Teams & Riders Vincenzo Nibali discussion thread

[BigMac]

Re:

Honestly surprised.

I think Nibali has come to a point of his career where he is not willing to risk it all any more.
Or maybe yesterday fall behind Froome took its toll, mentally.

The point in his career is called Olympic Games.

 

[huge]

Re:

Why risk it with the olympics coming up? A medal at the olympics is huge compared to some random stage in a shitty tour...

That might have had a role as well. Thinking of yesterday's risk of a serious injury. But even a minor one. Don't forget that the Olympics Road Race is only 2 weeks away. Any injury now would mean goodbye to any hope of medal in Rio.

 

[huge]

Anyway. We can keep guessing for ever, but we'll never know the real reason.

 

[Rollthedice]

He lost the stage uphill, attacking on the descent in these conditions would have been madness considering his major goal. All in all a **** Tour from all points of view.

 

[SafeBet]

Re:

Anyway. We can keep guessing for ever, but we'll never know the real reason.

He said he was a bit scared after yesterdays crash.

 

[huge]

Re:

All in all a **** Tour from all points of view.

I don't understand those kind of comments.

Nibali came to the Tour with no ambitions at all. He has always said his only reason to ride it was to train for the Olympics. A stage win would have been a plus, had it come. Stating the his Tour was disappointing is non sense.
It's disappointing when you have a goal and you finish far from it. He didn't have goal, but for getting out of it in good form for Rio. Only he knows if managed to get where he was planning in that regard.

 

[Mr.White]

Really disappointing descent from Nibali. I'm aware that Olympics are big goal, and that he crashed yesterday, but this was just very disappointing

 

[jalep]

Re:

Disappointing

I feel it too.
He's tamer and more conscious of risk. But I'm not sure if that's a permanent condition or a passing phase.
Liquigas Nibali is in there somewhere.

 

[huge]

Re: Re:

Anyway. We can keep guessing for ever, but we'll never know the real reason.

He said he was a bit scared after yesterdays crash.

Yes. I read the article on La Gazzetta dello Sport and he said that after yesterday he felt "blocked" on that last descent and he was already quite nervous during the previous descents.

He also said that he is feeling pretty good, formwise and he's looking forward to Rio.

 

[jsem94]

He'll find the motivation to go all out and get into the groove in Rio for sure. He tested himself on the ascent and showed that he's getting into some good form now, and not risking another crash was wise, no point. Another Tour stage doesn't matter much in the grand scheme of things when he's already won plenty of GT stages and GTs overall, while the Olympic RR might be a once in a lifetime opportunity.

 

[May0maniac]

Re: Re:

Disappointing

I feel it too.
He's tamer and more conscious of risk. But I'm not sure if that's a permanent condition or a passing phase.
Liquigas Nibali is in there somewhere.

No surprise, who takes risk when you crash the day before?
About Liquigas, when Kreuziger arrived he asked the RAI reporters if Nibali had won and was pretty disappointed when he found out that he only arrived 3rd.
His form is getting better and he should be ready for Rio.

 

[Jagartrott]

Re:

Really disappointing descent from Nibali. I'm aware that Olympics are big goal, and that he crashed yesterday, but this was just very disappointing

He is a human being.

 

[CheckMyPecs]

Amazing Astana fail today. On both fronts.

 

[Brullnux]

Good ride yesterday, showed to be in decent form but took no risks for the stage win, which in the long run is the right thing to do. Tour was OK, showed good signs in the two TTs and the Arcalis and Finhaut Emosson too while helping Aru, bad ones in the first week but I don't mind. He should be fine for the Olympics, I feel.

 

[Pippo_San]

Honestly as a fan I wasn't really happy with Vince yesterday.
I mean he clearly wants Rio, that's his main goal. I'm totally 100% behind this idea.
But was it really necessary to be so much at the front during this Tour and clearly spending a lot of energies?
Ok he probably wanted to put a mark on this Tour, so again I can be fine with that idea.
But you have the chance to win, being the best descender on the last descent of the penultimate stage, and you let such an opportunity slip?
Honestly it looked like to me he almost didn't even try!
So the final account says Nibbles consumed tons of energies to achieve...nothing!? I sincerely would've preferred him to be more covered during this Tour.

I felt disappointed gotta be honest.

 

[liamito]

Re:

Honestly as a fan I wasn't really happy with Vince yesterday.
I mean he clearly wants Rio, that's his main goal. I'm totally 100% behind this idea.
But was it really necessary to be so much at the front during this Tour and clearly spending a lot of energies?
Ok he probably wanted to put a mark on this Tour, so again I can be fine with that idea.
But you have the chance to win, being the best descender on the last descent of the penultimate stage, and you let such an opportunity slip?
Honestly it looked like to me he almost didn't even try!
So the final account says Nibbles consumed tons of energies to achieve...nothing!? I sincerely would've preferred him to be more covered during this Tour.

I felt disappointed gotta be honest.

You really believe that?

 

[whittashau]

Out of those three? Easily.

 

[IndianCyclist]

He just crashed on the previous stage and in the rain, he has crashed in previous GTs as well. Sunny and it would be a different scenario.

 

[Kokoso]

Re: Re:

About Liquigas, when Kreuziger arrived he asked the RAI reporters if Nibali had won and was pretty disappointed when he found out that he only arrived 3rd.

I miss Liquigas days. And Liquigas colours, nicest in peloton.

 

[liamito]

Re:

He just crashed on the previous stage and in the rain, he has crashed in previous GTs as well. Sunny and it would be a different scenario.

They might have finished together, but no way Nibali would have won this stage without dropping them uphill.

 

[dfromdub]

Re: Nibali discussion thread

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_OKRHsfy_w

I tried to make a literal translation of this, seeing how many people fall for the "propaganda" of Eurosport and others that always mis-translated what he says or took things out of context to make him look like huge ass***e in every interview.
Still it is not a literal translation, I ain't good enough for that.

Journalist: "Great Stage Vincenzo, when we saw you together with the other two riders at the top of the last climb we all thoght you got this in the bag"
Nibali: "Well, unfortunately that was not the case. Even in the previous descents of this stage, with these wet conditions, I was a little bit afraid. Perhaps yesterday's crash conditioned me a little bit and I did not feel like taking any risk. I could feel my bike slip and I got like a "mental block" and that's it... The other two guys were descending faster than me. Right now I am little disappointed about it because I saw what happened with Fabio, so a win would have been important for the team, but unfortunately it was not an easy day.
Both me and Fabio tried to interpret this tour in an offensive way, I looked for a stage win and he tried hard for the GC, but it had not been easy.

Journalist: "You catched Pantano & Alaphilippe and you dropped them. Then what happened, did you slow down or they pushed hard to get back on you?"
Nibali: "Well, we all rode really fast from the very beginning of the stage with an high average speed, we spent the whole day pushing and attacking and catching back people. In the final part of the stage, when I accelerated the energies were pretty even for everyone, I dropped them but they did a good job worked their way back to me. I tried to keep an high rhythm but it was not simple."

Journalist: "You tried until the last stage, you missed a victory but you are in good (improving) condition"
Nibali: "In this tour I tried many times to get in breakaway, yesterday we tried to control the race, I was trying to help Fabio and perhaps the stage win. Then I slipped and I damaged (bent) the gear system on my bike and so it went. Today it was different, we had a different tactic, both me and Fuglsang were supposed to get into the breakway and we managed to do that. It was not easy though, because in the first hour of the race we went really fast. Sagan was absolutely "unchained", he pushed a monstrous tempo and he did an amazing job in support of Kreuziger. And then after all this, the energies were pretty much leveled for everybody."

Journalist: "We saw a little bit of the old Liquigas in this breakaway: you, Sagan, Kreuziger... Kreuziger asked us if you won and then he was pretty disappointed"
Nibali: " In this Tour there's a lot of riders from the old Liquigas: Roman, Peter but also Caruso and more guys that did very good it's hard to name them all"

Journalist: "Vincenzo, how about the Olympics, how is your form? How do you feel?"
Nibali: "Well, I am good, in this third week I felt much better, my legs felt very good. It was not an easy Tour for me after the Giro and a start of the season that always gives me problems. Anyway now it is time for the Olympics, it will very hard, we'll try to be there like a real team and then we'll see how it goes."

 

[Billie]

Re: Re:

About Liquigas, when Kreuziger arrived he asked the RAI reporters if Nibali had won and was pretty disappointed when he found out that he only arrived 3rd.

I miss Liquigas days. And Liquigas colours, nicest in peloton.

indeed. Great team. Very well run also

 

[movingtarget]

Re:

Honestly as a fan I wasn't really happy with Vince yesterday.
I mean he clearly wants Rio, that's his main goal. I'm totally 100% behind this idea.
But was it really necessary to be so much at the front during this Tour and clearly spending a lot of energies?
Ok he probably wanted to put a mark on this Tour, so again I can be fine with that idea.
But you have the chance to win, being the best descender on the last descent of the penultimate stage, and you let such an opportunity slip?
Honestly it looked like to me he almost didn't even try!
So the final account says Nibbles consumed tons of energies to achieve...nothing!? I sincerely would've preferred him to be more covered during this Tour.

I felt disappointed gotta be honest.

It sounds like he expected to win the stage on the climb as he had no intention of taking risks on the descent with the Olympics coming up and that descent is a tricky one especially in the rain. The winner of the stage showed he is a great descender and Pantano has showed throughout the Tour that he is also a great descender. I thought it was odd for Nibali to attack on an important stage for Aru but Aru was not going to do any better even with Nibali beside him because he just collapsed on the day. Maybe they thought they had enough helpers for Aru anyway and let Nibali attack. For a guy who is getting ready for the Olympics and has already ridden the Giro he did not give himself an easy race which I thought was a bit odd even if he did some work for Aru, why go in so many breaks ?

 

[Carols]

Re: Nibali discussion thread

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_OKRHsfy_w

I tried to make a literal translation of this, seeing how many people fall for the "propaganda" of Eurosport and others that always mis-translated what he says or took things out of context to make him look like huge ******e in every interview.
Still it is not a literal translation, I ain't good enough for that.

Journalist: "Great Stage Vincenzo, when we saw you together with the other two riders at the top of the last climb we all thoght you got this in the bag"
Nibali: "Well, unfortunately that was not the case. Even in the previous descents of this stage, with these wet conditions, I was a little bit afraid. Perhaps yesterday's crash conditioned me a little bit and I did not feel like taking any risk. I could feel my bike slip and I got like a "mental block" and that's it... The other two guys were descending faster than me. Right now I am little disappointed about it because I saw what happened with Fabio, so a win would have been important for the team, but unfortunately it was not an easy day.
Both me and Fabio tried to interpret this tour in an offensive way, I looked for a stage win and he tried hard for the GC, but it had not been easy.

Journalist: "You catched Pantano & Alaphilippe and you dropped them. Then what happened, did you slow down or they pushed hard to get back on you?"
Nibali: "Well, we all rode really fast from the very beginning of the stage with an high average speed, we spent the whole day pushing and attacking and catching back people. In the final part of the stage, when I accelerated the energies were pretty even for everyone, I dropped them but they did a good job worked their way back to me. I tried to keep an high rhythm but it was not simple."

Journalist: "You tried until the last stage, you missed a victory but you are in good (improving) condition"
Nibali: "In this tour I tried many times to get in breakaway, yesterday we tried to control the race, I was trying to help Fabio and perhaps the stage win. Then I slipped and I damaged (bent) the gear system on my bike and so it went. Today it was different, we had a different tactic, both me and Fuglsang were supposed to get into the breakway and we managed to do that. It was not easy though, because in the first hour of the race we went really fast. Sagan was absolutely "unchained", he pushed a monstrous tempo and he did an amazing job in support of Kreuziger. And then after all this, the energies were pretty much leveled for everybody."

Journalist: "We saw a little bit of the old Liquigas in this breakaway: you, Sagan, Kreuziger... Kreuziger asked us if you won and then he was pretty disappointed"
Nibali: " In this Tour there's a lot of riders from the old Liquigas: Roman, Peter but also Caruso and more guys that did very good it's hard to name them all"

Journalist: "Vincenzo, how about the Olympics, how is your form? How do you feel?"
Nibali: "Well, I am good, in this third week I felt much better, my legs felt very good. It was not an easy Tour for me after the Giro and a start of the season that always gives me problems. Anyway now it is time for the Olympics, it will very hard, we'll try to be there like a real team and then we'll see how it goes."

Thanks for the translation. Onward to Rio Vincenzo!

 

[filipepc]

He is my favorite to Rio, i hope he can do it.