Vincenzo Nibali discussion thread

[Red Rick]

*** I'm nervous for tomorrow.

 

[Rollthedice]

Re:

**** I'm nervous for tomorrow.

Relax, Froome is not riding and Contador retired. Nobody else can drop him. Carpe diem racing tomorrow.

 

[gregrowlerson]

Re: Re:

**** I'm nervous for tomorrow.

Relax, Froome is not riding and Contador retired. Nobody else can drop him. Carpe diem racing tomorrow.

We are still not at the point of the race where recovery is really a massive factor, so perhaps a few riders will take small time on Nibali. However, so long as he isn't dropped like a stone then he is still a strong contender. I think that stages 14 and 15 will suit him better.

 

[Rollthedice]

Re: Re:

**** I'm nervous for tomorrow.

Relax, Froome is not riding and Contador retired. Nobody else can drop him. Carpe diem racing tomorrow.

We are still not at the point of the race where recovery is really a massive factor, so perhaps a few riders will take small time on Nibali. However, so long as he isn't dropped like a stone then he is still a strong contender. I think that stages 14 and 15 will suit him better.

He thrives on long hard stages of which the first is today. Stage 14 is short and in the Lombardia stage there is no place for bigger differences though it is one that he's a favorite to win. He did the monoclimb stage yesterday like a boss, something we were not used to lately so I'm fairly confident. In a stage like today, what might be a problem is his team, yesterday Caruso wasn't there for some weird reason (fighting for the stage win from a break), Pozzo was barely hanging on and Antonio was nowhere to be seen. Second is Roglic who is basing his race now on Nibali, he will follow his wheel and rely on him to bridge or cover attacks from guys who are further down on GC.

 

[Red Rick]

Think they should try to get guys like Antonio in the break today if he's not gonna be there when *** really kicks off.

Pozzo actually made the group just behind, and Caruso should be fine after 3 rest days and yesterday was a big breakaway anyway.

 

[Blanco]

Re: Re:

**** I'm nervous for tomorrow.

Relax, Froome is not riding and Contador retired. Nobody else can drop him. Carpe diem racing tomorrow.

We are still not at the point of the race where recovery is really a massive factor, so perhaps a few riders will take small time on Nibali. However, so long as he isn't dropped like a stone then he is still a strong contender. I think that stages 14 and 15 will suit him better.

He thrives on long hard stages of which the first is today. Stage 14 is short and in the Lombardia stage there is no place for bigger differences though it is one that he's a favorite to win. He did the monoclimb stage yesterday like a boss, something we were not used to lately so I'm fairly confident. In a stage like today, what might be a problem is his team, yesterday Caruso wasn't there for some weird reason (fighting for the stage win from a break), Pozzo was barely hanging on and Antonio was nowhere to be seen. Second is Roglic who is basing his race now on Nibali, he will follow his wheel and rely on him to bridge or cover attacks from guys who are further down on GC.

Nibali is no fool, he won't work for Roglic anymore, even if that means loss of time to others. Trek will do the work though...

 

[Oude Geuze]

Nibali never worked for Roglic, what do you mean? But you can’t stop anyone being on your wheel less you drop them. Also, Nibs cannot play chicken, as he needs more of a gap towards other GC contenders before final TT. He will have to drop Roglic at some point to win. Only other alternative is letting the other climbers back into the race, force Roglic to respond and then hope he can go at the right time when he’s fatigued. But that’s very risky, with 4-5 strong climbers in the mix, attacking one after the other, he will need luck to be in the right move.. He will probably rely on dropping Roglic in the high mountains, and until that happens, they will ride happily together in the alps

 

[Rollthedice]

Smart ride today oozing experience and composure, thinking further than just this stage. Roglic is strong but there's a long way to Verona.

 

[Cinemaniak]

Nibali's fear for Roglic counterattack is making him lose this Giro, while Primoz is just waiting for the right sensations in the climbs.

 

[Pricey_sky]

Expected more but playing the long game is wise at the moment. He can’t have another day like this where he allows others to take back chunks of time. He has to animate, maybe tomorrow?

 

[Gigs_98]

While this surely wasn't as good as I hoped, he did look completely in control and also didn't look like he struggled massively to follow Roglic's attack (which was a pretty big one I think). Not going too deep might benefit him tomorrow and generally he will benefit from hard days like today later in the race. We will see, but I think we now at least know he won't win this giro by just attacking on mtf's and in terms of racing that's surely a good thing.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

oops wrong thread!

 

[Rollthedice]

While this surely wasn't as good as I hoped, he did look completely in control and also didn't look like he struggled massively to follow Roglic's attack (which was a pretty big one I think). Not going too deep might benefit him tomorrow and generally he will benefit from hard days like today later in the race. We will see, but I think we now at least know he won't win this giro by just attacking on mtf's and in terms of racing that's surely a good thing.

He took a risky tactical decision but I guess it's his way of doing things and he feels very good. That decision was to make Roglic work and measure him on the climb, force him to either close the gap to danger men up the road or face them and their teams later when they will be within seconds. We are talking about a rider with immense experience in winning Grand Tours and he is convinced Roglic is the man to beat, alone it will be hard so let's bring back some other guys in the game see if he can react.

 

[Alexandre B.]

Re:

Smart ride today oozing experience and composure, thinking further than just this stage. Roglic is strong but there's a long way to Verona.

He'll need to be careful with the Movistar duo though.

 

[Climbing]

Both could have gone faster for sure, they are risking a lot.
Both looked to suffer when the other accelerated, Nibali will need his usual third week, lotsa riders got back in contention.

 

[Rollthedice]

Re: Re:

Smart ride today oozing experience and composure, thinking further than just this stage. Roglic is strong but there's a long way to Verona.

He'll need to be careful with the Movistar duo though.

Sure, it's getting exciting. I have the feeling he wanted somebody close to have more pressure on lone wolf Roglic. Yates cracked, Lopez and Astana after working all day had a misfortune so it's Movistar.

 

[Gigs_98]

While this surely wasn't as good as I hoped, he did look completely in control and also didn't look like he struggled massively to follow Roglic's attack (which was a pretty big one I think). Not going too deep might benefit him tomorrow and generally he will benefit from hard days like today later in the race. We will see, but I think we now at least know he won't win this giro by just attacking on mtf's and in terms of racing that's surely a good thing.

He took a risky tactical decision but I guess it's his way of doing things and he feels very good. That decision was to make Roglic work and measure him on the climb, force him to either close the gap to danger men up the road or face them and their teams later when they will be within seconds. We are talking about a rider with immense experience in winning Grand Tours and he is convinced Roglic is the man to beat, alone it will be hard so let's bring back some other guys in the game see if he can react.

Yeah Nibali might be the rider with the best tactical sense in the peloton. Curious if riders will pay for todays effort tomorrow but some of the guys who finished in front of him and Roglic looked completely dead so they might pay for their efforts tomorrow.

 

[SafeBet]

Honestly I don't think he looked as in control are you guys are picturing him. He clearly could not follow Landa's attack, and I'm not even sure he could follow Carapaz+Majka. He still needs to take time back and now both Movistar riders have a shot. With Jumbo nowhere to be seen, everybody will be looking at him to shut down attacks.

Tomorrow a very tough stage, likely in Nibali's weather. If he doesn't attack tomorrow I'm ready to push the panic button.

 

[Rollthedice]

Re:

Honestly I don't think he looked as in control are you guys are picturing him. He clearly could not follow Landa's attack, and I'm not even sure he could follow Carapaz+Majka. He still needs to take time back and now both Movistar riders have a shot. With Jumbo nowhere to be seen, everybody will be looking at him to shut down attacks.

Tomorrow a very tough stage, likely in Nibali's weather. If he doesn't attack tomorrow I'm ready to push the panic button.

Maybe. To me he looks dead... bored.

 

[46&twoWheels]

RAI showed some exclusive images of Nibali and Roglic after the finish line. It seems that Roglic wanted to shake hands with Nibali, probably as a sign of respect or a "we made it" kind of gesture(?).
Vincenzo wanted none of it.....peak nibbles :lol:

 

[Valv.Piti]

Not really convinced either. He would have liked tomorrows stage to be longer, but its still a good stage for him IMO so he has to try. The race got another dimension today with Movi + Zaka and maybe he could benefit from that.

 

[Rollthedice]

Best quote of the day:

Nibali to Roglic: "if he wants to follow me also at my home he can do a photo with me and I can show him my trophies" #Giro

https://t.co/MPpmUDHGtN

 

[Lequack]

Re:

Best quote of the day:

Nibali to Roglic: "if he wants to follow me also at my home he can do a photo with me and I can show him my trophies" #Giro

https://t.co/MPpmUDHGtN

Giro is always better with some Nibali quotes.

 

[Jagartrott]

Re:

Honestly I don't think he looked as in control are you guys are picturing him. He clearly could not follow Landa's attack, and I'm not even sure he could follow Carapaz+Majka. He still needs to take time back and now both Movistar riders have a shot. With Jumbo nowhere to be seen, everybody will be looking at him to shut down attacks.

Tomorrow a very tough stage, likely in Nibali's weather. If he doesn't attack tomorrow I'm ready to push the panic button.

I don't think he was fully playing games. Going with Majka and dropping Roglic in the process would've been much better than what he ended up with if he really did have the legs.

 

[Cinemaniak]

Re:

Best quote of the day:

Nibali to Roglic: "if he wants to follow me also at my home he can do a photo with me and I can show him my trophies" #Giro

https://t.co/MPpmUDHGtN

Sounds quite disrespectful. Playing it hard is fine, but Nibali seems be to frustrated all the time. First Yates, now Roglic... I don't think he's good enough to follow the best