Re:
Escarabajo said:
Galic Ho,
I take your apology, but I think you are confusing me with somebody else.
Decided last night I'd cut Quintana some slack.
However I will always laugh at antics like Ventoux, because they're funny.
I'm a Nibali fan and I cannot do anything but laugh at the things that happen in cycling.
After seeing footage of Valverde after stage 19, it would make a bit more sense to base my outlook on what he did.
Did Valverde work for Quintana? Yes. Did he seem ecstatic over the result? Yes. Are Movistar pleased? Seems so.
They do need to listen to the rhetoric and talk given in the English speaking press. It's bordering on over hype. Actually it is over hype.
Chris Froome has his third Tour de France and has won it in convincing fashion. No challenger ever arose. Sky controlled every mountain stage well enough for no rival to emerge. It would appear, and I may be wrong, that Movistar, whilst capable as a team of presenting a serious threat to Sky's tactics, knew their final rider lacked that extra ammo.
Now the hard part - the wind, allergies, flats...all of them may sap a 'little guy' more than a bigger rider. Be serious though. Everyone has to ride the same parcours and Quintana is one of many smaller riders. This Tour was custom tailored for a climber with so many mountains for a rider of his stature to exploit...he never did. The race saw an amazing precedent that till stage 9 no rider had abandoned. That's a record. This years first week, whilst providing action, set Movistar into a position where both their top riders were not in 2015's position of being two minutes down.
The race for first was over after stage 12. Froome had it in the bag then. Two strong time trials settled the score. Nobody touched except a few attacks in the mountains from riders placed lower than the podium places - that actually got attention.
I dare say Movistar had decided after Ventoux, that holding on for a podium was their plan. For whatever reason, that was the plan. So good for them. Good for Quintana. He finished third.
Was he sick? Be honest with yourself. How often do you workout at high intensity, and train with a goal in mind. What happens when you get sick? Have you tried pushing yourself? You cannot hold it over consecutive days when sick.
Quintana to his credit didn't drop major time in the last 2 mountain stages. What does that tell you? It's tells me, he was not sick. So why is his form down?
Simple. He was either sick BEFORE the Tour began or didn't enter the race properly prepared. It happens. Movistar have to figure out why a rider came third, when ideally, in theory (because he's never actually worn yellow) he could have won the race based on a lot of speculation, pre race results, blah blah blah (you get the picture). Movistar don't have the issue BMC have where they carried an extra leader for 17 stages only to find out he completely blew apart at the seams...for the third year running. BMC have a pattern...Movistar have a one off.
Also, because I can do it, I will. Deduct 1:45 from Porte's time. Sky's former domestique was the second strongest rider in the Tour. Plus he knew it. He attacked...which given the fan and media talk about his lack of attacking impetus...you get the picture right? Porte gained a mental edge from this race. Did Quintana lose an edge? Bardet was the third strongest. Even Mollema was stronger. Movistar for two consecutive GT's have been very fortunate in securing third places.
Valverde has how many seasons left? 1 or 2? Quintana needs to learn how to descend better and cover an attack on his own. Given the Tour won't ever hit high elevation (2400m+) climbs, any natural edge Quintana gets from Colombia is wasted. Better to train and live with the entire team all year long and really give Valverde's last season a serious crack at winning the Tour. If not, race another event...
Why? Personally, Prudhomme's venture for 2016 looked great, but lacked panache on the road. Put in a prologue. Put in cobbles early on. A long ITT and a mountain one close together or a TTT...allow someone like Dumoulin the option of threatening Froome, or another Dutch rider (Mollema). And for the intermediate stages, how about some HARD mountains at the start to allow a GC rider to attack and drop team Sky, descend fast and gain time. Movistar have shown if Sky get hit before a final climb (mountain top finish) they can launch a successful attack that drops Froome. They just need a rider who is actually on form, the best climber in the world backed by someone who doesn't mind attacking and losing time...simply because he's a threat.
What am I saying? Race like 1986. Valverde goes nuts and threatens everyone else. Let Quintana tag along to the others, fly under the radar and get time that way and/or counter attack back. Going for broke is the only way to dislodge Sky. Yes, the risk vs rewards is high. If they stuff up, aim for recovery win at the Vuelta.
For those not counting, Sky have 4 out of 5 Tours in a row. The same Movistar line of thinking has to change. Or they have to target different races. It's that simple. Good luck to them...
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