El Pistolero said:
Scarponi is one of the most underrated climbers on this forum.
Maybe, I think he is an excellent rider.
Not sure he really has it in the very tough long cols.
I find him similar to evans, disregarding the tt abilities. He has a lot of fight him also.
roundabout said:
He was floundering twice in the Giro this year on arguably the toughest stages.
His worst day in the Vuelta he won was on the toughest stage and about the only stage that was more than 1 climb.
He lost 2:18 of the 3:24 to Schleck on the single toughest stage in 2009
In 2010 Giro he benefited from the group behind looking around on the Aprica
He can finish on the podium but winning would require a very special course as evidenced by the apparent decision of the Liquigas management to start with Basso in the Giro as they fully well know that Basso is a better bet on that kind of route
Nibbles is certainly inconsistant. I do think he struggles with the gruelling long, unrelenting mountain stages.
To some extents I agree with DT and co. I do not believe he is the best climber, nor do I find him a great ttr. He seems like a jack of all trades, like cuddles but not as good. Looking at his various results, it is almost difficult to analyze his climbing abilities. That being said, for a rider of what I percieved his abilities were he has a remarkable career already. I find him to be an over achiever, whom really grinds out results and pushes himself. And with that in mind, it is impossible for myself to rule out a top 5 at the tour of even a potential a Podium. I do however doubt it, I believe the nature of the giro and vuelta, which is less controlled and more unpredictable benefits nibbles. The tour is tightly controlled, and makes it more difficult for a rider like nibali to succeed like he has done elsewhere (again I take 2009 tour comparisons with a pinch of salt).
Eshnar said:
Can we just agree that Nibali wasn't on form in the Vuelta this year? Just like Scarponi wasn't.
yes. I think the giro really screwed with rider's programs and fatigue.
Scarponi looked bad, nibbles wasn't himself, kruijswijk looked less good, Jrod struggled, Gadret etc really struggled at the tour.
Menchov may have been ok, but I think he was the exception rather then the norm and may have gone into the giro underraced.
Really what a saw this year, makes contador (with the crashes compiled) tour de france performance that much more remarkable.
Dekker_Tifosi said:
He could not beat Wiggins in 2009 TDF, he could still not beat Wiggins in 2011 Vuelta. So yeah,0 progression
It is too convinent to make simple comparisons like that. A lot more variables to it.
Ryo Hazuki said:
th 2009 tour wa sthe biggest joke of the decade. they softpedaled everywhere possible to get lance and or kloden on the podium and even wiggins was one of the best climbers there. hilarious. worse possibly even than 2008 with vandevelde
I do agree with this. I refuse to take any refrence into account with this race.
Dekker_Tifosi said:
No not comparable at all, because that was Jurgen VDB's first result, he was building up later.
Nibali has reached his peak in 2010 and will never improve on that, we already saw this year
I have to disagree. At times he looked stronger this year.
Zoncolan was an excellent effort, even more so when you consider that the numbers suggest it was ridden better then basso in 10' . Of course the giro 10' was unrelenting and riders barely got rest in the first 2 weeks. Crazy stuff.
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