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Teams & Riders Vincenzo Nibali discussion thread

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Gigs_98 said:
Don't really know what to think about today. The lack of support was ridiculous and he basically had to position himself on his own all the time, was never anywhere near the front at the beginning of the sectors and had to close some big gaps on his own. At the end of the stage he looked really spent so I should probably be happy that he didn't have any mishaps because that could have ended his gc ambitions. Still it feels like a wasted opportunity and it's just disappointing that he couldn't even give it a try.
The other side of the 'team support' coin is that his Astana teammates basically handed time to him on a plate in 2014. So, maybe he's just not particularly good on cobbles when he's not delivered right at the front of every secteur.
 
DFA123 said:
Gigs_98 said:
Don't really know what to think about today. The lack of support was ridiculous and he basically had to position himself on his own all the time, was never anywhere near the front at the beginning of the sectors and had to close some big gaps on his own. At the end of the stage he looked really spent so I should probably be happy that he didn't have any mishaps because that could have ended his gc ambitions. Still it feels like a wasted opportunity and it's just disappointing that he couldn't even give it a try.
The other side of the 'team support' coin is that his Astana teammates basically handed time to him on a plate in 2014. So, maybe he's just not particularly good on cobbles when he's not delivered right at the front of every secteur.

He was among the best in 2015 as well. Everytime there was a split he was in the front group.
 
skippo12 said:
DFA123 said:
Gigs_98 said:
Don't really know what to think about today. The lack of support was ridiculous and he basically had to position himself on his own all the time, was never anywhere near the front at the beginning of the sectors and had to close some big gaps on his own. At the end of the stage he looked really spent so I should probably be happy that he didn't have any mishaps because that could have ended his gc ambitions. Still it feels like a wasted opportunity and it's just disappointing that he couldn't even give it a try.
The other side of the 'team support' coin is that his Astana teammates basically handed time to him on a plate in 2014. So, maybe he's just not particularly good on cobbles when he's not delivered right at the front of every secteur.

He was among the best in 2015 as well. Everytime there was a split he was in the front group.
Sure, and once again he had the best team in the race. I'm just saying that we shouldn't blame it all on his team today, but ignore the fact he had the best team the previous times he rode it. Perhaps after all he's just a solid rider on cobbles, rather than a PR contender as was being touted by some.
 
skippo12 said:
DFA123 said:
Gigs_98 said:
Don't really know what to think about today. The lack of support was ridiculous and he basically had to position himself on his own all the time, was never anywhere near the front at the beginning of the sectors and had to close some big gaps on his own. At the end of the stage he looked really spent so I should probably be happy that he didn't have any mishaps because that could have ended his gc ambitions. Still it feels like a wasted opportunity and it's just disappointing that he couldn't even give it a try.
The other side of the 'team support' coin is that his Astana teammates basically handed time to him on a plate in 2014. So, maybe he's just not particularly good on cobbles when he's not delivered right at the front of every secteur.

He was among the best in 2015 as well. Everytime there was a split he was in the front group.

Yeah, but that raises the question why he was there. Because of his teammates or his own skill?
 
DFA123 said:
skippo12 said:
DFA123 said:
Gigs_98 said:
Don't really know what to think about today. The lack of support was ridiculous and he basically had to position himself on his own all the time, was never anywhere near the front at the beginning of the sectors and had to close some big gaps on his own. At the end of the stage he looked really spent so I should probably be happy that he didn't have any mishaps because that could have ended his gc ambitions. Still it feels like a wasted opportunity and it's just disappointing that he couldn't even give it a try.
The other side of the 'team support' coin is that his Astana teammates basically handed time to him on a plate in 2014. So, maybe he's just not particularly good on cobbles when he's not delivered right at the front of every secteur.

He was among the best in 2015 as well. Everytime there was a split he was in the front group.
Sure, and once again he had the best team in the race. I'm just saying that we shouldn't blame it all on his team today, but ignore the fact he had the best team the previous times he rode it. Perhaps after all he's just a solid rider on cobbles, rather than a PR contender as was being touted by some.

In 2015 he was isolated as well. Not sure why you think he had the best team in the race.
I agree that he isn`t a PR contender but his performance in this years Ronde suggests that he can at least top 10 in a cobbled classic.
Among the best GC riders Fuglsang and Dumoulin might be a little bit better but today showed that it isn`t about the individual level. Without help staying in front of the group costs a lot of energy.
 
DFA123 said:
skippo12 said:
DFA123 said:
Gigs_98 said:
Don't really know what to think about today. The lack of support was ridiculous and he basically had to position himself on his own all the time, was never anywhere near the front at the beginning of the sectors and had to close some big gaps on his own. At the end of the stage he looked really spent so I should probably be happy that he didn't have any mishaps because that could have ended his gc ambitions. Still it feels like a wasted opportunity and it's just disappointing that he couldn't even give it a try.
The other side of the 'team support' coin is that his Astana teammates basically handed time to him on a plate in 2014. So, maybe he's just not particularly good on cobbles when he's not delivered right at the front of every secteur.

He was among the best in 2015 as well. Everytime there was a split he was in the front group.
Sure, and once again he had the best team in the race. I'm just saying that we shouldn't blame it all on his team today, but ignore the fact he had the best team the previous times he rode it. Perhaps after all he's just a solid rider on cobbles, rather than a PR contender as was being touted by some.

In terms of absolute value: he's certainly among the best in the GC contenders pack,not considering the team. I don't think there's somebody who believed he was at the level of GVA....
Today he had below average conditions whereas in 2014 he had a great team.

Also. Nobody mentioned it but Nibs is also great with the rain (decision-making and risk-taking with a slippery surface). the 2014 stage was a completely different animal.
 
skippo12 said:
In 2015 he was isolated as well. Not sure why you think he had the best team in the race.
I agree that he isn`t a PR contender but his performance in this years Ronde suggests that he can at least top 10 in a cobbled classic.
Among the best GC riders Fuglsang and Dumoulin might be a little bit better but today showed that it isn`t about the individual level. Without help staying in front of the group costs a lot of energy.
Sure, I'm not saying he's bad on cobbles. Far from it, he's obviously pretty good at them for a GC rider. Just that perhaps expectations on him were too high, based on performances in his Astana days. He was never going to get the same kind of help and positioning today as he did back in 2014-15.

I think Dumoulin and Fuglsang were both way more impressive today, not just a little better. They also both had very little team support but were at the front all race and tried multiple attacks each.
 
DFA123 said:
skippo12 said:
In 2015 he was isolated as well. Not sure why you think he had the best team in the race.
I agree that he isn`t a PR contender but his performance in this years Ronde suggests that he can at least top 10 in a cobbled classic.
Among the best GC riders Fuglsang and Dumoulin might be a little bit better but today showed that it isn`t about the individual level. Without help staying in front of the group costs a lot of energy.
Sure, I'm not saying he's bad on cobbles. Far from it, he's obviously pretty good at them for a GC rider. Just that perhaps expectations on him were too high, based on performances in his Astana days. He was never going to get the same kind of help and positioning today as he did back in 2014-15.

I think Dumoulin and Fuglsang were both way more impressive today, not just a little better. They also both had very little team support but were at the front all race and tried multiple attacks each.

Obviously they were better today but in 2015 Nibali did the same. Took the lead on the cobbles and set a high pace without dropping anyone. Dumoulin actually had a great Kragh-Andersen by his side today.
 
Nibali has just said that he crashed.

He was behind Uran when the Colombian crashed just in front of him. Nibali managed to go around him but his front wheel got stuck and he crashed as well.

"I managed to get easily back to the peloton. And from there onwards I tried to stay at the front, but it was very difficult. At the start of each cobble section it was like a sprint. And a lot of dust. Happy? It's been a difficult day, and I'm tired now. But yes, I'm also happy"
 
Re:

huge said:
Nibali has just said that he crashed.

He was behind Uran when the Colombian crashed just in front of him. Nibali managed to go around him but his front wheel got stuck and he crashed as well.

"I managed to get easily back to the peloton. And from there onwards I tried to stay at the front, but it was very difficult. At the start of each cobble section it was like a sprint. And a lot of dust. Happy? It's been a difficult day, and I'm tired now. But yes, I'm also happy"

Okay there was so much going on everyone totally missed that! I sure would like to know if his teamed helped him to get back 'easily'. If he's happy, I'm happy.
 
Clearly strong when he had to close people back down but was always so out of position entering into the cobbles. Couldn't do anything at that point. Disappointing in all honesty. I mean, it's always going to be hard to make the difference on dry flat cobbles when you don't have that much power, but he didn't really try that much. Obviously only having Pozzovivo (!) as a teammate isn't great.

As for his ability on the cobbles, he's up there. At Flanders he was stronger at Oude Kwaremont which has the worst cobbles. If there's a rainy Roubaix and he's there, he would be seriously good. Obviously he was helped by fugslang and westra, but he, unlike Sagan and Cancellara and everyone else, didn't lose the wheel.
 
Re:

Brullnux said:
Clearly strong when he had to close people back down but was always so out of position entering into the cobbles. Couldn't do anything at that point. Disappointing in all honesty. I mean, it's always going to be hard to make the difference on dry flat cobbles when you don't have that much power, but he didn't really try that much. Obviously only having Pozzovivo (!) as a teammate isn't great.

As for his ability on the cobbles, he's up there. At Flanders he was stronger at Oude Kwaremont which has the worst cobbles. If there's a rainy Roubaix and he's there, he would be seriously good. Obviously he was helped by fugslang and westra, but he, unlike Sagan and Cancellara and everyone else, didn't lose the wheel.
What I was also thinking about was that because there were way more cobbles than last time, they were ridden a lot more conservatively. It felt like the races was ridden at the back more than riders trying to fly off the front, until the final selection was made.
 
Re: Re:

Red Rick said:
Brullnux said:
Clearly strong when he had to close people back down but was always so out of position entering into the cobbles. Couldn't do anything at that point. Disappointing in all honesty. I mean, it's always going to be hard to make the difference on dry flat cobbles when you don't have that much power, but he didn't really try that much. Obviously only having Pozzovivo (!) as a teammate isn't great.

As for his ability on the cobbles, he's up there. At Flanders he was stronger at Oude Kwaremont which has the worst cobbles. If there's a rainy Roubaix and he's there, he would be seriously good. Obviously he was helped by fugslang and westra, but he, unlike Sagan and Cancellara and everyone else, didn't lose the wheel.
What I was also thinking about was that because there were way more cobbles than last time, they were ridden a lot more conservatively. It felt like the races was ridden at the back more than riders trying to fly off the front, until the final selection was made.

The hectic racing was between sectors and the fight for position going into the cobbles. Several crashes happened right at the entrance to a section or inbetween the cobbles.

On the cobbles a selection was not really made at all...
 
Re: Re:

Salvarani said:
Red Rick said:
Brullnux said:
Clearly strong when he had to close people back down but was always so out of position entering into the cobbles. Couldn't do anything at that point. Disappointing in all honesty. I mean, it's always going to be hard to make the difference on dry flat cobbles when you don't have that much power, but he didn't really try that much. Obviously only having Pozzovivo (!) as a teammate isn't great.

As for his ability on the cobbles, he's up there. At Flanders he was stronger at Oude Kwaremont which has the worst cobbles. If there's a rainy Roubaix and he's there, he would be seriously good. Obviously he was helped by fugslang and westra, but he, unlike Sagan and Cancellara and everyone else, didn't lose the wheel.
What I was also thinking about was that because there were way more cobbles than last time, they were ridden a lot more conservatively. It felt like the races was ridden at the back more than riders trying to fly off the front, until the final selection was made.

The hectic racing was between sectors and the fight for position going into the cobbles. Several crashes happened right at the entrance to a section or inbetween the cobbles.

On the cobbles a selection was not really made at all...
Yeah, cobbles are really a race of attrition, not enough attrition in 153km.

Over a shorter stage, a Flanders type stage with 12 of them hills would be a lot more selective.
 
Yeh i m also thinking the legs just werent there yesterday.
Way too far back in the peloton to even anticipate any splits or anything. He was held up by the uran crash but that was also completly at the back of the peloton. He shouldnt have been there and that is not his racing style when he feels good.
That being said the team is not on par with the other gc teams so i hope they will be better in the mountains.
Much respect to pozzo however for doing an excellent job so far.
It might be because of the weather too, he s bettter when its less hot imo.
 
Lo squalo di messina said:
Yeh i m also thinking the legs just werent there yesterday.
Way too far back in the peloton to even anticipate any splits or anything. He was held up by the uran crash but that was also completly at the back of the peloton. He shouldnt have been there and that is not his racing style when he feels good.
That being said the team is not on par with the other gc teams so i hope they will be better in the mountains.
Much respect to pozzo however for doing an excellent job so far.
It might be because of the weather too, he s bettter when its less hot imo.
Uran's crash was about 30th wheel in a very big peloton. It was when sky pressed and then Nibali closed the gap. It wasn't right at the front but it was in no way at the back.
 
I honestly think his best chance was the Roubaix stage. Too many climbers ahead of him in GC, or even just behind, for him to overcome in the next two weeks. I don't think he'll be in the top 5 as it stands right now, but maybe he can sneak in if a couple of the better climbers abandon.
 

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