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That said, even a washed up Nibali is more useful than Ulissi in a +220km one day race.
I don't know if riding the whole Giro with those injuries was the right call when it comes to peaking for the Olympics.
I don't know if riding the whole Giro with those injuries was the right call when it comes to peaking for the Olympics.
Italian championships over (congrats to Sonny) and still hard to gauge his form. It was a strange race: Nibali was in a group with Cicco, Pozzo, Formolo and others chasing Masnada and Colbrelli, but they basically sat up when they were told the gap was over a minute at around 20 kilometres from the finish.
Also not clear who was riding for whom in the Trek duo. The commentators kept saying one of the two should have sacrificed himself to try and bridge the gap , but the chance never materialized.
Also not clear who was riding for whom in the Trek duo. The commentators kept saying one of the two should have sacrificed himself to try and bridge the gap , but the chance never materialized.
While Masnada and Sonny were riding away, the chasers were waiting to be granted a visiting permit to the trophy cabinet.
I don't think the problem is if he goes or not but what can he do in Japan.
At this point I also think that he'll get the final spot over Ulissi and Ciccone.
He looked got, but it was a strange race. I him and Ciccone still raced a bit strange, but Ciccone is also a bit of a loose canon and not known for performing a tactical masterclass.
Another issue is that the first week of the Tour, if I'm not mistaken, doesn't really offer many opportunities to a rider like him to prove himself. It's mostly stuff for puncheurs, sprinters, and time trialist. So I don't think it will make a big difference in Cassani's choice, unless he really wants to wait well into the first half of the race.
For those who saw the race yesterday Trek's tactics seemed bizarre. Apparently some disagreement took place between Nibali and Ciccone. Here's Nibali's reaction:
"I was feeling great, I wanted to do the race. But when it exploded it became a race of the individuals. There were some more dangerous, like Colbrelli, who had to be followed immediately".
With "Gazzetta dello Sport" Vincenzo Nibali commented on the highlights of the Italian championship. He knows that his action did not pleased Giulio Ciccone, his teammate in Trek-Segafredo.
"It happened that we started one at a time. At a certain point, they stopped. Giulio was in front with Oss, I came out from behind. He turned around, he saw me as the one who brought everyone back. But in fact mine was an action to get back in front, to "go", because I cared about the Italian championship. He got angry, but I came here to do the race, not to be the second. I had the right mind frame, the condition to do it. I haven't been able to win for two years for a thousand reasons, including my age... But this was the day when I felt better in recent times, because since the Giro I had been physically and mentally destroyed. But the race was gone when Colbrelli left. Giulio got angry, he's a southern boy like me, but these are things that can happen."
"I was feeling great, I wanted to do the race. But when it exploded it became a race of the individuals. There were some more dangerous, like Colbrelli, who had to be followed immediately".
With "Gazzetta dello Sport" Vincenzo Nibali commented on the highlights of the Italian championship. He knows that his action did not pleased Giulio Ciccone, his teammate in Trek-Segafredo.
"It happened that we started one at a time. At a certain point, they stopped. Giulio was in front with Oss, I came out from behind. He turned around, he saw me as the one who brought everyone back. But in fact mine was an action to get back in front, to "go", because I cared about the Italian championship. He got angry, but I came here to do the race, not to be the second. I had the right mind frame, the condition to do it. I haven't been able to win for two years for a thousand reasons, including my age... But this was the day when I felt better in recent times, because since the Giro I had been physically and mentally destroyed. But the race was gone when Colbrelli left. Giulio got angry, he's a southern boy like me, but these are things that can happen."
Ciccone is just super impulsive when he's racing, I don't know if you can use him as a teamplayer at the Olympics or a hard WC. Anyway, things happed in the heat of the moment, I wouldn't read too much into it. You yell at eachother in the heat of the moment and then you talk it out afterwards.
The fact they are fighting for the last spot in the Olympics team certainly didn't help.
Overall, I think Nibali looked better than Ciccone. He and Pozzovivo were the ones working on the second to last climb when the gap to Colbrelli/Masnada apparently dropped to 30" (not sure the GPS was correct though). They even managed to drop Moscon at one point.
The main problem for the Trek duo was letting both Masnada and Colbrelli slip out of the group in the flat section. One of them had to follow.
This, I get them not wanting to do all of the work on the flat when you also have the faster Moscon and Masnada's teammate Cattaneo in the same group, but letting those guys get away was really a big mistake.
It’s not Father’s Day anymore, no more dad puns.
But maybe the plan all along was the Tour win. Pulling a fast one on everyone.
Here's the after race video interview for the excerpts I posted earlier.
View: https://youtu.be/bqrJhwL5qrc
He seems to be in good spirits. He says an interesting thing at the end, that the race in Tokyo must be done with one leader, everybody working for that particular rider whether it's him or somebody else.
He seems to be in good spirits. He says an interesting thing at the end, that the race in Tokyo must be done with one leader, everybody working for that particular rider whether it's him or somebody else.
So, our champion will start his 25th Grand Tour, ninth Tour de France. Something to remember the days of better legs, Hautacam 2014, cameo by Mike Snow.
View: https://youtu.be/iou1sCIPLoA
"He tried to sneak away, this dumb Snow lad, thinking he could take the stage win with an attack from the breakaway. I flew by him, GODS I WAS STRONG THEN, I probably shattered every hope he had. "
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