the Alps the way they are and the Olympics (and probably Vuelta), the lighter racing schedule seems reasonable. But he shouldn't enter the Tour without a race in June.
With TdS in his legs, I believe he wouldn't have lost so much on Pierre St.Martin (if he'd have lost anything at all).

Regardless of what he had done, he had lost half a minute to Froome I believe. But he probably wouldn't had lost as much. That really wasn't the reason why he lost the Tour that year tho. But I think he will focus on being a little better early, whether that being training a little harder or whatever since Froome's blueprint has been stomping in the first 1-2 weeks and fading a bit towards the end. Or maybe he will gamble, hope Sky doesn't go *** on Aspin, if he gets to Arcalis without timeloss with 2 days in the mountains in his legs, he won't lose nearly as much as on Pierre. 30 seconds MAX. Then look to beat the fck out of everyone at Emosson and JP.

But yes, the Tour de Suisse looks absolutely perfect for him. Logically whatever makes him as good as possibility over the course of 3 weeks in Le Tour should be preferred, but as you mention, the Olympics and Vuelta also lurk

 

[Tonton]

Re:

Because his formula of staying in Colombia in May and June has worked for him in the past, Dauphine might be one of those races that Quintana will keep skipping unfortunately.

I's called carbing-up

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

I'm sure he won't do any race before the tour because he wants to do the tour-os-vuelta combination. those will be the only 3 races he will do after romandie. he's know it's doable considering how he rode in last years vuelta but he needs all the rest he can

 

[Miburo]

Re:

I'm sure he won't do any race before the tour because he wants to do the tour-os-vuelta combination. those will be the only 3 races he will do after romandie. he's know it's doable considering how he rode in last years vuelta but he needs all the rest he can

What did he do exactly in that vuelta? Especially since he only did something in 2 stages at the tour.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

I'm sure he won't do any race before the tour because he wants to do the tour-os-vuelta combination. those will be the only 3 races he will do after romandie. he's know it's doable considering how he rode in last years vuelta but he needs all the rest he can

What did he do exactly in that vuelta? Especially since he only did something in 2 stages at the tour.

He lost 3 minutes in Andorra, but only ended 1.42 down on Aru overall. He was very good in the ITT and the last stage, while he attacked on stage 3, 14 and 15, cracked at stage 3, very strong at 14 and the rest were pussies at stage 15. He did well all things considered

 

[Taxus4a]

Re: Re:

I'm sure he won't do any race before the tour because he wants to do the tour-os-vuelta combination. those will be the only 3 races he will do after romandie. he's know it's doable considering how he rode in last years vuelta but he needs all the rest he can

What did he do exactly in that vuelta? Especially since he only did something in 2 stages at the tour.

He lost 3 minutes in Andorra, but only ended 1.42 down on Aru overall. He was very good in the ITT and the last stage, while he attacked on stage 3, 14 and 15, cracked at stage 3, very strong at 14 and the rest were pussies at stage 15. He did well all things considered

He is a young rider, he will improve in double with time. But as far as I remerber he was sick some days and he was even thinking to leave the race. With the level he showed last days he can win la Vuelta after le Tour even with more rested people who came from the Giro.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

I'm sure he won't do any race before the tour because he wants to do the tour-os-vuelta combination. those will be the only 3 races he will do after romandie. he's know it's doable considering how he rode in last years vuelta but he needs all the rest he can

What did he do exactly in that vuelta? Especially since he only did something in 2 stages at the tour.

He lost 3 minutes in Andorra, but only ended 1.42 down on Aru overall. He was very good in the ITT and the last stage, while he attacked on stage 3, 14 and 15, cracked at stage 3, very strong at 14 and the rest were pussies at stage 15. He did well all things considered

He is a young rider, he will improve in double with time. But as far as I remerber he was sick some days and he was even thinking to leave the race. With the level he showed last days he can win la Vuelta after le Tour even with more rested people who came from the Giro.

Yes he was sick and yes, Quintana is definitely capable of the double

 

[dacooley]

The number of riders being able to win the Tour itself is so limited that anyone capable to win tour can do the double under certain fortunate circumstances.

 

[CheckMyPecs]

Re:

The number of riders being able to win the Tour itself is so limited that anyone capable to win tour can do the double under certain fortunate circumstances.

Almost anyone.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Walkowiak
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%93scar_Pereiro