Teams & Riders Vincenzo Nibali discussion thread

[jaylew]

Well there is huge difference between top 10, top 5 and top 3. Nibali has more chance of winning the Tour than AT gets top 5.

Avatar bet?

exceptional one week racer I gave him that, same as RC, but nothing he performed so far in three week race would make me think he can do top 5 in the Tour. Probably another Janez Brajkovič lol. Plus due the great crash reputation of Garnin, odds is definitely not on his side.

Why not? If TJVG can, Talansky can. And as someone previously mentioned, Talansky tends to get better the longer the race goes on.

 

[maxmartin]

Avatar bet?

Sure if AT is in top 5, I will wear AT's pic for a month. If not you change your pic into Nibali for a month, how does this sounds to you?

 

[maxmartin]

Avatar bet?


Why not? If TJVG can, Talansky can. And as someone previously mentioned, Talansky tends to get better the longer the race goes on.

Sure if AT is in top 5, I will wear AT's pic for a month. If not you change your pic into Nibali for a month, how does this sound to you?

 

[Pippo_San]

So you think Nibali got a chance against Contador, Froome, or even Valverde?

Talansky finished 7th in the Vuelta, and 10th in the Tour. Now he won the Dauphine. It would be rather strange if you say he can't ride top-5 at all.

Valverde + TdF = EPIC FAIL

 

[jaylew]

Sure if AT is in top 5, I will wear AT's pic for a month. If not you change your pic into Nibali for a month, how does this sound to you?

Nice try. I was thinking you use an AT pic if he top 5s and I'll use a Nibali pic if he wins. If neither happens, nobody changes.

 

[jaylew]

Valverde + TdF = EPIC FAIL

Not this year. The Green Bullet finally gets a TdF podium!
I hope

 

[Fzotrlool]

Valverde will go for third place, Nibali will go for the victory.

Valverde will ride more calculated than Nibali who is ready to sacrifice his GC position with risky attacks and solo rides in order to win the Tour.

Therefore, I would put my money on Valverde for the podium.

 

[Afrank]

Not this year. The Green Bullet finally gets a TdF podium!
I hope

The unwritten laws of cycling will prevent such horror from occurring. Valverde podiuming is as likely as Rojas winning..........oh sh*t!

If Valverde Podiums it is surly a sign of the end of times. For that reason alone we need to pray he doesn't.

 

[Netserk]

Valverde will go for third place, Nibali will go for the victory.

Valverde will ride more calculated than Nibali who is ready to sacrifice his GC position with risky attacks and solo rides in order to win the Tour.

Therefore, I would put my money on Valverde for the podium.

You forgot the fact that Valverde is Valverde. He will probably crash on the pave.

 

[jaylew]

But if he does that, Sky will wait for him.

 

[alspacka]

I'm very much hoping Nibali has been keeping a low profile on purpose so he gets a bit more wiggle room in July.

 

[Jspear]

I'm very much hoping Nibali has been keeping a low profile on purpose so he gets a bit more wiggle room in July.

He wasn't low profile....he was better than Froome.

 

[Bushman]

Valverde would probably crash on the Champs Elysées if he was on the podium by the time they reached Paris.

 

[pigoonse]

I'm very much hoping Nibali has been keeping a low profile on purpose so he gets a bit more wiggle room in July.

I know. It was tough to see Nibali riding conservatively, especially the last Dauphine stage. Have to believe he is intentionally holding back to keep a low profile, or on track to peak at just the right time.

On a positive note, Nibs is looking good - smooth and calm. I am getting good feeling about the action coming in TdF.

 

[Rollthedice]

I know. It was tough to see Nibali riding conservatively, especially the last Dauphine stage. Have to believe he is intentionally holding back to keep a low profile, or on track to peak at just the right time.

On a positive note, Nibs is looking good - smooth and calm. I am getting good feeling about the action coming in TdF.

He actually did a very good move attacking the Froome/Contador group but sadly blew up when it mattered. He said he suffered and the week of hard racing left him without energy. He's doing another round of altitude training Paso San Pellegrino, Italian championships and then Leeds for Le Tour!

 

[pigoonse]

He actually did a very good move attacking the Froome/Contador group but sadly blew up when it mattered. He said he suffered and the week of hard racing left him without energy. He's doing another round of altitude training Paso San Pellegrino, Italian championships and then Leeds for Le Tour!

Thanks for the news. Best of luck to lo Squalo in the Italian championships and preparing for Le Tour. I am so excited at the prospects of competition this year

 

[Forunculo]

Lo Squalo has a big problem, he is behind even the likes of Talansky and VdB. If he played poker this week then, he is one of the best.

 

[Akuryo]

Lo Squalo has a big problem, he is behind even the likes of Talansky and VdB. If he played poker this week then, he is one of the best.

He was never strong in Dauphine or Swiss. So his performance was nothing to be worried about. It is a preperation-race and not the real thing. On the other hand, his entire season was mediocre at best. So I am not sure if he is out of form or just focussed on these 3 weeks in particular.

 

[mihhint]

He was never strong in Dauphine or Swiss. So his performance was nothing to be worried about. It is a preperation-race and not the real thing. On the other hand, his entire season was mediocre at best. So I am not sure if he is out of form or just focussed on these 3 weeks in particular.

Yeah, this. I'm not worried about Nibali because he had a pretty poor Dauphine. He actually performed little better here than I expected. I'm worried about Nibali because he has had a poor season in general and it seems like he's playing catch-up with other GC contenders right now. And it's almost identical situation for Kangert also, behind in form after awful spring and health issues. I haven't followed cycling long enough to know historicly how big of a factor other season form has been in TDF successes. But based on the last few seasons, I would think there are some strong correlations often present.

 

[Akuryo]

I haven't followed cycling long enough to know historicly how big of a factor other season form has been in TDF successes. But based on the last few seasons, I would think there are some strong correlations often present.

Well, not everybody can be Chris Froome and win all year long. Look at Kwiatkowski for instance. He was poor at Tirreno-Adriatico but strong during Tour of the Basque Country and the Ardennes. But again did poorly after that during Romandie. You can only hold your form for a certain amount of time. I hope Nibali will get in form during the tour, but who knows ...

It is and always will be a guessing game since we can't watch inside the riders (head).

 

[movingtarget]

Nibali looks flat. A few weeks from the start of the Tour. It's unlike him to be dropped as early as he was in the Dauphine even by riders like Froome and Contador. Compare this year to last year and how he went in the Trentino before the Giro and also the way he rode in the Tirreno in 2013. He needs to improve quite a lot otherwise he will be losing time early in the Tour to his main rivals. The alternative theory is that he is riding within himself and only worrying about the Tour. Andy Schleck has done that for his entire career as a pro. Okay bad example.

Sometimes riders follow the same routine, do the same training etc and the form does not come when they want it to. We will see. The way Contador and Froome were riding the Dauphine you would have thought the Tour had already started !

 

[PirazziAttacksVino]

Nibali looks flat. A few weeks from the start of the Tour. It's unlike him to be dropped as early as he was in the Dauphine even by riders like Froome and Contador. Compare this year to last year and how he went in the Trentino before the Giro and also the way he rode in the Tirreno in 2013. He needs to improve quite a lot otherwise he will be losing time early in the Tour to his main rivals. The alternative theory is that he is riding within himself and only worrying about the Tour. Andy Schleck has done that for his entire career as a pro. Okay bad example.

Sometimes riders follow the same routine, do the same training etc and the form does not come when they want it to. We will see. The way Contador and Froome were riding the Dauphine you would have thought the Tour had already started !

We can't draw a conclusion at the moment as we don't know how the prep went. He was strong in Trentino in 2013, but Slongo was not at the team. However, in 2012 he worked with Slongo and was way way worse in the Dauphine than now. He still got a 3rd in the Tour.

All in all, my bet is he'll be at his Giro 2013 form in the 3rd week. Whether that will be enough to shake AC and CF remains to be seen. Let's not forget he and Contador are very complete riders and can win tours even when they are not the strongest.

 

[Netserk]

We can't draw a conclusion at the moment as we don't know how the prep went. He was strong in Trentino in 2013, but Slongo was not at the team. However, in 2012 he worked with Slongo and was way way worse in the Dauphine than now. He still got a 3rd in the Tour.

All in all, my bet is he'll be at his Giro 2013 form in the 3rd week. Whether that will be enough to shake AC and CF remains to be seen. Let's not forget he and Contador are very complete riders and can win tours even when they are not the strongest.

Yeah when the rider in the leader's jersey crash out

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

Yeah, this. I'm not worried about Nibali because he had a pretty poor Dauphine. He actually performed little better here than I expected. I'm worried about Nibali because he has had a poor season in general and it seems like he's playing catch-up with other GC contenders right now. And it's almost identical situation for Kangert also, behind in form after awful spring and health issues. I haven't followed cycling long enough to know historicly how big of a factor other season form has been in TDF successes. But based on the last few seasons, I would think there are some strong correlations often present.

Its quite a new thing with Sky. Peak all year. Armstrong, Ullrich etc. Didn't do much outside the tour.

 

[PirazziAttacksVino]

Yeah when the rider in the leader's jersey crash out

I guess it's a good point
But more than 2 years later the Tirreno happened