I think this won't be his final Giro if he thinks he's still top-5 material yet for some reason wasn't able to achieve that this year.
I hope the bag is still strong in this one
I hope the bag is still strong in this one
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The route is not the best, I'm not sure how many stages in this Giro actually suit Vincenzo.Some excerpts from an interview with Vincenzo Nibali by Pier Augusto Stagi for BlaBlaBike radio
About the Giro
“Already in the first week we'll find some difficulties, such as Etna, which we mentioned a little while ago, and we'll find afterwards also the Blockhaus and some tricky stages. I expect a Giro, as I said, to be tough, but as far as I'm concerned, to be seen it will be lived day by day. It's also a bit like… I will surely have a very important role. We have our López as captain, and as far as I'm concerned I'll definitely as I said, live a little bit day by day as well and we'll also see if we can assist him in the best possible way. Basically yes, I will be a free hitter. I think it is also normal for me not to... there is always a bit of ambition in the head, but you have to be always very objective and so let's live this Giro d'Italia like this."
“The last week is a terrible week. I've seen, there are the arrivals like the one in Aprica, there are also those in Piedmont of which I've spoken also with Felline and he told me that it will be a very difficult stage. He knows the roads well and he strongly believes that there certainly the main contenders will contest the Giro d'Italia.”
“I'm coming in with my headlights off! I'm very honest, I've had some good days, some not so good days. I raced these two classics like Fleche and Liege, all in all let's say decent. The Liege was my first time doing a 260km race and we all know what a race Liege is. And so I only lost contact on the Roche-aux-Faucons, so even I don't have big ambitions, because I know I don't have that extra something. I'll have to live my Giro d'Italia a bit like this and see if I can find the best days at the Giro. But I will only find out this on the road".
The crash in LBL
“But the fact is that there was this crash where they literally fell in front of me and I was with Felline, right next to him. We were just talking about what to do, so, and there was this violent deceleration, but we were going at a speed of about 70 per hour, you know I had asked, 'but how many kilometers do we have exactly? Because I had changed bike, because I was missing some kilometers on my computer so. He didn't have time to answer and it was this violent deceleration: I braked hard, the bike got a bit out of shape, I had the coolness to leave the brakes, and brake again slowly and I think that in five meters I will have dribbled four riders on the ground and then I stopped practically on Bardet and someone else, I don't know who it was. And I fell almost from a standstill.
Basically Alaphilippe was on my right, but I saw him only for a moment out of the corner of my eye and I put the chain back on and I started again because the group was proceeding at crazy speed anyway. I didn't even turn back. The only thing I ended up with was a first degree burn on my calf from someone putting me on a wheel.”
Still pissed at how he blew himself up then.
I remember someone writing after this that if he follows a Quintana attack in this position his legs might be back to 2014 Tour level. Let's just say that comment didn't age well.
Nibali after Blockhaus: "urgh I should've just suckewheeled Dumoulin"I remember someone writing after this that if he follows a Quintana attack in this position his legs might be back to 2014 Tour level. Let's just say that comment didn't age well.
Nibali after Blockhaus: "urgh I should've just suckewheeled Dumoulin"
Nibali after Oropa: "Bro I'm straight up not having a good time"
Credit to Quintana to get the motopacing just right that day, unlike Thomas and Landa.Still pissed at how he blew himself up then.
Also the new red rick pet peeve
motopacing
Typical Italian motodrivers, even though it wasn't an Italian attacking muscle memory kicked in. It took 4 attacks to crack the shark that day.Credit to Quintana to get the motopacing just right that day, unlike Thomas and Landa.
You forgot Wiggins and Di Luca.In the good tradition of lending a helping hand for young GT contenders to land their first wins, Horner, Dumoulin, Carapaz.
Hope he goes quickly off GC and try for stages in the last week.
A stage would be cool.
Plus I hope he skips Tour and goes for Vuelta, he kinda hinted he would like to do that lately.
Not entirely: it’s always valid for Contador, though this week the discussion has focused more on the weight of his opinions.
Also no weight talk that's intellectual property of the Evenepoel thread these days
Also no weight talk that's intellectual property of the Evenepoel thread these days
I picked Vincenzo and Mikel. I live on the edgeI was thinking, there's no way I'll get fooled into picking him for my Velogames team this year. But I need a climber worth 10 credits, and the alternatives are like Poels, Hindley and Martin...
F*ck it, I picked Gall and Skjelmose, it's not like I'm winning the big bucks anyway.
You fell off the edge in like 2018?I picked Vincenzo and Mikel. I live on the edge