Teams & Riders Nairo Quintana discussion thread

[spalco]

Well, of course, I've said very stupid things in moments of emotion as well.

But if he's allowed to moan, I'm allowed to moan about his moaning also.

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

He has a point about the route, I noticed alot of road furniture and bottlenecks along the route. Nobody can blame ASO about the weather conditions so he shouldn't of said anything about the wind.

Please. If he wants to ride 200km a day on the autobahn he should just focus on the Vuelta.

The Tour is as much a very long tourism ad as it's a sporting event, of course they pass through as many towns as they can.

He's allowed to complain about it isn't he? Anyway ask him today and he might say something different, getting quotes from riders just after a stage has finished, after an intense effort when things don't go 100% and you'll most likely get a poorly thought out quote like what Quintana said. I don't understand why people react so negatively to these things, put yourself in the riders shoes with reporters asking you questions and you'd most likely say something you wouldn't say after a few hours rest.

He's probably also a bit annoyed that the stage to Ventoux, which is really suited to his strengths, has been cut short due to safety concerns. Yet one where he felt unsafe - riding in a 60km/h peloton through villages packed with furniture and with strong crosswinds - was ridden in its entirety. It's a bit inconsistent.

 

[saganftw]

its ridiculous to even complain about his complaining,so im gonna complain about you complaining

lets for a second stop pretending that quintana was the only one saying that it was a dangerous stage,the least we can do is to not being hypocritical...pretty much every interviewed cyclist said the stage was crazy or dangerous and many said that they were happy to finish it without injury

if that doesnt tell you what the peloton thought about the design of the stage you are intentionally blind

 

[Eclipse]

I'll reserve any judgement on Nairo's tactics until after the Tour is actually over

As for complaining about the stage, he's hardly alone in that yesterday.

 

[glassmoon]

Re: Re:

But what exactly could Quintana have done to prevent Froome gaining time today or in Luchon?

Nothing. But we are now past the Pyrenees, more than halfway through the Tour, and he is the only rider in the top 10 other than TJ Van Gaarderen not to have attempted even the smallest attack or even to have deliberately put his nose into the wind. He is not just riding more conservatively than Froome is or than usually attacking riders like Martin he is riding more conservatively than absolutely everybody.

thats how portugal won the euros...nairo just needs to find i bit of Eder in him

Only croatia was better than portugal.

even with Hungary in the group stage they've got extremely lucky (that goal post @ the end would send them home)... also, they were painful to watch (as is NQ).

 

[Isaak-Gabriel]

Movistar sucks in flat stages and nothing changes, Malori would've been very important but we know what happens earlier this season. The only thing I want is that Quintana rides with his heart and sadly it didn't works. From a Quintana fan, Froome deserves to win the Tour after the 1st part of the race, it's no brainer. Panache pays off and it's good for cycling.

 

[DFA123]

Re:

Movistar sucks in flat stages and nothing changes, Malori would've been very important but we know what happens earlier this season. The only thing I want is that Quintana rides with his heart and sadly it didn't works. From a Quintana fan, Froome deserves to win the Tour after the 1st part of the race, it's no brainer. Panache pays off and it's good for cycling.

The thing is though, that panache only works if you have loads more power available to you than everyone else. Otherwise, at best, it finishes in glorious failure (see Contador). If Froome maintains this level of power over the full three weeks, then he could win this Tour whichever way he wanted; with panache on flat stages, by dropping everyone in the mountains, or taking minutes in the TT.

There's no point in Quintana going toe to toe with him in this form. He just needs to be patient, trust his climbing, limit his losses and hope that Froome's level drops - as it has in previous years.

 

[Angliru]

Re:

Well, of course, I've said very stupid things in moments of emotion as well.

But if he's allowed to moan, I'm allowed to moan about his moaning also.

Only if your posting is done immediately after a grueling ride and you are in a state of duress and extreme fatigue!

 

[SeriousSam]

When the pure climber isn't a top 3 climber winning the Tour is going to be challenging

 

[Gloin22]

Well I overestimated him.

I blame Ryo, his hype affected me

 

[SeriousSam]

Incredibly lucky. Undeserved

 

[Red Rick]

Seems that Quintana did not improve at climbing, that he only was more consistent during the spring and got better at tt's.

 

[TomekA]

Where are all the haters now who said why he isnt going to attack? The answer is clear: he is not strong enough. He already said after Arcalis that he was on the limit.

 

[Arredondo]

Quintana doesn't derserve this Tour. I will cheer for anyone but Nairo.

Gosh, the guy is so lucky.

 

[pink_jersey]

Boring person, boring rider but hell, he's incredible lucky...Hope he lose 5 minutes tomorrow. He dissapointed everyone today.

 

[Pantani Attacks]

Incredible tactics today not following Froome, Porte and TGBM knowing they'd crash! Vamos Nairito.

In all seriousness though he was awful today. I've said it before here but his days are numbered before Angel Lopez takes all his glory and becomes #1.

 

[SeriousSam]

As an aside, his decision not to attack at Arcalis looks even better now.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Very lucky, no legs after 2 days with echelons. Not really his fault tho that they crashed in the front group, but he will be an undeseved winner if he wins with -1 minute to Froome. Which seems rather unlikely for Nairito, but he loves the Alps and I believe he has it in him, still.

Needs a good ITT tomorrow.

 

[geargbest]

Re:

Incredibly lucky. Undeserved

To be fair their all lucky that Contador crashed otherwice he woulda demolished em all in the mountains. But indeed Quintana even so more luckier now that Froome and also Porte which rode away from him crashed, however he needs to find his legs soon anyway or all the luck in the world aint gonne help him.

 

[sir fly]

Should he be optimistic after today's stage?

 

[Fernandez]

Tomorrow will loose sooooome time

 

[AlexNYC]

I want to hear what he has to say. PSM last year was understandable, but getting dropped most of the other climbers is strange indeed.

 

[buchanan]

Looks like the form is not there. I expect Froome to take some serious time on him tomorrow.

 

[Escarabajo]

Quintana cannot train in Colombia anymore. Not because of the altitude but because of the crowds. He became a celebrity there. When I was there he was lucky if he could ride his bike without disturbance. Not good. Time to adjust training.

He is wasting one of the best opportunities ever.

Now I was right. He was cooked in Arcalis. When he is good he attacks. Whether is on the last kilometer is another thing but what he did in Arcalis is a proof that he was done.

After tomorrow the only thing that waits for him is a long 3rd week.

And those windy flat stages didn't help him.

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

Quintana cannot train in Colombia anymore. Not because of the altitude but because of the crowds. He became a celebrity there. When I was there he was lucky if he could ride his bike without disturbance. Not good. Time to adjust training.

He is wasting one of the best opportunities ever.

Now I was right. He was cooked in Arcalis. When he is good he attacks. Whether is on the last kilometer is another thing but what he did in Arcalis is a proof that he was done.

After tomorrow the only thing that waits for him is a long 3rd week.

And those windy flat stages didn't help him.

Good point