Don't want to think about it.Laplaz said:Vincenzo, what are we going to do without you in a few years?![]()
Judging by what we saw yesterday he has a few more years in him so let's enjoy it while it lasts. Actually I think he was around TdF 2014 level in this Lombardia, could have won in any scenario. He was the marked man, no teammate in the decisive stages, everybody knew when and where he will attack and he still pulled it off. He managed to put Pinot in the red on the descent, powered away at over 50 Km/h on the flat and increased his gap on San Fermo. Capolavoro.Red Rick said:Don't want to think about it.Laplaz said:Vincenzo, what are we going to do without you in a few years?![]()
With all the Contador/Froome arguments on here I think Nibali has been really underrated. He's never talked as big as Contador with the whole "2nd place is not good", and he's never really attacked any climb that he hits, and he's really stopped contesting the smaller races (Cav approves), but he's up there in every race he targets, and he always animates it because he's can't rely on his sprint. He's won all the GTs, podiumed the three non-cobbled monuments, animated GT stages on the cobbles, top 5 in the Worlds and would-be top 3 in the Olympics were it not for risking all on a descent in an ultimate attempt to win.
He's the best all rounder in the world. Hands down.
Nibali seems to get a lot of super compensation from hard racing, and needs a lot of racing to get the engine going. Problem is you can't really go into a GT with too much fatigue, and if you're undercooked you have to go in the red consistently to not lose chunks, so magical 3rd weeks are always hard.Rollthedice said:Judging by what we saw yesterday he has a few more years in him so let's enjoy it while it lasts. Actually I think he was around TdF 2014 level in this Lombardia, could have won in any scenario. He was the marked man, no teammate in the decisive stages, everybody knew when and where he will attack and he still pulled it off. He managed to put Pinot in the red on the descent, powered away at over 50 Km/h on the flat and increased his gap on San Fermo. Capolavoro.Red Rick said:Don't want to think about it.Laplaz said:Vincenzo, what are we going to do without you in a few years?![]()
With all the Contador/Froome arguments on here I think Nibali has been really underrated. He's never talked as big as Contador with the whole "2nd place is not good", and he's never really attacked any climb that he hits, and he's really stopped contesting the smaller races (Cav approves), but he's up there in every race he targets, and he always animates it because he's can't rely on his sprint. He's won all the GTs, podiumed the three non-cobbled monuments, animated GT stages on the cobbles, top 5 in the Worlds and would-be top 3 in the Olympics were it not for risking all on a descent in an ultimate attempt to win.
He's the best all rounder in the world. Hands down.
I am a Nibali fan, and don't mean to take anything away from him, but I think he does have competition as an all-rounder in Valverde. And the two make for an interesting contrast as well. They have much different strengths, but are each remarkably reliable in races that they target. My contention has been that what distinguishes Nibali is that he makes the most of what he has more often than anyone else, a function of both intelligence and will, and I find that to be worth celebrating. But Valverde is also predictable in winning Flèche Wallon and Liege Bastogne Liege and similar races. He has done fairly well in GT's - not to Nibali's level, but I think their records nearly balance each other when you weigh Nibali's GT's against Valverde's Ardennes and one-days.Red Rick said:Don't want to think about it.Laplaz said:Vincenzo, what are we going to do without you in a few years?![]()
With all the Contador/Froome arguments on here I think Nibali has been really underrated. He's never talked as big as Contador with the whole "2nd place is not good", and he's never really attacked any climb that he hits, and he's really stopped contesting the smaller races (Cav approves), but he's up there in every race he targets, and he always animates it because he's can't rely on his sprint. He's won all the GTs, podiumed the three non-cobbled monuments, animated GT stages on the cobbles, top 5 in the Worlds and would-be top 3 in the Olympics were it not for risking all on a descent in an ultimate attempt to win.
He's the best all rounder in the world. Hands down.
Red Rick said:What a Champion.
Who was the last rider to win multiple Monuments and multiple Grand Tours?
Legend imo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtofVGtHmWUMaaaaaaaarten said:Definitely the greatest shark of all time. The shark from Jaws ain't got nothing on him. Heck, even if you'd put all of the sharks of Sharknado together, they couldn't reach Lo Squalo!
Calm downEl Pistolero said:The way he just destroyed Quintana, Uran, Pozzovivo and Pinot in the mountains was amazing to watch. Sure, Pinot got gapped on the descent, but he lost most of his time on the San Fermo.
This was the most spectacular climbing performance of the year. He'd have dropped anyone from 2017 with that form.
No need to. Did you see the pathetic Tour? Every mountain stage a group of 10+ riders finished together (exaggeration, but you get my point). Froome couldn't even drop guys like Meintjes at some point.rick james said:Calm downEl Pistolero said:The way he just destroyed Quintana, Uran, Pozzovivo and Pinot in the mountains was amazing to watch. Sure, Pinot got gapped on the descent, but he lost most of his time on the San Fermo.
This was the most spectacular climbing performance of the year. He'd have dropped anyone from 2017 with that form.
Calm down July fan, more to cycling than the tourEl Pistolero said:No need to. Did you see the pathetic Tour? Every mountain stage a group of 10+ riders finished together (exaggeration, but you get my point). Froome couldn't even drop guys like Meintjes at some point.rick james said:Calm downEl Pistolero said:The way he just destroyed Quintana, Uran, Pozzovivo and Pinot in the mountains was amazing to watch. Sure, Pinot got gapped on the descent, but he lost most of his time on the San Fermo.
This was the most spectacular climbing performance of the year. He'd have dropped anyone from 2017 with that form.
El Pistolero said:No need to. Did you see the pathetic Tour? Every mountain stage a group of 10+ riders finished together (exaggeration, but you get my point). Froome couldn't even drop guys like Meintjes at some point.rick james said:Calm downEl Pistolero said:The way he just destroyed Quintana, Uran, Pozzovivo and Pinot in the mountains was amazing to watch. Sure, Pinot got gapped on the descent, but he lost most of his time on the San Fermo.
This was the most spectacular climbing performance of the year. He'd have dropped anyone from 2017 with that form.
I guess you didn't watch the Giro then. Dumoulin on Oropa was incredible.El Pistolero said:No need to. Did you see the pathetic Tour? Every mountain stage a group of 10+ riders finished together (exaggeration, but you get my point). Froome couldn't even drop guys like Meintjes at some point.rick james said:Calm downEl Pistolero said:The way he just destroyed Quintana, Uran, Pozzovivo and Pinot in the mountains was amazing to watch. Sure, Pinot got gapped on the descent, but he lost most of his time on the San Fermo.
This was the most spectacular climbing performance of the year. He'd have dropped anyone from 2017 with that form.
Plenty better and solid performances. Nibali generally wins when the best competition doesn't participate/crash. Fact.El Pistolero said:The way he just destroyed Quintana, Uran, Pozzovivo and Pinot in the mountains was amazing to watch. Sure, Pinot got gapped on the descent, but he lost most of his time on the San Fermo.
This was the most spectacular climbing performance of the year. He'd have dropped anyone from 2017 with that form.