Nibali vs. Rodriguez

[luckyboy]

Hoping Anton, probably Nibali though. Rodriguez will be 2nd or 3rd as usual.

 

[daveinzambia]

Over the last 27 months Joaquim Rodriguez has come 2nd in all 3 Ardennes classics, podiumed the worlds, and come top 10 in all the Grand Tours he has done ( Giro Tour and Vuelta). He has come top 5 in 2 of them.

AGR FW LBL Giro Tour Vuelta and Worlds.

These are the 7 pillars of our sport and in either the last or before last running of each of them, Purito has been a major player.

On the grandest level of our sport he has been a permanent fixture.

And he has never really gone fully at a gt before.

Until last year he worked for Valverde.

The 2010 Tour was his best chance but he did have a hectic schedule leading up to it, and messed up on some stages.

In the Vuelta it was amazing he did so well as everyone expected him to lose time from stage 1 on.

In the Giro this year he was ill.

Nevertheless he was an integral part of all 3 of these gts. Stage stage and 5th overall.

This is his big chance at the Vuelta. Nibali is great but there is still weakness. Puritos tt seems to have improved from the disaster that eliminated him last year. He is in much better shape and the course suits him.

More than it does Nibali.

On the last 2 occasions these 2 have met Nibali has come out on top, yes.

But on both occasions J Rod was in no shape to contest a grand Tour. And on both occasions he run the Shark surprisingly close, considering, under 4.30.

In the Giro, once Purito got back into some sort of form for the last stages we saw what he can produce, attacking on several stages including Macugana which casued Contador to defend Tiralongos lead, and putting a minute into everyone on Sestrieres. Nibali found that pace too hot.

The big worry for Rodriguez is that he might implode on just about any stage. Like he did at Andorra last year and then the tt.

But hes going in on top form with a team built around him and a course that suits him. Last year he only really wanted to wear the red for a few days.

Looking at his last 2 gts and the competition in front of him, Joaquim knows this one is there for the taking.

The stage is set, the sun is out, the man is ready.

This is Puritos time.

Read this post and am excited for the Vuelta all of a sudden. the steadiness of Nibali against the explosive / implosive Rodriguez. time to start racing.

 

[Midnite]

I wouldn't be surprised, but i think it will be very tough for him to end better than Nibali on the GC. If he can manage not to lose too much time on the TT though, he has a chance of winning the Vuelta, in my opinion. He is really strong this year and the Vuelta is one of his goals, so let's see.

 

[Parrulo]

Those other Spanish dudes just talk too much lol. Is that Delgado?

yup its usual tve 1 duo with perico and the other guy + contador + the moto guy that also does the vuelta.

btw talking a lot is a very latino thing while watching silently its much more northern european style. just look at the difference btw this guys+ portuguese guys+ italian guys and kelly and harmon or the sporza guys.

 

[gregrowlerson]

I don't see Rodriguez defeating Nibali and winning the Vuelta, but nice case making for him Hitch. The time bonuses could also help his cause, considering how many steep, hilly finishers there are.

Already looking forward to Hitch's preview write up of stage 15

 

[spanky wanderlust]

in the vuelta contenders article on this site the writer stated that j-rod's tt made the schleck bros look like hour contenders. what?!

i think that's a bit hyperbolic myself. his tt is not great but i doubt he would lose to andy over 45k. maybe frank, but not andy. you would have to over-emphasize his epic fail last year to take such a comment seriously, imho.

what do you guys think?

 

[spanky wanderlust]

i love j-rod. and, i always root for him. even though i know that he is really not a gt contender. he can win mountain stages and consistently top 10. but as a climber he is just not explosive enough to take the 4-5 minutes he will need to nibali.

my point is that if nibali is going to lose the vuelta to an incomplete rider, it won't be rodriguez.

 

[the asian]

I still doubt J-Rod's TT skills. He may have improved from last year as we saw in the Giro and Dauphine. But he will still lose at least 3 minutes to riders like Nibali. Another area of concern is whether he can climb well on the long climbs. He surely is one of the best in the short steep climbs, but always comes unstuck on at least one long climb. Last year it was on Andorra Araclis. The Angliru stage is very intersting. If J-Rod can survive it he might have a chance. However I'll be very happy if he can win the Vuelta, even though the chances seem very remote. A podium place is certainly realistic.

 

[El Pistolero]

yup its usual tve 1 duo with perico and the other guy + contador + the moto guy that also does the vuelta.

btw talking a lot is a very latino thing while watching silently its much more northern european style. just look at the difference btw this guys+ portuguese guys+ italian guys and kelly and harmon or the sporza guys.

Michel Wuyts talks all the time, but in the same time period the Spanish guys have said 3 times as much

De Cauwer is usually the more silent one, kinda like Contador, but talks a little bit more I suppose. Then there's also Andre Meganck, but you only hear him give information of the race radio on the back ground which the Sporza guys then say out loud

 

[TeoSheva]

I would eat my own socks and stop watching cycling forever if Scarponi won

I wanna see the video in three weeks

 

[Duartista]

in the vuelta contenders article on this site the writer stated that j-rod's tt made the schleck bros look like hour contenders. what?!

i think that's a bit hyperbolic myself. his tt is not great but i doubt he would lose to andy over 45k. maybe frank, but not andy. you would have to over-emphasize his epic fail last year to take such a comment seriously, imho.

what do you guys think?

There is no way Purito would beat Andy over 45km, with the latter in form. Andy loses 2-3 mins to the top guys, Rodriguez 4-5mins.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Over the last 27 months Joaquim Rodriguez has come 2nd in all 3 Ardennes classics, podiumed the worlds, and come top 10 in all the Grand Tours he has done ( Giro Tour and Vuelta). He has come top 5 in 2 of them.

AGR FW LBL Giro Tour Vuelta and Worlds.

These are the 7 pillars of our sport and in either the last or before last running of each of them, Purito has been a major player.

On the grandest level of our sport he has been a permanent fixture.

And he has never really gone fully at a gt before.

Until last year he worked for Valverde.

The 2010 Tour was his best chance but he did have a hectic schedule leading up to it, and messed up on some stages.

In the Vuelta it was amazing he did so well as everyone expected him to lose time from stage 1 on.

In the Giro this year he was ill.

Nevertheless he was an integral part of all 3 of these gts. Stage stage and 5th overall.

This is his big chance at the Vuelta. Nibali is great but there is still weakness. Puritos tt seems to have improved from the disaster that eliminated him last year. He is in much better shape and the course suits him.

More than it does Nibali.

On the last 2 occasions these 2 have met Nibali has come out on top, yes.

But on both occasions J Rod was in no shape to contest a grand Tour. And on both occasions he run the Shark surprisingly close, considering, under 4.30.

In the Giro, once Purito got back into some sort of form for the last stages we saw what he can produce, attacking on several stages including Macugana which casued Contador to defend Tiralongos lead, and putting a minute into everyone on Sestrieres. Nibali found that pace too hot.

The big worry for Rodriguez is that he might implode on just about any stage. Like he did at Andorra last year and then the tt.

But hes going in on top form with a team built around him and a course that suits him. Last year he only really wanted to wear the red for a few days.

Looking at his last 2 gts and the competition in front of him, Joaquim knows this one is there for the taking.

The stage is set, the sun is out, the man is ready.

This is Puritos time.

J Rod will lose 2-3 mins to Nibali in the ITT alone. Doesn't have a hope in hell. Even if J-Rod is on top form I don't see him doing that much damage to the other gc riders.

Have you transfered your man love from Sanchez to JRod?

 

[The Hitch]

Have you transfered your man love from Sanchez to JRod?

I like pro bike riders. Especially ones that go through so much pain for our sport.

You really need to degrade it every-time i show that appreciation for one rider or another?

in the vuelta contenders article on this site the writer stated that j-rod's tt made the schleck bros look like hour contenders. what?!

i think that's a bit hyperbolic myself. his tt is not great but i doubt he would lose to andy over 45k. maybe frank, but not andy. you would have to over-emphasize his epic fail last year to take such a comment seriously, imho.

J Rod is way worse than Andy Schleck in the tt.

Though in the Giro this year he lost 2.14 in a 32km time trial, miraculously significantly under his usual 1 min per 10km loss. Moreover to Nibali his loss was 56 seconds. So if he can put in a similar performance he can limit his losses to 1.30.

i love j-rod. and, i always root for him. even though i know that he is really not a gt contender. he can win mountain stages and consistently top 10. but as a climber he is just not explosive enough to take the 4-5 minutes he will need to nibali.

my point is that if nibali is going to lose the vuelta to an incomplete rider, it won't be rodriguez.

On the contrary, Rodriguez is one of the most explosive climbers around.

 

[auscyclefan94]

I like pro bike riders. Especially ones that go through so much pain for our sport.

You really need to degrade it every-time i show that appreciation for one rider or another?

How did I degrade you? Get a grip and stop being so melodramatic. I was just viewing my opinion that I don't think JRod has a chance. I haven't continually thrown my opinoin in your face about that.

 

[Angliru]

it is contador.


meh what is there to say? nibali is indeed a very smart and calculating rider. i disagree that he is a passive one but i am tired of showing examples of nibali being aggressive only for them to get ignored. so i will let lo squalo do the talking during this years vuelta so he can change some opinions.

Nibali is calculating when it serves him best and aggressive when that is the only option for success ala his efforts at Milan San Remo. I really like his style and his progression as a pro. He's quite the quick study in that he quickly recognizes errors that he has made and corrects them, an example being his going from immediately trying to chase down the attacks of Anton and Mosquera in last year's Vuelta to simply reeling them in at his own pace and/or simply limiting his losses without going into the red. To say he is passive is to completely ignore his most obvious attribute: his daredevil aggressiveness in going downhill.

 

[Angliru]

Purito is one of my fav's. Back when he was the super loyal super-domestique to Valverde, I always hoped he would one day get his chance to shine on his own and IMO he's definitely delivered the goods. Yes, he has his limitations and weaknesses but his aggressiveness and pure explosiveness on the steepest grades is second to none.

That said, I think with this parcours he has a definite chance of making the podium but versus Nibali, I'd give the edge to Vincenzo. Obviously Nibali is more the complete rider and also has the ability to dig deep/suffer with the best which will serve him well on climbs like the Angliru. Purito, with the help of Anton would have to really have to cause Nibali to blow up badly on one these climbs to have a chance and Nibali IMO has the smarts to avoid that.

 

[The Hitch]

How did I degrade you? Get a grip and stop being so melodramatic. I was just viewing my opinion that I don't think JRod has a chance. I haven't continually thrown my opinoin in your face about that.

I never said you degraded me. read the post. I accused you of degrading the concept.

I praise Rodriguez for his contribution to my sport, the first post in my 8000 on the forum in which i have appeared in anyway like a fan of Joaquim Rodriguez and you immediately call it "man love".

Just like the way you kept attacking me every time i hyped Samu during the Tour. Given your previous post history i do wonder if its because these riders are Spanish.

 

[Fetisoff]

I wanna see the video in three weeks

But you won't, cause Scarponi is not gonna win

 

[Midnightfright]

Nibali is calculating when it serves him best and aggressive when that is the only option for success ala his efforts at Milan San Remo. I really like his style and his progression as a pro. He's quite the quick study in that he quickly recognizes errors that he has made and corrects them, an example being his going from immediately trying to chase down the attacks of Anton and Mosquera in last year's Vuelta to simply reeling them in at his own pace and/or simply limiting his losses without going into the red. To say he is passive is to completely ignore his most obvious attribute: his daredevil aggressiveness in going downhill.

Excellent posr. Totally agree

 

[just some guy]

But you won't, cause Scarponi is not gonna win

I think he might

 

[auscyclefan94]

I never said you degraded me. read the post. I accused you of degrading the concept.

I praise Rodriguez for his contribution to my sport, the first post in my 8000 on the forum in which i have appeared in anyway like a fan of Joaquim Rodriguez and you immediately call it "man love".

Just like the way you kept attacking me every time i hyped Samu during the Tour. Given your previous post history i do wonder if its because these riders are Spanish.

Because you like others have bitten at me for my fanboy traits towards Cadel so I was giving some back. You were showing some man love with your elaborate post about JRod and with some of the language that you have used to describe Samu especially but now JRod I thought that man love was a fair description that was meant in jovial manner. Don't take things so seriously. Chill!

 

[Fetisoff]

I think he might

Well, I'll keep a pair of silk ones marinated then

 

[virandociclista]

I think that Purito will do better, wining some stages. The only way that shark can be better then purito is winning the GC

 

[The Hitch]

Because you like others have bitten at me for my fanboy traits towards Cadel so I was giving some back.

You should pay more attention to who your friends are.

I have always refrained from accusing you of being a fanboy and NEVER been one of the guys to make stupid comments like "ACF's keyboard is sticky" but on the contrary always praised your support of Cadel.

To me as a hardcore cycling fan the idea of people looking to cyclists rather than soccer players is something I welcome whole heartidly, not something i mock and on more than 1 occasion i have said that I enjoy ACF's support for Evans.

When people said its stupid to support a cycling team like BMC in an individual sport I said its brilliant to see ACF and dwlsonic support an entire team rather than just riders based on nationality like lots of cycling fans do.

Even if i made jokes here and there i urged you to create that thread about meeting Cadel for example, and was the most active participant there as I really do enjoy stories of fans meeting their favourite riders.

Even in this thread and in the Samu ones, it would have been so easy for me to respond to the claims of "fanboyism" by telling you to look in a mirror but i never did.

And now im being accused of saying things because you were to lazy to remember who actually said them

 

[canyonball]

Nibali is calculating when it serves him best and aggressive when that is the only option for success ala his efforts at Milan San Remo. I really like his style and his progression as a pro. He's quite the quick study in that he quickly recognizes errors that he has made and corrects them, an example being his going from immediately trying to chase down the attacks of Anton and Mosquera in last year's Vuelta to simply reeling them in at his own pace and/or simply limiting his losses without going into the red. To say he is passive is to completely ignore his most obvious attribute: his daredevil aggressiveness in going downhill.

Agreed, señor. There's nothing wrong with playing to your strenghts and weeknesses. Refusing to attack because it's safer or you don't have the cojones is a completetly different thing.