Teams & Riders Vincenzo Nibali discussion thread

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Lars Boom ill and on the verge of abandoning. Explains his poor TTT performance. Has brought little to this Tour except the low cortisol values. Will be the first and last time Nibali will be counting on Boom for the Tour

 

[sir fly]

Hopefully, his comparison with the last year's feelings is a bluff.

 

[damian13ster]

Re:

Lars Boom ill and on the verge of abandoning. Explains his poor TTT performance. Has brought little to this Tour except the low cortisol values. Will be the first and last time Nibali will be counting on Boom for the Tour

Doesn't low cortisol values indicate sickness? Might explain both poor performances and test result

 

[Rollthedice]

Re:

Lars Boom ill and on the verge of abandoning. Explains his poor TTT performance. Has brought little to this Tour except the low cortisol values. Will be the first and last time Nibali will be counting on Boom for the Tour

The whole team was incompetent. Cut that 1:28 lost in the crosswinds and he would have been the best placed from the other big three. Everybody would have a different perspective and Mur de Bretagne considered just a mishap. But of course stages like that are part of cycling and some might loose the race because of that. On top of that today the man himself has questions... for himself:

“I want to see if the real Nibali is around. More than anything, I want some answers for myself. I still haven’t felt as good as I did last year, I hope it happens starting from tomorrow (Tuesday). Will I attack? We’ll see…. If there’s a chance, why not?”

 

[DBotero]

Re: Nibali discussion thread

Nibali still looks quite confident to me,maybe tomorrow we are in for a surprise.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/nibali-ready-to-start-his-tour-de-france-fight-back-in-the-pyrenees

 

[Fernandez]

Well, I guess he can do what Landa and Aru did at Giro, from a stage to another they looked diferent guys...

 

[Jspear]

The thing at the Giro is that they had two gc guys. Potentially they could have used that to their advantage, wearing out AC more than they did. If Nibali had a stronger team and someone else who was a threat to the GC; no doubt he would be able to tactically use that to his advantage. It's a shame we haven't seen much from his team.

 

[ILovecycling]

Re:

Except for Mur de Bretagne he was good, better than all the other 3 in the ITT, came with Quintana at Huy, better than Contador, beast mode on the cobbles, dragging his weak team in the TTT yesterday. If tuesday he'll keep up with the rest since Froome seems to be in alien mode, there are chances he can bounce back in the following stages.

Yep, its kind of weird to write him off.As for me he was the 2nd or 3rd best favourite after that itt and cobbled stage, I dont see why a 10 second setback should have influence on my opinion, so for me Nibali is still there.
OTOH he has a big margin to cut off and like I said before the Tour, I think he is the worst climber of the B4, so he needs to go betserk classic-like, victory is still possible if he will RACE.

 

[SeriousSam]

Nibali referring to himself in the third person, that's not a translation mistake? I'm unsure how to interpret that. He might have crossed the Rubicon.

 

[Billie]

big part of the astana team has been sick de maeseneer says. they'll improve

 

[SafeBet]

Re:

Nibali referring to himself in the third person, that's not a translation mistake? I'm unsure how to interpret that. He might have crossed the Rubicon.

Haven't heard the original version, but I reckon it's not a translation mistake. That's a fairly common expression in italian.

 

[whittashau]

Re: Re:

The evidence is there, Nibali from the Giro wouldn't have been able to beat Horner at the Vuelta, that' s it. His average output was similar to Froome's and Nibali's Tour 14'.

Are you trying to say Horner from the Tour 2014 was stronger than at the Vuelta 13'? Like seriously, are you brainless?

No, at the following Tour De France after the Hautacam stage Horner suggested the Nibali he beat at the Vuelta was a few kgs heavier than the TDF version. Slongo said before that TDF that his weight was the same as it was at the previous season's Giro. So, he was carrying more weight at the Vuelta. Hence affecting his performance.

 

[Zam_Olyas]

Re:

Nibali referring to himself in the third person, that's not a translation mistake? I'm unsure how to interpret that. He might have crossed the Rubicon.

Not Rubicon its Alcantara.

 

[cellardoor]

Re: Re:

Lars Boom ill and on the verge of abandoning. Explains his poor TTT performance. Has brought little to this Tour except the low cortisol values. Will be the first and last time Nibali will be counting on Boom for the Tour

Doesn't low cortisol values indicate sickness? Might explain both poor performances and test result

Yes, this suggests the MPCC called it - that he was indeed sick - and should never have been at the race.

 

[whittashau]

Well, they couldn't replace him anyway. So Astana probably did the right thing

Anyway, Nibali clearly seemed to suggest that he hasn't felt as good as he did last year as of yet, despite many around here just claiming that he only looks bad because Froome and co are still in the race.

 

[Carols]

Re: Nibali discussion thread

He should get sick and go get ready for the Vuelta to save his season......

 

[whittashau]

Is he sick? It's clear given what Alien's performance that even at his best that he wouldn't have won today, but almost two minutes behind Valverde?

 

[whittashau]

Being brought in by Kangert and Birdsong

 

[S2Sturges]

Re:

Is he sick? It's clear given what Alien's performance that even at his best that he wouldn't have won today, but almost two minutes behind Valverde?

He looked pretty peaky... not good, betcha he's going to pack if he loses 3 minutes today...

 

[DBotero]

Re: Nibali discussion thread

Well i was wrong,he's done.Too bad,i had high hopes he'll be in the same condition as in 2014 and put on a fight

 

[Rollthedice]

Very bad form, he messed up the prep. Not that it would've matter much in this tour. Froomestrong is unbeatable by any mortal.

 

[Jspear]

At times it looked like he was riding in slow motion....he looked very sluggish. Anyone think he can recover to get a stage win at least?....

 

[sir fly]

He's way off the track he should've been on.
Vino will demand Vuelta.

 

[whittashau]

Birdsong in an interview said he felt that Nibali cracked mentally.

He might have a point. Simply put too much pressure on himself to perform at the Tour

 

[Jspear]

Re:

Birdsong in an interview said he felt that Nibali cracked mentally. Put too much pressure on himself to perform at the Tour

That would make sense. He really didn't even look to be trying very hard. At one point on the climb Fuglsang was motioning for Nibbes to get onto his back wheel so he could pace him....Nibbes wasn't very responsive or quick to get onto his back wheel.