Teams & Riders Nairo Quintana discussion thread

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

I'm not a fan of him but in this year, quintana looks like 2013 contador (in gt's). He can't be declining with 27 years old... he is (way) worse than 2015 contador who also made the giro-tour attempt (specially in the tour)

Why did Movistar expect him to be better in his second GT ? The fatigue from the Giro has set in.

I guess because he was better in his second GT last year. It looks as though it was just coincidence though. Quintana's struggled with peaking for GTs all his career it seems. Either peaking too late or not peaking at all.

 

[portugal11]

He would have a chance against (this) froome if he had not done the giro

 

[Netserk]

Overrated.

He will never win the Tour.

 

[carton]

No one tries for the double: Soulless robots who only peak for one race.
Riders give it a go: idiots
The real fun is when the same people say both of those things.

He tried. He's failing. At least he's not giving up quite yet.

 

[46&twoWheels]

yep, I don't think it's just the Giro in his legs.

It's the basal level which is lower for me and consequently the ceiling too. Just an "off" year

 

[Red Rick]

Top form: not overrated, but very rare
Good form: Very high, at times mistaken for top form, good enough to win one week races or podium GTs
Base form: Decent enoughy, never seen or will see an autobus.

Riding the Tour was a mistake. In hindsight, this was Valverde's one shot at the Tour de France victory. Quintana's double is very disappointing.

I wonder how much this is affected by allegedly not peaking for the Giro, or his Giro crashes.

Seems similar to what Contador did in 2015, though both fields are deeper now.

 

[DFA123]

Re:

Top form: not overrated, but very rare
Good form: Very high, at times mistaken for top form, good enough to win one week races or podium GTs
Base form: Decent enoughy, never seen or will see an autobus.

Very good summary. I think the biggest problem is that he and Movistar don't seem to know how to control when and where he hits top form. It's a little poor that after five years they still haven't fully nailed how his body responds to training and racing stimilus.

 

[movingtarget]

Re:

yep, I don't think it's just the Giro in his legs.

It's the basal level which is lower for me and consequently the ceiling too. Just an "off" year

Yeah I think so, it definitely wasn't peak Quintana in the Giro but almost good enough to beat someone like Dumoulin, which also doesn't reflect very favourably on Nibali's performance in the Giro either.

 

[perico]

The more competitive a pure climber becomes on the flat and in TTs, the more spark they lose in the mountains. Happened to Lucho in 1988. Entered the mountains with a 3 minute deficit instead of usual 7-8 minutes, then was climbing Alpe d'huez in a group with Steve Bauer.

 

[Angliru]

The more competitive a pure climber becomes on the flat and in TTs, the more spark they lose in the mountains. Happened to Lucho in 1988. Entered the mountains with a 3 minute deficit instead of usual 7-8 minutes, then was climbing Alpe d'huez in a group with Steve Bauer.

Unzue or one of the Movistar directors did mention that he was doing training specific to improving his performance on flat terrain.

 

[Brullnux]

Re: Re:

I'm not a fan of him but in this year, quintana looks like 2013 contador (in gt's). He can't be declining with 27 years old... he is (way) worse than 2015 contador who also made the giro-tour attempt (specially in the tour)

Why did Movistar expect him to be better in his second GT ? The fatigue from the Giro has set in.

I guess because he was better in his second GT last year. It looks as though it was just coincidence though. Quintana's struggled with peaking for GTs all his career it seems. Either peaking too late or not peaking at all.

I've said a lot of times but I'm not sure whether Quintana was that much better in the Vuelta last year. He was comparatively a lot better, but that was because others were worse while he was at a similar level. Apart from Formigal and Covadonga he never seemed that good.

 

[Valv.Piti]

He put up a good fight. Me must not underestimate how hard it is for such a rider to be this much worse than usually and still fight. I expect some sort of an ambush tomorrow..

 

[DFA123]

Re:

He put up a good fight. Me must not underestimate how hard it is for such a rider to be this much worse than usually and still fight. I expect some sort of an ambush tomorrow..

Yes, he's certainly a fighter. And interesting to see how calculating he is, even when struggling. He didn't try to hang onto the front group until he cracked completely, but just drifted off the back (even though that must have been pretty embarrassing for him), and kind of limited his losses.

 

[Pentacycle]

Re:

I'm not a fan of him but in this year, quintana looks like 2013 contador (in gt's). He can't be declining with 27 years old... he is (way) worse than 2015 contador who also made the giro-tour attempt (specially in the tour)

Quintana has started in his fourth consecutive GT now, and he has contended successfully for the podium until this Tour. You've got guys like Adam Hansen who also do this but they can take their rest days during these three weeks. At some point he needs to take some rest period in his career, as he may well have the highest GT mileage of any 27 year old. With terrific results of course, but at this rate his body will start declining way too soon.

 

[perico]

Re: Re:

I'm not a fan of him but in this year, quintana looks like 2013 contador (in gt's). He can't be declining with 27 years old... he is (way) worse than 2015 contador who also made the giro-tour attempt (specially in the tour)

Why did Movistar expect him to be better in his second GT ? The fatigue from the Giro has set in.

I guess because he was better in his second GT last year. It looks as though it was just coincidence though. Quintana's struggled with peaking for GTs all his career it seems. Either peaking too late or not peaking at all.

Yeah maybe on a level field when everyone else also has a Tour in their legs (Froome) or keeps his appointments with the tarmac (Contador).

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

I'm not a fan of him but in this year, quintana looks like 2013 contador (in gt's). He can't be declining with 27 years old... he is (way) worse than 2015 contador who also made the giro-tour attempt (specially in the tour)

Why did Movistar expect him to be better in his second GT ? The fatigue from the Giro has set in.

I guess because he was better in his second GT last year. It looks as though it was just coincidence though. Quintana's struggled with peaking for GTs all his career it seems. Either peaking too late or not peaking at all.

I've said a lot of times but I'm not sure whether Quintana was that much better in the Vuelta last year. He was comparatively a lot better, but that was because others were worse while he was at a similar level. Apart from Formigal and Covadonga he never seemed that good.

I think he was comfortably the best climber throughout the Vuelta. It was only Froome who could get anywhere near him, and Froome was considerably weaker on the hardest climbs.

 

[Ikbengodniet]

I expect totally nothing of him anymore this tour. Last year he was bad at the tour, but at least he could follow wheels. Now he has the giro in his legs and he even couldn't do that anymore.

 

[Arnout]

Quintana's attacks are sorely missed...

 

[portugal11]

Re:

Top form: not overrated, but very rare
Good form: Very high, at times mistaken for top form, good enough to win one week races or podium GTs
Base form: Decent enoughy, never seen or will see an autobus.

Riding the Tour was a mistake. In hindsight, this was Valverde's one shot at the Tour de France victory. Quintana's double is very disappointing.

I wonder how much this is affected by allegedly not peaking for the Giro, or his Giro crashes.

Seems similar to what Contador did in 2015, though both fields are deeper now.

I don't agree with you... 2015 astana would have destroyed quintana

 

[portugal11]

Re: Re:

I'm not a fan of him but in this year, quintana looks like 2013 contador (in gt's). He can't be declining with 27 years old... he is (way) worse than 2015 contador who also made the giro-tour attempt (specially in the tour)

Quintana has started in his fourth consecutive GT now, and he has contended successfully for the podium until this Tour. You've got guys like Adam Hansen who also do this but they can take their rest days during these three weeks. At some point he needs to take some rest period in his career, as he may well have the highest GT mileage of any 27 year old. With terrific results of course, but at this rate his body will start declining way too soon.

I know but... 27 years old? I think he should leave movistar, he isn't improving at all (he is maybe regressing), maybe he needs fresh air, different trainers

 

[MovistarRider]

On the Giro/Tour double:

“This is the first time we’ve tried this ‘doblete,’ and it didn’t turn out as well as we had hoped,” Quintana said. “Sometimes you win the bet, and sometimes you lose, and this time we didn’t win. Another year we’ll do it better. We’ll prepare for the Tour like on other occasions, and we will arrive in better condition.”

On todays stage, what is left of TDF (And if he is gonna stage hunting):

“When I was dropped, I thought I was going to lose a lot of time,” he said. “In the end, I held on as best I could, and it wasn’t so bad at the finish.”

“Until I can regain some strength, we cannot plan anything,” Quintana said. “The truth is right now I am not in condition [to win a stage], but the Tour is long and you never know.”

 

[Finn84]

Giro/Tour double for GC rider is something worth of try, but probably not before rider has won the Tour. Quintana hasn't so it makes no sense.

 

[Eclipse]

“Until I can regain some strength, we cannot plan anything,” Quintana said. “The truth is right now I am not in condition [to win a stage], but the Tour is long and you never know.”

So unless it's just media bluffing there's no chance of seeing any attempt until the last big stages I guess.

Just interested whether he tries to limit losses or whether he fully tanks time so he can go in a break now

 

[RattaKuningas]

Yesterday and rest of the Tour he said that his legs felt good but has been dropped. Now he says that he can't do anything so I expect him to do something.

 

[RattaKuningas]

I knew it.