Teams & Riders Vincenzo Nibali discussion thread

[Blanco]

I have a feeling he'll attack on the first climb today...

 

[Rollthedice]

Re:

any effective ambush always relies on a strong team which is a real issue. As to chaves allegedly weaking in risoul andlombarda, I disagree. Nibs made the whole field crack with that imperious riding. sadly, that was the only flashback of glorious 2014 tour form since then.

So it's time for another flashback tomorrow, the cobblestone rainy muddy stage in 2014 now uphill on rainy muddy Angliru.

 

[Bardamu]

Re:

I have a feeling he'll attack on the first climb today...

We can only dream. Nibali, Contador,Kelderman Zakarin and Astana to attack from the beginning!

 

[Sestriere]

There is practically no flat between the three climbs tomorrow, the descends are not easy, particularly in the rain. And the climbs are all steep mostly around 10% so the train won't be as effective as in Sierra Nevada for example. It remains to be seen, but there are signs that Froome struggles genuinely in the wet and cold. The train cannot go faster than it's conductor. But Nibali cannot rely on Froome cracking badly and losing 1:40 min within 7 km...
I'd say with two team mates in the break away there is a good chance of success for a long range attack from the first or second climb. The terrain is there to do something great tomorrow. Key are the legs obviously.
I'll keep my fingers crossed for Vincenzo!

 

[Forever The Best]

If he waits till Angliru, he'll lose. Needs to go on Cordal or Cobertoria.

 

[skippo12]

The weather gods are with him. It will be cold and rainy tommorrow. Now it is up to Bahrain to make the race has hard as possible. The stage is short and they cannot wait for someone else to do something.
If Froome is as weak as he was on previous cold and rainy stages he could lose a lot of time. Nibalis teammates need to make sure that the number of Sky helpers at this point is as low as possible. If Froome has only Nieve/Poels left at the bottom of Angliru and Nibali/Contador/Zakarin/Lopez attack I would give Nibali chances aren`t horrible.

 

[killswitch]

Re:

The weather gods are with him. It will be cold and rainy tommorrow. Now it is up to Bahrain to make the race has hard as possible. The stage is short and they cannot wait for someone else to do something.
If Froome is as weak as he was on previous cold and rainy stages he could lose a lot of time. Nibalis teammates need to make sure that the number of Sky helpers at this point is as low as possible. If Froome has only Nieve/Poels left at the bottom of Cordal and Nibali/Contador/Zakarin/Lopez attack I would give Nibali chances aren`t horrible.

Fixed. Froome should be alone and chasing before the top of Cordal although the chances of that happening are (close to) zero - not with his crappy team/Sky superhuman domestiques.

 

[bambino]

Re: Re:

The weather gods are with him. It will be cold and rainy tommorrow. Now it is up to Bahrain to make the race has hard as possible. The stage is short and they cannot wait for someone else to do something.
If Froome is as weak as he was on previous cold and rainy stages he could lose a lot of time. Nibalis teammates need to make sure that the number of Sky helpers at this point is as low as possible. If Froome has only Nieve/Poels left at the bottom of Cordal and Nibali/Contador/Zakarin/Lopez attack I would give Nibali chances aren`t horrible.

Fixed. Froome should be alone and chasing before the top of Cordal although the chances of that happening are (close to) zero - not with his crappy team/Sky superhuman domestiques.

In the only really bad day so far he had 6 doms around him when the attacks started. Yet he lost more than a minute to Contador. The train can't go much faster than Froome is capable at certain occasion.

 

[Gigs_98]

I think his team has to put pressure on Froome on the descents. If they are very wet there is a chance that gaps open up and since Froome surely won't want to risk too much due to his strong team and a comfortable lead he might get caught behind a split. I think this is the only way a "long range attack" could work because in this scenario he could still have a big group around him which is strong enough to ride as fast or faster than the Sky train and if Froome starts the steep part of the Angliru only half a minute down that might already be enough. If that doesn't work, just hope for a crisis of Froome, because a typical long range attack against sky will lead to nothing but blowing up on the extreme gradients.

 

[Blanco]

We need hell tomorrow right from Cobertoria in order to beat Sky/Froome

 

[SafeBet]

My feeling is that he is a bit spent. I could be wrong of course, tomorrow will tell us the truth.

 

[Rollthedice]

Re:

My feeling is that he is a bit spent. I could be wrong of course, tomorrow will tell us the truth.

Slongo: "Vincenzo is fine, he knows the route and he likes it. We will try, we do not want to be satisfied with the second place “.

 

[Carols]

Vince we need you in Shark Mode tomorrow. Smell Froome blood and Bite!

 

[jsem94]

Nibali takes his own pace down Cobertoria and on the wet roads Froome is cautious and lets him get away while relying on his bots. Nibali goes into shark mode just like he did when Kruijswijk crashed in the Giro last year. Contador attacks on the Cordal and joins Nibali. They have 45s fast and it keeps growing. On the top of the climb they have a minute and on the foot of the Angliru they have 2 minutes and it's game on.

I can dream, can I?

 

[Attilaz]

Re:

Nibali takes his own pace down Cobertoria and on the wet roads Froome is cautious and lets him get away while relying on his bots. Nibali goes into shark mode just like he did when Kruijswijk crashed in the Giro last year. Contador attacks on the Cordal and joins Nibali. They have 45s fast and it keeps growing. On the top of the climb they have a minute and on the foot of the Angliru they have 2 minutes and it's game on.

I can dream, can I?

I have a dream too:
Froome mechanical
Nobody stops
Red jersey to Enzo
SKY wining for ever and ever and ever and ever (x2)

:twisted:

 

[Red Rick]

His biggest chance tomorrow is Kelderman repeating his Giro performance

 

[SafeBet]

Re:

His biggest chance tomorrow is Kelderman repeating his Giro performance

I wouldn't like it to end thus way.

 

[Lo squalo di messina]

I m also under the impression he s a bit spent. A really good nibali would have taken more time on froome when he cracked badly but he could only follow zaka and nothing more.
He might want to play or nothing today but the problem is that bahrain really needs the points, there is no doubt about that. As a big nibs fan i m hapy with podium, we can t expect miracle after miracle from this guy.

 

[Eclipse]

sadly it's not 2013 / 2014 for the legs

A good ride overall and a nice 2nd but a little disappointing that he seemed to tail off. After machucos it really felt like he could make this a fight. Ah well, on to the next challenge and I'll always be a fan

 

[Climbing]

Chapeau Nibali, looked very spent in the end, Pellizzotti saved the day.
Another podium and a stage win, not bad.
I fear he's done for the rest of the season, but we'll see.

 

[killswitch]

Lombardia route is perfect for him.

 

[Climbing]

Indeed, the 2015 route, but he looks cooked, not sure he'll recover.
I hope he'll skip the WCR, pointless the bring him on that course even for helping.

 

[jsem94]

Not sure he can actually win another GT now, or at least not against one of the big boys. Lombardia should suit him though.

 

[huge]

Re:

Not sure he can actually win another GT now, or at least not against one of the big boys. Lombardia should suit him though.

I think he proved exactly the opposite.

No team against a team of robots and still had chance up to today.
Not considering that all those muritos are far from his ideal terrain.#

He can definitely still be in the mix for a GT win against anyone.

 

[Alexandre B.]

Great race, nice try.

I know how difficult it is to face Team Sky and Froome when you're considered like the main competitor to them.