Teams & Riders Vincenzo Nibali discussion thread

[cellardoor]

Re: Re:

Pathetic? I think it's clever. If a rider takes the bait then it's a very smart move.

I dont know, his oponnent was a third tier and Nibali pretended to make mistake with that shoe, so yea, it looks pathetic to me...but its my opinion (and Im biased)

Nothing pathetic about using race smarts. I guess next stop is that counter-attacking is pathetic as well

It's just pathetic to toy with your opponent like that, if you're stronger just finish it off.

Maybe it was pathetic from Reda as well to attack Nibali while he had a mechanical?

He had a problem with his shoe - wouldn't that properly be called a wardrobe crises, or perhaps a fabrical?

 

[46&twoWheels]

yeah, I think he was pretending to have a problem

it's like a chess game.. or a fake pass in basketball or soccer. Since when outsmarting your enemy is not part of the race anymore ? Pathetic?..maybe

 

[Kwibus]

Re: Re:

Maybe it was pathetic from Reda as well to attack Nibali while he had a mechanical?

No, thats part of racing...toying with yout oponent by pretending to have an issue with your shoe is not.

I also think that's part of racing. Both are legit imo

 

[Netserk]

Everything that isn't against the rules is legit.

 

[franic]

Re: Re:

Pathetic? I think it's clever. If a rider takes the bait then it's a very smart move.

I dont know, his oponnent was a third tier and Nibali pretended to make mistake with that shoe, so yea, it looks pathetic to me...but its my opinion (and Im biased)

Nothing pathetic about using race smarts. I guess next stop is that counter-attacking is pathetic as well

It's just pathetic to toy with your opponent like that, if you're stronger just finish it off.

Has someone of you have ever tried to go cycling???

He was wearing a pair of red S-Works shoes which I have tried in the past. It happens quite often that after a while the shoe feels slack and the rider has to turn the wheel to have a tighter feeling before the climb.
Nothing pathetic to me.

 

[ILovecycling]

Re: Re:

The expected, most likely outcome happened thus we learned almost nothing we didn't already know. Nibali remains the least likely of the Big 4 to win the Tour.

That said, he will likely reach his 2014 form, meaning the others cannot afford to get outmaneuvered like last year over the cobbles, because with that sort of time gap, he's the clear fav

Disagree with the bolded part of your post, because I believe that your second paragraph is true . The other 3 are unimaginative, will attack on the last climb of a MTF, and that's about it. He has a lot of opportunities to do what he did last year. He's the Vino option after all .

Yeah, especially Contador is predictable as english weather

 

[meat puppet]

So enzo wins a race and what follows is passionate whining disguised into a debate whether the winning move was by the books.

Someone said before that come july his veins will have veins. Indeed. Hope nibali scorches the first week. Boring mtf sprints are very meh

 

[Jspear]

Re:

So enzo wins a race and what follows is passionate whining disguised into a debate whether the winning move was by the books.

Someone said before that come july his veins will have veins. Indeed. Hope nibali scorches the first week. Boring mtf sprints are very meh

Yep he'll definitely provide fun in the first half. Don't worry about the mountains. If at least three of the big four are there in the final week it will be very entertaining!

 

[Gigs_98]

Re: Re:

The expected, most likely outcome happened thus we learned almost nothing we didn't already know. Nibali remains the least likely of the Big 4 to win the Tour.

That said, he will likely reach his 2014 form, meaning the others cannot afford to get outmaneuvered like last year over the cobbles, because with that sort of time gap, he's the clear fav

Disagree with the bolded part of your post, because I believe that your second paragraph is true . The other 3 are unimaginative, will attack on the last climb of a MTF, and that's about it. He has a lot of opportunities to do what he did last year. He's the Vino option after all .

Yeah, especially Contador is predictable as english weather

He isnt predictable at all but nibali is still better on cobbles and descents which means that he can get time on his rivals in these kind of situations, which isn't the case for AC

 

[ILovecycling]

Re: Re:

The expected, most likely outcome happened thus we learned almost nothing we didn't already know. Nibali remains the least likely of the Big 4 to win the Tour.

That said, he will likely reach his 2014 form, meaning the others cannot afford to get outmaneuvered like last year over the cobbles, because with that sort of time gap, he's the clear fav

Disagree with the bolded part of your post, because I believe that your second paragraph is true . The other 3 are unimaginative, will attack on the last climb of a MTF, and that's about it. He has a lot of opportunities to do what he did last year. He's the Vino option after all .

Yeah, especially Contador is predictable as english weather

He isnt predictable at all but nibali is still better on cobbles and descents which means that he can get time on his rivals in these kind of situations, which isn't the case for AC

yep, he can attack in those 'non-GC' stages, otoh Contador can attack on all stages, so...

 

[bassano]

Re: Re:

yep, he can attack in those 'non-GC' stages, otoh Contador can attack on all stages, so...

Just stop be so obsessed, you wrote just enough crap here
I like contador a lot and it is fun to watch him nobody is denying that and you are right that he is quite unpredictable as Nibali but reading some posts of Alberto fans here just disgust me

 

[LaFlorecita]

 

[Pippo_San]

By using Dr. Ferrari’s formula:

Froome 5.96 W/kg on 5 major climbs in 2013 Tour.
Nibali 5.99 W/kg on 5 major climbs in 2014 Tour.

Average duration of 5 climbs: 35 min (both 2013 and 2014)


CARNAGE TIME.

 

[Rollthedice]

13h13 hours ago
lapreuvepar21 ‏@lapreuvepar21
Nibali at Superga: 15min09s (4.9 km 223 to 670) 438 watts étalon, ~ 6.35 w / kg. Short climb with heat. Not exceptional but on track

 

[cineteq]

Re: Nibali discussion thread

Lo Squalo is ready to destroy the TdF field, once again

 

[mihhint]

Fun bit about Nibali from Kessiakoff:

Looking back, he has many memories about the sport. One of those relates to Vincenzo Nibali and his victory in the 2013 Giro d’Italia; the Italian had won stage 18 but, upon learning that the following day’s mountain race over the Stelvio to Martell was cancelled due to snow, was deeply upset.

This contrasted with the eight other Astana riders, who were delighted with the unexpected rest day plus not having the stress of defending the Maglia Rosa.

“It felt like Vincenzo could have started crying,” Kessiakoff said.

“I asked, ‘aren’t you happy, it would have been so hard and it is much better that we get the day’s rest?’ ‘No,’ he said, ‘now people are going to say that I won only because they cancelled the queen stage. Now I won’t get the change to show my fellow countrymen how strong I am and the fact that I am the best.”

Nibali was able to prove his point by winning the following stage to Tre Cime di Lavaredo, but the story shows how driven the Italian is.

Because of that, Kessiakoff wasn’t hugely surprised when he won the 2014 Tour de France. He acknowledges that Alberto Contador and Chris Froome were missing, having crashed out, but lauds the result.

http://cyclingtips.com.au/2015/06/kessiakoff-on-astanas-pressurising-of-riders-teams-licence-woes-nibalis-giro-panache-frustration-and-an-improving-sport/

 

[whittashau]

The recent cyclingnews article seems to suggest that Nibbles and his usual room-mate(Vanotti) might have had a bit of a falling out. Perhaps that's why Vanotti isn't riding the Tour?

 

[nuvolablu]

Re:

The recent cyclingnews article seems to suggest that Nibbles and his usual room-mate(Vanotti) might have had a bit of a falling out. Perhaps that's why Vanotti isn't riding the Tour?

Same story as Agnoli.
The guy's been told by Astana he's not good enough to make the team at the Tour, Nibali try to defend his place unsuccessfully, Vanotti gets angry with Nibali an decide to not help him at the nationals, Nibali gets angry with Vanotti...
Just rumours but seems the most plausible story.

First time since Vuelta 2011 he start without Vanotti

 

[Rollthedice]

Re:

The recent cyclingnews article seems to suggest that Nibbles and his usual room-mate(Vanotti) might have had a bit of a falling out. Perhaps that's why Vanotti isn't riding the Tour?

Looks like it. Vanotti was/is his faithful lieutantant on the flats and a good friend. Astana had the Tour team more or less decided long time ago and their prep was done during the year with this goal. Vanotti was in the plans and suddenly he is dropped making room for Kangert.

 

[whittashau]

I think sometimes consistency, and comfortability is more important than talent. I'm guessing the last position came down to Gruzdev vs Vanotti, and the Astana management probably felt it was important to have a Kazakh rider on the team

 

[cineteq]

Re:

You missed the most important part:

“Vincenzo won the Tour fair and square because he needed to be in the right position and avoid the crashes; he showed that he executed that perfectly.

Thanks for sharing

Fun bit about Nibali from Kessiakoff:

http://cyclingtips.com.au/2015/06/kessiakoff-on-astanas-pressurising-of-riders-teams-licence-woes-nibalis-giro-panache-frustration-and-an-improving-sport/

 

[mihhint]

Re: Re:

The recent cyclingnews article seems to suggest that Nibbles and his usual room-mate(Vanotti) might have had a bit of a falling out. Perhaps that's why Vanotti isn't riding the Tour?

Looks like it. Vanotti was/is his faithful lieutantant on the flats and a good friend. Astana had the Tour team more or less decided long time ago and their prep was done during the year with this goal. Vanotti was in the plans and suddenly he is dropped making room for Kangert.

I think sometimes consistency, and comfortability is more important than talent. I'm guessing the last position came down to Gruzdev vs Vanotti, and the Astana management probably felt it was important to have a Kazakh rider on the team

They prepped and promised tour spot for 10 riders, but nobody got injured, so somebody had to get blindsided.
I guess in the end they just looked at training data and cut the weakest link. First Agnoli, now Vanotti, I'm sure Nibali not too happy that his best friends don't make the cut for Astana's stacked GT teams.

 

[Carols]

I've been off line on vacation for 15 days. I return to find Nibs is in the Italian Champions jersey again, his first win of the year and seems to be taking his build up for Le Tour almost exactly as last year. Hopefully he is will be Formidable . He has the nous, courage and panache to try anything, anytime! Take it to all of them Vincenzo and may the best man win!!

 

[ciranda]

Re:

I think sometimes consistency, and comfortability is more important than talent. I'm guessing the last position came down to Gruzdev vs Vanotti, and the Astana management probably felt it was important to have a Kazakh rider on the team

Gruzdev was incredibly good last year.

 

[webbie146]

Re:

Yet Nibali was on edge on Friday as he spoke to the media. He seemed angry about something and unsure of his form for the national championships and more worryingly for the Tour de France. He is nick-named ‘Lo Squalo di Messina’ – the Shark from Messina, and seemed to be fighting with a prey, reacting with violent swishes of his tail.

“It’s hasn’t been easy for me this year,” he said, with an unusual vein of anger in his voice. “At every race since I ridden since the Tour, everybody has always wanted a piece of me and everybody has always expected me to win. That put a lot of weight on me shoulders and I felt it. This season has been difficult so far, with lots of highs and lows but no real great moments.”

“I had a lot of distractions during the winter, I felt I never recovered from 2014 both physically and mentally. In the past I’ve had far better winters, rested up more and enjoyed a more relaxing holiday, then work on my base fitness in the gym and on the road. I tried to follow my usual training programme but never had a decent peak of form to be able to win something or even produce what I consider a satisfying ride.”

“I’m not sure of my form for the Tour de France if I’m totally honest. I came out of the Dauphine pretty well and then did a camp in the mountains, as everyone could see. I’ve tried to work hard and I think I’ve got finally reached a good level but I’m not sure…”

Truth or he is just playing game?

We will see soon enough, I hope he's ready.