Teams & Riders Vincenzo Nibali discussion thread

[bambino]

Arrivederci my Champ

 

[Breezy1985]

Valverde looks genuinely happy here, one could get the impression he won. Actually it's the end of the 20th stage of the Giro 2016 when Nibali took the pink jersey.

Valverde is probably just happy because he worked with Nibali to drop/catch his Movistar teammate.

 

[Rollthedice]

Seems somehow fitting that his last win was in Sicily. Here's an interesting overview of Vincenzo's climbing performances over the years.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1578729188671963137

View: https://twitter.com/lapreuvepar21/status/1578729188671963137?t=N7j2N0FwmgUTCcP-Uo3Haw&s=19

 

[DoYouEvenRideBruh]

Happy that I was able to see him in the flesh on his last day as a pro. Goodbye Vincenzo...

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Arrivederci to the man, the myth and the legend. It's finally time to hang up the bag in the trophy room. He was always a true Campione, who not only had the ability to entertain, but also knew the winning recipe.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJUuMn2PyGc&ab_channel=SidiSport

 

[SafeBet]

Yeah this is not easy.
I spent an absurd amount of time watching Nibali ride a bike. An unhealthy amount of time, according to my wife.

Some of my favorite Nibali moments were his defeats: Angliru 2013, Lombardia 2018, even the 2015 Tour.

My favorite win will always be Sanremo. And my biggest regret LBL 2012.

I'm happy he sounds at peace in interviews. For a few years it seemed like he always needed to prove something. Now he's serene.

 

[Red Rick]

Yeah this is not easy.
I spent an absurd amount of time watching Nibali ride a bike. An unhealthy amount of time, according to my wife.

Some of my favorite Nibali moments were his defeats: Angliru 2013, Lombardia 2018, even the 2015 Tour.

My favorite win will always be Sanremo. And my biggest regret LBL 2012.

I'm happy he sounds at peace in interviews. For a few years it seemed like he always needed to prove something. Now he's serene.

For me the Worlds in 2013 and Olympics in 2016 are bigger regrets. And there's the 2018 Tour crash. I basically never think of LBL 2012.

I'm a little sad he couldn't do more in his final few races from say the Vuelta to Lombardia. But we always have that spark of hope from the Giro. And Nibali was never the guy with the base level to hang around at a respectable level when off peak, and his one peak race this year was the Giro. It wasn't a miracle win and he faded at the end, but it was miles better than what I could've hoped for after the 2021 season.

But such is the nature of sport. Fairytale wins to close of a career are mostly just fairytales or they mean an athlete has left doubts about retiring too early. It is almost impossible to have it both ways.

 

[meat puppet]

Arrivederci to the man, the myth and the legend. It's finally time to hang up the bag in the trophy room. He was always a true Campione, who not only had the ability to entertain, but also knew the winning recipe.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJUuMn2PyGc&ab_channel=SidiSport

Thanks for digging this up! One of the best/weirdest cycling commercial for sure.

 

[Ivan_Basso_77]

Arrivederci to the man, the myth and the legend. It's finally time to hang up the bag in the trophy room. He was always a true Campione, who not only had the ability to entertain, but also knew the winning recipe.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJUuMn2PyGc&ab_channel=SidiSport

My two favourite riders, what a memory. I remember how hard it was for me to watch Ivan retire, but at least I knew I had another another favourite. Now that Vincenzo is leaving as well, it will be quite complicated for me to find a new rider to follow.

My biggest regrets are Liege 2012 and Rio 2016, while my favourite moments are Giro 2016 and Sanremo. On all these occasions I cried - either of sorrow or joy.

Grazie per le emozioni, Vincenzo. You will always have a place in my heart as a cycling legend.

 

[Netserk]

He also crashed out of Lombardia '13, but yet we always hear how lucky he was.

 

[Red Rick]

He also crashed out of Lombardia '13, but yet we always hear how lucky he was.

He was also the strongest in Lombardia 2011, being the one to kill off Gilbert. Then he got stuck in a valley because it was the old terrible meme parcours and we got Zaug as a Lombardia legend.

 

[tobydawq]

He also crashed out of Lombardia '13, but yet we always hear how lucky he was.

Rightfully so.

Lots of riders have bad luck. Few riders win three Grand Tours because of other riders' bad luck.

 

[Netserk]

Rightfully so.

Lots of riders have bad luck. Few riders win three Grand Tours because of other riders' bad luck.

Only the 2016 Giro fits that boot. And then you can ask if it was bad luck or lack of skills.

Anton would have lost a *** ton in the ITT, and while I think Contador could have won in 2014, the gap was significant after the cobbles and Nibali showed himself to have Tour winning strength in the mountains.

 

[tobydawq]

Only the 2016 Giro fits that boot. And then you can ask if it was bad luck or lack of skills.

Anton would have lost a *** ton in the ITT, and while I think Contador could have won in 2014, the gap was significant after the cobbles and Nibali showed himself to have Tour winning strength in the mountains.

Fair points, although I think it's a bit easy just to dismiss Antón's misfortune like that (plus he was lucky that the defending champion wasn't allowed to participate ).

I also forgot to add that any rider who wins MSR per definition has been lucky.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

One of the most underrated victories of Vincenzo, here another masterclass in racing

View: https://youtu.be/SCjvglkfgSk

 

[Rollthedice]

On Monday, fresh from retirement Vincenzo was back at LaSqualoTV on Twitch. We had Pozzo, freshly out of the hospital, all bandaged and with an arm in a plaster cast, Bettiol and Ulissi. Everybody was upbeat including poor Pozzo and, as usual many interesting topics were discussed in a relaxed manner, highly recommended (if one can understand Italian).

Lombardia was still hot, Vincenzo says on Civiglio, Piccolo asked him to lead the descent, since he knows it so good. Nibali did it and as soon as they reached San Fermo, young Piccolo took off.

Since we sometimes tend to compare riders from different periods, the "what if" debate, it was interesting to hear from Vincenzo that he is convinced Pogacar would not drop the Nibali version of 4-5 years ago on Civiglio in a Lombardia with Sormano on the route.

 

[Red Rick]

Since we sometimes tend to compare riders from different periods, the "what if" debate, it was interesting to hear from Vincenzo that he is convinced Pogacar would not drop the Nibali version of 4-5 years ago on Civiglio in a Lombardia with Sormano on the route.

I have said on occasion I'd take my own word over the pro's words.

But who am I to question Vincenzo

 

[Ilmaestro99]

On Monday, fresh from retirement Vincenzo was back at LaSqualoTV on Twitch. We had Pozzo, freshly out of the hospital, all bandaged and with an arm in a plaster cast, Bettiol and Ulissi. Everybody was upbeat including poor Pozzo and, as usual many interesting topics were discussed in a relaxed manner, highly recommended (if one can understand Italian).

Lombardia was still hot, Vincenzo says on Civiglio, Piccolo asked him to lead the descent, since he knows it so good. Nibali did it and as soon as they reached San Fermo, young Piccolo took off.

Since we sometimes tend to compare riders from different periods, the "what if" debate, it was interesting to hear from Vincenzo that he is convinced Pogacar would not drop the Nibali version of 4-5 years ago on Civiglio in a Lombardia with Sormano on the route.

I'm not watching these, not because of language issues, but because I don't have a twitch or something similar. Is there anywhere I can find them?

Anyway we know Vincenzo endurance for these races was top notch, and maybe he is right. The problem is that not only would he need to stay with Pogacar, he would need to be stronger, Vincenzo was never so sprightly in the last 300m

 

[Rollthedice]

I'm not watching these, not because of language issues, but because I don't have a twitch or something similar. Is there anywhere I can find them?

Anyway we know Vincenzo endurance for these races was top notch, and maybe he is right. The problem is that not only would he need to stay with Pogacar, he would need to be stronger, Vincenzo was never so sprightly in the last 300m

You don't need twitch. Here's the link: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1620644288

 

[topcat]

I'm not watching these, not because of language issues, but because I don't have a twitch or something similar. Is there anywhere I can find them?

Anyway we know Vincenzo endurance for these races was top notch, and maybe he is right. The problem is that not only would he need to stay with Pogacar, he would need to be stronger, Vincenzo was never so sprightly in the last 300m

There's no way Pogacar could stay with 2017 Nibali on the descent. But, the what ifs are irrelevant.

 

[Carols]

You don't need twitch. Here's the link: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1620644288

Thanks for the overview . They need to put up subtitles!

 

[Carols]

I've had such a sense of loss since he hung up the wheels that I haven't been able to post. I do know I'll watch some of my favorite races he rode over and over again like I do some of my other favs over the decades. Sigh, the last of the older generation of Elite riders to leave us.
Thanks, Vincenzo, for all the thrills and chills over your career. You Are Missed and will always claim a piece of my heart

 

[CyclistAbi]

It's great when you can become a legend of the sport already during your career. Happy retirement. A lot of work awaits ahead. Polishing trophies.

 

[Lequack]

He's going to be doing MTB racing

ATTENTION: "Andalusia will be able to enjoy the debut of Vincenzo Nibali in MTB" El Tiburón de Messina, after his retirement as a professional cyclist, enters the world of mountain biking and will debut from February 27 to March 4 in the Andalucía Bike Race

https://twitter.com/x/status/1626505131775647745

View: https://twitter.com/MazaCiclismo/status/1626505131775647745

 

[Lequack]

He'll be riding for team Q36.5

https://twitter.com/x/status/1626707131385741318

View: https://twitter.com/opaisdociclismo/status/1626707131385741318?s=20