Teams & Riders Vincenzo Nibali discussion thread

[Electress]

Re: Re:

Just watched it again and Nibali isn't dropped per se, he just decides he has done enough for the day, I am sure he will be good in July

I'm with you after watching it again. It appeared he was in no real difficulty just pulled out of the line and went his own pace. Head scratching behavior IMO.

I agree with Boardman's comments that I think he was trying to look cool about it. It doesn't seem explicable to me in any other way. But I would also say that I didn't detect his being in trouble beforehand. The overall impression was that he didn't give a damn.

My stream doesn't have Boardman, some guy who is quite good but I don't know his name LOL. he is obviously British and very Sky biased, it gets tiring!

Boardman said something to the effect that Nibs was in trouble but didn't want to show it by acting cool???? He did look pretty darned cool about it. None of his 'tells' were there that I could see. He just 'spit the bit' as we say with horses .

Pretty much. His view was that Nibali must be reaching his limit and thus decided to ride within himself. i.e., he knew he couldn't do much more, so just quit before any more effort expended. The upshot was, that whatever Nibali's comments / appearance, he couldn't be happy with dropping out when there were more than 20 plus riders still around. And on the whole, I agree with Boardman, because although I hadn't though nibali looked in difficulty, I think it is a bit wishful thinking to imagine that he would would just stop trying without reason like that

 

[del1962]

I thought he looked like he was really blowing when he finished well down, he looks worse than last years Dauphinine

 

[Carols]

Re: Re:

Just watched it again and Nibali isn't dropped per se, he just decides he has done enough for the day, I am sure he will be good in July

I'm with you after watching it again. It appeared he was in no real difficulty just pulled out of the line and went his own pace. Head scratching behavior IMO.

I agree with Boardman's comments that I think he was trying to look cool about it. It doesn't seem explicable to me in any other way. But I would also say that I didn't detect his being in trouble beforehand. The overall impression was that he didn't give a damn.

My stream doesn't have Boardman, some guy who is quite good but I don't know his name LOL. he is obviously British and very Sky biased, it gets tiring!

Boardman said something to the effect that Nibs was in trouble but didn't want to show it by acting cool???? He did look pretty darned cool about it. None of his 'tells' were there that I could see. He just 'spit the bit' as we say with horses .

Pretty much. His view was that Nibali must be reaching his limit and thus decided to ride within himself. i.e., he knew he couldn't do much more, so just quit before any more effort expended. The upshot was, that whatever Nibali's comments / appearance, he couldn't be happy with dropping out when there were more than 20 plus riders still around. And on the whole, I agree with Boardman, because although I hadn't though nibali looked in difficulty, I think it is a bit wishful thinking to imagine that he would would just stop trying without reason like that

I suspect this is so, he removed himself before the 'tells' started to show......

 

[Taxus4a]

Good test today for Nibali, he is similar to last year, he didnt lose much time.

 

[Tonton]

Re: Nibali discussion thread

I think it's in his best interest not to show much. See the top-5 TdF thread: it's all Dawg, Bertie, Nairito. Again, he's seen as a second tier favorite. It served him well last year. If I were him, I would let the pundits, internet posters, the "experts" say how much I $uck. And wait for July. I may be wrong...but something tells me he's trying to fly under the radar.

 

[arvc40]

Re: Re:

I'd say if everything stick to plan, we'll see a monster Nibali in july.
Be afraid.

Nobody cares anymore, hes become a lame ass Armstrong rip off.

Nobody means you?
I, for one, do care.

And I want to see him destroy everyone again, and define his status as the best GT rider of his generation.

Lol.............

 

[rm7]

I seriosuly dislike Nibali more and more each race. He'll be in monster shape in July, no question about that. He's saving all the energy he can, where everybody else wants to win.

This guy isn't a big champ in my book, that's my opinion. Even Armstrong wanted to win the dauphine or show just a little bit!

 

[Jspear]

Re: Nibali discussion thread

I think it's in his best interest not to show much. See the top-5 TdF thread: it's all Dawg, Bertie, Nairito. Again, he's seen as a second tier favorite. It served him well last year. If I were him, I would let the pundits, internet posters, the "experts" say how much I $uck. And wait for July. I may be wrong...but something tells me he's trying to fly under the radar.

That seems like an odd tactic though. I'm not an expert so maybe someone can shed some light on this; Isn't it hard to simulate racing conditions during your training? Doesn't he need to be near the pointy end of the racing in the mountains to be properly prepared for the Tour. Dunno, just seems odd to pretend your worse than you actually are. I don't think his opponents would be tricked by something like this. They are going to prepare and be at their best regardless of what type of shape they think Nibbes has.

 

[thehook]

Just think that Nibs was riding to a power #. Or feel and he is using this race as training. Same as last year.
IMHO

 

[cellardoor]

My guess is that Nibali is riding for Scarponi and pulled off when he felt his work was done.

 

[Velolover2]

Re:

My guess is that Nibali is riding for Scarponi and pulled off when he felt his work was done.

On the penultimate climb, Scarponi was clearly working for Nibali. Hopefully, it will now be Nibali who is doing the domestique duties for Scarponi.

 

[cellardoor]

Re: Re:

My guess is that Nibali is riding for Scarponi and pulled off when he felt his work was done.

On the penultimate climb, Scarponi was clearly working for Nibali. Hopefully, it will now be Nibali who is doing the domestique duties for Scarponi.

Fair enough...I only saw it from the descent onwards, so didn't see that bit.

 

[Brullnux]

Re: Re:

My guess is that Nibali is riding for Scarponi and pulled off when he felt his work was done.

On the penultimate climb, Scarponi was clearly working for Nibali. Hopefully, it will now be Nibali who is doing the domestique duties for Scarponi.

I don't think he'd mind that much. If he is using it as a training ride, then acting as a domestique would make a more fruitful campaign.

 

[Velolover2]

Re: Re:

My guess is that Nibali is riding for Scarponi and pulled off when he felt his work was done.

On the penultimate climb, Scarponi was clearly working for Nibali. Hopefully, it will now be Nibali who is doing the domestique duties for Scarponi.

I don't think he'd mind that much. If he is using it as a training ride, then acting as a domestique would make a more fruitful campaign.

Yep. I honestly don't think he is going to reveal his true form before the Tour De France. He could be stronger than he looked on the climb. To me, it looked like he was having a easy ride.

 

[cellardoor]

It might sound a bit weird considering his less than impressive ride, but when they race this stage for real, I wonder if Nibali can pull a Bardet on that descent.

 

[SafeBet]

I read it as his saying Quintana hasn't shown him anything this year, which is odd considering Quintana won a major stage race in his country this year.

Absolutely not what he meant.


And yes, this approach is sad. Racing 20 days a year and treating every other race as a training ride.

 

[mihhint]

Looks like Nibali read this thread yesterday.

 

[Jagartrott]

Re:

I read it as his saying Quintana hasn't shown him anything this year, which is odd considering Quintana won a major stage race in his country this year.

And yes, this approach is sad. Racing 20 days a year and treating every other race as a training ride.

He's doing some nice training today.

 

[Netserk]

Nibali showing why we all love him so much when he is in race mode

 

[Miburo]

Re:

Nibali showing why we all love him so much when he is in race mode

Took him 11 months.

 

[SeriousSam]

Nibali did great today. His fans support what's best for Nibali anyway and were hence content with his Tour peak program, but this performance should soothe even those that want other riders to win the biggest race and Nibali merely to entertain them

 

[whittashau]

The amount of crap thrown at Nibs yesterday for not being entertaining is a little rich considering there isn't a GC rider in the peloton (with the possible exception of Contador) who has animated more stages and races than Vincenzo has over his career.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

The amount of crap thrown at Nibs yesterday for not being entertaining is a little rich considering there isn't a GC rider in the peleton (with the possible exception of Contador) who has animated more stages and races than Vincenzo has over his career.

That is exactly why there was so much crap thrown at Nibali.

 

[hrotha]

Yeah, seriously. I love Nibali and by all accounts he put on a great show today (I couldn't watch it myself), but that criticism is absolutely called for.

 

[Miburo]

Re:

The amount of crap thrown at Nibs yesterday for not being entertaining is a little rich considering there isn't a GC rider in the peloton (with the possible exception of Contador) who has animated more stages and races than Vincenzo has over his career.

Hence the criticism, jesus how hard is it to understand