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Teams & Riders Vincenzo Nibali discussion thread

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I hope the Shark now sees he must be locked and loadedon to one riderthis year at the Giro....Carapaz...no looking at other pretenders
That would be the same tactics as last year until it was too late. Just the focus shifted from Roglic to Carapaz. I don't think riders like Evenepoel, Yates or even Vlasov should be underestimated and given time for free during a staredown with Richard. It's going to difficult since everybody will be looking at Vincenzo to shut down moves and his team will likely be weak.
 
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Two months until Giro and there are quite a few others involved. I've seen a certain Vlasov smashing everybody on Ventoux, does this mean something in the context of the Giro?
Certainly a different situation this year. Usually Nibali is in no kind of climbing shape 2 month before the Giro. Randomly finishing 10-20th in Tireno-Adriatico.
Same for Carapaz. Last year he finished 20th in Tireno and 26th in Catalunya.
Will be interesting to see if they are already near their peak shape and just try to hold on or still have room to improve. Especially compared to guys like Vlasov or Evenepoel.
 
That was the mistake he made last year just focusing on Roglic. Hopefully he doesn't repeat the error with Carapaz!
It wouldn't be the same error with Carapaz this year, though. Carapaz was a relative unknown then, and nobody will underestimate him now.

The equivalent this year would be watching Carapaz, Evenepoel and Yates, while someone like Konrad or Soler goes up the road and into pink.
 
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It wouldn't be the same error with Carapaz this year, though. Carapaz was a relative unknown then, and nobody will underestimate him now.

The equivalent this year would be watching Carapaz, Evenepoel and Yates, while someone like Konrad or Soler goes up the road and into pink.

As much as Nibali is known for tactical and daring masterstrokes, let's not forget the same rider lost two Grand Tours underestimating a 41 year old (with Valverde and Purito in the race it seemed logic, no?) and a certain Carapaz (with Roglic, Landa, Yates, MAL in the race, it seemed logic, no?).
 
As much as Nibali is known for tactical and daring masterstrokes, let's not forget the same rider lost two Grand Tours underestimating a 41 year old (with Valverde and Purito in the race it seemed logic, no?) and a certain Carapaz (with Roglic, Landa, Yates, MAL in the race, it seemed logic, no?).
I don't know to what extent he underestimated Horner after Hazallanas or how much faster he even could've climbed Hazallanas himself. Maybe the big mistake was not attacking himself on the Gallina when the weather was godawful and Ivan Basso turned into a popsicle.

I have noticed a tendency to respond to attacks and hang on for too long when not on a great day over the years, and I think that's primarily where he lost the 2017 Giro d'Italia. He completely blew himself up trying to match Quintana on Blockhaus then did it again exploding off Dumoulin's wheel on Oropa. That then made the difference between needing to attack Quintana or work with him, cause really by the end he was between a rock and a hard place.
 
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I don't know to what extent he underestimated Horner after Hazallanas or how much faster he even could've climbed Hazallanas himself. Maybe the big mistake was not attacking himself on the Gallina when the weather was godawful and Ivan Basso turned into a popsicle.

I have noticed a tendency to respond to attacks and hang on for too long when not on a great day over the years, and I think that's primarily where he lost the 2017 Giro d'Italia. He completely blew himself up trying to match Quintana on Blockhaus then did it again exploding off Dumoulin's wheel on Oropa. That then made the difference between needing to attack Quintana or work with him, cause really by the end he was between a rock and a hard place.
I think on the Oropa stage it was mainly because of Movistar, who set an infernal pace when the climb started and tried to make it as hard as possible so that Nairo could gain some time.
 
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Hazallanas was when he was watching Purito and Valverde while Hornerito was dissapearing in the distance. There was a TT the second day which Nibali rode looking like this (wasp sting)

btu9bescyae-x20-1.jpg


Then when the beetroot juice kept Horner going in the third week like a prime Contador, Vincenzo switched to suicide mode on Angliru. That's about it.
 
I think on the Oropa stage it was mainly because of Movistar, who set an infernal pace when the climb started and tried to make it as hard as possible so that Nairo could gain some time.
Yes and no. Obviously the way that stage happened didnt suit Nibali. But he hung on until he got dropped at like 1.8km to go and then dropped 44s on what wasn't even 1800 steep meters. They were flying by him as if he was standing still in the finishing straight.
 
Hazallanas was when he was watching Purito and Valverde while Hornerito was dissapearing in the distance. There was a TT the second day which Nibali rode looking like this (wasp sting)

btu9bescyae-x20-1.jpg


Then when the beetroot juice kept Horner going in the third week like a prime Contador, Vincenzo switched to suicide mode on Angliru. That's about it.
Honestly GC wise by far the best Angliru stage I've watched.
 
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I don't know to what extent he underestimated Horner after Hazallanas or how much faster he even could've climbed Hazallanas himself. Maybe the big mistake was not attacking himself on the Gallina when the weather was godawful and Ivan Basso turned into a popsicle.

I have noticed a tendency to respond to attacks and hang on for too long when not on a great day over the years, and I think that's primarily where he lost the 2017 Giro d'Italia. He completely blew himself up trying to match Quintana on Blockhaus then did it again exploding off Dumoulin's wheel on Oropa. That then made the difference between needing to attack Quintana or work with him, cause really by the end he was between a rock and a hard place.
After he dispatched Purito and Valverde on Hazallanas he wasn't really any faster than Horner iirc. But maybe he could've gone with him. In the end the time difference was smaller than in that particular day, so surely there are regrets.
Maybe he could've attacked Horner on the Andorra day on a descent, but who would have guessed that Horner would be so strong all the way. Especially since Nibs was in control after the TT
 
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I don't know to what extent he underestimated Horner after Hazallanas or how much faster he even could've climbed Hazallanas himself. Maybe the big mistake was not attacking himself on the Gallina when the weather was godawful and Ivan Basso turned into a popsicle.

I have noticed a tendency to respond to attacks and hang on for too long when not on a great day over the years, and I think that's primarily where he lost the 2017 Giro d'Italia. He completely blew himself up trying to match Quintana on Blockhaus then did it again exploding off Dumoulin's wheel on Oropa. That then made the difference between needing to attack Quintana or work with him, cause really by the end he was between a rock and a hard place.
IIRC he did not gain any time after his attack on Hazallanas either, so he simply was not strong enough. He could have tried in Gallina as you said, but then again Horner would have attacked on Angliru and still won it.

Fully agreed about 2017 Giro. He lost the race in those two stages. If he had ridden on his own pace he would have probably won it ( given that being higher in the GC would have allowed him to ally with Quintana as well to gain more time on Dumoulin )
 
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After he dispatched Purito and Valverde on Hazallanas he wasn't really any faster than Horner iirc. But maybe he could've gone with him. In the end the time difference was smaller than in that particular day, so surely there are regrets.
Maybe he could've attacked Horner on the Andorra day on a descent, but who would have guessed that Horner would be so strong all the way. Especially since Nibs was in control after the TT
I don't think he could've gone with Horner but it would've probably been somewhere inbetween, but not much better than he did cause he didn't fly away from the group that hard.
 
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IIRC he did not gain any time after his attack on Hazallanas either, so he simply was not strong enough. He could have tried in Gallina as you said, but then again Horner would have attacked on Angliru and still won it.

Fully agreed about 2017 Giro. He lost the race in those two stages. If he had ridden on his own pace he would have probably won it ( given that being higher in the GC would have allowed him to ally with Quintana as well to gain more time on Dumoulin )
Horner had the 2nd fast time ever on the Angliru I'm not sure he coudl go that much faster anyway. I think the issue is he came into the Vuelta a little undercooked and it bit him in the bum. Same for the 2017 Giro. He won Croatia like 1 week before but he was bad.
 
Horner had the 2nd fast time ever on the Angliru I'm not sure he coudl go that much faster anyway. I think the issue is he came into the Vuelta a little undercooked and it bit him in the bum. Same for the 2017 Giro. He won Croatia like 1 week before but he was bad.

He came to the Vuelta undercooked because he had bigger fish to fry later in Firenze where I think he was fit for the win if not for the crash.

That Croatia win was at an intermediate sprint...
 
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I dont think anyone could have beaten Horner at Vuelta 2013...He was like a demented character in West World on a cycling amusement park ride around Spain ...half man and half grinning standing mannequin ..by the end no one could bear to look at him or listen to him such was the zeitgeist about the provenance of his superb form

Regardless of what forum/thread you are talking in, I think that Horner's performance in that Vuelta is the biggest mystery in modern cycling. He had shown some climbing ability previously, but nothing to suggest ever competing for a podium in a GT, and at his age...
 
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It wouldn't be the same error with Carapaz this year, though. Carapaz was a relative unknown then, and nobody will underestimate him now.

The equivalent this year would be watching Carapaz, Evenepoel and Yates, while someone like Konrad or Soler goes up the road and into pink.
I agree about it not being an equivalent error but if Carapaz was a relative unknown to Nibali last year he didn't do his homework. He had missed the podium by under a minute the year before at 24 while winning a stage so why wouldn't you be watching him? And Nibali's top mountain domestique finished behind him so he certainly would have been telling him he was someone to watch.
 

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