Teams & Riders Vincenzo Nibali discussion thread

[Broccolidwarf]

Re: Re:

I read elsewhere that Vino has decided Fuglsang is Astana's leader for the remainder of the race.

I can confirm this. They are gunning for a top 5 now with Fuglsang

Well that was said by Vino, right after Nibali got across the finish line, in the heat of the moment - top 5 for Fuglsang is not realistic - top 10 maybe.... especially because he has spent a lot of energy helping Nibs in the first week.

The only way for him to reach top 5, is for him to go og the first mountain tomorrow, while he is still far out of the GC, because tomorrow the other teams will let him go, especially if it is early.

But if he sits with the favorites tomorrow and then try to gain time on a later stage, they will not let him go, because by then he will have proven he can hack it.

Also, Fuglsang needs to do a "legendary" ride anyway, if he wants to take the next step up the ladder, and stop being a glorified waterboy.

 

[Carols]

Re: Nibali discussion thread

Oh my, hopefully better days ahead Shark!

“I don’t know myself. It’s useless for me to stand here now and speculate on what went wrong. It was a day like that, I have to accept it and analyse it,” he said. “Physically I’m well but I couldn’t give any more today. I don’t even feel related to the Nibali of last year.”

 

[movingtarget]

The cracks were showing on earlier stages. Not surprised but he seemed to be out of sorts since losing time early in the race. How much of this is due to better opposition or his form not being as good as last year is hard to say. maybe a bit of both.

 

[cellardoor]

He did sound very unsure about his form leading into the race and whilst we dismissed it as obfuscation, it seems he was genuine. Perhaps he needs the Vuelta in his legs from the previous season to give him the groundwork going into the winter. I know it sounds a bit smug to say this now, but I hope he reassesses the one big superpeak approach and goes back to being the old Nibali a bit.

 

[SafeBet]

Re:

The cracks were showing on earlier stages. Not surprised but he seemed to be out of sorts since losing time early in the race. How much of this is due to better opposition or his form not being as good as last year is hard to say. maybe a bit of both.

It'd be a case of better opposition if he finished with Quintana.

I'll repeat myself, despite the common claim of Nibali always having a bad day in a GT, you'd have to dig deep to find such a collpase in his career as a GT rider.

 

[fungusbear]

Re: Nibali discussion thread

Real shame about yesterday- I always have liked him as a rider. I thought that his opening TT and cobbles performance was a sign he was in a great form, and the mud de Bretagne was just bad positioning

Anyway be interesting to see what he does. Does he go crazy and attack from the gun today and try and get bad into GC? Or most likely will he lose time and go for stage wins later on in the race?

 

[JimPanzen]

The most disappointing thing was Nibalis sate of mind during yesterdays ascent. He was dropped, then acted completely sluggish not even following the wheels of his teammates that dropped back for him. I don't know exactly at which point Fuglsang was given the green light, but I that was just a wast of time for him.

I know it must suck for a defending TdF champion to be dropped like this, but that was just f***** up.

 

[No_Balls]

Re:

What's Nibalis future with Astana? From what i can read:

“This day was a catastrophe. Nibali couldn’t even keep the pace with Fuglsang, which I had expected him to,” a clearly disappointed Alexandre Vinokourov said to Gazzetta dello Sport immediately after the stage. “We gave the green light to Jakob to go ahead in the classification. Vincenzo needs a good mechanic because something is broken in his head.

He is in good shape, so why not? We try of course to do the best with Jacob now,” said Vinokourov.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/jakob-fuglsang-to-lead-astana-at-tour-de-france-after-nibali-cracks

It seems as if Vincenzo have fallen out with Vino. This act of changing leadership, to a leader that is worse in the classification then the other, seems a bit premature if it not is an symbolic act of punishment. Surely, this doesnt help Nibali one bit given the mental pressure he already had.

 

[DBotero]

Re: Nibali discussion thread

Can we start talking about the curse of the defending Tour champion,Wiggins wasn't allowed to,Froome crashed out,Nibali cracked on the first mountain stage.Maybe the pressure is just too big these days.But is looking really bad for Nibali,Astana giving up on him in the middle of the race

 

[BeagRigh]

Giro, LBL, Vuelta, WC quadruple next year!

Calling it now...

 

[SafeBet]

Re:

Giro, LBL, Vuelta, WC quadruple next year!

Calling it now...

I doubt it.

 

[BeagRigh]

Re: Re:

Giro, LBL, Vuelta, WC quadruple next year!

Calling it now...

I doubt it.

So to I but trying to add some positivity to the thread!

I do hope this makes him abandon the "super-peak" for the tour idea and go back old Nibali though. Actually, hope he ride Giro/Vuelta next year too.

 

[46&twoWheels]

He should find a new team,a new environment, a new boss. He needs fresh air away from Astana.
I'm not saying that once out he will soon regain his form,but at least he would find new motivations and a new mental attitude

 

[sir fly]

I wonder if he'll abandon at a point.
The defending champion should be present all the way to the Paris, imo.

 

[SafeBet]

Re: Re:

So to I but trying to add some positivity to the thread!

Even super peak Nibbles wuold have close to zero chance to win a WC in Qatar.

I wonder if he'll abandon at a point.
The defending champion should be present all the way to the Paris, imo.

Absolutely. It'd be a huge disappointment if he drops out, unless he's sick.

 

[Marco Pantani]

I wonder what went wrong or if he's ill. Everything seemed to go as planned until the championships.

 

[BeagRigh]

Re: Re:

So to I but trying to add some positivity to the thread!

Even super peak Nibbles wuold have close to zero chance to win a WC in Qatar.

Doh, I 'd forgotten the WC was Qatar, I was mixing it up with the Olympics!

 

[Jelantik]

Re: Nibali discussion thread

Just like that.. Nibali got sacked. Fuglsang now the leader. Ow well.. finally it's confirm, Nibali can't replicate the same luck and style of his training. Next year he will finally race all season. Yeah. Purely rubbish to just targeting the tour. He is young.. plenty of time to crack another TDF.

 

[Jelantik]

Re:

I wonder if he'll abandon at a point.
The defending champion should be present all the way to the Paris, imo.

oh gosh.. please don't. He is too proud for that. Going home with the tail between his leg because he got no chance of winning? I don't think he wants that narrative to follow his career. He will loose, then loose like a man. Take it by the chin and makes a reason to train harder next year.

 

[SeriousSam]

Re: Nibali discussion thread

Vincenzo needs a good mechanic because something is broken in his head.

That's not the nicest thing I've ever heard a DS say about one of his riders.

 

[Netserk]

I hope he'll win the Giro and the Olympic Road Race next year.

 

[hfer07]

Is Nibbs planning to leave Astana "by intentionally fail at the Tour"?

Is he perhaps spooky because of Reda's + at the Nationals?

 

[Eclipse]

Today was like: "I can do it, I can do it, I'm feeling bet- oh god I'm dying on a cat 3"

 

[DBotero]

Re: Nibali discussion thread

Strange day:he climbs Col d'Aspin and Tourmalet no problem,than he blows on a freaking 3rd category climb.Out of top 10

 

[Walkman]

Re: Nibali discussion thread

Strange day:he climbs Col d'Aspin and Tourmalet no problem,than he blows on a freaking 3rd category climb.Out of top 10

Not that strange really. Fatigue accumulates during a stage like todays. Weird to see him pulling up the Tourmalet though, maybe gel felt great there and then?