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Teams & Riders Vincenzo Nibali discussion thread

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May 19, 2011
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Dazed and Confused said:
So who will be able to help Nibali on the cobbles in case sh!t happens? I could be missing something, but I'm not seeing a Stannard, Tosatto, Cancellara, Hoshovd, Langeveld or similar on the team. Could this be a problem?

I think people are exaggerating this stage a little too much, in the end most likely a boring and uneventful stage when everyone is on their toes.
 
maxmartin said:
I think people are exaggerating this stage a little too much, in the end most likely a boring and uneventful stage when everyone is on their toes.

Unlike guys such as Costa, TJVG, Talansky etc, Nibali goes into the race as a major player. Don't think he can afford to play with the odds on such a stage. Imagine +2mins on stage 5. Game over. Early.
 
Apr 10, 2011
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SafeBet said:
Maybe I missed this but has Maxim left Astana? He's a more than capable cobbles rider.

There's massive difference between doing well in RVV ( Maxim good results ) and PR ( none ).

Many climbers do well at Ronde, as shown by Eneco and Voeckler last year etc. Paris Roubaix is different kettle of fish.
 
Jun 25, 2013
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Nibali's odds for the overall win would have come down with the release of the TdF route. Sky will be disappointed with the route I would have thought
 
Jun 6, 2013
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Barring punchures I don't think the cobbles themselves are the biggest difficulty in this stage - it is the classics style racing, tactics and jostling for position they create that will be key.

In that respect I think classics and 1 day racing experience are as important if not more so that time on the actual cobbles. Nibs is a good one day racer and will have good support, I think he will fair better that most of the GC guys.
 
Vino attacks everyone said:
So, who else here besides me is expecting Nibalis steady improvment both in the mountians and in the tts to continue next year?

I, for one, hope he will. And I also think he will have to, if he wants to beat Froome at the Tour. If he doesn't improve I still think he'll podium, but not more than that. He needs to be better than ever.
 
May 19, 2011
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"The thing I like about Vincenzo is that he's a real racer. He's a fighter, he's aggressive and never gives up. He can transform a stage into a trap, he's creative and courageous."

"He always gives 100%. You can see his talented and has a modern way of racing. Just think what he can do on the difficult stages and there are a lot of them. On the pave where he's definitely better than Froome. I've seen him ride on the dirt roads at the Giro and then look how good he is on the bike on the descents when it rains."

Kudos to Dave Brailsford, but sill think he looks too much like Lord Voldemort.:eek: