Clearly he's purposely doing this, so that other riders think he's in 'weak but attacking' form and they'll let him have too much space at Liege, and he'll beat them all.
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Re: Re:
Pozzovivo still in the picture. FAKE SPRINTRollthedice said:Red Rick said:
And if everything fails there's still this:
I think he will try to take some serious time out of the other contenders on stage 9 of the tour. He is going too ride and preview the cobbled sections twice. How much time can he get on the other contenders ? We can atleast hope it will be dry this time.
Triggered. I've been perfecting me rain dance since the day the cobbled stage was announced.Serpentin said:
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We'll see how he does in Liege.
Possibly. But he's also attacking in Fleche, so it can't be terrible.Forever The Best said:
We'll see how he does in Liege.
Probably didn't eat a full meal this morning. I reckon he will be half a kilo heavier for Liège.
Re:
I wouldn't say he didn't hit his first peak of the season until after Liege. In the last years it's quite common for Nibs to come up with a strong performance when it's needed.
I don't think Ronde has anything to do with his shape. He was though 3 days off his bike after the nasty "foruncolo" from PV and he had to visit his osteopath because due to the lesion he changed his position on the bike with some consequences.
Forever The Best said:
I wouldn't say he didn't hit his first peak of the season until after Liege. In the last years it's quite common for Nibs to come up with a strong performance when it's needed.
I don't think Ronde has anything to do with his shape. He was though 3 days off his bike after the nasty "foruncolo" from PV and he had to visit his osteopath because due to the lesion he changed his position on the bike with some consequences.
Not only on stage 9. If it's windy, the first tour week will be a massacre. There's also stage 5, that fits somewhere in between AGR and LBL, and a final mur (400m @ 10%).Serpentin said:
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Just to check the proper length of an attack. Today from 45 km, Liege?
Jspear said:Red Rick said:
Today was just a training ride. He'll be ready.
Just to check the proper length of an attack. Today from 45 km, Liege?
Re: Re:
I don't think he will attack before Roche aux Faucons. Perhaps right on the climb or a little later.
Rollthedice said:Jspear said:Red Rick said:
Today was just a training ride. He'll be ready.
Just to check the proper length of an attack. Today from 45 km, Liege?
I don't think he will attack before Roche aux Faucons. Perhaps right on the climb or a little later.
It should also be noted that Nibali's main strength at this point of his career is stamina, and FW isn't a race that requires much of it.
Still, this was not the performance I was expecting after he made it in the break. He's an outsider for Liege, nothing more.
Still, this was not the performance I was expecting after he made it in the break. He's an outsider for Liege, nothing more.
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Not sure what to take about it, maybe he's ok, we'll see in LBL.
No comments, though he re-posted some instagram stuff https://www.instagram.com/p/BhuImUanAqp/Red Rick said:
Not sure what to take about it, maybe he's ok, we'll see in LBL.
No reaction yet by the man but Prudhomme was happy with Nibali's show, it made his race far more exciting. He used that nice word "chapeau".
True champion. Again, Il Squalo forced the issue, made a move, was the aggressor. It didn't work this time, but Nibali gave it a shot, unlike some self-proclaimed attackers who gave their throat to the butcher on MdH and get away with a handful of PCS points, a tip. A small fish this shark is not. I don't understand the post dismissing Vincenzo as one of the favorites for LBL. He's one of the favorites of every race he enters, GTs and one-day affairs.
If he wants to put on minutes he needs rain, I don't think there will be big gaps in case of a dry race because a lot of teams won't attack to limit the losses of their GC riders, only big crashes could force bigger selection. And if Nibali will attack probably only Sagan will help him and Sky has a team that can control the race also on cobbles.Serpentin said:
Anyway I think that he'll try to gain as much as possible all along the entire first week because on short mountain stages he could loose minutes from an in form (and without bad luck) Porte and an attacking prone Landa, in the second and third weeks I can see him gain time only in the TT and in the long stage to Bagneres de Luchon.
Last year was probably the best Nibali since 2014, his problem it's not the form, are the short mountain stages. He just can't follow other GC riders uphill when a stage is 150 kms long (or even less).
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In Le Tour? Vuelta 2017 shape is good enough to challenge for the win and maybe is the best he can for a GT. I think there will be other factors in play for him in order to finish in yellow, the TTT being one.
Red Rick said:
In Le Tour? Vuelta 2017 shape is good enough to challenge for the win and maybe is the best he can for a GT. I think there will be other factors in play for him in order to finish in yellow, the TTT being one.
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If he's as good as in 2017 he needs to be lucky to win. If he's better he needs to be unlucky to lose.
The one thing that could go horribly wrong is the TTT and the first week.
Nibali never had the top climbing days in 2017 that he showed in 2016 and 2015, but hit his highest level in the autumn classics. I think he can do better in 2018.Rollthedice said:
If he's as good as in 2017 he needs to be lucky to win. If he's better he needs to be unlucky to lose.
The one thing that could go horribly wrong is the TTT and the first week.
Re: Re:
It's increasingly clear that he didn't kill himself to reach his first peak of the season, the Ardennes - LBL in particular. I think his class together with race instinct and balls landed him "La Classicissima" and a couple of exciting performances rather than a proper all-out build-up. This might leave room for better prep for his main targets along the year, TdF and WCRR.
Red Rick said:
It's increasingly clear that he didn't kill himself to reach his first peak of the season, the Ardennes - LBL in particular. I think his class together with race instinct and balls landed him "La Classicissima" and a couple of exciting performances rather than a proper all-out build-up. This might leave room for better prep for his main targets along the year, TdF and WCRR.
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