Teams & Riders Vincenzo Nibali discussion thread

[Red Rick]

Nah, hell no, Cunego aint even close IMO to the likes of Valverde, Cancellara Nibali, Contador, Boonen and Gilbert. Didnt the guy only really have like 1 prime year? I know he won a few big classics after 2004, and 2 Lombardias, but not close to the legends of the sport..

Cunego had a better palmares from like 2003-2008 than Valverde and it was not particularly close.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Cunego had a better palmares from like 2003-2008 than Valverde and it was not particularly close.

Sure, but what did he do after that? Valverde is still riding...

 

[Red Rick]

Sure, but what did he do after that? Valverde is still riding...

I'm not claiming he had an equivalent career. I'm lamenting about a formerly great rider retiring to very little fanfare. I should probably compare Cunego rather to Purito and I don't remember his retirement being a huge deal.

But I guess it's actually quite normal and the way we talk now about this set of riders retiring is actually an exception. Each of the 3 riders are from the main cycling nations as well.

 

[Valv.Piti]

I'd still take Rodirguez ahead of Cunego. Purito was super competitive in the biggest races year after year, always being one of the favoirites.

 

[DoYouEvenRideBruh]

Have been away and not looking at cycling for a while, so let me write my own small thoughts on Nibali's career just now.

To be honest, there's really not much to say about it. He was a mediocre, overrated rider who rose to prominence through little merit of his own, and whose biggest win was mostly due to the absence of the truly great GC riders of his generation. One could even say his best claim to fame is having become a complete and utter meme in online forums, most notably this thread. It's truly time for him to go: his last great season was 2018, and since then everything has been going downhill (something he's admittedly good at). So, goodbye Nibali. You will be remembered, but not missed by many.

Spoiler

I'm talking about Antonio ofc. C'mon guys there's no way he'll be kept around after Vincenzo retires at the end of the year...

 

[topcat]

Solid performance today. Slowly building shape for a week 3 onslaught.
Living the dream.

 

[DoYouEvenRideBruh]

It would be so cool if this is not a fluke and he's actually on an upward trajectory. On the other hand he's sitting at 13th 3' down on Lopez without much hope of improving his standings. Losing time today and then finding these legs on a break would have probably been better, but oh well.

It's a shame he lost those two minutes on Etna, really. If you forget that stage he did very well both in the TT and in the big mountain stage of the first half of the Giro. If this were 2019 I would claim bag.

 

[Red Rick]

Mate wtf drop 30 minutes and vulture the soft breakaways

 

[gregrowlerson]

Slight Contador Vuelta '17 vibes. Still some sensations in those climbing legs I see. Week 3 stage win a decent possibility.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Does anybody have his Blockhaus climbing time today and can compare it to 2017???

 

[perico]

I agree. Pantani was a 57Kg David who beat Goliaths like Jan Ullrich at his best. Nibali is a more normal size and wasn't a reclusive personality. People were drawn to Pantani as an underdog at a time when big powerful riders like Indurain and Ullrich dominated. But as others above said I put Nibali ahead of Pantani simply because Nibs was a better all round rider. Marco was the best climber in history, and frankly I wish some newer fans who fawned over Contador were old enough to see Pantani at his best - they should rewatch stage 15 of 98 TdF which is the most incredible "exploit" I have ever seen in cycling. It is a measure of Pantani's effect on me that I am always compelled to write about him when he is mentioned in comments. But no question that Nibali has the better record and was a better all round cyclist.

I fawned over Contador, and saw Pantani race in person. Both were great climbers, and very few that I’ve seen have claimed Contador was a better pure climber. Contador was more explosive when compared to the rest of the field in his day.

 

[SafeBet]

Does anybody have his Blockhaus climbing time today and can compare it to 2017???

I think he was around a minute slower today.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

At least today Diego Rosa got a jersey out of the breakaway, way better than the useless solo breakaway a few days ago and he dropped some legit climbers sprinting for those KoM points.

How does that relate to Vincenzo

 

[gregrowlerson]

How does that relate to Vincenzo

The voodoo does strange things.

 

[Mayomaniac]

How does that relate to Vincenzo

That happens when you open multiple tabs at the same time...

 

[Rollthedice]

Tried to make a quick aproximate translation of what he said after the stage:

"Didn’t respond to the attacks, went as steady as I could, tried to defend, nothing more, I knew the climb.
Hot day, maybe that’s why many had problems today. Martinelli said try to resist today, see how it goes, if the legs are not there drop out of the GC. Now I don’t know, how I stand in GC."

Question: If you ride strong like this you will not drop out, you go up in GC.
"I don’t know, many riders finished in front of me."

"It was better than I thought but I lost time to Landa, Carapaz, Bardet, they had something more. A day to go all out, difficult. Today it was more or less to see what is my shape. We’ll see. "

 

[Red Rick]

That happens when you open multiple tabs at the same time...

Reminds me of that time I posted a rant about Gilberts 2011 season in a tennis forum.

Spoiler

Okay that didn't happen

Spoiler

Or did it

 

[Climbing]

I remember sending a mail at work, about cycling
Not a bad show today, I still think he should drop out of GC, but team orders.

 

[Rollthedice]

I remember sending a mail at work, about cycling
Not a bad show today, I still think he should drop out of GC, but team orders.

Not sure it's team orders. He is not capable of dropping out until he can still keep up with the best and the legs are good. I guess we'll see how it goes along the road. Today was a good day, the best is yet to come.

 

[Red Rick]

8th here is kinda nice but then what the hell does a 7th place in GC add for him? Yeah it's more respectable than we expected but come on. I wanna see Nibs in the breakaways and dream of legs of better days.

 

[Climbing]

Not sure it's team orders. He is not capable of dropping out until he can still keep up with the best and the legs are good. I guess we'll see how it goes along the road. Today was a good day, the best is yet to come.

Well he said Martinelli asked him to hold fast for GC if possible, if not then drop minutes.
I'm happy he did okish, not sure he'll get a stage like this though.

 

[DoYouEvenRideBruh]

Being a Nibali fan these days is so stressful, man. I spend half of the time worrying about when he gets dropped, and once he gets dropped I worry about how much time he's gonna lose, and he's barely even fighting to get into the top ten!

 

[Rollthedice]

8th here is kinda nice but then what the hell does a 7th place in GC add for him? Yeah it's more respectable than we expected but come on. I wanna see Nibs in the breakaways and dream of legs of better days.

He'll get more than 7th and he'll also win a stage. The legs of better days are just around the corner. Don't give up The Bag Cult. Believe. Trust. Dream. Follow.

 

[Red Rick]

He'll get more than 7th and he'll also win a stage. The legs of better days are just around the corner. Don't give up The Bag Cult. Believe. Trust. Dream. Follow.

Okay boss I'll go inflate my shark now.

 

[Rollthedice]

Okay boss I'll go inflate my shark now.