Teams & Riders Vincenzo Nibali discussion thread

[ray j willings]

Re: Nibali discussion thread

Nibs was going to attack anyway ...he had riders setting up. No one could have gone with him.
He was the strongest today and a great win.
its a shame he was not in this shape at the beginning it would have been a different race.

 

[cineteq]

Re:

On the matter of his attack, here- https://video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video/624587786444742657/pu/vid/640x360/Cm4mX8jERMA85h9Y.webm

Watching this it looks at first like Nibali took advantage of Froomes mechanical, but Nibali's teammate seems to be blocking his view of Froome. So perhaps he just saw that Froome was drifting back and suddenly didn't have a clear line to chase him if he chose to attack. He may not have even seen Froome had a mechanical.

Furthermore, Nibali was no threat to Froomes GC (more a threat to Movistar), otherwise we would have seen Sky go to the front immediately when Froome was back in it.

And this is a bike race, it stops for nothing. No harm, no foul IMO.

Hi didn't take advantage of Froome per se. He aimed to win the stage, and take time on Valverde and Contador. Basta!

 

[SergeDeM]

Nibali is awesome. Great show.
Without the scorching heat in the first week he would've given Froome a real run for his money. Things don't always go as planned but this is true heart.
I hope we get to see his best at the Vuelta an next year's Tour.

 

[Simurgh]

Congrats to him, you could see his joy when he crossed the line! Hoping he can throw Valverde off the podium.

 

[IndianCyclist]

The shark bites today

 

[hfer07]

MI man Nibali always delivering the excitement & glory of this sport- Legendary ride by him and huge redemption for what has been a disastrous Tour. Well done Shark

 

[Red Rick]

*** yeah, Grande Vicenzo. Rode the entire climb faster than everyone but Froome and Quintana.

Where are the Canibali

 

[DBotero]

Re: Nibali discussion thread

Nibali in this shape from the start of the Tour would have been better from the GC battle perspective.Anyway amazing comeback,fully deserved win today.

 

[Brullnux]

Grande Vincenzo!!

 

[johnymax]

Thanks to Nibali this tour isn't a complete borefest. Thanks to him and Sagan. What a race today, what a rider. He was the one completely exploding the stage from the get go. Valverde really is a coward (I was defending him before, but what was that today!?), Contador a non factor, Quintana, what are you waiting for man? Froome congrats, you deserve the win.

 

[IndianCyclist]

This is exactly the reason why he is a member of the Fab4. So much talent that even after losing lot of time he has come back to 4th whereas last year's 2-5 are nowhere to be seen in the GC.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

He actually gained time on everyone bar Quintana and Froome on the final climb. Nothing short but amazing.

 

[slim charles]

Great ride. I know it will remain 'controversial' because of the Froome mechanical, but blah. I don't find that problematic since the situation is what it is and he's so much behind [tbh, I am annoyed by that rule in general, but that is just me, I know not everyone will agree].

Shame he didn't find his form earlier. I don't think he'll attack tomorrow, I think he'll be happy with this stage win. I hope he changes his program next season so we see more of him during the season, not just on Tour.

 

[ray j willings]

Of course he will attack...he's Nibs

 

[SergeDeM]

I do think he'll attack tomorrow. Today was great, his confidence just shot through the roof, and he has nothing to lose. If the attack goes well he's in the podium, which absolutely nobody expected one week ago, and if goes bad he's still top 5 or 10 or whatever, and with a stage win in the bag.

 

[bala v]

Great ride today, in style of the great champions of the past! He'll attack tomorrow from the first km

 

[Jagartrott]

Almost epic.
How many kilometers did he climb on his own?

Too bad he was out of form earlier on. We would've seen a real battle with someone who isn't afraid to loose (contrary to Quintana).

 

[fungusbear]

With that stage win do you think he will not go to the vuelta now?

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Almsot 50km alone or without much help. A champion effort.

Reminded me of Schleck a few years back.

 

[Miburo]

This is the nibali from 2014 but yea 10 days to late lol

 

[Cramps]

Re: Nibali discussion thread

My stance on attacking has always been to quote Sastre 'It's a race not a tea party'. But Nibs is one of my favs and this just isn't sitting well. I should be happy he is winning this stage. But I'm not, I had higher expectations of him. Granted Astana has always attacked on others problems. Vino must have warped Nibs sense of honor.......

I feel where you're coming from. One thing David Millar pointed out was that an attack of that kind , so much distance, so much mountain, isn't something you do on a whim. It was probably largely planned out. Seeing Froome struggle might have been the immediate trigger but the attack would have been launched soon anyway (probably!) Would the chase have been any different? Probably not but impossible to say for sure. Anyway I was thrilled by the heart and fire behind a fantastic long range attack like that!

 

[whittashau]

What did happen to Nibali this Tour? Very strong ITT. Strong on the cobbles, doesn't lose much time on the Mur de Huy. Then he gets crashed into and apparently can't follow big accelerations However, in the first big mountain stage he was climbing worse than Kangert.

 

[arvc40]

Re: Nibali discussion thread

Very impressed with Nibali today. Riding with pride and passion. Deserved result.

 

[Carols]

Re:

What did happen to Nibali this Tour? Very strong ITT. Strong on the cobbles, doesn't lose much time on the Mur de Huy. Then he gets crashed into and apparently can't follow big accelerations However, in the first big mountain stage he was climbing worse than Kangert.

I think you answered your own question. He looked strong until the crash, then was subpar and now is feeling better.

 

[whittashau]

So, Tony Martin destroyed the chances of us seeing a great TDF?


Anyway, I was just asking that question because I see everyone on the forum saying that Nibali came into the Tour with terrible form (and how it is such a shame etc), but I simply don't think that is the case.

Furthermore, Nibali himself said the crash wasn't a big deal at the time.