Teams & Riders Vincenzo Nibali discussion thread

[Pentacycle]

Hitch - As I remember well, you believe and can back up your argument well about Lo Squalo being over-rated. There you go, you have your opinion, of course. But I am not so convinced because, I just cannot discount his two GT's based on the competition. There were elements, weather being one, that contributed to degree of difficulty and made the win memorable, at least subjectively, for many Nibali fans, like me.

Give us that much, will you?

Man of steel balls and passion - ever willing to try and make the race exciting - our Vincenzo Nibali.

You read too much into Hitch's comment, I don't remember he said Nibs was overrated. He didn't rate the rider, just his fans.

 

[pigoonse]

It was bad. Maybe for a week stage race it would have been good but for a gt it was the worst field since lord knows when.

^ Hitch on the competition in the Vuelta 2010.

@Pentacycle

Please also note that I put a winking face on my post above to Hitch, indicating that I was only giving him a nudge; not at all tweaked or reading anything in. All in good humor....k? I like Hitch's posts.

 

[Pentacycle]

^ Hitch on the competition in the Vuelta 2010.

@Pentacycle

Please also note that I put a winking face on my post above to Hitch, indicating that I was only giving him a nudge; not at all tweaked or reading anything in. All in good humor....k? I like Hitch's posts.

Most will agree with that statement about the '10 Vuelta. Peter Velits third, and a tired Nibali as the winner.

 

[pigoonse]

oops, moderator, please delete this post - I posted on the wrong thread. thanks.

 

[pigoonse]

Most will agree with that statement about the '10 Vuelta. Peter Velits third, and a tired Nibali as the winner.

I'd give you that. But some will not agree and the reasons disagreeing are subjective, i.e. how each person views the race, weighting the opinions, for or against an argument.

Both of Nibali's GT wins have distinct things in common, which to me, make him a first rate contender. The way he rode the race - his determination, passion, courage...

With or without Lo Squalo, I watch cycling. But if he is in a race, there is added flavor, so to speak.

 

[Rollthedice]

Nibali will ride Romandie! Interesting to see how he's doing against Froome (if he rides).

 

[Jspear]

I would love to see Nibali beat Froome. That would be big psychologically I think....Froome getting beat by two of his biggest rivals in his most recent races.

 

[ILovecycling]

Nibali will ride Romandie! Interesting to see how he's doing against Froome (if he rides).

Great,finaly an oponnent for Froome.

The downhill stage should be helluva fun lol

 

[Carols]

Good news! Except that Romandie isn't televised here so it will be icky streams

 

[ILovecycling]

Good news! Except that Romandie isn't televised here so it will be icky streams

al jazzera streams are usually pretty good in this race,so dont worry Carols

 

[Carols]

al jazzera streams are usually pretty good in this race,so dont worry Carols

Thanks, great news

 

[Rollthedice]

Great,finaly an oponnent for Froome.

The downhill stage should be helluva fun lol

Yes, but there's also a prologue and a TT.

 

[ILovecycling]

Yes, but there's also a prologue and a TT.

I know,imo Froome should win this,I just pointed out that stage 3 shouldnt be boring

 

[webvan]

Froome...doesn't look it's his year...the curse of the reigning TDF champ ?

 

[whittashau]

Nibbles looking average as hell. Perhaps this won't be his year.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Well. He tried. But Nibali looks as explosive as a bale of hay

 

[maxmartin]

Nibbles looking average as hell. Perhaps this won't be his year.

I though he looked pretty decent, for a guy who is aiming at Tour. When he had good result in the spring. most of the time he is racing for Giro. Just look at where Froom is. I bet Froom will be up and live when tour comes around

 

[Carols]

Nibali chasing form I fear! What happened to him in the finale? Did he just run out of gas or have a mechanical? Grainy feed and old eyes. It looked like he was slipping gears but my eyes are bad......

 

[Arredondo]

Really flawless. Just really flawless.

I can't see it right for the Tour.

 

[Jelantik]

I have said my suspicion again. Nibs is still chasing his form now. Remember Contador last year? he performed better than Nibali right now, comes TDF he got beaten by Purito who had lost almost 7+ minutes and Quintana who has been used by valverde as a chased rabbit on the first week. Dunno, maybe that's just how Nibali peaking look like for typical his TDF participation.

Compare to Giro 2013, he was really good starting out his season. We have a sensed he'll be a contender for sure. Now, dunno. He is tauted as Froome's biggest challenger, and he seemed to follow the path of TDF 2012. Sure he attacked a lot. But it's more like annoying attacks since sky easily crushed him. Nonetheless, he was still the 3rd strongest guy on the peloton that year. But if he wants to win TDF, he can't be "just" the x strongest guy on the peloton. He needs to be stronger even his 2013 Giro.

But I will hold my suspicion again until Dauphene TDF is still far away... things can happen. *I remember this hope for Contador last year too*

EDIT; is he going to romandie? or altitude till Dauphene?

 

[whittashau]

It's not just Nibali though. The whole of Astana have underpeformed this year. And they've typically raced with bad tactics.

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

It's not just Nibali though. The whole of Astana have underpeformed this year. And they've typically raced with bad tactics.

the giro team is going strong. The tour riders are really not there yet.

 

[Jelantik]

Fulgusang isn't bad, if he wasn't so indecisive in the last few races, he could have been up there. Scarponi, Aru and Landa were good at Trentino.

 

[ILovecycling]

I HATE jakob fuglsang!

He is so...no climber,no classic rider,no tt rider,no tactical sense and the worst no teammate!

 

[SafeBet]

I though he looked pretty decent, for a guy who is aiming at Tour. When he had good result in the spring. most of the time he is racing for Giro. Just look at where Froom is. I bet Froom will be up and live when tour comes around

He didn't look decent. He looked mediocre. He looked worse than Damiano Cunego and that's all you need to know.

Also this thing that you can't be in top shape now if your main target is TdF is just false. In 2012 he almost won this race while aiming at the Tour.

You guys need to face the truth cause it's really not that hard to see. Flawed winter preparation. I haven't seen him at this level in years. Maybe end of 2011 but that was due to fatigue. Now there's no fatigue involved, he's just plain bad.

So what to expect for the Tour? I'm hoping for the best but preparing for the worst (and by worst I mean an anonymous top10, I think we're at this point). Can he turn things around? I can't rule it out, but I won't be surprised if he'll still be struggling come July.