Teams & Riders Vincenzo Nibali discussion thread

[SafeBet]

They climbed it very slow in 2010 (13'55"). I'm pretty sure he'll be faster than then, problem is the top guys could under 13 minutes.

 

[bambino]

I have a feeling that this final climb suits Nibali much better than Stage 5 finish... first of all it is longer with close to 5km, it is more steadier with lot of 10-13% where he should have better chance to stay with punchier riders. The really steep section (+15%) is relatively short (around 800m or so) and comes after more than 2km in around 10% so Moscon might not be in help there. And of course the descent to finish. This reminds a lot the Stage 6 ultimate climb without the first 3-4km which were relatively gentle there. And the steep section is much shorter here.

But of course he needs to have legs to execute, but he has a fair chance to limit the losses to max 10-20 sec.

 

[roundabout]

Re:

I have a feeling that this final climb suits Nibali much better than Stage 5 finish... first of all it is longer with close to 5km, it is more steadier with lot of 10-13% where he should have better chance to stay with punchier riders. The really steep section (+15%) is relatively short (around 800m or so) and comes after more than 2km in around 10% so Moscon might not be in help there. And of course the descent to finish. This reminds a lot the Stage 6 ultimate climb without the first 3-4km which were relatively gentle there. And the steep section is much shorter here.

But of course he needs to have legs to execute, but he has a fair chance to limit the losses to max 10-20 sec.

The descent is pretty much straight down

 

[Eclipse]

That was not too bad today. He is close. It's an outside shot but he's still got a shot

 

[SafeBet]

I'll need to check back on the times, but I think he was faster than in 2010 today. Shape is on the rise, podium is reachable.

 

[skippo12]

Great performance today: Only lost 17s too Froome and was the 3rd last to get dropped. One more murito to go and he is still within 1 minute in the GC. He seems to be improving and even more important his team is getting better as well.

 

[El Pistolero]

Re:

I'll need to check back on the times, but I think he was faster than in 2010 today. Shape is on the rise, podium is reachable.

Podium is meaningless.

 

[Matteo.]

Re:

Great performance today: Only lost 17s too Froome and was the 3rd last to get dropped. One more murito to go and he is still within 1 minute in the GC. He seems to be improving and even more important his team is getting better as well.

Great it's a big word. Anyway he did a decent job, lpoks like he's improving.

 

[bob.a.feet]

He did well today considering this climb doesn't suit him. His form is surely improving and he is probably going to be one of the strongest climbers when the race hits the real mountains. When you factor in the time Chaves will lose in the TT and the fact that Contador is 3 mins down, Nibali should be the biggest threat to Froome.

 

[portugal11]

He was better than I thought. In portugal, it will rain on tuesday and wednesday so spain could have rain too. Perfect time to attack froome

 

[Climbing]

Re:

He did well today considering this climb doesn't suit him. His form is surely improving and he is probably going to be one of the strongest climbers when the race hits the real mountains. When you factor in the time Chaves will lose in the TT and the fact that Contador is 3 mins down, Nibali should be the biggest threat to Froome.

I agree with this, the trend and the situation was kind of expected by most.
It remains to be seen if Froome fades, that would complete Slongo plans, otherwise podium looks certainly possible as a minimum.
But this Vuelta is very hard, everything can happen, isn't that why we love this GC so much?
Unpredictable !

 

[bob.a.feet]

Re: Re:

He did well today considering this climb doesn't suit him. His form is surely improving and he is probably going to be one of the strongest climbers when the race hits the real mountains. When you factor in the time Chaves will lose in the TT and the fact that Contador is 3 mins down, Nibali should be the biggest threat to Froome.

I agree with this, the trend and the situation was kind of expected by most.
It remains to be seen if Froome fades, that would complete Slongo plans, otherwise podium looks certainly possible as a minimum.
But this Vuelta is very hard, everything can happen, isn't that why we love this GC so much?
Unpredictable !

Yeah with TT the very least he can expect is the podium. But if his form continues to improve then he must know that he can win.

 

[Climbing]

Can't find where to watch the replay yet, couldn't follow closely, it appeared to me that he was the last to get dropped by Froome and Contador, on the last acceleration from Dawg.
Edit: Anyway this spanish camera work is terrible...

 

[Red Rick]

He definitely seemed a bit better. If he reaches top form quickly enough he should also limit the damage in the ITT. I think a huge lot depends on the stage over the Sierra Nevada.

 

[Ivan_Basso_77]

Definitely seemed better than the final from three days ago. Still, I fear he might lose another 20-30 seconds tomorrow... At least Bahrain seems to be improving in general, especially Delfino, since he pulled at the beginning of the climb.

 

[Jagartrott]

Encouraging that he was as strong as or stronger than guys that should be better on these steep short climbs such as Chavez and Yatesx2. He didn't crack. Of course, he will need to start taking back time, but I cannot imagine Froome will be as strong relative to Nibali than he is now towards the end of the Vuelta.

 

[Carols]

Never count out The Shark, there is plenty of bite in him yet. But he needs to gain some time back especially with a long TT looming. His form is coming and an alliance with Alberto could work for both of them

 

[Brullnux]

A lot better than I feared. He is visibly improving which bodes well, and was the last one dropped today (apart from the mighty Contador). Trying to follow as much as possible was the right call today rather than going tempo because it was still a short climb and Froome only really started pushing in the second half of the climb. Hopefully he'll lose a similar amount of time tomorrow, no more than 30 (at most), hopefully less than 15

 

[Rollthedice]

Given the circumstances, very good performance. Tomorrow will be harder, hopefully he'll hang on. I'm starting to think he's stronger than in Giro at this point and the strategy is to get better as the race progresses. I'm quite confident.

 

[bambino]

He did exactly what I predicted before the stage.

Tomorrow is really crucial, Bahrain needs to have the team well place to hit that Murito as the steepest section is in the 1st km. If he can stay with Froome/Berto that first hit, there will be a chance that he won't get dropped at all, or less than 10 sec.

The goal has to be that the deficit stays under minute to Froome after Muritos.

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

He did exactly what I predicted before the stage.

Tomorrow is really crucial, Bahrain needs to have the team well place to hit that Murito as the steepest section is in the 1st km. If he can stay with Froome/Berto that first hit, there will be a chance that he wont't get dropped at all, or less than 10 sec.

The goal has to be that the deficit stays under minute to Froome after Muritos.

Froome's not gonna go on the first hit. Froome will do as he did the last time they did Cumbre del Sol. I'd say sit on Froome's wheel all the way up to when Froome takes off and then limit the damage.

 

[Rollthedice]

Re: Re:

He did exactly what I predicted before the stage.

Tomorrow is really crucial, Bahrain needs to have the team well place to hit that Murito as the steepest section is in the 1st km. If he can stay with Froome/Berto that first hit, there will be a chance that he wont't get dropped at all, or less than 10 sec.

The goal has to be that the deficit stays under minute to Froome after Muritos.

Froome's not gonna go on the first hit. Froome will do as he did the last time they did Cumbre del Sol. I'd say sit on Froome's wheel all the way up to when Froome takes off and then limit the damage.

Might not be too smart if Froome will deploy the atomic yoyo.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

He did exactly what I predicted before the stage.

Tomorrow is really crucial, Bahrain needs to have the team well place to hit that Murito as the steepest section is in the 1st km. If he can stay with Froome/Berto that first hit, there will be a chance that he wont't get dropped at all, or less than 10 sec.

The goal has to be that the deficit stays under minute to Froome after Muritos.

Froome's not gonna go on the first hit. Froome will do as he did the last time they did Cumbre del Sol. I'd say sit on Froome's wheel all the way up to when Froome takes off and then limit the damage.

Might not be too smart if Froome will deploy the atomic yoyo.

Froome yoyo's on the power meter. He only does it when the peloton is going above an optimal speed. You won't blow up if you sit on him until he takes off.

 

[rick james]

Re: Re:

He did exactly what I predicted before the stage.

Tomorrow is really crucial, Bahrain needs to have the team well place to hit that Murito as the steepest section is in the 1st km. If he can stay with Froome/Berto that first hit, there will be a chance that he wont't get dropped at all, or less than 10 sec.

The goal has to be that the deficit stays under minute to Froome after Muritos.

Froome's not gonna go on the first hit. Froome will do as he did the last time they did Cumbre del Sol. I'd say sit on Froome's wheel all the way up to when Froome takes off and then limit the damage.

you'd think they would have learned that by now

 

[Climbing]

You would think he would have learned how to ride without watching the power meter... :lol: