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Teams & Riders Vincenzo Nibali discussion thread

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webbie146 said:
Nah **** happens. Sometimes u fall twice in a week, sometimes twice in a year.. Very bad luck for Vincenzo :(

Let's be honest. He's been one of the luckiest riders in the peloton since the beginning of his career. How many times has he abandoned a race because of a crash? Sure his bike handling skills and positioning are superb, but there's a component of luck in bunch crashes like yesterday's one and he's rarely caught in one of them.

An unlucky end to the season, but these things happen to every rider in the world. And he escaped with no big health issues. Cheer up :)
 
Netserk said:
Unlucky moments for Nibali '11 - present (from memory):
Lombardia: crash
WCRR: crash
Vuelta: wasp sting
Giro: crash
Tour '12: minor injury in the end.
Vuelta '11: caught in bunch crash, minor injury.

Lombardia: bad luck
WCRR: haven't seen the crash but from what I know it was his fault.
Vuelta: ok.
Giro: his fault, no bad luck involved.
Tour: everybody has minor injuries.
Vuelta: yeah bad luck but no serious injuries and wasn't forced to leave the race.


You will agree there are plenty of more unlucky riders in the peloton.
 
Absolutely I was just trying to remember what has happened to Nibali.

I'd say his Tour injury was above the average minor injury, but in reality it didn't have an effect (other than perhaps for the OG).

The Vuelta injury didn't force him to leave, but it made sure that he couldn't win it.

And given that three Italians crashed at the same time, I doubt it was only Nibali's fault and not bad luck.


...But it's still nothing compared to all the bad luck Boonen has had over his career :eek:
 
May 19, 2011
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"It's great to be number one (in the Gran Gala classification). It's just a pity not to be number one in the UCI rankings even though everyone knows what I've won this year," Nibali told Gazetta dello Sport at the Gran Gala event.

"Perhaps the way the points are awarded is wrong and needs rethinking. To be honest it's not something I think about too much when I race. I prefer to race."

"The Giro is a great race but I'd like to focus on the Tour. I want to ride it to win it, for me and for everyone in Italy."

I like that!
 
May 19, 2011
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Nibali avoided choosing between the two but seemed to indicate that one of them will be part of his team for 2014.

"Scarponi is a great climber just like Basso, who I've got a special friendship with. Don't ask me to choose between them," he said.
 
maxmartin said:
"It's great to be number one (in the Gran Gala classification). It's just a pity not to be number one in the UCI rankings even though everyone knows what I've won this year," Nibali told Gazetta dello Sport at the Gran Gala event.

"Perhaps the way the points are awarded is wrong and needs rethinking. To be honest it's not something I think about too much when I race. I prefer to race."

"The Giro is a great race but I'd like to focus on the Tour. I want to ride it to win it, for me and for everyone in Italy."

I like that!

If he had won the Vuelta there would be no issue; number 1 all the way. I don't know if he is whining having been 1st and 2nd in GTs; I found it surprising that he only ended up 5th considering his palmares this year. But it is winning that garners most of the points....

Re: 2014 Tour--Il Squalo win it for yourself, all of Italy and Me :)
 
Carols said:
If he had won the Vuelta there would be no issue; number 1 all the way. I don't know if he is whining having been 1st and 2nd in GTs; I found it surprising that he only ended up 5th considering his palmares this year. But it is winning that garners most of the points....

Re: 2014 Tour--Il Squalo win it for yourself, all of Italy and Me :)
He's 134 points behind Purito, so a Vuelta win would *not* be enough.
 
Netserk said:
He's 134 points behind Purito, so a Vuelta win would *not* be enough.

That's the ridiculous World Tour for you: the winner of Tirreno Adriatico, Giro Del Trentino, Giro D'Italia, Vuelta a Espana that doesn't become the World #1.

Pathetic UCI better revive the good old CHALLENGE PERNOD, now that really was won by the most consistent and actually best rider.
 
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Pippo_San said:
That's the ridiculous World Tour for you: the winner of Tirreno Adriatico, Giro Del Trentino, Giro D'Italia, Vuelta a Espana that doesn't become the World #1.

Pathetic UCI better revive the good old CHALLENGE PERNOD, now that really was won by the most consistent and actually best rider.

Ah, now pappy Horner won't sleep tonight;)
 
Pippo_San said:
That's the ridiculous World Tour for you: the winner of Tirreno Adriatico, Giro Del Trentino, Giro D'Italia, Vuelta a Espana that doesn't become the World #1.

Pathetic UCI better revive the good old CHALLENGE PERNOD, now that really was won by the most consistent and actually best rider.

Well Nibali didn't win the Vuelta, though the old system did give a better indication of who performed the best throughout the year. The new system relates to modern cycling, which has become a global commercial enterprise and, as such, considers the relative economic interests over pure class.

It's a shame, but this too is globalization. In any case this is in Italian, but just scrole down the list of winners to bear witness to the fact that modern pro cycling has abandoned it's own soul. Yet these were champions who could win, or come close to winning, Paris-Roubaix, the Giro, the Tour and the Worlds in the same year. What versitality! All of this is over in the age of hyper-specialization, which has ended the romance in the sport.

http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Challenge_Pernod
 
Pippo_San said:
That's the ridiculous World Tour for you: the winner of Tirreno Adriatico, Giro Del Trentino, Giro D'Italia, Vuelta a Espana that doesn't become the World #1.

Pathetic UCI better revive the good old CHALLENGE PERNOD, now that really was won by the most consistent and actually best rider.

Nibali didn't win the Vuelta :) he lost to some random grandpa.

Also, the right question would have been the following: why is the winner of the Tour of Oman, Criterium International, Tour of Romandie, Criterium du Dauphine and Tour the France not the number one on the WT? (and 2nd in Tirreno named above).
Far more impressive list
 
Dekker_Tifosi said:
Nibali didn't win the Vuelta :) he lost to some random grandpa.

Also, the right question would have been the following: why is the winner of the Tour of Oman, Criterium International, Tour of Romandie, Criterium du Dauphine and Tour the France not the number one on the WT? (and 2nd in Tirreno named above).
Far more impressive list

Well not one good placing in the spring classics and after the Tour nada. Not very impressive.

Nibali can do well in them all: San Remo, Liege, the Worlds, all that's missing is the cobbles.
 
May 28, 2012
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rhubroma said:
Well not one good placing in the spring classics and after the Tour nada. Not very impressive.

Nibali can do well in them all: San Remo, Liege, the Worlds, all that's missing is the cobbles.

For next year, I can see Nibali smash the cobbles to take yellow after the first week. It's a shame that climbers(with good rouleur skills) never ride the RVV, over its last two editions the Eneco Tour showed they can make an impact. Contador, Bakelants, Kelderman, Weening, Ulissi all rode top 10 on the Muur.