Teams & Riders Vincenzo Nibali discussion thread

[Climbing]

 

[Sestriere]

Yeah, pretty much me^^

 

[Rollthedice]

Re:

 

[Carols]

Tomorrow we find out if he has legs! Oh PLEASE have Legs!!!

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Re: Re:

that was Scarponi assisted

 

[Brullnux]

Nibali could’ve won that race with Wanty as his team

 

[Brullnux]

No legs this year then

 

[Forever The Best]

Time to focus on stage wins. Anyways, riding Tour for GC was not the plan originally, so I'm not sad.

 

[SafeBet]

He lost less than a minute which is much better than I expected.
Now let's stop pretending he can fight for the yellow jersey.

 

[Red Rick]

Slightly better than dropping 2 minutes to Cummings on the Aspin

 

[Rollthedice]

Thank God somebody put the final murito in the stage, otherwise we might have thought he can do something in this Tour.

 

[Carols]

No legs . Now Lose time and go win some stages! A top 10 on GC will do Zero for him.

 

[Summoned]

Did about what I expected, lost a minute to GC contenders today. Now a minute and a half or a little less behind top GC riders, I think he is precisely where he didn’t want to be - not completely beyond hope for a podium on the basis of time loss, but also pretty unlikely to get there. Currently at 20th in GC, which he can’t be happy with, and a lot of serious GC contenders between him and the podium.

Dropping time definitely makes the most sense, but I have never really thought Nibali particularly suited to stage hunting, or at least not from an early break. Think if he wants a stage, he is going to have to ride with the GC leaders, and either be the strongest on a stage, or hope that they will let him go at the end of the stage. A stage win is a stage win, I suppose, but am wondering if there is an argument for not dropping time.

 

[HelloDolly]

Re:

Did about what I expected, lost a minute to GC contenders today. Now a minute and a half or a little less behind top GC riders, I think he is precisely where he didn’t want to be - not completely beyond hope for a podium on the basis of time loss, but also pretty unlikely to get there. Currently at 20th in GC, which he can’t be happy with, and a lot of serious GC contenders between him and the podium.

Dropping time definitely makes the most sense, but I have never really thought Nibali particularly suited to stage hunting, or at least not from an early break. Think if he wants a stage, he is going to have to ride with the GC leaders, and either be the strongest on a stage, or hope that they will let him go at the end of the stage. A stage win is a stage win, I suppose, but am wondering if there is an argument for not dropping time.

There are a few hill type stages that would suit Nibali ...including if he can go in the break or make a late attack off the front ...Stages where climbs are hard for Sagan & Van Aert

 

[Summoned]

Watched the finish of the stage again, and I am wondering if he was having a mechanical issue in the last 100 meters? He looked rough, no question, but the way he was riding made me think it may have been compounded by mechanical issues. But I really don’t have much knowledge to base that on.

 

[Rollthedice]

Re:

Watched the finish of the stage again, and I am wondering if he was having a mechanical issue in the last 100 meters? He looked rough, no question, but the way he was riding made me think it may have been compounded by mechanical issues. But I really don’t have much knowledge to base that on.

No, he blew up completely. I rewatched the moto camera which was on him at some point in the finale. He was dropped and was struggling with Krushweak. Krush got a gap then Mollema passed from behind and Nibali got to his wheel. When that final 24% kicked in he almost got to a stand still. Though not his type of finish, he should have done better, it was just a reminder that he doesn't have the shape to contest the overall.

Right now I think he could finish in top 5-10. We don't like that and we want him to win a stage but what matters is what he decides next. Winning a stage will be very hard.

 

[Rollthedice]

Most likely he'll soldier on. The Lone Old Tired Wolf.

 

[Carols]

Re:

Most likely he'll soldier on. The Lone Old Tired Wolf.

:surprised: :surprised:

Time to regroup, lose lots of time and try for stages. Then off to Trek were Legends die :sad: :sad:

 

[Climbing]

So stupid TBM forcing him to ride the Tour... not easy to have a decent finale of the season either... but he has to try, he lacks racing, must race a lot this season imho.

 

[Bardamu]

Breakaway tomorrow with some French dudes.

 

[SafeBet]

He needs to take it easy for a couple of stages, get some rest on Tuesday and try next week.

 

[Lequack]

Didn't expect that Giro would take so much out of him. But then again all of those who did the Giro seem kind fo second hand, Nibali, Zakarin, Simon Yates. But on the other hand Landa and Mollema are still going well.

 

[Rollthedice]

Re:

Didn't expect that Giro would take so much out of him. But then again all of those who did the Giro seem kind fo second hand, Nibali, Zakarin, Simon Yates. But on the other hand Landa and Mollema are still going well.

It's how it always was, that's Vincenzo. What's not very nice is that the team, by pushing him to ride the Tour is putting him an embarrassing situation. Maybe he can turn it around and win his sixth stage in the Tour but it will be very hard.

Slongo said today that he cracked more mentally than with his legs, it's useless to continue if you are not convinced in what you can do. He said that Nibali is not even disappointed. Take some rest and find new objectives.

 

[HelloDolly]

NIbali should not be at the Tour ..he was never going ot make a dent on GC and why would a champion want to try and win a stage which is not guaranteed .. Shame as Niblai could have had rest and done the Vuelta and the worlds

 

[Summoned]

I think I said it earlier, but I agree that he is not really equipped to be a stage hunter. That being the case, I think dropping out now makes a lot of sense.

One thing I find slightly interesting is that he has not asked much of the other riders from Bahrain Merida thus far. I really do think they made an effort to allow for the other riders to pursue their own objectives in the Tour as much as possible. Which makes me think that Dennis may be targeting more than the ITT, that Teuns will try again, and that there is absolutely no reason for Caruso to be at the Tour.