Teams & Riders Thibaut Pinot discussion thread

[Tonton]

I'd be lying if I stated that I'm not a little bit disappointed . Such small gaps: it was tempting to be greedy. But as I stated on the stage thread, it was fantasy-land to believe that he would resist to Tom, beat Nibali (who is better than him in ITT), or take 53 seconds back on Quintana.

Tibopino gave a lot for the past three days, maybe he paid the price today. The same goes for Zakarin. But it was a beautiful Giro, there are no regrets to be had. Il Grandissimo Tibopino demonstrated that he belongs to the very select group of top GC contenders. He can be proud. After two bad years GT-wise, it's great to see him back.

Bravo Thibaut! Et merci!

 

[Alexandre B.]

Time differences between Nibali and Pinot when both were contending for GC 'til the very end.

Tour de France 2012 -> 10'58"
Vuelta a España 2013 -> 8'04"
Tour de France 2014 -> 8'15"
Giro d'Italia 2017 -> 37"

 

[Ramira]

Re:

Time differences between Nibali and Pinot when both were contending for GC 'til the very end.

Tour de France 2012 -> 10'58"
Vuelta a España 2013 -> 8'04"
Tour de France 2014 -> 8'15"
Giro d'Italia 2017 -> 37"

It's clear Pinot is a lot better than he was in 2014. And Nibali doesn't seem quite as good as he was back then either.

 

[sir fly]

Very good Giro for Pinot.
He's on the right path.

 

[DBotero]

Decent Giro for him,too bad he missed the podium.With a little more consistency I'm convinced he can be a GT winner.Time is on his side.

 

[IndianCyclist]

His mistake was not training for the TTs and that really screwed him up. His coaching staff should have taken care of it
During the Giro he was a little bit more exuberant but he was the best sprinter out of the GC. Could have won a couple more stages as well as on the podium. But mentally he has overcome the TDF fails.

 

[Djoop]

Deleted post

 

[Rollthedice]

Re:

Time differences between Nibali and Pinot when both were contending for GC 'til the very end.

Tour de France 2012 -> 10'58"
Vuelta a España 2013 -> 8'04"
Tour de France 2014 -> 8'15"
Giro d'Italia 2017 -> 37"

I think he already said that this was his best GT performance wise, numbers included, better that 2014. Nibali declined a bit and Tibo improved, normal considering age, but a few percentages are huge at this level. The competition is fierce at the highest level in GTs but I still think and hope Tibo will get that podium someday.

 

[Alexandre B.]

I'm glad we can put this behind - for now: https://youtu.be/2JJN4kmPmBI

 

[Tonton]

Re:

I'm glad we can put this behind - for now: https://youtu.be/2JJN4kmPmBI

. I don't understand: what point are you trying to make?

 

[Alexandre B.]

Re: Re:

I'm glad we can put this behind - for now: https://youtu.be/2JJN4kmPmBI

. I don't understand: what point are you trying to make?

I'm just happy we can put last year's disillusion behind and move forward, building on this great Giro.

 

[Tonton]

Re: Re:

I'm glad we can put this behind - for now: https://youtu.be/2JJN4kmPmBI

. I don't understand: what point are you trying to make?

I'm just happy we can put last year's disillusion behind and move forward, building on this great Giro.

"For now". I can sense...skepticism?

 

[Alexandre B.]

Cautiousness

 

[May0maniac]

That was a very good overall preformance and the interesting thing is that he was also able to cope pretty well with the heat.

 

[Tonton]

What's it going to take? Seven straight TdF? Well, that's not going to happen .

 

[manolo57]

I hope Pinot will come back soon to the Giro, this race suits him particularly. Maybe next year, but it will not be easy with the sponsor...

Hurry up Gaudu, we need you on the Tour to let Thibaut go to the Giro

 

[carton]

Great ride by Pinot. Measured aggression by him. Lost his form a bit on the TT but that can be worked on. If he can keep minimizing his losses on his bad days he'll be a contender on every GT he starts.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Had Thibaut time trialled as people expected him to, he might have won. Then again he wouldn't have had leeway to basically gain 1 minute for free on Pontives.

I guess this makes for a nice result, but he shouldn't be going to the Vuelta expecting something similar to this.

 

[Tonton]

Re:

Had Thibaut time trialled as people expected him to, he might have won. Then again he wouldn't have had leeway to basically gain 1 minute for free on Pontives.

I guess this makes for a nice result, but he shouldn't be going to the Vuelta expecting something similar to this.

Very true.

For the Vuelta, unfortunately, it's wishful thinking on my part .

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

Had Thibaut time trialled as people expected him to, he might have won. Then again he wouldn't have had leeway to basically gain 1 minute for free on Pontives.

I guess this makes for a nice result, but he shouldn't be going to the Vuelta expecting something similar to this.

Very true.

For the Vuelta, unfortunately, it's wishful thinking on my part .

.. unless he has sorted his problem with heat. Cause its gonna be hot as fck. :lol:

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

I think with Pinot it might be a trade-off. If he TT's better, his climbing is more irregular and with serious off days.
With better climbing, his ITT seems worse.

I do not think Pinot can combine the two yet. Maybe next time. Needs more specific training for this

 

[Tonton]

TIBOPINO - GIRO 2017 RECAP

Thibaut himself stated his objectives: a podium and a stage. If he fell short of his first goal with a 4th place finish, Tibopino's time difference to the GC winner (1'17") is the smallest achieved by a French rider since Jalabert won the '95 Vuelta. Pinot did win a stage; and he did it with panache, defending, attacking, and ultimately dominating the opposition.

For pundits and casual fans, there were question-marks leading up to the Giro: despite big successes in one-week races, a podium in Lombardy, a brilliant ride at La Strade Bianche, was the '14 TdF a fluke? His podium (beating Valverde, TJVG, and Bardet) was overshadowed, in the minds of many, by the abandons of Froome, Quintana, and Contador. Was he a true GT contender? Could he be competitive for three weeks? Would he fold when the going gets tough? How about his descending skills?

The Good: Thibaut showed great fighting spirit, overcame adversity by limiting his losses when he had bad days, he refused to go away. Tibopino never gave up the fight. Overall he showed consistency over three weeks. He was very smart, timing perfectly his attacks. Add to this wonderful climbing and excellent sprinting.

The Bad: Pinot has not performed well against the clock. That's why he didn't get the podium. As Valv.Piti put it, the disaster on stage 16 enabled Thibaut to get some rope and he took advantage of it, regaining a minute on stage 18. But that was an obvious disappointment.

The Ugly: rest day management. At the Montefalco ITT, Reichenbach and Ludvigsson finished 94th and 98th. Tibopino lost 2'42" to Dumourain. On the Stelvio stage, only Pinot and Seb were within 30 minutes of the stage winner. That's a big time team failure.

As a conclusion, for me who began the Thibaut Pinot thread, fanboy and proud of it, it was a validation: what I knew all along, following Tibopino for years. I knew he had it in him, and he can do even better. It wasn't the greatest Pinot. But I won't bother with "what ifs". I'm very happy. A lot of knowledgeable members on this forum have given Il Grandissimo his props, including portugal11, and that's no small feat . Hats of to you portugal11: you're good sport.

This is only the beginning folks, Il Cappo di Tutti Coppi (like Fausto) hasn't even turned 27. Watch out.

More Rioja wine tonight. A reserva from Remirez de Ganuza...life is beautiful .

 

[lenric]

Just a small note: Quintana didn't abandon in 2014. He rode the Giro and the Vuelta (which he indeed abandoned).

 

[skippo12]

I understand that Pinot fans are hyped but they shouldn`t forget that the big 3 basically gifted a minute to him because they thought he wouldn`t be a threat. He also had the best helper in the high mountains and can be very thankful that Reichenbach was able to bring back some moves from Nibali and Quintana.
Nevertheless I was impressed with his recovery in the last week considering the fact that he seemed cooked on stage 16. The biggest take away for the future is that he can ride a grand tour without his usual inconsistency. He had some bad days but was able to limit his loses and with good legs he was able to challenge all opponents in the mountains.

 

[Tonton]

Re:

Just a small note: Quintana didn't abandon in 2014. He rode the Giro and the Vuelta (which he indeed abandoned).

True. My bad.