Teams & Riders Nairo Quintana discussion thread

Page 203 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
May 3, 2010
4,487
4,563
21,180
After yesterday I was rather pessimistic. Today however he managed to turn things upside down! I would have preferred to see Contador win the stage. Quintana is the strong favorite now for the overall victory, but out of superstition I wouldn't start celebrating just yet.
 
Mar 14, 2015
3,069
3
8,485
Not a fan of him but he certainly delivered this Vuelta every time it mattered.Insanely strong today again and very close to add La Vuelta on his palmares.Very smart rider and pretty aggressive despite that some folks can't acknowledge it.Doing pointless attacks for the camera is surely not his thing.
 
Apr 16, 2009
17,600
6,854
28,180
Re: Re:

Miburo said:
Escarabajo said:
Miburo said:
First the motorbikes gave him a giro and now Contador gave him a vuelta :p
Good alliance with Contador.

Come on Miburo, give the little guy some credit.

I was joking of course, he deserves this vuelta, he's the best and rode like a champ.

Good now? :D
:)

..................
 
Mar 31, 2015
10,190
4,951
28,180
I take back what I said about him being too negative and conservative. Today he proved me very wrong, and I'm happy that he did. Well done to him for a well-deserved Vuelta win (barring accidents).

Interesting though isn't it, how Quintana when he's agressive wins GTs, but when he's conservative doesn't. Hopefully he'll race like this in the Tour too now.
 
Jun 10, 2010
19,894
2,254
25,680
I don't take it back: he's too negative and conservative.

There's simply no way he or anyone else couldn't take responsibility at some point when the perfect race situation was gifted to him. What was he going to do at Formigal, follow wheels while his biggest rivals were all behind? Come on. He did very well today, he had to be very attentive and have the legs to make the cut, but that's it.
 
May 11, 2013
13,995
5,289
28,180
Re:

Brullnux said:
I take back what I said about him being too negative and conservative. Today he proved me very wrong, and I'm happy that he did. Well done to him for a well-deserved Vuelta win (barring accidents).

Interesting though isn't it, how Quintana when he's agressive wins GTs, but when he's conservative doesn't. Hopefully he'll race like this in the Tour too now.
When Valverde will retire or will not start with him, I think, his influence is way too important for everything Movistar.
 
Mar 31, 2015
10,190
4,951
28,180
Re:

hrotha said:
I don't take it back: he's too negative and conservative.

There's simply no way he or anyone else couldn't take responsibility at some point when the perfect race situation was gifted to him. What was he going to do at Formigal, follow wheels while his biggest rivals were all behind? Come on. He did very well today, he had to be very attentive and have the legs to make the cut, but that's it.
He is still overall too negative and conservative, but he has shown in this Vuelta a more entertaining side, or at least a less tactically inept side.
 
May 9, 2014
5,230
108
17,680
Re:

hrotha said:
I don't take it back: he's too negative and conservative.

There's simply no way he or anyone else couldn't take responsibility at some point when the perfect race situation was gifted to him. What was he going to do at Formigal, follow wheels while his biggest rivals were all behind? Come on. He did very well today, he had to be very attentive and have the legs to make the cut, but that's it.

I'm just going to point out that he didn't initiate the move, and Movistar didn't do any work until they had a clear gap. From there, ofc they did very well, but today is not proof that Quintana isn't too conservative.

But anyway, like I said previously, credit where it's due, he has won this Vuelta today with a legendary ride
 
Nov 16, 2011
426
0
0
Pretty clear what happened to stoneface this year - his pre-Tour training was just a joke, while the Tour itself was his actual training. Not the way it was planned, but it's how it panned out. Hopefully he'll learn from this by training in Europe next year and enter real races to test against his competition rather than go beat up lesser riders and claim victory.
 
Nov 7, 2010
8,820
246
17,880
Re:

SeriousSam said:
There continues to be scant evidence Quintana is too conservative wrt his and his team's objectives
Indeed. He's one of the most attacking riders amongst GC contenders; just not suicidal in his race ambitions. This is the second time he has attacked nearly from the gun in the last three months.

He's a 26 year old who is on course to win his second GT. Most likely would have been three if he hadn't crashed out in 2014 Vuelta when in red. And he probably would have won a couple of Tours de France by now if it weren't for the incredible dominance of Froome and Sky. I struggle to see how being less conservative could have given him a better results up to now.
 
Mar 31, 2010
18,136
6
0
Re:

hrotha said:
I don't take it back: he's too negative and conservative.

There's simply no way he or anyone else couldn't take responsibility at some point when the perfect race situation was gifted to him. What was he going to do at Formigal, follow wheels while his biggest rivals were all behind? Come on. He did very well today, he had to be very attentive and have the legs to make the cut, but that's it.
cry-baby-of-the-year-1413326671767-crop_mobile_400.jpeg
 
Mar 31, 2010
18,136
6
0
Re:

SeriousSam said:
There continues to be scant evidence Quintana is too conservative wrt his and his team's objectives
weren't you the guy who claimed quintana could never drop contador? :eek:
 
May 3, 2010
4,487
4,563
21,180
Yesterday wasn't even his strongest day in this Vuelta. Lagos de Covadonga was his best performance, but yesterday gave him the extra time he needed before the time trial, mainly by strong team tactics and a collaboration with Tinkoff.

In the Tour something like this was impossible, because Rowe, Stannard and Thomas would have brought the group back in the flat sections. Quintana is also in a better shape. It looks very good for him now.
 
Apr 16, 2009
17,600
6,854
28,180
Re:

orangerider said:
Pretty clear what happened to stoneface this year - his pre-Tour training was just a joke, while the Tour itself was his actual training. Not the way it was planned, but it's how it panned out. Hopefully he'll learn from this by training in Europe next year and enter real races to test against his competition rather than go beat up lesser riders and claim victory.
I am not sure about this. He has done similar to previous years and done better. In fact he had a successful spring campaign which helped on his preparation. If his preparation was his problem he must have done something different while riding in Colombia.
 
Apr 15, 2013
954
0
0
Re: Re:

DFA123 said:
SeriousSam said:
There continues to be scant evidence Quintana is too conservative wrt his and his team's objectives
Indeed. He's one of the most attacking riders amongst GC contenders; just not suicidal in his race ambitions. This is the second time he has attacked nearly from the gun in the last three months.

He's a 26 year old who is on course to win his second GT. Most likely would have been three if he hadn't crashed out in 2014 Vuelta when in red. And he probably would have won a couple of Tours de France by now if it weren't for the incredible dominance of Froome and Sky. I struggle to see how being less conservative could have given him a better results up to now.

No he settled for 2nd in 2015... all other accusations of being too conservative are excessive, this year or in 2013 you can't accuse him of that, he did what he could with the legs he had. In 2015 he didn't try to wrestle the race away from Froome while he had several chances...
 
Aug 11, 2016
17
2
2,535
Re: Re:

veji11 said:
No he settled for 2nd in 2015... all other accusations of being too conservative are excessive, this year or in 2013 you can't accuse him of that, he did what he could with the legs he had. In 2015 he didn't try to wrestle the race away from Froome while he had several chances...

I don't think he settled, I really believe he wanted to attack more but couldn't due to team directives not to go too hard because to wanted to keep Valverde on the podium.
I thought Quintana hinted as much recently but i can't find the link, if somebody remembers it ...
 
Mar 13, 2015
2,637
0
0
Re: Re:

Amaru said:
veji11 said:
No he settled for 2nd in 2015... all other accusations of being too conservative are excessive, this year or in 2013 you can't accuse him of that, he did what he could with the legs he had. In 2015 he didn't try to wrestle the race away from Froome while he had several chances...

I don't think he settled, I really believe he wanted to attack more but couldn't due to team directives not to go too hard because to wanted to keep Valverde on the podium.
I thought Quintana hinted as much recently but i can't find the link, if somebody remembers it ...

Yeah, I remember. It's in a dreamworld :lol:
 
Aug 11, 2016
17
2
2,535
Re: Re:

Mr.White said:
Amaru said:
veji11 said:
No he settled for 2nd in 2015... all other accusations of being too conservative are excessive, this year or in 2013 you can't accuse him of that, he did what he could with the legs he had. In 2015 he didn't try to wrestle the race away from Froome while he had several chances...

I don't think he settled, I really believe he wanted to attack more but couldn't due to team directives not to go too hard because to wanted to keep Valverde on the podium.
I thought Quintana hinted as much recently but i can't find the link, if somebody remembers it ...

Yeah, I remember. It's in a dreamworld :lol:

I could definitively be mistaken, I could've swear I read something about that but I just can't find it.