Teams & Riders Nairo Quintana discussion thread

[carton]

Re:

Nairo just claimed he will NOT participate in the Olympics.

Nice scoop. Torn about it. He was a nice backup plan for Colombia, regardless. But as I said since February, they should take Pantano for the descent. And he's better off resting for the Vuelta if he's indeed doing it.

 

[DNP-Old]

Re: Re:

Nairo just claimed he will NOT participate in the Olympics.

Nice scoop. Torn about it. He was a nice backup plan for Colombia, regardless. But as I said since February, they should take Pantano for the descent. And he's better off resting for the Vuelta if he's indeed doing it.

Pantano already has commitments, so he won't be able to participate.

 

[Carols]

I think many people are being very harsh on Nairo. Since Stelviogate I haven't been a fan, but the little guy gave everything he had, every day. The mask slipped more than once and he was Suffering. To continue to go out and suffer day after day when your body isn't responding deserves Respect IMO. Nibali did it in the Giro and managed to take down the prize when his body finally came good. Nairo managed a podium without his body ever coming good and all things considered I respect his efforts even if he provided zero spectacle.

 

[capuldemetal]

so after all he is/was sick.there is no other reason i can see to skip rio.so in his condition to make a podium..

 

[Miburo]

Please Carols, never ever compare Quintana to Nibali. Just don't, there's a hugh gap in class. Quintana has nothing on the beast that is Nibali.

Nibali tried every time in the giro, never did he gave up and eventually he forced the leader to make a mistake and bam he won it!

That's how you win a GT, that's how you're a champion. Quintana isn't, talent doesn't make you a champion. He never made any attempt to win this tour. Being worse than the leader isn't an excuse for someone like quintana.

Contador in the vuelta of 2012 was inferior to purito, he got beat every time yet he kept trying until it worked. That's class. That's being a champion.

 

[Escarabajo]

Galic Ho, even if he was not sick he was not his own self. Doesn't matter. The end is the same. Could be training, illness, unprepared, etc. But he was just not the same. That is the point.

 

[Carols]

Re:

Please Carols, never ever compare Quintana to Nibali. Just don't, there's a hugh gap in class. Quintana has nothing on the beast that is Nibali.

Nibali tried every time in the giro, never did he gave up and eventually he forced the leader to make a mistake and bam he won it!

That's how you win a GT, that's how you're a champion. Quintana isn't, talent doesn't make you a champion. He never made any attempt to win this tour. Being worse than the leader isn't an excuse for someone like quintana.

Contador in the vuelta of 2012 was inferior to purito, he got beat every time yet he kept trying until it worked. That's class. That's being a champion.

I would Never compare Nairo favorably to Nibali at this point. Nibili is one of only 6 guys to win all 3 GTS +1 and he also has a Monument. They are in totally different classes at this point.

What I was comparing was the fact that both suffered Sub Par body response and Suffered like only elite bike riders can. Nibali came good at the end, Nairo didn't but still podiumed. He could have easily given up but went out there every day and rode to the best of his ability. I'm pretty sure he was sick.

 

[Max Rockatansky]

Re:

Either he's got medical issues, or he messed up his preparation big time. It's up to him and his team to figure out or to know what happened.

I think that in the Pyrenees he was still hoping to improve in the third week and be able to race for the win. If he had more, it wasn't much. Instead he got worse and likely missed out on his bets opportunity to get 2nd.

It looks like he had medical issues. I wouldn't say he messed things up. I mean, if people say that Nairo messed up, what would they have to say about the Tour of Tejay van Garderen or Pinot? That's messing up.

I think the Ventoux stage sums it up quite well. He tried to attack but wasn't able to get away. If there are medical issues and you push yourself into the red too often, things can get really bad. My guess is, that he tried to secure that podium, when he knew that he doesn't have it this time. Of course that's not attractive to watch, but understandable.

It's not Nairos fault, that Sky dominated this Tour. He gets all the heat. What about Aru, TvG, Pinot, Rolland?

 

[Miburo]

Quintana did give up, maybe you've seen a different race than me.

 

[Escarabajo]

Quintana does not need less TT kilometers or more mountains than this or last Tour. He just need to be in better form and more aggressive attitude. He is OK on TT and acceptable on flat stages. His form just wasn't there.

Quintana gave up on the win. He did not give up on fighting the podium and his poor form. He was probably giving his maximum to stay up front.

 

[hfer07]

Re:

Quintana does not need less TT kilometers or more mountains than this or last Tour. He just need to be in better form and more aggressive attitude. He is OK on TT and acceptable on flat stages. His form just wasn't there.

Quintana gave up on the win. He did not gave up on fighting the podium and his poor form. He was probably giving his maximum to stay up front.

I'd add to your comment that Movistar too must step up their game & approach to the Tour with a different mentality- not relying on what once worked, but to evolve in all aspects- also they should be matching skills man to man against SKY the best way possible to even up their game- Then Nairo must spend more time in Europe racing to get used to the wind & IF the allergy issue comes to be truth, then is imperative for him to spend more time there to develop natural immune resistance or to pinpoint the exact compound he's allergic to, so It can be remedied in time.

 

[Galic Ho]

Re:

Quintana did give up, maybe you've seen a different race than me.

The Australian SBS commentators at the start of stage 20 were claiming Quintana had been saying post stage 19 he was about to give up. To actually quit during the stage. Valverde apparently kept him going.

That's hardly going to go unnoticed among Sky and rivals...they'll take notes of the fragility of Quintana.

As I said before that, pages back, what is going to happen to Quintana mentally as a rider when Valverde is not there to help him? Valverde isn't going to ride into his mid 40s because Quintana needs help.

Carols...Stelviogate, I cut him slack. It was telling to me, that Quintana won a Giro over the man who shared his flat with him when he first came to Europe, all because he exploited everyone else with Hesjedal...that's fear manifesting in how one rides. And yes, kudos to him being in pain. How many other riders are in the race.

You don't get credit for not falling, not actually showing clear signs of sickness (rather being under prepared) but good team effort for a podium when every other rider in the race suffers the same ailments...some more. Plenty of his GC rivals fell or were handicapped.

That's people over hyping his result into something it isn't. Good job, but nothing super. In kindness, it's below par for him. Okay but nothing more. It will be forgotten by most fans of actual cycling for because it lacked an ounce of desire to actually do something in the race. So yeah, he held on. Good, but it's lost a lot of respect among cycling fans.

Tyler Hamilton finished 4th in the Tour with a broken collarbone. That's sickness. Quintana is out of form. That's obvious. Hopefully he remedies that with a smarter racing program next season. Staying away from Colombia HAS to be a top priority. The how to beat Sky thread had a nice suggestion:

* race with your team for the Tour often and practice race strategy all season long - plan it out and test it
* live with your team and prepare together - not in Colombia
* 2 strong climbers + 2 strong flat stage riders - Movistar already do this
* Race Sky at the Dauphine and be serious. Rout de Sud is a poor choice. Copy Contador's race calendar - perhaps?
* Practice his descending and flat land power...he's going to need it.
* His ITT needs work...

Oh and the obvious. If Chris Froome is BEHIND you on GC, he will panic. Look at Ventoux. If he's behind you on the road, so are the Sky train. They then can be cracked. Naturally, that means attacking them...early on.

Movistar should try that every chance they get in 2017. Or just skip the Tour for Quintana and give it to Valverde.

 

[Mr.White]

To clarify some things, when you're sick, you're sick! You can't ride with the favorites whole day, you lose minutes, lots of minutes. So Froome last year and Quintana this year, as far as I'm concerned, weren't sick!

 

[Valv.Piti]

Its pretty sad seeing him getting trashed after ONE bad Tour de France, in a year when he otherwise won Romandie and Catalunya and podiumed ALL his 6 races.

You really want to see the world burn, don't ya? Fair enough you don't like him, I understand that, but declaring he will never win TdF, his super overrated etc.. too early, no?

 

[StryderHells]

Re:

Its pretty sad seeing him getting trashed after ONE bad Tour de France, in a year when he otherwise won Romandie and Catalunya and podiumed ALL his 6 races.

You really want to see the world burn, don't ya? Fair enough you don't like him, I understand that, but declaring he will never win TdF, his super overrated etc.. too early, no?

Pretty nicely summed up, he had a bad race and yeah it robbed the race of a spectacle but it happens, clearly he wasn't right in this race so let's just wait and see what comes out in the wash up and what he and Movistar plan for next season. I still think he will win a Tour

 

[Miburo]

Re:

Its pretty sad seeing him getting trashed after ONE bad Tour de France, in a year when he otherwise won Romandie and Catalunya and podiumed ALL his 6 races.

You really want to see the world burn, don't ya? Fair enough you don't like him, I understand that, but declaring he will never win TdF, his super overrated etc.. too early, no?

I agree that it's completely unfair sayng he'll never win the tour and that he's overrated. Sadly enough it's pretty much a given he'll win the tour at some point.

Doesn't excuse the way he rides of coruse

 

[tristecsinamigos]

He'll win it several times, because he's more talented than most other riders.

 

[Hayabusa]

With Nairo he just needs to have a little extra luck and be willing to take a few more risks. Every rider has a window in which they can win the tour and Nairo's in his at the moment. New stars will come up to challenge him so he can't let too many more Tours slip by. Will be interesting to see what he does for the rest of the season.

 

[Jelantik]

Re: Re:

Quintana does not need less TT kilometers or more mountains than this or last Tour. He just need to be in better form and more aggressive attitude. He is OK on TT and acceptable on flat stages. His form just wasn't there.

Quintana gave up on the win. He did not gave up on fighting the podium and his poor form. He was probably giving his maximum to stay up front.

I'd add to your comment that Movistar too must step up their game & approach to the Tour with a different mentality- not relying on what once worked, but to evolve in all aspects- also they should be matching skills man to man against SKY the best way possible to even up their game- Then Nairo must spend more time in Europe racing to get used to the wind & IF the allergy issue comes to be truth, then is imperative for him to spend more time there to develop natural immune resistance or to pinpoint the exact compound he's allergic to, so It can be remedied in time.

allergy rubbish. Contador has allergy issue. Dan Martin too (read on his interview somewhere). Froome has asthma. Everyone has something. This year, he got no form. period. Just when Froome didn't look so dominant, everyone was even worse. Even Quintana. Yates, Martin, and Porte were more looking like a superman compare to him

Didn't I read somewhere that Quintana said he specifically trained to withstand Froome's acceleration? Is that all he trained for? Quintana has talent. But he is more and more looking like Andy Schleck. Only one sided.This year tour is supposed to be tailored for him. Where he was all this time? He just didn't have the form. Doing the kiddy pool Route Du Sud as his preparation race, that's probably a mistake. How could you measure yourself against the best of the best? He needs to revamp his training. It doesn't seem to work. He needs to stop training just for the mountain some where in Columbia. Didn't he dismiss his time lost from Froome during the descent as not important or something a long that line? Contador won't never dismiss that. Quintana is hoping Froome will fade at the third week. Well, looks like he is the one who's fading or not have the form.

 

[hfer07]

Re: Re:

Quintana does not need less TT kilometers or more mountains than this or last Tour. He just need to be in better form and more aggressive attitude. He is OK on TT and acceptable on flat stages. His form just wasn't there.

Quintana gave up on the win. He did not gave up on fighting the podium and his poor form. He was probably giving his maximum to stay up front.

I'd add to your comment that Movistar too must step up their game & approach to the Tour with a different mentality- not relying on what once worked, but to evolve in all aspects- also they should be matching skills man to man against SKY the best way possible to even up their game- Then Nairo must spend more time in Europe racing to get used to the wind & IF the allergy issue comes to be truth, then is imperative for him to spend more time there to develop natural immune resistance or to pinpoint the exact compound he's allergic to, so It can be remedied in time.

allergy rubbish. Contador has allergy issue. Dan Martin too (read on his interview somewhere). Froome has asthma. Everyone has something. This year, he got no form. period. Just when Froome didn't look so dominant, everyone was even worse. Even Quintana. Yates, Martin, and Porte were more looking like a superman compare to him

Didn't I read somewhere that Quintana said he specifically trained to withstand Froome's acceleration? Is that all he trained for? Quintana has talent. But he is more and more looking like Andy Schleck. Only one sided.This year tour is supposed to be tailored for him. Where he was all this time? He just didn't have the form. Doing the kiddy pool Route Du Sud as his preparation race, that's probably a mistake. How could you measure yourself against the best of the best? He needs to revamp his training. It doesn't seem to work. He needs to stop training just for the mountain some where in Columbia. Didn't he dismiss his time lost from Froome during the descent as not important or something a long that line? Contador won't never dismiss that. Quintana is hoping Froome will fade at the third week. Well, looks like he is the one who's fading or not have the form.

I agree with most of it, BUT to compare Quintana w/ Schleck is ridiculous! be remained all of you that Nairo is already a GT winner (Giro d'Italia), a TDF twice runner up, and winner of week long races (tirreno, Pais Vasco, Catalunya, Rommandie) AT 26 Y.O.


What Mr Schleck ever achieved at that age?

 

[portugal11]

Re: Re:

Quintana does not need less TT kilometers or more mountains than this or last Tour. He just need to be in better form and more aggressive attitude. He is OK on TT and acceptable on flat stages. His form just wasn't there.

Quintana gave up on the win. He did not gave up on fighting the podium and his poor form. He was probably giving his maximum to stay up front.

I'd add to your comment that Movistar too must step up their game & approach to the Tour with a different mentality- not relying on what once worked, but to evolve in all aspects- also they should be matching skills man to man against SKY the best way possible to even up their game- Then Nairo must spend more time in Europe racing to get used to the wind & IF the allergy issue comes to be truth, then is imperative for him to spend more time there to develop natural immune resistance or to pinpoint the exact compound he's allergic to, so It can be remedied in time.

allergy rubbish. Contador has allergy issue. Dan Martin too (read on his interview somewhere). Froome has asthma. Everyone has something. This year, he got no form. period. Just when Froome didn't look so dominant, everyone was even worse. Even Quintana. Yates, Martin, and Porte were more looking like a superman compare to him

Didn't I read somewhere that Quintana said he specifically trained to withstand Froome's acceleration? Is that all he trained for? Quintana has talent. But he is more and more looking like Andy Schleck. Only one sided.This year tour is supposed to be tailored for him. Where he was all this time? He just didn't have the form. Doing the kiddy pool Route Du Sud as his preparation race, that's probably a mistake. How could you measure yourself against the best of the best? He needs to revamp his training. It doesn't seem to work. He needs to stop training just for the mountain some where in Columbia. Didn't he dismiss his time lost from Froome during the descent as not important or something a long that line? Contador won't never dismiss that. Quintana is hoping Froome will fade at the third week. Well, looks like he is the one who's fading or not have the form.

I agree with most of it, BUT to compare Quintana w/ Schleck is ridiculous! be remained all of you that Nairo is already a GT winner (Giro d'Italia), a TDF twice runner up, and winner of week long races (tirreno, Pais Vasco, Catalunya, Rommandie) AT 26 Y.O.


What Mr Schleck ever achieved at that age?

Andy won liege, made podium in fleche, giro 2007, tours 2009,2010 and 2011.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Its a pretty good comparison. Quintana is a much better one week rider tho and definitely has a better ITT than Andy, while Andy was extremely good in L-B-L for some reason and maybe, maybe, has better top-level climbing. Its the obvious comparison.

 

[yaco]

Re: Re:

Was a little off his game. Needs less TT kilometres to beat Froome.

Not really, he just needs his 2013/2015 climbing legs, this time Valverde really worked for him, but his Form was clearly off. Of course having another strongman for the flat stages would be a good idea and 1-2 long, hard mountain stages at high altitute would also help him a lot, but this year the main problem was just his form, you can't blame the route or the team, if something is wrong with your form and you just lack the legs to attack and do damage then there's not much that you can do about that.

My first sentence stated Quintana was off form. There were 2 TT'S in this TDF which played to Froome's strength.

 

[yaco]

I agree with No_Balls. Total disgrace. Before the TdF began I was rooting for Nairo as the main person to mix it up with Froome and hopefully win the Tour, or at least provide some heated head to head, mono a mono action.

The dude flat out sucks. No drive, no race craft, no panache. Just the world's most infamous wheel sucker. I think the media is partial to blame for overhyping him as Froome's main rival to generate drama. Perhaps I bought into the hype and I sound like a jilted ex-girlfriend but damn Nairo, do something besides staring at Froome's backside. I despise Froome before the race began and I found myself rooting for him as the tour progressed because Nairo was too much of a vagina to attack. He sucked as a rival, sucked as a racer, and sucked the life out of the race. The only thing he didn't suck was wheel sucking.

Speaking of blame, he needs to stop blaming the wind, narrow roads, pollens, etc. Everyone is riding the same route and some riders with lower expectations are outshining you. Seriously, grow a pair and toss away your pacifier. This is a race.

The person I truly feel for is Valverde. He had the form to land a podium but he was too busy baby sitting a Colombian baby on a tricycle. Tragic!!!

What an inauspicious first post. What do you think Froome does every day.

 

[Galic Ho]

Re: Re:

I agree with most of it, BUT to compare Quintana w/ Schleck is ridiculous! be remained all of you that Nairo is already a GT winner (Giro d'Italia), a TDF twice runner up, and winner of week long races (tirreno, Pais Vasco, Catalunya, Rommandie) AT 26 Y.O.


What Mr Schleck ever achieved at that age?

It is ridiculous to compare Andy Schleck to Nairo Quintana.

One could win an Ardennes Classic against an in form Phillipe Gilbert.

He also finished second in every Tour or won the Tour when selected as race leader.

Sure, he didn't have all these other races to fall back on and claim, as some here were moaning, to defer back to as a defense for being out of form at the Tour. Andy had a goal. Tour and compete.

He competed every Tour until injured. Legitimate injury as well. Ruined his career.

Oh and in case you forgot, Andy Schleck in 2009, 2010 and 2011 was abused for months on this forum. Quintana had some harsh words for a few days...perspective dude. Schleck attacked and won stages every year (he was second on a stage breakaway with Contador and his brother in 2009). The year his brother crashed out, he was stronger than ever.

Is that what it's going to take for Quintana to show some fire? To step up?

I'll say it clearly...Andy Schleck was on form every Tour de France and wore the yellow jersey in both 2010 and 2011. Quintana has never been close. Ever. He put Alberto Contador on the ropes so ferociously in 2010 that a dropped chain determined the race. Nobody could touch him that year. So, yeah, not the same preparation or palmares as Quintana...stop deflecting. Either he's racing the Tour to win it, or he isn't. Which is it?

It's been spoken he was aiming to win the Tour. Movistar stated as much. Did Andy Schleck ever turn up and not attack? Nope...

I know who will be remembered for panache at this stage in their careers and it's the Luxembourg rider. Quintana fortunately has time to rectify that problem...surely he can mimick Valverde and learn a thing or two. That man is overflowing with panache!

And in case anyone forgot. 2009 Astana had Lance Armstrong, Andreas Kloden and Levi Leipheimer riding with Alberto Contador. They made the strongest Tour squad I have ever seen. Yet CSC attacked them. Andy Schleck came second. He attacked. Quintana went up against a weaker Sky by comparison and weaker Froome than Contador was that season and made how many attacks? One. For about 100m.

Yeah...perspective. Catching on now why people are annoyed at Quintana?

Oh but he cheated to win the Giro and got a motorbike tow!!

Yeah...really inspiring to think he'll dethrone Sky!!