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Teams & Riders Vincenzo Nibali discussion thread

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Not bad at all, but of course if he really wants to get a top result need a different preparation and a peak for it, probably more weight as well.
It was just a proper test.

Was interesting that he said that suffered more the sprints for positions before getting to the hills, while he held alright in the climbing side, before the legs were gone at least.

His race instinct is there for sure, always the right move.
 
Re:

Climbing said:
Not bad at all, but of course if he really wants to get a top result need a different preparation and a peak for it, probably more weight as well.
It was just a proper test.

Was interesting that he said that suffered more the sprints for positions before getting to the hills, while he held alright in the climbing side, before the legs were gone at least.

His race instinct is there for sure, always the right move.
Regardless I think other GC contenders are going to be very afraid of the cobblestone stage in the TDF. He did so much better than Quintana and Bardet in Dwars door Vlaanderen...

I think of the current top GT contenders only Dumoulin is capable of doing the same (see eneco tour cobble stages f.ex).
 
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Climbing said:
Not bad at all, but of course if he really wants to get a top result need a different preparation and a peak for it, probably more weight as well.
It was just a proper test.

Was interesting that he said that suffered more the sprints for positions before getting to the hills, while he held alright in the climbing side, before the legs were gone at least.

His race instinct is there for sure, always the right move.

In order to win one needs "testa, cuore, gambe". He had the first two...
 
Man, I haven't even thought of the cobbles in the tour yet. I honestly hope Froome won't ride because sky with Thomas as the leader attacking on the cobbles with Nibali would be priceless. Both probably have to gain time there in order to win and will want to pressure Porte, Movistar,... as soon as possible. We can't start the rain dance too early.
 
24th place means nothing. He was on par with the best riders until the kwaremont. I think that he needs a race like last year with action from far and tired riders at the last circuit to succeed. How course he should arrive prepared and race Harelbeke, Dwars door vlaanderen and the others, but if he's won Sanremo he can win here. A pity that raced for the first time only now.
 
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Rollthedice said:
Climbing said:
And not racing for 15 days can't be the correct approach either.

It is... for Liege.

Oh no of course, don't get me wrong, I meant it's not the correct approach to try and win RVV, it's clear his main target is LBL.

To be honest I must admit that I was really impressed from Nibali, but I guess nothing should come as a surprise from such a champion.
Watching the interview it looked like he enjoyed racing RVV very much!
 
Re: Re:

Climbing said:
Rollthedice said:
Climbing said:
And not racing for 15 days can't be the correct approach either.

It is... for Liege.

Oh no of course, don't get me wrong, I meant it's not the correct approach to try and win RVV, it's clear his main target is LBL.

To be honest I must admit that I was really impressed from Nibali, but I guess nothing should come as a surprise from such a champion.
Watching the interview it looked like he enjoyed racing RVV very much!

He clearly said that this participation was more like an improvisation, in order to have a chance he would need a proper preparation, riding the races before to build the form. He enjoyed it alright, already posted on instagram "great experience in the land (patria) of cycling Belgium".
 
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EroicaStradeBianche said:
Serpentin said:
I love Nibali but I don`t think he should do these races. Concentrate on Flèche and LBL and all the other races he is so good at. But Chapeau! He races with such Panache.

He has more chances to win Flanders than Flèche I think
Most certainly.

All the specialists are peaking for this very week. Nibali's target race is in 3 weeks, which means he's in the last phase of buildup, and the Ronde was the first part of his last high intensity training block.

As for Dumoulin, his physique and TTing ability make him much more suited to these races than Nibali, but he's very much unproven in one day races.
 
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Koronin said:
At LBL Nibali will have to contend with very strong Movistar and Quickstep teams that are targeting the Ardennes with Valverde and Alaphilippe. Those two riders and Dan Martin specifically target Ardennes week and peak for it.

QS isn't going to work together with Movistar, no matter how much you want that to happen. Alaphilippe and Dan Martin haven't been very impressive this season anyway.

Especially Dan Martin is over-rated in general, Nibali eats guys like that for breakfast.
 
Re: Re:

El Pistolero said:
Koronin said:
At LBL Nibali will have to contend with very strong Movistar and Quickstep teams that are targeting the Ardennes with Valverde and Alaphilippe. Those two riders and Dan Martin specifically target Ardennes week and peak for it.

QS isn't going to work together with Movistar, no matter how much you want that to happen. Alaphilippe and Dan Martin haven't been very impressive this season anyway.

Especially Dan Martin is over-rated in general, Nibali eats guys like that for breakfast.

Dan Martin is a UAE this year. Quickstep will work to keep their rider with a shot.
 
Re:

Koronin said:
At LBL Nibali will have to contend with very strong Movistar and Quickstep teams that are targeting the Ardennes with Valverde and Alaphilippe. Those two riders and Dan Martin specifically target Ardennes week and peak for it.

Ion, Gorka, Pozzo, Delfino, Visconti and the master of puppets, il capitano winner of three monuments. Isn't that good enough for all the steppers and the movis?
 
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Re: Re:

Koronin said:
El Pistolero said:
Koronin said:
At LBL Nibali will have to contend with very strong Movistar and Quickstep teams that are targeting the Ardennes with Valverde and Alaphilippe. Those two riders and Dan Martin specifically target Ardennes week and peak for it.

QS isn't going to work together with Movistar, no matter how much you want that to happen. Alaphilippe and Dan Martin haven't been very impressive this season anyway.

Especially Dan Martin is over-rated in general, Nibali eats guys like that for breakfast.

Dan Martin is a UAE this year. Quickstep will work to keep their rider with a shot.

Whatever helps you sleep at night.

Gilbert has other plans I'm sure. And yes, he's riding.
 
I had expected more from Nibali today after his San-Remo win. He rode and read the race brilliantly as always, but simply didn't have anything left after his attack (at that point I had expected a super result for Nibali once Terpstra bridged). Rolf Sørensen, the danish commentator was sure he was going to do a great result at that point, but he is also super biased towards Nibz.

Anyways, it doesn't matter that much. He won't win this race, but can do better with better preparation, obviously.
 
Re: Re:

El Pistolero said:
Koronin said:
El Pistolero said:
Koronin said:
At LBL Nibali will have to contend with very strong Movistar and Quickstep teams that are targeting the Ardennes with Valverde and Alaphilippe. Those two riders and Dan Martin specifically target Ardennes week and peak for it.

QS isn't going to work together with Movistar, no matter how much you want that to happen. Alaphilippe and Dan Martin haven't been very impressive this season anyway.

Especially Dan Martin is over-rated in general, Nibali eats guys like that for breakfast.

Dan Martin is a UAE this year. Quickstep will work to keep their rider with a shot.

Whatever helps you sleep at night.

Gilbert has other plans I'm sure. And yes, he's riding.

Gilbert is targeting Paris-Roubiax and will be QS top choice at Amstel. However, at Fleche and LBL their top choice is Alaphilippe.
 
Re: Re:

El Pistolero said:
Koronin said:
At LBL Nibali will have to contend with very strong Movistar and Quickstep teams that are targeting the Ardennes with Valverde and Alaphilippe. Those two riders and Dan Martin specifically target Ardennes week and peak for it.

QS isn't going to work together with Movistar, no matter how much you want that to happen. Alaphilippe and Dan Martin haven't been very impressive this season anyway.

Especially Dan Martin is over-rated in general, Nibali eats guys like that for breakfast.

Occasionally yes, but very often those guys eats him alive. Especially at Liege...

Good race today, but I think this race isn't for him. With the right preparation, and if everything falls into place for him, he could crack top 10, maybe even top 5, but that would be it.
 
Re: Re:

Blanco said:
El Pistolero said:
Koronin said:
At LBL Nibali will have to contend with very strong Movistar and Quickstep teams that are targeting the Ardennes with Valverde and Alaphilippe. Those two riders and Dan Martin specifically target Ardennes week and peak for it.

QS isn't going to work together with Movistar, no matter how much you want that to happen. Alaphilippe and Dan Martin haven't been very impressive this season anyway.

Especially Dan Martin is over-rated in general, Nibali eats guys like that for breakfast.

Occasionally yes, but very often those guys eats him alive. Especially at Liege...

Good race today, but I think this race isn't for him. With the right preparation, and if everything falls into place for him, he could crack top 10, maybe even top 5, but that would be it.


He would have to be very lucky to win this one. Although I wouldn't mind seeing him give it another try with the correct preparation and see what happens.
 
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Re: Re:

Blanco said:
El Pistolero said:
Koronin said:
At LBL Nibali will have to contend with very strong Movistar and Quickstep teams that are targeting the Ardennes with Valverde and Alaphilippe. Those two riders and Dan Martin specifically target Ardennes week and peak for it.

QS isn't going to work together with Movistar, no matter how much you want that to happen. Alaphilippe and Dan Martin haven't been very impressive this season anyway.

Especially Dan Martin is over-rated in general, Nibali eats guys like that for breakfast.

Occasionally yes, but very often those guys eats him alive. Especially at Liege...

Good race today, but I think this race isn't for him. With the right preparation, and if everything falls into place for him, he could crack top 10, maybe even top 5, but that would be it.

Last time he made LBL a goal he was second (and we all know what happened to the piece of *** who won it).
 
Re:

Valv.Piti said:
I had expected more from Nibali today after his San-Remo win. He rode and read the race brilliantly as always, but simply didn't have anything left after his attack (at that point I had expected a super result for Nibali once Terpstra bridged). Rolf Sørensen, the danish commentator was sure he was going to do a great result at that point, but he is also super biased towards Nibz.

Anyways, it doesn't matter that much. He won't win this race, but can do better with better preparation, obviously.
He said that all the mini-sprints to get into position really took it out of him. Not having raced since Sanremo didn't help, but he'll always struggle with that part of the race.
 
Re: Re:

Blanco said:
El Pistolero said:
Koronin said:
At LBL Nibali will have to contend with very strong Movistar and Quickstep teams that are targeting the Ardennes with Valverde and Alaphilippe. Those two riders and Dan Martin specifically target Ardennes week and peak for it.

QS isn't going to work together with Movistar, no matter how much you want that to happen. Alaphilippe and Dan Martin haven't been very impressive this season anyway.

Especially Dan Martin is over-rated in general, Nibali eats guys like that for breakfast.

Occasionally yes, but very often those guys eats him alive. Especially at Liege...

Good race today, but I think this race isn't for him. With the right preparation, and if everything falls into place for him, he could crack top 10, maybe even top 5, but that would be it.

It is the first time in many many years that he specifically targets Liege. As history has taught us, when Nibali targets a big race, most of the time he either wins, finishes on the podium or sometimes crashes. I have a hard time thinking of anybody outside Valverde who could defeat him in this years LBL and there are guys more capable than Martin this year, think of Bardet, Kwiat or even Uran if he's riding.
 

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