Teams & Riders Vincenzo Nibali discussion thread

[Rollthedice]

Re:

Nibali was pretty freaking good on the stage to Risoul. Seemed like he went into the Giro massively underprepared. Hopefully he'll go for a better approach now.

The plan was to be on top of his game in the last week. Until then, with a few execeptions he was average. On top of that he made some tactical mistakes overestimating his form and attacking when he should've followed wheels. But he is Lo Squalo so riding defensively is out of the question even if he is way off form. Next year it has to be different, he already said that you have to be outstanding from the start. Hope Slongo will get it right.

On a side note, inviting Froome to come to Italy to ride the Giro was interesting.

 

[Jspear]

Re: Re:

Nibali was pretty freaking good on the stage to Risoul. Seemed like he went into the Giro massively underprepared. Hopefully he'll go for a better approach now.

The plan was to be on top of his game in the last week. Until then, with a few execeptions he was average. On top of that he made some tactical mistakes overestimating his form and attacking when he should've followed wheels. But he is Lo Squalo so riding defensively is out of the question even if he is way off form. Next year it has to be different, he already said that you have to be outstanding from the start. Hope Slongo will get it right.

On a side note, inviting Froome to come to Italy to ride the Giro was interesting.

Nibali probably honestly thinks he has more of a chance against Froome in the Giro.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

Nibali was pretty freaking good on the stage to Risoul. Seemed like he went into the Giro massively underprepared. Hopefully he'll go for a better approach now.

The plan was to be on top of his game in the last week. Until then, with a few execeptions he was average. On top of that he made some tactical mistakes overestimating his form and attacking when he should've followed wheels. But he is Lo Squalo so riding defensively is out of the question even if he is way off form. Next year it has to be different, he already said that you have to be outstanding from the start. Hope Slongo will get it right.

On a side note, inviting Froome to come to Italy to ride the Giro was interesting.

Maybe that was the plan, but I couldn't have been the plan to suck for 2 the first two weeks. I think the prep was messed up, and he was playing catchup the entire Giro.

 

[El Pistolero]

Re: Re:

Nibali was pretty freaking good on the stage to Risoul. Seemed like he went into the Giro massively underprepared. Hopefully he'll go for a better approach now.

The plan was to be on top of his game in the last week. Until then, with a few execeptions he was average. On top of that he made some tactical mistakes overestimating his form and attacking when he should've followed wheels. But he is Lo Squalo so riding defensively is out of the question even if he is way off form. Next year it has to be different, he already said that you have to be outstanding from the start. Hope Slongo will get it right.

On a side note, inviting Froome to come to Italy to ride the Giro was interesting.

Nibali probably honestly thinks he has more of a chance against Froome in the Giro.

I think Nibali knows Froome will never ride the Giro (at least not at this point in his career), so he's calling him out to make him look bad.

 

[hazaran]

Which is ridiculous, given he hasn't even confirmed his own title defense.

 

[staubsauger]

Neither has Aru confirmed his attendance. Simply pathetic by the two Italians!

In fact the only one who straight up confirmed his desire to win the anniversary Tour of Italy is Steven Kruijswijk!

 

[EroicaStradeBianche]

Re: Nibali discussion thread

They will participate no questions about it. Maybe one can doubt about Aru but Nibali will be there 100%. The race pass through his hometown, 100th Edition,... he doesn't need to confirm when everyone knows he'll be there. Also Aru will probably be there but this route plays against him, on paper the tour suits him more.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

Neither has Aru confirmed his attendance. Simply pathetic by the two Italians!

In fact the only one who straight up confirmed his desire to win the anniversary Tour of Italy is Steven Kruijswijk!

Agree, come on. This is the Il Centesimo, it starts in Sardinia, rolls through Sicilia, over Etna and into Messina... Aru v Nibali, just say it man.

 

[Red Rick]

Nibali just wants to goad Froome into making a statement, so he just knows early on how many voodoo dolls he's gonna need.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

Nibali just wants to goad Froome into making a statement, so he just knows early on how many voodoo dolls he's gonna need.

I like the fact that Nibali calls him out on it and I don't question the legitimacy of it actually, I think Nibali is the kind of rider who rises to the occasion, but I think he knows Froome won't do it anyways tho. However, that doesn't have anything to do with Nibali not confirming his attendance unless he for some reason will make life as difficult for Froome as possible and mirror his schedule and rain dance before every stage in every stage race.

 

[Red Rick]

Yeah, and that's why I think it's kind of an empty thing to call out Froome if he's super unlikely to ride anyway, though I don't really know what the exact phrasing was.

 

[Tonton]

Re:

Yeah, and that's why I think it's kind of an empty thing to call out Froome if he's super unlikely to ride anyway, though I don't really know what the exact phrasing was.

True, this is an empty call, but it plays to the crowd. And if he wins it and critics point that Dawg wasn't there, he can turn around and make a point: I challenged him. NIbali was hurt when the media buried him at the '15 Giro. His miracle didn't silence his critics that much, who saw Vino and The Clinic involved in the resurrection. Nibali is smart, he wants to control the rhetoric, set the stage. The question is: can he deliver?

 

[Rollthedice]

Re:

Yeah, and that's why I think it's kind of an empty thing to call out Froome if he's super unlikely to ride anyway, though I don't really know what the exact phrasing was.

He said something like this: "I think that for him, even if it is just once in his life he has to come and try the Giro, he will realize how much we love cycling here and how important Giro is. If he will come we will all be happy."

Now of course Froome did the Giro before, 2010 when Nibs finished third as a gregario for Basso while Froomey, well...

 

[Angliru]

I don't see any ill intent in what Nibali said. He's promoting his country's grand tour, a race that he and fans are passionate about and hopes that the best riders show up for the 100th edition. Everything he says is true. The fact that he hasn't yet committed to riding it is based on the fact that he's signed with a new team that likely has as part of their primary goal, having their marque rider representing their team in the sport's marque event, and preferably at full strength which wouldn't be possible with him riding the Giro. It's a complex scenario for Nibali. I personally can't see how he can't be torn knowing that his team, in its first year, expects him to compete for the Tour win, while he likely wants to be at his best at the 100th edition of the Giro. To add to the internal turmoil, he still hasn't performed in July at the level that brought him his lone Tour win and as such he has unfinished business in France.

 

[dacooley]

Re: Re:

Yeah, and that's why I think it's kind of an empty thing to call out Froome if he's super unlikely to ride anyway, though I don't really know what the exact phrasing was.

He said something like this: "I think that for him, even if it is just once in his life he has to come and try the Giro, he will realize how much we love cycling here and how important Giro is. If he will come we will all be happy."

Now of course Froome did the Giro before, 2010 when Nibs finished third as a gregario for Basso while Froomey, well...

as a co-leader, let put it straight basso helped nibali to get second too in that giro. nibs and basso helped out each other equally on the slopes of mortirolo and all the way down to aprica.

 

[Tonton]

Re:

I don't see any ill intent in what Nibali said. He's promoting his country's grand tour, a race that he and fans are passionate about and hopes that the best riders show up for the 100th edition. Everything he says is true. The fact that he hasn't yet committed to riding it is based on the fact that he's signed with a new team that likely has as part of their primary goal, having their marque rider representing their team in the sport's marque event, and preferably at full strength which wouldn't be possible with him riding the Giro. It's a complex scenario for Nibali. I personally can't see how he can't be torn knowing that his team, in its first year, expects him to compete for the Tour win, while he likely wants to be at his best at the 100th edition of the Giro. To add to the internal turmoil, he still hasn't performed in July at the level that brought him his lone Tour win and as such he has unfinished business in France.

Excellent post. And while I agree, I hope that racing the 100th Giro was a condition when discussing him joining his team. For a first year team, any GT win is great IMO. The centessimo makes this Giro very special in terms of exposure. The fact that he's calling Froome out tells me that he's pretty sure about his participation. I may be wrong, but that's how I read it.

 

[Rollthedice]

Bahrain is his team, he will ride whatever race he wants and he wants the Giro. No doubts.

 

[El Pistolero]

Oh, Nibali definitely needs this one in his collection.

 

[Nirvana]

Re:

Oh, Nibali definitely needs this one in his collection.

They changed the colour of the trophy?

 

[Red Rick]

Guess it's a one time thing. I don't like the color, but it is definitely special

 

[Nirvana]

Probably they want to resemble the pink but IMHO doesn't work, it's horrible.

 

[Gigs_98]

Re: Nibali discussion thread

I think it looks decent. Anyway, the Giro trophy is still miles better than the Tour/Vuelta trophies and it would look even better if Nibali's name would be on it three times

 

[Red Rick]

Obviously, it's still better than the Giro and the Tour's. I think it's actually the coolest trophy in sports.

 

[Sciocco]

Re:

Obviously, it's still better than the Giro and the Tour's. I think it's actually the coolest trophy in sports.

Second best for me. Stanley Cup is top.

 

[huge]

It seems Nibali and Aru are actually in quite good terms, despite of what the media keep saying.

Check this out. The two of them having fun on a MTB.
http://video.gazzetta.it/aru-nibali...aylistId=c56b8524-4dd9-11e3-9fdf-747749803d0b