Teams & Riders Vincenzo Nibali discussion thread

[Rollthedice]

The Peak of Torino gives me unreasonable hope but not for tomorrow. Now somebody has to convince Pog to take a vacation during the Lombardia, I have no doubt the route will be with Civiglio and the finish in Como.

 

[DoYouEvenRideBruh]

He's doing fine performance wise. We're just missing the epic goodbye, but that's ok. Sometimes life is like that.

One stage is left. Maybe some shenanigans happen.

 

[topcat]

In a fairytale ending, Contador won the penultimate stage of his last gt and finished 4th on gc.
It would be fitting if Nibali did the same.

 

[Rollthedice]

In a fairytale ending, Contador won the penultimate stage of his last gt and finished 4th on gc.
It would be fitting if Nibali did the same.

Contador had supersonic legs in that last week, Nibali no. At the same age as Contador's Vuelta, Nibali finished second, in fact lost a GT because why not. This is not his last Grand Tour. That being said, it would be a fairytale ending to his last Giro.

 

[topcat]

Contador had supersonic legs in that last week, Nibali no. At the same age as Contador's Vuelta, Nibali finished second, in fact lost a GT because why not. This is not his last Grand Tour. That being said, it would be a fairytale ending to his last Giro.

Imo it should be his last gt. We will see.

 

[Red Rick]

Imo it should be his last gt. We will see.

Not really. It just feels like we say goodbye twice.

 

[Rollthedice]

Expectations for today? Fight for the fourth with Pello and Hirt.

 

[Red Rick]

Expectations for today? Fight for the fourth with Pello and Hirt.

Sadly yeah.

Today should suit him a lot better than yesterday though. As early as like 2016 the slow paced days before a cat 2 like MTF were his worst. He got taken to the absolute cleaners on Anterselva in 2019.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Expectations for today? Fight for the fourth with Pello and Hirt.

There will be a downhill attack at some point.

 

[DoYouEvenRideBruh]

Apparently in an interview for La Gazzetta he said that after the rest day he woke up with herpes and a little fever. That definitely didn't help.

Still, he says that despite thinking he could do even better (read: win that f*cking Turin stage) he's quite satisfied with how it's been going. He's probably as surprised as anyone that a fourth place on GC is actually possible for him at this point.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

anything better than a DFN is a bonus for me.

 

[Climbing]

Apparently he had herpes and fever on the second rest day (not sure how to translate that in english, but you got the idea).
After that they just decided to play defense only, a pretty good result anyway overall.

 

[skippo12]

Not what we wanted to see but I cannot complain about his level. Last year he looked a lot worse. And even this year his preparation was riddled with health issues. Knowing that he can still compete for a good GC result gives me some hope that he can get one last big stage win in the 2nd GT of the year. Or if the Slovenian cycling gods allow it. A fairytale ending in Lombardia.

 

[Red Rick]

Not what we wanted to see but I cannot complain about his level. Last year he looked a lot worse. And even this year his preparation was riddled with health issues. Knowing that he can still compete for a good GC result gives me some hope that he can get one last big stage win in the 2nd GT of the year. Or if the Slovenian cycling gods allow it. A fairytale ending in Lombardia.

"Primoz I have seen your trophy cabinet so many Vuelta stages I need one more"

 

[Netserk]

"Primoz I have seen your trophy cabinet so many Vuelta stages I need one more"

Never crossed the line first in Spain in any race.

 

[Red Rick]

Never crossed the line first in Spain in any race.

Brother Antonio, meanwhile, has gotten dead last at least once in Spain. In the final TT of last year.

 

[Rollthedice]

Never crossed the line first in Spain in any race.

 

[Red Rick]

Andorra mate.

 

[Rollthedice]

Andorra mate.

One of the best stage wins of his career.

 

[DoYouEvenRideBruh]

At the Vuelta he will be free of the GC shackles, so if he's in decent shape he can definitely aim for the win he missed here.

Btw, wasn't he supposed to do the Tour? I missed the news that he had changed program (not that I'd complain).

 

[Eclipse]

I don't know how to feel about this race now.

He did so much better than I imagined he could on GC but I still feel a stage win in Italy would have been sweeter.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

One of the best stage wins of his career.

And the best victory salute!!!

 

[DoYouEvenRideBruh]

I don't know how to feel about this race now.

He did so much better than I imagined he could on GC but I still feel a stage win in Italy would have been sweeter.

There's still one stage left

 

[Rollthedice]

"Definitely a positive balance for me," Nibali said after the finish line. "To have come this far makes me more than happy and now I have to think about finishing the season"

"I maintained fourth place and I feel satisfied. You know that the approach to the Giro was difficult, on Etna it had not gone well, but then I managed to recover and this result can only make me happy."

"This climb I've always hated it never let's you breathe, because you have no references, I hate it and today I don't think I changed my mind."

"I only thought about maintaining my pace by taking it to the top and reaching the finish line. This morning when I took the stage at the start, the crowd gave me great emotions, which make everything less difficult for you. I also have to thank my team who made me come back to this race and that gave me a lot of peace of mind."

"When I had physical problems in the spring I wanted to throw everything up in the air and stop, then Martino, ( Martinelli) who knows me better than anyone, told me, "get on the bike and do what you like." This gave me the charge to start again and now I am here, I am satisfied for this Giro that for me will end with a great result"

 

[Netserk]

I think it looks better when you can see the losers in the background.