Teams & Riders Nairo Quintana discussion thread

[dastott]

It really depends what sort of route the TdF serves up. If he gets another route like 2015 then he could beat Froome. Personally I thought that route was an aberration with its lack of TT kilometers but the ASO might try it again, especially given the Froome domination of this year's race. As for his reticence to attack, it is the opposite of Contador I guess. Everyone has their own style and making attacks that stick deserves respect too, not just the pointless ones that Contador and Valverde often deliver.

 

[Isaak-Gabriel]

Re: Re:

Half his body is already on the plane back to Colombia!

Yeah, thats what I thought... well deserved!

Not 100% sure, maybe WT ranking will push him 'til Lombardia...

 

[Red Rick]

Quintana won the Vuelta because he was very good for 3 weeks. Froome wasn't. Again. I still think that if you manage to push Froome for three weeks he'll show weakness eventually. And when he does, you have to take large chunks of time. Usually that's very hard in the Vuelta but it still happened this year. In the Tour you have more options to pull things usually, but the main would be Sky.

 

[pablopaul]

Re:

It really depends what sort of route the TdF serves up. If he gets another route like 2015 then he could beat Froome. Personally I thought that route was an aberration with its lack of TT kilometers but the ASO might try it again, especially given the Froome domination of this year's race.

I really hope we don't get another route like 2015. I understand of course that people want a route that will offer a close contest but 14km of ITT (basically an extended Prologue) is simply not enough for a Grand Tour. A bit of a joke really. Whether people like/hate Froome/Team Sky I don't think we should be penalising riders because they happen to be very good at both climbing mountains and riding against the clock.

 

[red zone]

A little late to the party but congrats on a tremendous victory , it was great to see him on form .

Also I have no idea why some are so obsessed with having large amounts of flat TT's just because that's how it was years ago . The purpose of building a route is so it can entertain people/grow the sport and not to appease a small minority of dies hard's who are stuck in the past .

-long flat tt's are boring
-200km sprinter stages where all the action is in the last couple of km's are mind numbing and no one watches

People want excitement and the mountain/pave/rollings hills stages have a much better chance at providing that . If you want a few flat sprinter stages then make them short (120km) and get the pain of watching it (or not) over with quickly .

 

[Mr.White]

Re: Re:

Now, thats probably also a discussion for another thread. Above all tho, I hope for more multi mountain stages on longer distances.

So, I assume he will go back to Colombia and celebrate. Any news? I'd very much like him to race Lombardia this year considering the route, but it has been a loooong season and it might be a lot better just to together with his family and rest now.

He still has a chance to end as no.1 in the UCI World Tour (as the first Colombian pro cyclist ever)if he collects some points in Lombardia.

Nairo can give the Colombian fans yet another reason to cheer.

This isn't tennis. Nobody cares about the world ranking. (Although I woud like to see him and other top climbers in Lombardia).

Well I remember certain Alberto Contador wanted to win it couple of years ago and rode Lombardia specially for that purpose, but Valverde denied him. It's not like tennis but it surely has certain prestige

 

[Pantani_lives]

I don't want to be premature, but I think the little Colombian might actually win this race.

 

[Amnes2015]

Re:

Quintana won the Vuelta because he was very good for 3 weeks. Froome wasn't. Again. I still think that if you manage to push Froome for three weeks he'll show weakness eventually. And when he does, you have to take large chunks of time. Usually that's very hard in the Vuelta but it still happened this year. In the Tour you have more options to pull things usually, but the main would be Sky.

not sure if this is serious

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Re: Re:

Movistar have the strength to match Sky in the Mountains but need to do a much better job of protecting Nairo on the vulnerable flat stages of the Tour where he uses up energy in the echelons and appears blunted on the following MTF. Hopefully the aging Valverde has two more good years left in him as well or that's another hole left for Movistar to fill.

That's what the Bennati signing is all about. Benna for placement, Erviti and Castro as engines, they need another traditional Abarcá style road engine and they'll be set. Lastras took Txente's job, but now he's retired and that role is Imanol's, they need somebody to be alongside to play the role José Iván Gutiérrez used to. Castro can probably do that; he's as strong as Guti ever was, but the road smarts are a hard thing to replicate. The loss of Plaza a couple of years ago also hurt. Amador is probably the closest to that kind of position but after his Giro antics the last couple of years probably wouldn't be best served peaking to domestique at the Tour.

They do have quite a few reasonable rouleurs though - if Adriano Malori can be back at the right kind of level post-injury he's an excellent hand to have to play, then there's Nelson Oliveira who was great in Flanders a couple of years back with Lampre. The Izagirre brothers also give strong options. And we know the team is more than capable of supporting its aim in the mountains, especially as Rubén Fernández and Marc Soler improve, along with Winner, Moreno and the Herradas.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Bennati should do wonders on echelons stages which have been the only missing point on this team. Most of the riders have the motors, they have many very good rouleurs, but pretty much only Erviti is accustomed to that kind of racing. Rojas, Erviti, Sutherland, Malori, Castro, Oliveira, Jesus Herrada (who is much more of a rouleur than climber, did a great job during the recent TdF), even the Izagirre's. Heck, even Dowsett, altho he shouldn't ride the Tour if there aren't 2 TTT's.

Re Libertine's post, Anacona and Moreno were pretty abysmal during the Tour; not that it mattered, admittedly, since Quintana also was bad. They have a lot good riders in the mountains - many of them are also very good rouleurs so they are extremely versatile - but ALL of them lack high-end level apart from Valverde. Ruben Fernandez finally showed how great he could be, but Sky have 5 domestiques better than him in the high mountains. At least. Anacona needs to step up, so does Ruben and Ion. Amador, as you mentioned, is set for the Giro and so he should. Jose Herrada is way past his prime.

They will have a great team at their disposal, only topped by Sky. But if Nairo is up for it, everything is possible.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I can't see there's too many climbers who could be adequately plugged into a high enough spot on the market though. Not that would be realistically able to sign and do that role (e.g. I can't see Urán doing it). Elissonde? Not exactly a super-domestique but could do a job. Trofimov? Zoidl? Similar, but much older. Fernández is on the rise and is better than them. Winner flunked the Tour this year, but he started the 2015 Tour badly too and was awesome in the final week of it. I expect them to keep him and him to be decent next season. Soler will be better next season as well. I won't mention Betancur, but obviously he's the elephant in the room.

 

[Isaak-Gabriel]

Imo the first week of 2015 TdF was more difficult than the 2016 one, plus Quintana is able to ride relatively fast on flat stages.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Nah, they don't exactly have a great track record signing super domestiques in the mountains either, altho I guess Gadret was decent in Tour 2014. I don't see them signing any, really, and I honestly don't think they necessarily need to if Ruben is improving a bit. Rosa could be an opportunity tho. They have plenty of opportunities, many very good riders, but obviously can't match the high-octane Sky super domestiques. Nobody can. And I don't think they need to in order to win - Nairo needs to be kept out of trouble and find something similar to his legs in the Alps 2015.

Soler will probably ride the Giro next year.. at least I hope so. He is an interesting prospect, but I don't expect him to suddenly turn into a world beater in the mountains in July. I was disappointed he didn't get the call instead of Herrada this Vuelta, but I guess his veteran presence and a dedicated water carrier was needed. Betancur shouldn't be in the plans, if he shows form similar to this year, bring him to the Giro and give him another chance, not the Tour.

 

[Rollthedice]

He'll get his TdF at some point to join the greats who won all three GTs. Grande Nairo and congrats.

 

[Põhja Konn]

Tour is now an obvious next target, but he really should try Giro-Tour sometime in the future. When Froome is no longer there, or at least no longer the force he is now, Nairo will at least have fighting chance, if the strenght he has shown this Vuelta is anything to go by. Worth a try at least.

 

[Keram]

Is he going to Lombardia?

 

[Moviestar]

Re: Re:

I don't think its a problem, but its something he has to consider for a while and I think he will after realising how he won the Vuelta. The whole approach going into the Tour - how to beat Froome? We know Sky will be much, much better in the Tour and this won't happen, but I think it might have opened his eyes to gain time unexpectedly and whenever you can.

The bottom line is: he beat Froome in a GT. Confidence wise, it's huge. At the TdF, he always looked spooked, tentative, if you take away the late Tour surges, when he was so far behind in the GC that Froome was keeping it vanilla and managing his lead.

For his mental, it's huge. True, he could have been more aggressive and dropped Froome in the final 4K. He didn't have to. He was easy, and his sprinting came across as a statement: "yep Dawg, I'm still fresh".

This could be a defining moment in his quest to slay the TdF-Froome-Dragon. Because that is the goal, or should be the goal. To cement your legacy, you have to beat the champ. I.e. McEnroe Wimbledon '81...or even Thevenet '75 for that matter. Gardner winning the gold versus a legend.

His greatest achievement thus far. Cheers Nairo Quintana.

Note: he can produce decent ITT, the key for me really comes down to matching Sky as a team.

Movistar have the strength to match Sky in the Mountains but need to do a much better job of protecting Nairo on the vulnerable flat stages of the Tour where he uses up energy in the echelons and appears blunted on the following MTF. Hopefully the aging Valverde has two more good years left in him as well or that's another hole left for Movistar to fill.

Regarding this year, you'll have to put some factors in perspective. Their grand roulers like Malori, Castroviejo weren't available due to injuries. Dowsett and Oliveira were also plagued with injuries and managed to recover just in time for the Tour.

The other ones like Rojas, Sutherland and Amador were already in support of Valverde in the Giro.

Remained only Erviti who had the task to look after Nairo on the flat, but Erviti wasn't very good as well during the Tour.

This year was just an exception, Movistar has proved in the past that they have capable men to look after Nairo on the flat.

 

[AlexNYC]

This win also puts Nairo at the top of the UCI World Tour ranking. A great season despite his very mediocre showing at the Tour.

 

[Singer01]

Looking at the podium pictures, you would never believe Chaves is actually older than Quintana, he looks like his son.

 

[gospina]

Re: Re:

Half his body is already on the plane back to Colombia!

Yeah, thats what I thought... well deserved!

Not 100% sure, maybe WT ranking will push him 'til Lombardia...

Currently at number #1 and Colombia #2. Nairo just announced that his season is over after the Vuelta.
I think Sagan is #2 even after the Canadian races. We will see who from Colombia is going to Lombardia. Chavez? Uran? Henao? Betancur (hehe)? I think Spain has it locked for #1. Purito is my hope for Lombardia. My head is saying that if Nibali is racing, he is the favorite.

 

[lenric]

I've got serious doubts about Nibali and Purito. They lack racing legs. Valverde, on the other hand, has over raced. But who knows, Valverde is uncommon.

 

[diego721]

Re: Re:

Half his body is already on the plane back to Colombia!

Yeah, thats what I thought... well deserved!

Not 100% sure, maybe WT ranking will push him 'til Lombardia...

Currently at number #1 and Colombia #2. Nairo just announced that his season is over after the Vuelta.
I think Sagan is #2 even after the Canadian races. We will see who from Colombia is going to Lombardia. Chavez? Uran? Henao? Betancur (hehe)? I think Spain has it locked for #1. Purito is my hope for Lombardia. My head is saying that if Nibali is racing, he is the favorite.

Chavez and Uran, probably. Maybe MAL supporting Nibali (And backup card)

 

[Escarabajo]

Like I said he was half way to Colombia. But he already arrived to Colombia. LOL. That was fast.

Having said that it looks like he is coming back to Europe soon. He says that the team needs UCI points in some races. So I am assuming is for Lombardia.

http://www.revistamundociclistico.com/ruta/21909-exclusiva-nairo-quintana-regresa-al-pais-hoy-martes-al-mediodia.html

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Well I remember certain Alberto Contador wanted to win it couple of years ago and rode Lombardia specially for that purpose, but Valverde denied him. It's not like tennis but it surely has certain prestige

I somehow feel the 2 million euros Oleg had promised him if he'd win the ranking had more to do with that decision

 

[Gigs_98]

I absolutely don't care about the UCI ranking but if it makes riders like Quintana and Contador ride Lombardia, I suddenly start to like it