Teams & Riders Vincenzo Nibali discussion thread

[FCKAC]

Re:

Goodbye Tour De France? I say yes unless he can get back the time on the cobbles.

Nah, AC will fade. So only Froom is the biggest winner. Astana can pull back some time in TTT and possibly on cobble. But today, Astana team wise, the performance is horrible. I will reserve my judgement after the cobble and TTT.

 

[infeXio]

Re: Re:

Froome and Quintana will lose time on the cobbles for sure. Not sure about Contador, but he will probably have a bad day somewhere in the 3rd week.

Also, Astana will boss the TTT and have the strongest mountain train.

I think everyone says astana has such a strong team, only because of this years giro. The point is that astana wasn't incredibly strong, I think that the other teams were pretty weak. Astana definitely has a strong team but it isn't that much better than the other big gc teams

I agree. Tinkov and Sky were very ordinary in the Giro but still the climbers they had in the Giro are stronger than the Tour team. This team has been based more around the TTT and other teams have done the same. On the final climb it's usually every man for himself anyway so they strengthen the TTT side of things instead. Scarponi is pretty hit and miss these days. With the top four being pretty evenly matched on paper, Nibali is probably hoping to make gains in the TTT and maybe the cobbled stage while Sky have not been doing very good TTTs of late. and Froome can't afford to lose much time on the cobbled stage and many see it as a difficult stage for him. TJVG might also make time in the TTT as the BMC squad looks pretty strong. Pinot and Contador could also lose time in the TTT. Movistar seem to have a pretty strong squad for Quintana.

I think Nibali would be more than happy with the opening stage result in reference to his rivals. It may not be much but it all counts especially if no one rider dominates in the mountains. I think bonuses are going to be very important this year as the race is expected to be close unlike the last Giro and previous Tour. But for the top four riders none of them have a good sprint so it does not really advantage any one of them but they will be hoping to drop Rodriguez and Valverde as they are the obvious riders to pick up bonuses if they can hang on. But I think both of those riders will be found out on the most difficult stages. Breakaways will probably also play a part in the time bonus situation and some of the second tier GC riders might get a bit more daring than usual.

Bonus sec is only for the first 8 stages, dropping purito and piti there is out of the question.

http://www.letour.fr/le-tour/2015/us/sporting-stakes-rules.html

There are bonus seconds on all stages bar yesterday's time trial and the TTT. The official rulebook has been changed.

 

[Brullnux]

Re:

Goodbye Tour De France? I say yes unless he can get back the time on the cobbles.

Maybe. But it's only 1:17 down on Froome, 1:05 down on Contador. You were all saying that Contador wasn't out of it last year but he was 2:37 down on Nibali. On the cobbles he will probably make up some time on Froome, maybe not a minute but 30 seconds. Then Nibali will be forced to attack, and that will be nice

 

[whittashau]

I think Astana's biggest problem is that half the team were already caught behind before the final split happened. Then Nibs was left with Birdsong who did *** all, so it was left to Taarame, Scarponi, Westra and Kangert to try to help him when the 2nd and third group joined together, but their powerhouses in Gruzdev and Boom were in the group behind them.

 

[Gigs_98]

Re: Nibali discussion thread

now he will go crazy on the cobbles

 

[FCKAC]

Re: Nibali discussion thread

now he will go crazy on the cobbles

The revenge might be as early as tomorrow. Even today showed him in a very decent condition.

 

[whittashau]

I think Astana's biggest problem is that half the team were already caught behind before the final split happened. Then Nibs was left with Birdsong who did *** all, so it was left to Taarame, Scarponi, Westra and Kangert to try to help him when the 2nd and third group joined together, but their powerhouses in Gruzdev and Boom were in the group behind them.

 

[PremierAndrew]

Re:

I think Astana's biggest problem is that half the team were already caught behind before the final split happened. Then Nibs was left with Birdsong who did **** all, so it was left to Taarame, Scarponi, Westra and Kangert to try to help him when the 2nd and third group joined together, but their powerhouses in Gruzdev and Boom were in the group behind them.

Such a good post, you had to repeat it 13 mins later

 

[whittashau]

So he hit the deck with Talansky? Well that serves him right for being anywhere near Talansky I guess

 

[FCKAC]

Re:

So he hit the deck with Talansky? Well that serves him right for being anywhere near Talansky I guess

Who? Nibali?

 

[whittashau]

According to Jonathan Vaughters Talansky crashed with Nibali

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Nibali will have to go berserk on tuesday

 

[Miburo]

Re:

Nibali will have to go berserk on tuesday

He still has other options though. Many descents are up there. And nibali might do something crazy later on but yes now he's forced to really go hard on the cobbles.

Can't play with froome w/kg

 

[capuldemetal]

I have my doubts about tuesday's stage.It will be dry.So the last years' gaps might be just a dream for him

 

[FCKAC]

Re:

According to Jonathan Vaughters Talansky crashed with Nibali

that is too bad, because usually he would make the split.

 

[ILovecycling]

Re:

According to Jonathan Vaughters Talansky crashed with Nibali

other sources say Bouhanni held him up on a roundabout, I would rather believe them than Vaughters

 

[del1962]

I felt Nibali panicked a bit and did not use his head, trying to pull the 2nd group on his own, his group should have waited for the Movistar group earlier and combined forces

 

[Carols]

Bad breaks today for the Shark, but not all is lost. Maybe we'll find out how he got dropped; held up by a crash or crashed with Talansky. Whatever caused it, he showed he was very strong and there are opportunities for him to ride aggressively. His odds of winning are lower now but not gone, and there are 2 other spots on the podium if he can't make the top step.

 

[Carols]

Re:

I felt Nibali panicked a bit and did not use his head, trying to pull the 2nd group on his own, his group should have waited for the Movistar group earlier and combined forces

Adrenalin surged as he watched his two big rivals ride away! I can't see that he gained anything from the 2nd group joining though, they just lost more time. Big Astana Fail, especially Birdsong

 

[del1962]

Re: Re:

I felt Nibali panicked a bit and did not use his head, trying to pull the 2nd group on his own, his group should have waited for the Movistar group earlier and combined forces

Adrenalin surged as he watched his two big rivals ride away! I can't see that he gained anything from the 2nd group joining though, they just lost more time. Big Astana Fail, especially Birdsong

2nd group would have the combined strength of Movistar and Astana plus some others (half the Astana riders where already in there)

 

[whittashau]

According to the man himself he didn't crash.

 

[Eclipse]

Re:

According to the man himself he didn't crash.

The talk I heard was the he didn't crash but someone went down in front of him causing the split?

 

[cineteq]

Re: Nibali discussion thread

Don't panic, lo squalo è tranquillo...

 

[Rollthedice]

He said Adam Hansen fell, that's when he was left behind, didn't understand what happened but stayed on his bike less than 50 k to finish. That is where he lost contact. Things like these happen, bad luck. Legs are good.

 

[Carols]

Re:

He said Adam Hansen fell, that's when he was left behind, didn't understand what happened but stayed on his bike less than 50 k to finish. That is where he lost contact. Things like these happen, bad luck. Legs are good.

Was this on tv interview or in print? I'm still trying to find out how he lost contact. He looked very strong, it's not over. But Astana was a big fail .