Teams & Riders Nairo Quintana discussion thread

[carton]

Surely, two flat and windy stages and then a third windy stage with only one climb at the end isn't good for Quintana but is that an excuse to get dropped by Mollema, Yates, Aru, Rodriguez, Bardet and Meintjes? I mean most of those guys also are pure climbers so why was only Quintana affected. I really hope it only was a day off, otherwise the tour might already be decided but at I at least don't expect him to be as strong in the Alps as he was last year.

Yep, he may not be as strong as last year. Sometimes preparation goes wrong. Also, needless attacks burn off a lot of energy, particularly against strong winds.

 

[Billie]

Quintana was worse than Valverde. Not good at all. Hope for him it's because of the wind.

 

[Carols]

Well the mystery of why he hasn't attacked is solved. Because he was weak. Okay a head wind and his being tiny worked against him today but he was dropped much to easily. Maybe it was just an off day. Hopefully he gets some good rest tonight and puts in a good ITT tomorrow, limiting any losses.

 

[SeriousSam]

Bad news for connoisseurs of bold attacking, today's events may have made Quintana a more conservative rider:

"To me and in hindsight, it seemed premature to attack from where I did: there were gusty headwinds, I got caught really soon and wasted some energy which I missed at the end. It was a very demanding day: plenty of wind all stage, lots of horsepower - we came into the final climb with little energy."

 

[hfer07]

Nairito just claimed he's "content" with today's results, despite the mess, the final splits, etc.

He better be so because it could have been worse had the incident not happened. I hope for the sake of the Tour & his own confidence tomorrow's ITT turns in his favor by losing seconds & not minutes - otherwise will be game over.

 

[LeoMontero]

I think that cycling fans are ansious about Quintana. They want Quintana to make everything, but Quintana`s strenght is third week.

First, we cant talk about Nairo 2013 and compare with actual Nairo. He was not taken as a GC, so Sky and the other teams let him make attacks and other things, that today they dont let him. He is always marked, as it should be, because que is a real threat right now. I think the same will happen to Yates the next years.

Now back to 2015, in LPSM Nairo lost 1:59 minutes in the first mountain, and by the 3rd week he was 3+ minutes away. Then he finish 1:12 back. My point is that he had already the "bad day", today, and lost only 19 seconds and is 54 seconds away. i know that tomorrow stage is very important and most probably he will loose time. I think that the sunday stage is good for him and he should attack on Colombier.

Also Nairo has a very good recovery, and is always the best in the third week. Since 2013, in all the GTs that he compete, he was the best, and this Tour has 2 MTF, 1 montaniuos ITT and another mountain stage that he already has won in 2012.

I think also that Froome is gonna fade in the third week, if not, he is a super human and he deserves the victory. But I trully think that one day Froome is gonna be not good, and Nairo will attack, if it will be enough, I dont know.

What i dont get, is why he attack today, he shouldnt. And i watch again the stage, Froome make one attack and he respond, and then attack again and couldnt respond. Its not bad, he is human to.

And men, the GTs last 3 weeks, Nibali won the last Giro in the last stage, so give Nairo a break. Anything can happen.

I hope he can recovery good, and tomorrow make a good ITT. and like i read above, if he is less than 2:30 at the end of tomorrow, he has a chance.

 

[cantpedal]

Re: Re:

Incredibly lucky. Undeserved

To be fair their all lucky that Contador crashed otherwice he woulda demolished em all in the mountains. But indeed Quintana even so more luckier now that Froome and also Porte which rode away from him crashed, however he needs to find his legs soon anyway or all the luck in the world aint gonne help him.

to be fair we don't know that ACs form was any better than Nairo's. Just as likely he was headed for another disappointing finish. this year looks like another Alberto would have crushed everyone but....he had killer form but.... his form in the tour since his return is like the Yeti always talked about but never seen when it counts. Your one big claim VS Froome was in a race neither of them had trained/planned for so stop with the 2014 Vuelta nonsense. Has he ever placed ahead of Nairo in the Tour??? The one race we know is the main goal in a season?

 

[This Charming Man]

Nario is showing his weakness, pity. He has become a non competitor,in this years tour.

 

[lenric]

Re:

I think that cycling fans are ansious about Quintana. They want Quintana to make everything, but Quintana`s strenght is third week.

First, we cant talk about Nairo 2013 and compare with actual Nairo. He was not taken as a GC, so Sky and the other teams let him make attacks and other things, that today they dont let him. He is always marked, as it should be, because que is a real threat right now. I think the same will happen to Yates the next years.

Now back to 2015, in LPSM Nairo lost 1:59 minutes in the first mountain, and by the 3rd week he was 3+ minutes away. Then he finish 1:12 back. My point is that he had already the "bad day", today, and lost only 19 seconds and is 54 seconds away. i know that tomorrow stage is very important and most probably he will loose time. I think that the sunday stage is good for him and he should attack on Colombier.

Also Nairo has a very good recovery, and is always the best in the third week. Since 2013, in all the GTs that he compete, he was the best, and this Tour has 2 MTF, 1 montaniuos ITT and another mountain stage that he already has won in 2012.

I think also that Froome is gonna fade in the third week, if not, he is a super human and he deserves the victory. But I trully think that one day Froome is gonna be not good, and Nairo will attack, if it will be enough, I dont know.

What i dont get, is why he attack today, he shouldnt. And i watch again the stage, Froome make one attack and he respond, and then attack again and couldnt respond. Its not bad, he is human to.

And men, the GTs last 3 weeks, Nibali won the last Giro in the last stage, so give Nairo a break. Anything can happen.

I hope he can recovery good, and tomorrow make a good ITT. and like i read above, if he is less than 2:30 at the end of tomorrow, he has a chance.

Wrong. Just because he was the strongest in the last week, it doesn't mean he was the strongest overall. Hence, Froome was better than him in 2013 and in 2015. And he still has been the best so far.

 

[IndianCyclist]

Quintana has probably the best talent since Pantani but his way of preparation is sadly not upto mark when it come to TDF

 

[lenric]

I doubt Quintana could beat Andy Schleck.

 

[Escarabajo]

For a guy his size it is very impressive what he does. Seriously. Historically very few small riders that have been Tour champions. There is a reason for it. Flat ITT, long flat stages, wind, etc.

So he is a very talented rider. But, having said that, I am convinced he will come back a drop these other riders that dropped him on Ventoux. He will probably be second again. But his personality and talent will make him come back hard. He won't just stand there. Not his nature. just you wait.

 

[Ataraxus]

Re:

I think that cycling fans are ansious about Quintana. They want Quintana to make everything, but Quintana`s strenght is third week.

First, we cant talk about Nairo 2013 and compare with actual Nairo. He was not taken as a GC, so Sky and the other teams let him make attacks and other things, that today they dont let him. He is always marked, as it should be, because que is a real threat right now. I think the same will happen to Yates the next years.

Now back to 2015, in LPSM Nairo lost 1:59 minutes in the first mountain, and by the 3rd week he was 3+ minutes away. Then he finish 1:12 back. My point is that he had already the "bad day", today, and lost only 19 seconds and is 54 seconds away. i know that tomorrow stage is very important and most probably he will loose time. I think that the sunday stage is good for him and he should attack on Colombier.

Also Nairo has a very good recovery, and is always the best in the third week. Since 2013, in all the GTs that he compete, he was the best, and this Tour has 2 MTF, 1 montaniuos ITT and another mountain stage that he already has won in 2012.

I think also that Froome is gonna fade in the third week, if not, he is a super human and he deserves the victory. But I trully think that one day Froome is gonna be not good, and Nairo will attack, if it will be enough, I dont know.

What i dont get, is why he attack today, he shouldnt. And i watch again the stage, Froome make one attack and he respond, and then attack again and couldnt respond. Its not bad, he is human to.

And men, the GTs last 3 weeks, Nibali won the last Giro in the last stage, so give Nairo a break. Anything can happen.

I hope he can recovery good, and tomorrow make a good ITT. and like i read above, if he is less than 2:30 at the end of tomorrow, he has a chance.

In PSM he lost 1 minute, not 1:59.
And he was tied to second best of the stage with Porte.
Yesterday he lost only 22 seconds but he was dropped by 10 contenders. If we speak about bad days, we shall be limited only to yeserday. In PSM Nairo was close to his best (a bit underpeaked maybe). It only happened that Froome was alien.

 

[Escarabajo]

Nario is showing his weakness, pity. He has become a non competitor,in this years tour.

So is he done?

So Mollema, Porte, Yates, Aru, Bardet and Company will be better than him in week #3?

 

[Escarabajo]

Quintana is a lot more complete rider than Herrera. Not sure where that is coming from. Herrera would be 10 minutes down by now.

 

[dacooley]

stratospheric hype and and excessive expectations is what the problem is all about. i'm far from thinking nairo follows social media really closely but echo of all that hype fail not to reach him. in last year's tour he gained about 45-50 seconds over froome in the mountain stages which suggests their climbing levels are very very close. however, quintana distancing ac on catalunya by 20 seconds then outsprinting zakarin in romandie lighted the fire of hype even more... Is that kind of perfomance that allows to proclaim the boy the strongest climber in the peloton? not quite, though, lots of people did it in all seriousness...

 

[Escarabajo]

Lately I've come to the conclusion that Quintana & Movistar together are approaching the Tour the wrong way, by relying heavily and exclusively on his climbing abilities alone while weighing all chances to succeed by striking back on the 3rd week. The sport has proved over and over again that aggressive riding in ALL terrains is what separates the true Champions from the pretenders i.e Hinault, -even Indurain - Contador, Nibali & now Froome.

Bottom line: If Quintana ever aspires to win Le Tour- he better upgrade his game

For a guy his size there is only so much he can do. A stronger team in the flats from Movistar would have helped. But he is limited at his size. IMHO.

 

[Escarabajo]

Re:

Yes his spring was incredible (maybe that is part of the problem), but lets not ignore his gt performances have actually been decreasing every year in GT's, I know he climbed alpe d'huez faster in 2015 than 2013 but different circumstances... He needs to take a look at himself in the mirror, ditch the passive style and grow some balls. His 26 ffs, he's been good since 20 all it takes is an injury like happened to Andy or a superpowerful rider to appear like happened to Ulrich and his career becomes a huge underachievement. I remeber in 2013 I was so impressed by him and his riding style I wonder if leadership and pressure has teken it's toll?
Any way I'm not a huge fan but I still want him to succeed, to many times super talents have underachieved leaving ourselves asking questions I don't want him to be another one.

Wait what?

Not sure how you came up to this conclusion.

 

[Escarabajo]

Re:

He is fu#ked. Tomorrow, tt will have strong crosswinds and headwinds

If that is the forecast then he is screwed!

 

[Escarabajo]

Re:

He is a great climber; so was Lucho Herrera, who never won the Tour even though he was far more agressive. Quintana really needs to step up his game, not by "preparing specifically for Froome's attacks" which wasn't really useful today. He needs a different mentality. Froome today crashed and would have ran the entire Ventoux up by foot if necessary to try keep his maillot jaune. Quintana needs to tell himself "I'm going to do whatever it takes to win this Tour", and do it.

Herrera never had a chance in the Tour. He was always very far back. He could only managed to get close once in 1986 and then boom! he faded away.

If you are usually very far back you can be more aggressive.

 

[DAF]

Quintana does not have the support of enough team members at present. In the wind where he is weakest the entire team must protect him. It has to be their number one priority if their ambition is to win the GC. Much of the time when it counts its just him and Valverde.

Froome on the other hand is almost never without 5 or 6 teammates. That said, Froome is an exceptional talent.

 

[malakassis]

i was surprised seeing nairo attak yesterday. he looked a bit tired / sick in the morning...so i think he was bluffing. of course the ITT today will cost him time. but there are still many mountains to come...so tranquillo. movistar can also go for team-GC.

now there are riders on the top who are known to crack hard in the third week (mollema,porte,TJ...). froome is impressive right now, but i dont think he can become a strong 3rd week- rider within a year.

then there is the 2nd restday. still many posibillities for acition and useful alliances (purito certainly wants a stagewin, aru always strong after 2nd restday,other riders very weak after restday).

 

[Ataraxus]

Re:

stratospheric hype and and excessive expectations is what the problem is all about. i'm far from thinking nairo follows social media really closely but echo of all that hype fail not to reach him. in last year's tour he gained about 45-50 seconds over froome in the mountain stages which suggests their climbing levels are very very close. however, quintana distancing ac on catalunya by 20 seconds then outsprinting zakarin in romandie lighted the fire of hype even more... Is that kind of perfomance that allows to proclaim the boy the strongest climber in the peloton? not quite, though, lots of people did it in all seriousness...

Very much agree.
But the hype for his Tour win contention hasn't come from outside and the social media only.
In San Luis Nairo was already talking about his third attempt in the Tour and (hopefully) that being the successful one.
Unzue has several interviews of saying that Nairo is more than ready to win the Tour.

http://cyclingtips.com/2016/01/quintana-this-year-is-my-third-tourits-the-one-i-hope-to-win/

http://velonews.competitor.com/2016/06/news/unzue-nairo-ready-win-tour_411333

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/quintana-its-time-for-a-change-of-dynasties-at-the-tour-de-france/

The whole Movistar team has put benzene to the hype fire, hence if he fails to succeed this year, the main responsibles for the shock will be him and his team undoubtedly.

 

[Valv.Piti]

And lets not forget #SueñoAmarillo. Movistar themselves has been hyping him to win the Tour the whole year. And guys, frankly, its far from over. It was a bad day in far from optimal conditions. Will you calm a bit.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

This is pretty damning
https://twitter.com/assekevin/status/753720450551836673

WTF is Nairo doing?