Teams & Riders Nairo Quintana discussion thread

[Miburo]

Re:

He did a very good TT, just look the times, he is the best tiny cyclist in the list, and the wind make him a lot of damage. He can not deliver yet a show in the mountains, and thats is what we all expect.

I think that some day he will win the tour. He is only 26, at this age Froome didnt even win a stage in a WT race.

And at the age of 25 Contador won all GT's, it's easy to cherrypick.

But look at Andy, nothing anymore after the age of 25.

 

[Moviestar]

Re: Re:

It's stage 17 or never I think. Stage 17 has 2 consecutive hard climbs in the end with no flat section between them which should suit him.

Movistar should ride hard tempo all the stage, and try to eliminate skyborgs, then its up to Nairo in the penultime climb to attack and make the diference.

But again, with the things that i have seen this days, i dont think so

I hope for a recovery tomorrow and the rest day

Movistar will blow themselves up in that way, Sky is much stronger at the moment. If Movistar is setting the tempo the whole stage, they will be indirectly also working for Froome because the Skyborgs get free help from Movistar.

Ok, whats your plan, let them ride, set tempo, and come to the final km with 3 skyborgs plus Froome???

The need to try at least. They only have 4 stages and I think its pretty imposible to take that advantage in 1 stage only

I would sent as many man in the echappee, if they are able to, just to deliver Froome some stress. In the last stages we have seen that Froome can do strange things under some stress. But the thing is, Movistar is dependent on other strong teams like BMC, Astana and maybe AG2R, like a Van Garderen/Aru with some teammates in an echappee. Then you have more teams who will have the same goal: to hurt Froome. But if it's the same thing as recently with only Movistar willing to work in the echappee... not standing a chance.

 

[LeoMontero]

Re: Re:

It's stage 17 or never I think. Stage 17 has 2 consecutive hard climbs in the end with no flat section between them which should suit him.

Movistar should ride hard tempo all the stage, and try to eliminate skyborgs, then its up to Nairo in the penultime climb to attack and make the diference.

But again, with the things that i have seen this days, i dont think so

I hope for a recovery tomorrow and the rest day

Movistar will blow themselves up in that way, Sky is much stronger at the moment. If Movistar is setting the tempo the whole stage, they will be indirectly also working for Froome because the Skyborgs get free help from Movistar.

Ok, whats your plan, let them ride, set tempo, and come to the final km with 3 skyborgs plus Froome???

The need to try at least. They only have 4 stages and I think its pretty imposible to take that advantage in 1 stage only

I would sent as many man in the echappee, if they are able to, just to deliver Froome some stress. In the last stages we have seen that Froome can do strange things under some stress. But the thing is, Movistar is dependent on other strong teams like BMC, Astana and maybe AG2R, like a Van Garderen/Aru with some teammates in an echappee. Then you have more teams who will have the same goal: to hurt Froome. But if it's the same thing as recently with only Movistar willing to work in the echappee... not standing a chance.

Both times that movistar send mens to de echappee, was useless. Sky let them go far away, and then Nairo cant catch them.
Need to try something diferent, with the help of Astana it could be possible.

 

[lenric]

I can't help but starting to think Quintana is insane. And by insane I mean, regarding its definition, doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different outcomes. Let's wait a couple more days to see if that's a fact.

 

[Angliru]

Re: Re:

He did a very good TT, just look the times, he is the best tiny cyclist in the list, and the wind make him a lot of damage. He can not deliver yet a show in the mountains, and thats is what we all expect.

I think that some day he will win the tour. He is only 26, at this age Froome didnt even win a stage in a WT race.

And at the age of 25 Contador won all GT's, it's easy to cherrypick.

But look at Andy, nothing anymore after the age of 25.

...but Andy had a lack of work ethic that was incomparable among his contemporary grand tour rivals. He's the same guy that when he was supposed to be supporting his beloved brother Frank at the Vuelta, who had previously crashed out of that year's Tour, was bar hopping between stages with Stuie.
He was like the slacker prince of his time.

 

[observer]

I'm hoping that movistar have been saving themselves for the last week while sky have been using their men.

although there is some merit to letting sky ride their tempo, but also use their men to push the tempo 5-10% more so they actually do tire.

 

[lenric]

Re: Re:

He did a very good TT, just look the times, he is the best tiny cyclist in the list, and the wind make him a lot of damage. He can not deliver yet a show in the mountains, and thats is what we all expect.

I think that some day he will win the tour. He is only 26, at this age Froome didnt even win a stage in a WT race.

And at the age of 25 Contador won all GT's, it's easy to cherrypick.

But look at Andy, nothing anymore after the age of 25.

...but Andy had a lack of work ethic that was incomparable among his contemporary grand tour rivals. He's the same guy that when he was supposed to be supporting his beloved brother Frank, who had previously crashed out of that year's Tour, was bar hopping between stages with Stuie.
He was like the slacker prince of his time.

Such a shame his potential performance was higher than his real performance.

 

[Angliru]

Re: Re:

He had a lot of unluck in the second weak beacuse of the wind, and the team that didnt defend. The wind is the worst enemy to a guy that weight 55-57 kilos. Its physics.

Yet the similarly sized Porte is going strong and unlike Quintana, he has actually had incredible misfortune. Quintana is lucky to be only 3 minutes back. Had it been the full climb, had there been no crash, it would probably be 4 minutes back

Nairo is 5'-5" 128. Richie is 5'-8" 135 according to Wikipedia. Richie is much better in flat time trials which would seemingly translate to dealing better with head and cross winds.

 

[movingtarget]

Re: Re:

He did a very good TT, just look the times, he is the best tiny cyclist in the list, and the wind make him a lot of damage. He can not deliver yet a show in the mountains, and thats is what we all expect.

I think that some day he will win the tour. He is only 26, at this age Froome didnt even win a stage in a WT race.

And at the age of 25 Contador won all GT's, it's easy to cherrypick.

But look at Andy, nothing anymore after the age of 25.

...but Andy had a lack of work ethic that was incomparable among his contemporary grand tour rivals. He's the same guy that when he was supposed to be supporting his beloved brother Frank, who had previously crashed out of that year's Tour, was bar hopping between stages with Stuie.
He was like the slacker prince of his time.

You only have to look at his attitude to the TT. Evans and Contador improved their TT a lot even Uran and Quintana improved theirs. Gesink improved his, many riders worked on their TT and improved. But the Schleck brothers continued to drop minutes in every TT that counted and never seemed to worry about it. Even Andy's position on a TT bike was not good. Of course the team managers should take some blame as well but when Bruyneel called him out for having a bad attitude he just sulked about it.

 

[LeSensei]

The Schlecks were busted and never again performed back to their level.... In fact, Frank became a mediocre stage-hunter, and his little brother retired early.

 

[Escarabajo]

This is where ignorance takes place:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/do-movistar-think-they-can-win-the-tour-de-france/

The mercury hit 35 degres in the cloudless Jura mountains, which should, in theory, have provided fertile ground for the Colombian climber, with the hors-catégorie Grand Colombier followed by the first-category ‘lacets' ascent from the other angle. It seems, however, that the Tour so far has been an exercise in waiting for the Alps.

Since when 35 F is fertile ground for a Boyacá native that lives at 3000 m.

He simply does not have it for the millionth time. And people say try something. He clearly on the limit. It would be stupid to do it. Everyone is on survival mode when Sky train is on.

Alps in theory have a fresher climate and are better ground for him. He will try something but the only think that it will do is dispatch Yates and Co out the door who seem to be on the limit worse than Quintana.

People are mad at Sky and they take it on the little guy.

Salary caps won't do it. We already saw the boring movie 7 times in a row!!!

 

[Isaak-Gabriel]

The problem of Quintana is his preparation before the Tour, not his conservative ride, I even think that the first point brings the second point. He can't arrive to the Tour with the certitude han can improve his form slowly and be at his peak in 3rd week versus Froome. He must learn to train less time in altitude, and earn at least 10 % of efficiency in GT starts. Boyacá is an advantage but also a disadvantage.

 

[Escarabajo]

I agree 100% Isaak-Gabriel .

The fact that Anacona trained with him all the time and is nowhere to be seen is indicative that something went wrong with the training.

If they both come to life in the third week just supports our theory.

They need to sacrifice some altitude with racing miles.

 

[ILovecycling]

Re:

I agree 100% Isaak-Gabriel .

The fact that Anacona trained with him all the time and is nowhere to be seen is indicative that something went wrong with the training.

If they both come to life in the third week just supports our theory.

They need to sacrifice some altitude with racing miles.

Might be true,but he was very good last year in the 3rd.I mean enough good ftw I think.

And for lazy forumers - Anacona is hurt from that crash last week.

 

[Valv.Piti]

It would at least be interesting to see if he takes a different approach next year, unless he obviously blows it all apart in the final week which seems kinda unlikely. There was talk of Suisse this year, could see it be the case next year.

 

[perico]

If Movistar want to win the Tour,mhey're going to have to sacrifice Valverde's high GC placing to by sending him out early in a suicide break ala Pantani in 2000 to weaken the Skytrain before the final climb.

I don't think they have the balls to do it.

 

[Valv.Piti]

If Movistar want to win the Tour,mhey're going to have to sacrifice Valverde's high GC placing to by sending him out early in a suicide break ala Pantani in 2000 to weaken the Skytrain before the final climb.

I don't think they have the balls to do it.

Maybe, but Valverde has ridden much better than many expected, including me, and have done what he needed to do. Its all up to Quintana IMO, he simply just needs to be stronger as he was in 2015.

 

[HelloDolly]

Quintana himself said that he is in good form and the wind was very difficult over the weekend
Also every rider yesterdat said that SKY were too strong to attack ....Aru,Porte, Martin,Yates, Mollema

But there are many ways to skin a cat and just cos SKY are strong it does nto mean they will be strong every day and in every terraine

What people want to see is riders and teams try like Astana yesterday but rather than one team for all of them to try one after the other ...buy ay least try and not give up
Find the *** ...everything is possible

Quintana is no champion and never will be if he does not attack SKY whatever the outcome

 

[Escarabajo]

I have to agree with Perico on this one.

Valverde has had many opportunities in the past. And TBH to try to put him on the podium again is a lost cause. The minute they support him will be their demise.

HelloDolly, that is a good approach. But it was said the same in the past about the US Postal service. But in reality each team have their own agenda and different from each other. And TBH Movistar is the most conservative and the only one with a slight chance to win. The other teams do not have the same interests. I think they are fighting for the podium. Froome and Sky know that and will use it in their benefit.

 

[Mr.White]

If Movistar want to win the Tour,mhey're going to have to sacrifice Valverde's high GC placing to by sending him out early in a suicide break ala Pantani in 2000 to weaken the Skytrain before the final climb.

I don't think they have the balls to do it.

Well they tried that on stage 9 when he went with Contador. He managed to get 2min but nobody in the break wanted to work with him and his 2 teammates, so Sky begin to cut the deficit and eventually Valverde dropped out of the break.

 

[ILovecycling]

Re:

I have to agree with Perico on this one.

Valverde has had many opportunities in the past. And TBH to try to put him on the podium again is a lost cause. The minute they support him will be their demise.

HelloDolly, that is a good approach. But it was said the same in the past about the US Postal service. But in reality each team have their own agenda and different from each other. And TBH Movistar is the most conservative and the only one with a slight chance to win. The other teams do not have the same interests. I think they are fighting for the podium. Froome and Sky know that and will use it in their benefit.

Yes, Im really tired of Valverde "attacks"
Sorry but he has enough good acceleration to build a serious gap, those attacks were a joke

This needs to be all or nothing approach if Quintana has legs in the 3rd week.

 

[Escarabajo]

Didn't Quintana sacrifice himself for Valverde on A3X and later on Ventoux by attacking early in 2013 Tour?

 

[dacooley]

On the foot of emosson Valverde should start putting the hammer down and give a 3-4 km reckless pull to catapult Quintana on attack at maximal speed. Yes, it guarantees nothing. And Froome might even not be dropped at all. But Movistar should try something new instead of throwing Quintana under Sky tanks.

 

[HelloDolly]

I am inclined to think Valverde & TJ in a break might be a way forward...Attacking the train on a mountain does not look like it will suffice ...maybe Kreuz also

And later attack with Aru & Baret & Quintana ..one after the other or all together

 

[SeriousSam]

Re: Re:

I have to agree with Perico on this one.

Valverde has had many opportunities in the past. And TBH to try to put him on the podium again is a lost cause. The minute they support him will be their demise.

HelloDolly, that is a good approach. But it was said the same in the past about the US Postal service. But in reality each team have their own agenda and different from each other. And TBH Movistar is the most conservative and the only one with a slight chance to win. The other teams do not have the same interests. I think they are fighting for the podium. Froome and Sky know that and will use it in their benefit.

Yes, Im really tired of Valverde "attacks"
Sorry but he has enough good acceleration to build a serious gap, those attacks were a joke

This needs to be all or nothing approach if Quintana has legs in the 3rd week.

Can you describe what sequence of events leads to Quintana gaining a lot of time on Froome if Valverde empties himself with an attack?

Take yesterday's stage.