I have to agree, unfortunately. It's been years now that Quintana really looked like a threat in GTs... Last year his early form was stellar though. But at the TdF it sill didn't work out (I know he had a crash). Also think lower top 10 is what he can realistcally achieve.
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If he races carefully and follows the right wheels, Top 5 is quite possible, but I doubt it. I'd love to see him among the leaders for the whole 3 weeks, though.
He won't have a team, either, with Barguil stage hunting as usual.
Yeah, I agree as well, with the exception that I'm not too sure if Quintana actually was that much better last year than the last few years.
Why though? He could win multiple stages if he deliberately lost some time to get into the breaks. He doesn't stand a chance against the current best GC riders.
I agree. He and G. Martin, for example, could be an interesting polka dot battle. If not, those two are going to be among a large bunch fighting for places 8-15 on GC. Martin did that in the Vuelta -- abondoned GC hopes right away and went for KoM and won it.
In the Cofidis team announcement, Martin said he will chase stages, I think a few too many crashes ruined his prep so even a top 10 would be tough.
I seriously doubt Quintana cares about the Polka Dot enough to focus on it. Plus he won stages in 2018 and 2019 while being low top 10ish positions. He can do the same this year.
Well hello?
Not the kind of finish you'd typically expect to see him going on the offensive on and he still placed very well.
A green shoot of optimism?
Not the kind of finish you'd typically expect to see him going on the offensive on and he still placed very well.
A green shoot of optimism?
I’m just hoping he can figure prominently in one of mountain stages—even if he doesn’t manage to grab a stage win, it would be great to see him climbing with the best on summit finished
This may be one of those "90 percent of life is just showing up" tours so if he can avoid crashing he could ninja a podium or top 5...
idk in recent GTs he's been very good on hilly and crosswind stages but loses a lot of time to the top guys in the mountains.
All those years he found a way to lose time somewhere & now he survives this carnage without any significant losses and a head start on most. Shame there's a first week TT mind
He often handles the flat stages pretty well. If he can do reasonable TTs and stay out of trouble he might finish higher than expected. Haig has gone home, Porte and O'Connor have lost time among others so the possible top 10 has already had some shake ups. but with Quintana its always been about his best climbing form and we haven't seen that in a grand tour for quite a while now. The two TTs should help Uran and Kelderman but Kelderman often looks good until the critical stages in the final week.
His main issue the last few years has been his lack of recovery and his instability, though his top level does seem to have gotten worse this year as well. That said, he's doing great so far!
Yeah, agree with everything you say. But at the same time I hope thats somehow a chance for Nairo. Rarely did he have less pressure in the Tour and was flying more under the radar. And thats going well so far.
Yep - had to learn some harsh lessons there along the way but he did learn them and nowadays I'm rarely worried he's going to be caught out or caught up in stuff.
If he does a good TT on Thurs I'll get a bit optimistic that we might still see a strong GT from him.
Yes for sure. A Quintana renaissance would be quite the story.
Why today he loose time on purpose??? it was not necesary.
I hope he goes bananas tomorrow, win the polka dot jersey and the stage.
The funny thing is that Arkea let warguil, which is far behind in GC, with the peloton, and let Nairo loose time.
Really dont get it
I hope he goes bananas tomorrow, win the polka dot jersey and the stage.
The funny thing is that Arkea let warguil, which is far behind in GC, with the peloton, and let Nairo loose time.
Really dont get it
Couldn't watch today. Did Quintana really lose time on purpose? Cause that would make zero sense when he actually invested quite a bit of energy of always staying with the front group in the first week. And also the field of GC riders is already rather thinned out. So why not have Nairo go for it? But again, is this really what happened? Cause I also can see him just being weak unfortunately...
Personally I think it's most likely that he's got ill which has been a regular occurrence in his career.
His TT wasn't great but it certainly wasn't bad enough for me to think he wasn't trying, and if you're planning to tank time why not chill a bit more in a TT along the way?
We'll see tomorrow I guess, but if he has really thrown away a GC that was opening up for stage wins and polka dots I am very confused.
I can't see the plan being the Olympics and I doubt the team is even at the Vuelta?
His TT wasn't great but it certainly wasn't bad enough for me to think he wasn't trying, and if you're planning to tank time why not chill a bit more in a TT along the way?
We'll see tomorrow I guess, but if he has really thrown away a GC that was opening up for stage wins and polka dots I am very confused.
I can't see the plan being the Olympics and I doubt the team is even at the Vuelta?
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