Teams & Riders Vincenzo Nibali discussion thread

[SafeBet]

I don't know what exactly went wrong, but something went incredibly wrong in this preparation. It sounds crazy, but Nibali's win in Sanremo is his only top10 of the season thus far. I'm still convinced riding Pais Vasco the day after a major effort like Ronde was never gonna be a good idea. But not sure it would have made a difference anyway.

About Liege, it's been six years since he got a good result here. He has never been a factor after his second place in 2012, which leads me to believe this is probably not a race for him. Check the results, they are very consistent. I truly hope he focuses on cobble classics from next year, he looked much better in his first ever Ronde than he has looked in Liegi for a long time.

 

[Oliver]

When I saw the hills this LBL a few days before the start I already know not to expect much, steep and short. And then such a soft race, NOTHING happened untill roche aux faucons. We already know his explosiveness isn't that great anymore.

 

[EroicaStradeBianche]

At this point of his career he doesn't need top tens .

 

[Flat Out]

Vincenzo himself posted a small message in a fb group of passionate cycling fans. He was at the airport waiting for the plane. He wrote in aswers to some fans criticizing his preparaton and lack of fitness.
"Ragazzi rilassatevi ,mi avete chiamato in causa vi rispondo direttamente !! Oggi non stavo bene , di più non potevo fare !! Sono gare molto difficili dove tutti puntano fortemente ! Purtroppo siamo Uomini non macchine ! Grazie a tutti comunque per il sostegno che impiegate non solo per me, ma anche per gli Italiani che cercano di portare a casa un grande risultato!"
"Guys relax, you asked for me and i answer here. Today i never felt great, coulnd't dig more than this. All these races are difficult because everybody try to get a top result here arriving in good shape. Unfortunatley we are men not machines. Thanks everybody for the support not for me only but for all the italians trying their best to have a great result."
To a fan saying it can happens not to feel great, he replied " obviosly, it happens, and when it happens at Doyenne nothing good can come out of it, you don't invent a good race out of nowhere.I love this race but it's damn hard....except for Valverde :-D"
Later I asked if he felt those 310Watts Normalized Power used in the Fleche, he said that's actually just average, Fleche was very very hard with extremely high peaks in power.

 

[Bardamu]

Re:

I don't know what exactly went wrong, but something went incredibly wrong in this preparation. It sounds crazy, but Nibali's win in Sanremo is his only top10 of the season thus far. I'm still convinced riding Pais Vasco the day after a major effort like Ronde was never gonna be a good idea. But not sure it would have made a difference anyway.

About Liege, it's been six years since he got a good result here. He has never been a factor after his second place in 2012, which leads me to believe this is probably not a race for him. Check the results, they are very consistent. I truly hope he focuses on cobble classics from next year, he looked much better in his first ever Ronde than he has looked in Liegi for a long time.

Perhaps, I guess it has to do with the field being weaker in the cobbled races than in the Ardennes.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

I don't know what exactly went wrong, but something went incredibly wrong in this preparation. It sounds crazy, but Nibali's win in Sanremo is his only top10 of the season thus far. I'm still convinced riding Pais Vasco the day after a major effort like Ronde was never gonna be a good idea. But not sure it would have made a difference anyway.

About Liege, it's been six years since he got a good result here. He has never been a factor after his second place in 2012, which leads me to believe this is probably not a race for him. Check the results, they are very consistent. I truly hope he focuses on cobble classics from next year, he looked much better in his first ever Ronde than he has looked in Liegi for a long time.

Perhaps, I guess it has to do with the field being weaker in the cobbled races than in the Ardennes.

It has to do with cobbled races being raced hard for 6 hours. If Liege is ridden just as hard for the first 6 hours as De Ronde, then Nibali will be there at the end.

I'm pretty sure his form was better in Vlaanderen than in the Ardennes. It is what it is.

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

Vincenzo himself posted a small message in a fb group of passionate cycling fans. He was at the airport waiting for the plane. He wrote in aswers to some fans criticizing his preparaton and lack of fitness.
"Ragazzi rilassatevi ,mi avete chiamato in causa vi rispondo direttamente !! Oggi non stavo bene , di più non potevo fare !! Sono gare molto difficili dove tutti puntano fortemente ! Purtroppo siamo Uomini non macchine ! Grazie a tutti comunque per il sostegno che impiegate non solo per me, ma anche per gli Italiani che cercano di portare a casa un grande risultato!"
"Guys relax, you asked for me and i answer here. Today i never felt great, coulnd't dig more than this. All these races are difficult because everybody try to get a top result here arriving in good shape. Unfortunatley we are men not machines. Thanks everybody for the support not for me only but for all the italians trying their best to have a great result."
To a fan saying it can happens not to feel great, he replied " obviosly, it happens, and when it happens at Doyenne nothing good can come out of it, you don't invent a good race out of nowhere.I love this race but it's damn hard....except for Valverde :-D"
Later I asked if he felt those 310Watts Normalized Power used in the Fleche, he said that's actually just average, Fleche was very very hard with extremely high peaks in power.

"You don't invent a good race out of nowhere"

At least the one liner game is in good shape

 

[Blanco]

Re: Re:

I don't know what exactly went wrong, but something went incredibly wrong in this preparation. It sounds crazy, but Nibali's win in Sanremo is his only top10 of the season thus far. I'm still convinced riding Pais Vasco the day after a major effort like Ronde was never gonna be a good idea. But not sure it would have made a difference anyway.

About Liege, it's been six years since he got a good result here. He has never been a factor after his second place in 2012, which leads me to believe this is probably not a race for him. Check the results, they are very consistent. I truly hope he focuses on cobble classics from next year, he looked much better in his first ever Ronde than he has looked in Liegi for a long time.

Perhaps, I guess it has to do with the field being weaker in the cobbled races than in the Ardennes.

It has to do with cobbled races being raced hard for 6 hours. If Liege is ridden just as hard for the first 6 hours as De Ronde, then Nibali will be there at the end.

I'm pretty sure his form was better in Vlaanderen than in the Ardennes. It is what it is.

What a ridiculous statement!

 

[Blanco]

Re:

Vincenzo himself posted a small message in a fb group of passionate cycling fans. He was at the airport waiting for the plane. He wrote in aswers to some fans criticizing his preparaton and lack of fitness.
"Ragazzi rilassatevi ,mi avete chiamato in causa vi rispondo direttamente !! Oggi non stavo bene , di più non potevo fare !! Sono gare molto difficili dove tutti puntano fortemente ! Purtroppo siamo Uomini non macchine ! Grazie a tutti comunque per il sostegno che impiegate non solo per me, ma anche per gli Italiani che cercano di portare a casa un grande risultato!"
"Guys relax, you asked for me and i answer here. Today i never felt great, coulnd't dig more than this. All these races are difficult because everybody try to get a top result here arriving in good shape. Unfortunatley we are men not machines. Thanks everybody for the support not for me only but for all the italians trying their best to have a great result."
To a fan saying it can happens not to feel great, he replied " obviosly, it happens, and when it happens at Doyenne nothing good can come out of it, you don't invent a good race out of nowhere.I love this race but it's damn hard....except for Valverde :-D"
Later I asked if he felt those 310Watts Normalized Power used in the Fleche, he said that's actually just average, Fleche was very very hard with extremely high peaks in power.

I'm curious what El Pisti is going to say about this. These races are apparently targeted by just a handful of uphill sprinters.. :lol:

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

I don't know what exactly went wrong, but something went incredibly wrong in this preparation. It sounds crazy, but Nibali's win in Sanremo is his only top10 of the season thus far. I'm still convinced riding Pais Vasco the day after a major effort like Ronde was never gonna be a good idea. But not sure it would have made a difference anyway.

About Liege, it's been six years since he got a good result here. He has never been a factor after his second place in 2012, which leads me to believe this is probably not a race for him. Check the results, they are very consistent. I truly hope he focuses on cobble classics from next year, he looked much better in his first ever Ronde than he has looked in Liegi for a long time.

Perhaps, I guess it has to do with the field being weaker in the cobbled races than in the Ardennes.

It has to do with cobbled races being raced hard for 6 hours. If Liege is ridden just as hard for the first 6 hours as De Ronde, then Nibali will be there at the end.

I'm pretty sure his form was better in Vlaanderen than in the Ardennes. It is what it is.

What a ridiculous statement!

And it is ridiculous based what? Obviously Nibali had a *** day and he wouldn't have been there regardless, but he's much more suited to a nervous race than a race that's almost softpedalled for the first 220km.

 

[Blanco]

Re: Re:

I don't know what exactly went wrong, but something went incredibly wrong in this preparation. It sounds crazy, but Nibali's win in Sanremo is his only top10 of the season thus far. I'm still convinced riding Pais Vasco the day after a major effort like Ronde was never gonna be a good idea. But not sure it would have made a difference anyway.

About Liege, it's been six years since he got a good result here. He has never been a factor after his second place in 2012, which leads me to believe this is probably not a race for him. Check the results, they are very consistent. I truly hope he focuses on cobble classics from next year, he looked much better in his first ever Ronde than he has looked in Liegi for a long time.

Perhaps, I guess it has to do with the field being weaker in the cobbled races than in the Ardennes.

It has to do with cobbled races being raced hard for 6 hours. If Liege is ridden just as hard for the first 6 hours as De Ronde, then Nibali will be there at the end.

I'm pretty sure his form was better in Vlaanderen than in the Ardennes. It is what it is.

What a ridiculous statement!

And it is ridiculous based what? Obviously Nibali had a **** day and he wouldn't have been there regardless, but he's much more suited to a nervous race than a race that's almost softpedalled for the first 220km.

I agree he had an off-day, but it happen's to him quite often so I'm not surprised. But to say that race as De Ronde suits Nibali, a light climber with big engine, more than the race full of much longer hills is complete nonsence if you ask me. No offence, though.

 

[Climbing]

Ok, I did see the interview, it’s clear he had a bad day.
Even so, something has surely gone wrong as he looked very far from top form after MSR.

I guess it’s the risk of using a new approach without altitude training for the first part of the season.

 

[SafeBet]

Re: Re:

I agree he had an off-day, but it happen's to him quite often so I'm not surprised.

Really?
If we're talking about races he targets this was his most disappointing performance since PSM 2015.

That's the worrying thing about his performance. He's a rider that normally delivers in big races he targets. Yesterday he was absolutely mediocre.

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

Ok, I did see the interview, it’s clear he had a bad day.
Even so, something has surely gone wrong as he looked very far from top form after MSR.

I guess it’s the risk of using a new approach without altitude training for the first part of the season.

I think what he's doing is keeping his average pretty low while trying to have his sub peaks for target races with a short and large jump in form.

 

[Angliru]

Re: Re:

Vincenzo himself posted a small message in a fb group of passionate cycling fans. He was at the airport waiting for the plane. He wrote in aswers to some fans criticizing his preparaton and lack of fitness.
"Ragazzi rilassatevi ,mi avete chiamato in causa vi rispondo direttamente !! Oggi non stavo bene , di più non potevo fare !! Sono gare molto difficili dove tutti puntano fortemente ! Purtroppo siamo Uomini non macchine ! Grazie a tutti comunque per il sostegno che impiegate non solo per me, ma anche per gli Italiani che cercano di portare a casa un grande risultato!"
"Guys relax, you asked for me and i answer here. Today i never felt great, coulnd't dig more than this. All these races are difficult because everybody try to get a top result here arriving in good shape. Unfortunatley we are men not machines. Thanks everybody for the support not for me only but for all the italians trying their best to have a great result."
To a fan saying it can happens not to feel great, he replied " obviosly, it happens, and when it happens at Doyenne nothing good can come out of it, you don't invent a good race out of nowhere.I love this race but it's damn hard....except for Valverde :-D"
Later I asked if he felt those 310Watts Normalized Power used in the Fleche, he said that's actually just average, Fleche was very very hard with extremely high peaks in power.

I'm curious what El Pisti is going to say about this. These races are apparently targeted by just a handful of uphill sprinters.. :lol:

I was going to post the same thing. Of course this statement coming from one of his heroes will likely have him a bit conflicted and confused. Love to hear the spin on it.

 

[Angliru]

I don't get all the worry that is going on with fans and their assessment of Nibali along with those that say Valverde is past it because he failed to win in the Ardennes. As was stated earlier, NIbali's form is like parcours of the Ardennes: up and down. They are all human after all and on occasion you just don't feel it and the legs don't want to do what the mind commands. With Valverde, how soon we forget that he's coming back from what was thought could potentially be a career ending injury and at an age where most in this profession have long retired. His performance this year should be seen as a rousing success with his early victories and then still in the mix for the most part in all the Ardennes' events with a 2nd place at Fleche Wallone and a 5th at Amstel Gold. Bad days happen, even to the best of best.

 

[El Pistolero]

Re: Re:

Vincenzo himself posted a small message in a fb group of passionate cycling fans. He was at the airport waiting for the plane. He wrote in aswers to some fans criticizing his preparaton and lack of fitness.
"Ragazzi rilassatevi ,mi avete chiamato in causa vi rispondo direttamente !! Oggi non stavo bene , di più non potevo fare !! Sono gare molto difficili dove tutti puntano fortemente ! Purtroppo siamo Uomini non macchine ! Grazie a tutti comunque per il sostegno che impiegate non solo per me, ma anche per gli Italiani che cercano di portare a casa un grande risultato!"
"Guys relax, you asked for me and i answer here. Today i never felt great, coulnd't dig more than this. All these races are difficult because everybody try to get a top result here arriving in good shape. Unfortunatley we are men not machines. Thanks everybody for the support not for me only but for all the italians trying their best to have a great result."
To a fan saying it can happens not to feel great, he replied " obviosly, it happens, and when it happens at Doyenne nothing good can come out of it, you don't invent a good race out of nowhere.I love this race but it's damn hard....except for Valverde :-D"
Later I asked if he felt those 310Watts Normalized Power used in the Fleche, he said that's actually just average, Fleche was very very hard with extremely high peaks in power.

I'm curious what El Pisti is going to say about this. These races are apparently targeted by just a handful of uphill sprinters.. :lol:

I was going to post the same thing. Of course this statement coming from one of his heroes will likely have him a bit conflicted and confused. Love to hear the spin on it.

Last year they softpeddled the race and gave Valverde the win (competition was also incredibly weak with Gilbert and Alaphilippe out). This year they raced hard for 36km and poor little Valverde already cramped up. In other words: the race was too hard for him. This reminds me of when Boonen blasted Sagan for not winning 20+ races every season like Valverde does... except Valverde never came close to winning that many races in a single season while Sagan has. I stopped taking pro riders seriously when they comment about their rivals.

 

[hfer07]

despite all the hate for his performance at L-B-L, I'd like to remain you ((((Nibali already won a monument this year)))), and for the Valverde thread hijackers, the Don finished empty handed

 

[Sestriere]

Maybe, after the kind of unexpected win in MSR, he and his coach decided that his spring was already kinda succesful and that with a monument already in the bag he would not try to reach an absolute peak for LBL. After all, he never really peaked three times during one season. So they maybe figured it would reduce the risk of him being cooked when approaching the worlds after one peak for LBL, one for TdF and then a second Grand Tour as biuild up.

 

[huge]

I think you guys are trying to read far too much into yesterday's performance.

He himself said he was not feeling well.
Not clear if he meant that he was somehow sick or had just bad feelings from his legs.
Either way nothing to worry about.

July is far away.
And we certainly cannot consider his first half of the season disappointing.

By the way, do you guys know what his plans are from now on?

I guess a training camp, probably at altitude, Dauphine in June, and what else?
Any racing in May?

 

[Climbing]

Slongo already said it will be: rest, altitude, Dauphine, altitude, TdF.
Maybe he will race the NC, but that’s it.

I think this is the first time that Nibali/Slongo go for a spring without any prior altitude training camp.
I guess this approach was necessary to avoid being too tired for the Worlds.

 

[huge]

Re:

Slongo already said it will be: rest, altitude, Dauphine, altitude, TdF.
Maybe he will race the NC, but that’s it.

I think this is the first time that Nibali/Slongo go for a spring without any prior altitude training camp.
I guess this approach was necessary to avoid being too tired for the Worlds.

He will definitely be at the NC.
That's compulsory in Italy.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

Slongo already said it will be: rest, altitude, Dauphine, altitude, TdF.
Maybe he will race the NC, but that’s it.

I think this is the first time that Nibali/Slongo go for a spring without any prior altitude training camp.
I guess this approach was necessary to avoid being too tired for the Worlds.

He will definitely be at the NC.
That's compulsory in Italy.

Is it a hard route?

 

[May0maniac]

Re: Re:

Slongo already said it will be: rest, altitude, Dauphine, altitude, TdF.
Maybe he will race the NC, but that’s it.

I think this is the first time that Nibali/Slongo go for a spring without any prior altitude training camp.
I guess this approach was necessary to avoid being too tired for the Worlds.

He will definitely be at the NC.
That's compulsory in Italy.

Is it a hard route?

I don't know the route, but it will be in i Darfo Boario Terme once again, just like in 2016 when Nizzolo won the NC.

 

[Brullnux]

Excluding Boonen and Cancellara, nobody since 2003 has won two monuments in the same year. Before that, 1987 with Argentina (last ever non-cobbled double). So to expect more is, despite temptations, kind of unfair on him. Maybe he can win Lombardy, but history is against him.