• The Cycling News forum is looking to add some volunteer moderators with Red Rick's recent retirement. If you're interested in helping keep our discussions on track, send a direct message to @SHaines here on the forum, or use the Contact Us form to message the Community Team.

    In the meanwhile, please use the Report option if you see a post that doesn't fit within the forum rules.

    Thanks!

Teams & Riders Vincenzo Nibali discussion thread

Page 414 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
Re: Re:

Valv.Piti said:
LaFlorecita said:
Irondan said:
Nibs was 4:43 behind the leader in fourth place after stage 18 and won the race in stages 19 and 20. Unheard of in the modern peloton, and truly epic. Yet I read comment after comment of people trying to minimize that accomplishment.
Don't forget he was "only" 1:43 behind Chaves ;) still a very impressive feat
I think we all know what transpired. The impressive thing about Nibali was the desire and will to win, even tho it looked bleak, he basically eliminated Kruijswijk and then ate Chaves for breakfast.

Not really surprising tho that you and especially Dekker Tifosi still are trying to downplay the win

Valverde was eaten for breakfast, Chavez for lunch. Let's not forget that Bala had 1'23" on Nibs.
 
Re: Re:

Rollthedice said:
Valv.Piti said:
LaFlorecita said:
Irondan said:
Nibs was 4:43 behind the leader in fourth place after stage 18 and won the race in stages 19 and 20. Unheard of in the modern peloton, and truly epic. Yet I read comment after comment of people trying to minimize that accomplishment.
Don't forget he was "only" 1:43 behind Chaves ;) still a very impressive feat
I think we all know what transpired. The impressive thing about Nibali was the desire and will to win, even tho it looked bleak, he basically eliminated Kruijswijk and then ate Chaves for breakfast.

Not really surprising tho that you and especially Dekker Tifosi still are trying to downplay the win

Valverde was eaten for breakfast, Chavez for lunch. Let's not forget that Bala had 1'23" on Nibs.

Kruijswijk was eaten for breakfast, Valverde for lunch and Chaves for dinner.
 
Re: Re:

Irondan said:
King Boonen said:
spiritualride said:
King Boonen said:
Just bumping up the thread for the greatest GT rider of the current era. Hopefully he can add another this year and maybe a monument.

Other day I watched that 2014 TDF cobbles stage... incredible stuff. Does anyone know why everyone thought Nibali would perform poorly in that stage? Even at the end, the commentary and all the posters here were writing him off, saying he would lose minutes in the mountains to all the other GC contenders. But before the stage everyone thought he would perform badly on the cobbles... why?

People love to write off Nibali. He's won 4 GTs, top 3 in 4 others, won a Monument, top 3 in 2 others including MSR and a whole host of other results yet people still always say he's lucky, or he only won because someone else wasn't there.

For the cobbles I believe he came out and said he'd never ridden pavé before recon for the stage and as usual people wrote him off. What followed was one of the best performances you'll see from a GC rider in a very, very long time. Yes, Westra and Fuglsang were brilliant but 3rd on the stage, riding away from a group containing Cancellara and Sagan, sticking over 2 minutes on his rivals, chasing Boom on that last section. Epic stuff.
Not to mention the most epic 'come from behind' win in recent Grand Tour history in last years Giro. Sure Kruijswijk had to crash out for it to work but that's all part of riding the race. You have to finish!

Nibs was 4:43 behind the leader in fourth place after stage 18 and won the race in stages 19 and 20. Unheard of in the modern peloton, and truly epic. Yet I read comment after comment of people trying to minimize that accomplishment.

We'll never really know this. Yes, it had a massive influence on the race, no way you can argue it didn't, but we'll never know what Kruijswijk would have done had he not crashed. All we know is that Nibali put everyone in front of him to the sword on those last crucial stages and ground them all into the dust. But yes, people still try to minimise this what he did.

Valv.Piti said:
LaFlorecita said:
Irondan said:
Nibs was 4:43 behind the leader in fourth place after stage 18 and won the race in stages 19 and 20. Unheard of in the modern peloton, and truly epic. Yet I read comment after comment of people trying to minimize that accomplishment.
Don't forget he was "only" 1:43 behind Chaves ;) still a very impressive feat
I think we all know what transpired. The impressive thing about Nibali was the desire and will to win, even tho it looked bleak, he basically eliminated Kruijswijk and then ate Chaves for breakfast.

Not really surprising tho that you and especially Dekker Tifosi still are trying to downplay the win

I've always said about Nibali that he fully understands that you need to finish a race to win it. By that I mean he seems to make sure he has the constitution to survive rough days and come back, not get knocked out of a race because he has a cold or stomach flu etc.. He also knows that while climbing is a huge part of what a GC is about (even more so than the days of Hinault, Merckx, Indurain etc.) you can win a GT by being a threat everywhere. His performance on the pavé was miraculous, he descending is mercurial (I think Kruijswijk said he crashed because he couldn't follow Nibali?) and on his day he can hang with and crack the best climbers in the world. He's a threat in every race he lines up in. He seems to have supreme self belief and self confidence no matter what the parcours or the situation. That's why I think he's the best GT rider of the current generation, he's certainly the one I'll talk about to my children if they get into bike racing.
 
Re: Re:

King Boonen said:
Irondan said:
King Boonen said:
spiritualride said:
King Boonen said:
Just bumping up the thread for the greatest GT rider of the current era. Hopefully he can add another this year and maybe a monument.

Other day I watched that 2014 TDF cobbles stage... incredible stuff. Does anyone know why everyone thought Nibali would perform poorly in that stage? Even at the end, the commentary and all the posters here were writing him off, saying he would lose minutes in the mountains to all the other GC contenders. But before the stage everyone thought he would perform badly on the cobbles... why?

People love to write off Nibali. He's won 4 GTs, top 3 in 4 others, won a Monument, top 3 in 2 others including MSR and a whole host of other results yet people still always say he's lucky, or he only won because someone else wasn't there.

For the cobbles I believe he came out and said he'd never ridden pavé before recon for the stage and as usual people wrote him off. What followed was one of the best performances you'll see from a GC rider in a very, very long time. Yes, Westra and Fuglsang were brilliant but 3rd on the stage, riding away from a group containing Cancellara and Sagan, sticking over 2 minutes on his rivals, chasing Boom on that last section. Epic stuff.
Not to mention the most epic 'come from behind' win in recent Grand Tour history in last years Giro. Sure Kruijswijk had to crash out for it to work but that's all part of riding the race. You have to finish!

Nibs was 4:43 behind the leader in fourth place after stage 18 and won the race in stages 19 and 20. Unheard of in the modern peloton, and truly epic. Yet I read comment after comment of people trying to minimize that accomplishment.

We'll never really know this. Yes, it had a massive influence on the race, no way you can argue it didn't, but we'll never know what Kruijswijk would have done had he not crashed. All we know is that Nibali put everyone in front of him to the sword on those last crucial stages and ground them all into the dust. But yes, people still try to minimise this what he did.

Valv.Piti said:
LaFlorecita said:
Irondan said:
Nibs was 4:43 behind the leader in fourth place after stage 18 and won the race in stages 19 and 20. Unheard of in the modern peloton, and truly epic. Yet I read comment after comment of people trying to minimize that accomplishment.
Don't forget he was "only" 1:43 behind Chaves ;) still a very impressive feat
I think we all know what transpired. The impressive thing about Nibali was the desire and will to win, even tho it looked bleak, he basically eliminated Kruijswijk and then ate Chaves for breakfast.

Not really surprising tho that you and especially Dekker Tifosi still are trying to downplay the win

I've always said about Nibali that he fully understands that you need to finish a race to win it. By that I mean he seems to make sure he has the constitution to survive rough days and come back, not get knocked out of a race because he has a cold or stomach flu etc.. He also knows that while climbing is a huge part of what a GC is about (even more so than the days of Hinault, Merckx, Indurain etc.) you can win a GT by being a threat everywhere. His performance on the pavé was miraculous, he descending is mercurial (I think Kruijswijk said he crashed because he couldn't follow Nibali?) and on his day he can hang with and crack the best climbers in the world. He's a threat in every race he lines up in. He seems to have supreme self belief and self confidence no matter what the parcours or the situation. That's why I think he's the best GT rider of the current generation, he's certainly the one I'll talk about to my children if they get into bike racing.

Amen. The only guy in past 10-15 years, who can win almost any race (except flat sprint stages) in the sport.
 
Jul 16, 2010
17,455
5
0
Visit site
Re:

Forever The Best said:
But then again I never thought Nibali would hang onto Quintana on climbs in this years Giro so not that surprising when he is dropped in a Quintana attack. He needs to pull a rabbit out of his hat to win the Giro.
Quintana only won the Giro once because of cheating, so he needs a rabbit to win it.

In the Vuelta he won he only won because of Contador as well. The only reason he's riding the Giro is because he's incredibly afraid of Chris Froome.
 
Re: Re:

El Pistolero said:
Forever The Best said:
But then again I never thought Nibali would hang onto Quintana on climbs in this years Giro so not that surprising when he is dropped in a Quintana attack. He needs to pull a rabbit out of his hat to win the Giro.
Quintana only won the Giro once because of cheating, so he needs a rabbit to win it.

In the Vuelta he won he only won because of Contador as well. The only reason he's riding the Giro is because he's incredibly afraid of Chris Froome.
I think Froome would easily beat Quintana in this years Tour route so Quintana goes to Giro to come not empty handed.

And I can't see where Nibali can gain time on Quintana except the time trials. There is only one descent finish in Bormio but Bormio stage has this as penultimate climb:
StelvioS.gif


And this as the last climb:
UmbrailN.gif


And there is not a monstrous hilly stage or a Strade Bianche stage in this Giro and it has lots of MTFs so I don't see where Nibali can erase his losses on the MTFs. But Nibali beating Quintana and winning the Giro would be awesome :)
 
Jul 16, 2010
17,455
5
0
Visit site
Re: Re:

Forever The Best said:
El Pistolero said:
Forever The Best said:
But then again I never thought Nibali would hang onto Quintana on climbs in this years Giro so not that surprising when he is dropped in a Quintana attack. He needs to pull a rabbit out of his hat to win the Giro.
Quintana only won the Giro once because of cheating, so he needs a rabbit to win it.

In the Vuelta he won he only won because of Contador as well. The only reason he's riding the Giro is because he's incredibly afraid of Chris Froome.
I think Froome would easily beat Quintana in this years Tour route so Quintana goes to Giro to come not empty handed.

And I can't see where Nibali can gain time on Quintana except the time trials. There is only one descent finish in Bormio but Bormio stage has this as penultimate climb:
StelvioS.gif


And this as the last climb:
UmbrailN.gif


And there is not a monstrous hilly stage or a Strade Bianche stage in this Giro and it has lots of MTFs so I don't see where Nibali can erase his losses on the MTFs. But Nibali beating Quintana and winning the Giro would be awesome :)

Quintana could barely beat Uran in the year he won the Giro. And he sucks in time trials.
 
Jul 16, 2010
17,455
5
0
Visit site
Re:

Valv.Piti said:
Is this about Nibali or just trashing Quintana at much as possible Pisti?
Are we playing the 'if not for x he wouldn't have won-game'? If so, probably not the smartest place and time to play that card.

It's about Quintana being a big coward.

When Nibali cheated in the Vuelta he got rightfully disqualified, Quintana should have been disqualified in that Giro he won as well. He was pathetic that year. Would have gotten owned in last year's Vuelta as well if not for Contador. How someone can lose that much time in a time trial is beyond me.

At least Nibali was 2 minutes and 30 seconds ahead in the Tour 2014 before Contador crashed out.
 
Yes Quintana will definitely lose time to Nibali on TTs but I don't think it will be too much because I don't think Nibali will do a great TT like 2013 Giro-2014 Tour and I think Quintana will gain enough time in the mountains to win the race.

Lets say Quintana wil lose 2-2:30 mins in total of those TTs.
 
Feb 17, 2017
452
0
0
Visit site
Re: Re:

El Pistolero said:
Valv.Piti said:
Is this about Nibali or just trashing Quintana at much as possible Pisti?
Are we playing the 'if not for x he wouldn't have won-game'? If so, probably not the smartest place and time to play that card.

It's about Quintana being a big coward.

When Nibali cheated in the Vuelta he got rightfully disqualified, Quintana should have been disqualified in that Giro he won as well. He was pathetic that year. Would have gotten owned in last year's Vuelta as well if not for Contador. How someone can lose that much time in a time trial is beyond me.

At least Nibali was 2 minutes and 30 seconds ahead in the Tour 2014 before Contador crashed out.

I think Quintana is hedging his bets which is actually the smart option. He has to get extremely lucky to win the Tour with Froome there (as will Contador). But for the Giro he will be the clear favourite. He knows he can out climb anyone except Froome and a good Contador. I will personally support Nibali because he is a real racer (like Contador) but the reality is that Quintana is a shoe-in for the Giro win purely because he will be by far the best climber. He will still take on Froome at the Tour, its not like he is running away from him. He is just not putting all his eggs in one basket.
 
Re:

Forever The Best said:
Yes Quintana will definitely lose time to Nibali on TTs but I don't think it will be too much because I don't think Nibali will do a great TT like 2013 Giro-2014 Tour and I think Quintana will gain enough time in the mountains to win the race.

Lets say Quintana wil lose 2-2:30 mins in total of those TTs.
Agree if the weather is good. Historically the Giro weather is always Topsy turvy with snow and rain. Nibali is one of the best descenders with great technical skills. Quintana does not have those skills. He has been beaten in the descent by Froome and Contador. He could potentially drop Quintana on the descent and maybe Quintana would lose the race similar to 2016.
 
Re: Re:

IndianCyclist said:
Forever The Best said:
Yes Quintana will definitely lose time to Nibali on TTs but I don't think it will be too much because I don't think Nibali will do a great TT like 2013 Giro-2014 Tour and I think Quintana will gain enough time in the mountains to win the race.

Lets say Quintana wil lose 2-2:30 mins in total of those TTs.
Agree if the weather is good. Historically the Giro weather is always Topsy turvy with snow and rain. Nibali is one of the best descenders with great technical skills. Quintana does not have those skills. He has been beaten in the descent by Froome and Contador. He could potentially drop Quintana on the descent and maybe Quintana would lose the race similar to 2016.
Which descent?
The Bormio stage finishes with a descent but Nibali will probably get dropped in Umbrail so he will probably start the descent behind. And if he attacks on the descent of Stelvio and succeeds it will be a rabbit out of the hat since it would be a 80 km attack.
The Bergamo stage will be a breakaway winning with 20 riders arriving together.
He can attack on the descents of Passo Gardena and Passo Pinei though and surprise Quintana big time.
 
Re: Re:

SafeBet said:
King Boonen said:
Nibali to lead at Strade Bianche... Too much to hope for a good performance?!
He'd need his best shape to stay with the best and I don't think he's even close to top shape.

It was a little tongue in cheek, but with Nibali there is always hope he can pull something out of the bag. With the 100th Giro this year I'm guessing he'll be riding very cautiously though.
 

TRENDING THREADS