Teams & Riders Vincenzo Nibali discussion thread

[Pippo_San]

More like one SUPER peak. While it's gonna give him fantastic results if the stars correctly align, I still find it's somehow a very risky bid for a rider to follow that kind of path. One accident and the season's gone.

 

[SafeBet]

Better than last year, but still underwhelming.

 

[jens_attacks]

col du soudet should be fun. can't wait!

 

[Velolover2]

He is starting to annoy be a little bit. Will certainly get his ass kicked in Romandie by Froome like last year.

 

[Velolover2]

With Quintana and Nibali missing their kick, Romandie is going to be a Froomefest. I'm seeing him winning by around a minute on Champex-Lac.

 

[classicomano]

Dont worry, just like last year he will suck all spring then somehow find superhumanmutantform in July after 2 weeks of altitude training.

 

[Carols]

Definitely underwhelming today Hoping he shows a little more in Romandie, but it's not looking optimistic

 

[SkyTears]

Don't worry, he saves the good stuff for July , like last year.

 

[Miburo]

Underwhelming how? It was obvious based on AGR and FW he wasn't good at all. Pay more attention.

 

[IndianCyclist]

Re:

Definitely underwhelming today Hoping he shows a little more in Romandie, but it's not looking optimistic

This is the rider dropped by Greipel. In one month he can't be the Nibali of the old no matter what comes out of his mouth.

 

[FCKAC]

Re:

Definitely underwhelming today Hoping he shows a little more in Romandie, but it's not looking optimistic

It is his preparation style in recent years. Everything worked for him so well last year, it would be stupid for him to change anything this year. You only change the preparation strategy when things don't work out.

 

[ILovecycling]

Re: Nibali discussion thread

I think (and theis is not sarcasm) he looked better than I thought he would.From what we saw early in the season he looks really good.Im surprised and imo he will be ready for Tour.(maybe Dauphine)

 

[SkyTears]

Re: Re:

Definitely underwhelming today Hoping he shows a little more in Romandie, but it's not looking optimistic

It is his preparation style in recent years. Everything worked for him so well last year, it would be stupid for him to change anything this year. You only change the preparation strategy when things don't work out.

let's assume that in 2014 Contador and Froome don't crash out and Nibali finish 3rd. One whole year for a TdF 3rd spot.

this strategy is stupid

on man has a limited amount of luck, there is no chance in hell he podiums this year TdF. let's see than how good this "strategy" is

 

[GuyIncognito]

Remember when Nibali didn't treat his training and form like Andy Schleck and people praised him for it?
Good times.

 

[ILovecycling]

Re: Re:

Definitely underwhelming today Hoping he shows a little more in Romandie, but it's not looking optimistic

It is his preparation style in recent years. Everything worked for him so well last year, it would be stupid for him to change anything this year. You only change the preparation strategy when things don't work out.

let's assume that in 2014 Contador and Froome don't crash out and Nibali finish 3rd. One whole year for a TdF 3rd spot.

this strategy is stupid

on man has a limited amount of luck, there is no chance in hell he podiums this year TdF. let's see than how good this "strategy" is

there is a good chance he will podium it, but that shouldnt be a target for this kind of rider.I really dont know what his goals are in coming years...

 

[Red Rick]

Think Nibali may start caring about other races when he's not reigning Tour champion anymore

 

[Jspear]

Re:

Think Nibali may start caring about other races when he's not reigning Tour champion anymore

Ya. I'm hoping that after he has lost the Tour (that is more likely than him winning) he'll do the Giro-Vuelta double next year. That'll force him to have some better form throughout the season.

 

[rhubroma]

I think Nibali is on target for another super peak at the Tour like last year, if all goes according to plan.

As far as his performance today, nobody has noticed that in the last crash, while he didn't go down, Nibali did have to pull up and put his foot on the ground. To get back to the front he spent a lot of energy, thus he was not able to attack well in the end.

At any rate, his goal is the Tour. Quintana finished over 10 minutes back I think, so the Sicilian can hardly be seen as putting in a bad performance. Certainly anything less than a win leaves room for doubt, however, last year should demonstrate that he has every chance at peaking in July.

 

[Jspear]

Re:

I think Nibali is on target for another super peak at the Tour like last year, if all goes according to plan.

As far as his performance today, nobody has noticed that in the last crash, while he didn't go down, Nibali did have to pull up and put his foot on the ground. To get back to the front he spent a lot of energy, thus he was not able to attack well in the end.

At any rate, his goal is the Tour. Quintana finished over 10 minutes back I think, so the Sicilian can hardly be seen as putting in a bad performance. Certainly anything less than a win leaves room for doubt, however, last year should demonstrate that he has every chance at peaking in July.

I don't think anyone is going to question the fact that he'll be in top form for July. He obviously knows how to peak properly. The question is will that be enough to beat AC, Froome, and Quintana. Is it worth it to build an entire season around one race that you aren't even guaranteed to win (I'd even say podium?) Of course only time will tell.

Good point about him spending energy today getting back into the main group.

 

[SeriousSam]

Also a far point mentioning that Quintana is absolutely nowhere. We admonish Nibali for doing Tour peaks when there are worse offenders. But of course, unlike the other Big 3, it seems Nibali could actually have success in hilly one day races if he took them seriously.

 

[qwer]

Re:

Also a far point mentioning that Quintana is absolutely nowhere. We admonish Nibali for doing Tour peaks when there are worse offenders. But of course, unlike the other Big 3, it seems Nibali could actually have success in hilly one day races if he took them seriously.

contador also demonstrate results in hilly classics (top 10 liege and 3 in fleche). the problem is that contador don't care about classics

 

[huge]

Everybody shooting at Nibali, despite him being the only one racing the classics.

Contador is nowhere to be seen.
Quintana? He entered... did he race as well?
Froome... we need to buy him stabilizers.
Nibali? AMR 65th... FV 20th... LBL 13th nothing memorable, but the sheer amount of criticism he is getting is totally unjustified, imo.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Nibali discussion thread

The ardennes are a risk, Contador recognizes his chances are far greater in a GT. Winning LBL doesn't make his season a good one, so he's better off riding stage races that are probably better preperation for the GT's anyway, not to mention that it's suicide trying to peak for ardennes + Giro + Tour

 

[The Hitch]

This year maybe, but in the past I think Contador could have fit Ardennes in (I mean other gt riders have, even in recent times), or in the years he did the Vuelta, he could have tried Lombardia or the worlds ( he entered them but spent all day smiling at the camera)

 

[arvc40]

Re: Nibali discussion thread

I doubt Nibali will win a race all year.