Rollthedice said:
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.
You're maybe forgetting Liege is not Lombardia. There are very hard and tough mountains around Lake Como, you haven't got that in the Belgium Ardennes. You've got tough hills, but not mountains. Nibali is not exactly a major force on those hills, so he must create some kind of a chaos, to make Valverde uncomfortable. If he waits St.Nicolas, than it's better to step off his bike immediately cause he ain't gonna win that race. So the best spot for him to attack might be on Falcon's Rock, or even better on that uphill part after it, and those three you mentioned could be the best possible allies. But I doubt Valverde would miss that kind of move. The only way I see Nibali is beating Valverde, is to overpower him directly, one on one. If he attacks, Valverde will follow I think, cause Vincenzo is one of the major threats atm. And then he needs to attack him again and again until he drops him. That's the only way imo, cause I don;t see Valverde not following Nibali's move this year. Of course, someone third could profit from that battle as well...