Teams & Riders Nairo Quintana discussion thread

[ontheroad]

It's one thing holding onto wheels which Quintana is normally brilliant at but its another completely to attack and accelerate away from the field. Quintana wasn't able to even to hold the wheels when Froome attacked to close down Aru. That tells me that Quintana is a busted flush.

 

[Eclipse]

Re: Re:

I'm not so sure he's done. Too soon to make clear judgments, keep calm boys

I so so so want to believe you but alas! Reality bites. Nairo is cooked.

How is losing just 14 sec on Froome and Porte cooked? It's too early to draw conclusions yet..

Time gaps weren't big in general really.

It's more that there were 8 other riders better than him that creates the worries.

 

[Moviestar]

Re: Re:

I'm not so sure he's done. Too soon to make clear judgments, keep calm boys

I so so so want to believe you but alas! Reality bites. Nairo is cooked.

How is losing just 14 sec on Froome and Porte cooked? It's too early to draw conclusions yet..

Because Quintana at his best would have easily stayed with those two the way they rode here, especially given that they were messing about for ages. He even had to get towed back to them by Contador at one point.

It might not be that he's cooked so to speak, he might be under-cooked. But either way, and even if he improves a bit, he looks too far away from top form to be close to challenging for the win.

But he isn't so it's a kind of expected performance especially after a heavy Giro. I expected him a bit worse to be honest.

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

I'm not so sure he's done. Too soon to make clear judgments, keep calm boys

I so so so want to believe you but alas! Reality bites. Nairo is cooked.

How is losing just 14 sec on Froome and Porte cooked? It's too early to draw conclusions yet..

Because Quintana at his best would have easily stayed with those two the way they rode here, especially given that they were messing about for ages. He even had to get towed back to them by Contador at one point.

It might not be that he's cooked so to speak, he might be under-cooked. But either way, and even if he improves a bit, he looks too far away from top form to be close to challenging for the win.

But he isn't so it's a kind of expected performance especially after a heavy Giro. I expected him a bit worse to be honest.

Clearly he's not. But I don't think it's too early to draw conclusions. I can't see how he goes from this form - getting destroyed by Aru, and also still getting dropped by a bunch of riders playing cat and mouse - to being able to take back big chunks of climb in a week or so. He's a fighter and may improve a bit and make the podium, but I think it's safe to say that he won't be very close to challenging for the win here.

 

[May0maniac]

Don't count him out, he could still bounce back and if he's in striking distance in the 3rd week...

 

[Escarabajo]

It is too soon to draw conclusions, but this is not good.

 

[yaco]

Unless Quintana does a good TDF, then the decision for him to.ride the Giro will be one of the biggest tactical blunders of 2017. Especially with Valverde injured who will feature at the Vuelta.

 

[Blanco]

Not good at all. Podium looks miles away, let alone win. I suppose Chambery stage will tell us more...

 

[Rollthedice]

Go home Nairo. What looked like a reasonable decision is slowly turning into a big mistake. With Valverde out, on their home soil in Vuelta, Movistar will be just hunting stages.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

Go home Nairo. What looked like a reasonable decision is slowly turning into a big mistake. With Valverde out, on their home soil in Vuelta, Movistar will be just hunting stages.

Its a little harsh to tell him to go home...

Anyways, pretty expected, a bit below par. But Im not really disappointed considering I really didn't have any expectations for him this Tour.

 

[Matteo.]

Re: Re:

I'm not so sure he's done. Too soon to make clear judgments, keep calm boys

Hi. Welcome to the forum. You're clearly unfamiliar with the lay of the land here, but that's not how we do business.

I tend to agree with you, but on this parcours this is a bit of a hit. Also, IMHO his performance today means he's likely not going to be in shape to try something until Peyresourde and that's if he can manage to hold on at Mont du Chat. So a moonshot on Foix starts being less of a plan D and more something that must be considered.

It does not seem to have offended anyone. I just invited people to stay calm while waiting for more meaningful tests.
Mont du chat is a climb that suits him, much more than today. We also do not forget that it is true that he has made the Giro, but it is also true that he has not competed for a month.
Last year he also struggled at the beginning of the Vuelta...

 

[carton]

Re: Re:

It does not seem to have offended anyone. I just invited people to stay calm while waiting for more meaningful tests.

My remark was tongue-in-cheek. And again, I'm with mostly with you; I just worry that this Tour will come down to seconds, so this might cost him, even if his form perks up. Or it might not. Vedremo.

 

[saneguy]

Re: Re:

I'm not so sure he's done. Too soon to make clear judgments, keep calm boys

I so so so want to believe you but alas! Reality bites. Nairo is cooked.

How is losing just 14 sec on Froome and Porte cooked? It's too early to draw conclusions yet..

Dont take it literally man. Point is he doesnt seem to be in a good shape. I know hes not competed for a month but I thought this was one stage where he could have at least held Froome's wheel and not get dropped so badly.

Anyways Sunday will help us close this discussion. I am hoping for the best but I dont see it happening. If Nairo crosses Mont Du Chat in Froome and Porte's company I'd have my hopes up. He will of course lose time in the decent but thats expected.

Edit - Just realized we may have our answers on Saturday itself. Lets see

 

[Põhja Konn]

Reminds me a bit the 2015 Vuelta. If he is able to avoid the health issues he had back then and improve as the Tour goes on, then podium is still a realistic target. Win, not so much.

 

[Escarabajo]

Re:

Go home Nairo. What looked like a reasonable decision is slowly turning into a big mistake. With Valverde out, on their home soil in Vuelta, Movistar will be just hunting stages.

So you want him to retire after 1 mountain stage?

 

[Escarabajo]

I just want to add that Quintana almost fooled me at one point where he looked like he was with his mouth shut like barely breathing hard. LOL.

 

[capuldemetal]

https://t.co/OK3oropyXr could be just pr ,but i'll give the guy a chance to redeem himself.i'm still beliving

 

[Escarabajo]

I knew that he suffers a lot in the heat. But this year I thought he was better prepared for it since he did his training in France before the Tour.

 

[MovistarRider]

It was to be expected that Nairo would lose some time today. 34 sec on Aru is maybe on the alot side but 14 sec to Porte and Froome really isn't that bad. What did people expect really? Mollema and Pinot, who also where at the Giro, lost 1:59 and 4:11 respectively.

It just isn't that easy to ride a hard fought Giro for 3 weeks and then to do the Tour with almost zero preparation and expected to not lose some time on the likes of Aru, Porte, Froome etc

Give the guy a break and a fair shot

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Re:

It was to be expected that Nairo would lose some time today. 34 sec on Aru is maybe on the alot side but 14 sec to Porte and Froome really isn't that bad. What did people expect really? Mollema and Pinot, who also where at the Giro, lost 1:59 and 4:11 respectively.

It just isn't that easy to ride a hard fought Giro for 3 weeks and then to do the Tour with almost zero preparation and expected to not lose some time on the likes of Aru, Porte, Froome etc

Give the guy a break and a fair shot

Two riders with different objectives are not fit for a comparison. But I agree that Quintana will probably be stronger in the 3rd week given his schedule. I expect him to be the best come the third week

 

[MovistarRider]

Re: Re:

It was to be expected that Nairo would lose some time today. 34 sec on Aru is maybe on the alot side but 14 sec to Porte and Froome really isn't that bad. What did people expect really? Mollema and Pinot, who also where at the Giro, lost 1:59 and 4:11 respectively.

It just isn't that easy to ride a hard fought Giro for 3 weeks and then to do the Tour with almost zero preparation and expected to not lose some time on the likes of Aru, Porte, Froome etc

Give the guy a break and a fair shot

Two riders with different objectives are not fit for a comparison. But I agree that Quintana will probably be stronger in the 3rd week given his schedule. I expect him to be the best come the third week

I know that Mollema and Pinot are riding with different objectives then Nairo, but still it shows how hard it is to do the Giro and TDF double. Some of the comments about his loss today to the front-runners doesn't show any objectivity.

If my memory serves me right Contador was far worse of at this stage of 2015 TDF, still he only get praise left and right while some people here can't let slip to slam Nairo at the first opportunity. Double standard.

 

[perico]

Re: Re:

It was to be expected that Nairo would lose some time today. 34 sec on Aru is maybe on the alot side but 14 sec to Porte and Froome really isn't that bad. What did people expect really? Mollema and Pinot, who also where at the Giro, lost 1:59 and 4:11 respectively.

It just isn't that easy to ride a hard fought Giro for 3 weeks and then to do the Tour with almost zero preparation and expected to not lose some time on the likes of Aru, Porte, Froome etc

Give the guy a break and a fair shot

Two riders with different objectives are not fit for a comparison. But I agree that Quintana will probably be stronger in the 3rd week given his schedule. I expect him to be the best come the third week

I know that Mollema and Pinot are riding with different objectives then Nairo, but still it shows how hard it is to do the Giro and TDF double. Some of the comments about his loss today to the front-runners doesn't show any objectivity.

If my memory serves me right Contador was far worse of at this stage of 2015 TDF, still he only get praise left and right while some people here can't let slip to slam Nairo at the first opportunity. Double standard.

Well, Contador actually won the Giro that year, while Nairo lost to a guy who had to take a dump.

 

[deValtos]

Irrespective of Quintana I was having a look at the result sheet and there were only 2 (!) other Movistar riders in the top 100, Betancur was 42nd and Castro was 59th.

They did put Quintana into position ok however and it could easily be the tactic that riders like Amador were told to take it easy since it wasn't a stage were team mates would provide a big benefit honestly. You'd have to hope that was the tactic anyways or else the team is looking in a bad way.

 

[perico]

Re:

Irrespective of Quintana I was having a look at the result sheet and there were only 2 (!) other Movistar riders in the top 100, Betancur was 42nd and Castro was 59th.

They did put Quintana into position ok however and it could easily be the tactic that riders like Amador were told to take it easy since it wasn't a stage were team mates would provide a big benefit honestly. You'd have to hope that was the tactic anyways or else the team is looking in a bad way.

I figured they wouldn't be so hot. This squad weren't really built for mountains without Valverde, and 1-2 Movistar riders were caught in that first crash yesterday.

 

[Blanco]

Re: Re:

Irrespective of Quintana I was having a look at the result sheet and there were only 2 (!) other Movistar riders in the top 100, Betancur was 42nd and Castro was 59th.

They did put Quintana into position ok however and it could easily be the tactic that riders like Amador were told to take it easy since it wasn't a stage were team mates would provide a big benefit honestly. You'd have to hope that was the tactic anyways or else the team is looking in a bad way.

I figured they wouldn't be so hot. This squad weren't really built for mountains without Valverde, and 1-2 Movistar riders were caught in that first crash yesterday.

No Movistar rider were caught in any crash yesterday! And yes, they're not looking good, including Quintana. Even TT showed that, no Movistar rider finished in the top 10. You could hardly find a ITT this year where no Movistar rider finished in the top 10.