Vincenzo Nibali: Welcome to the gt club.

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Meh, in the joke that was the 09 Tour, with Contador and A.Schleck constantly waiting for Frank and Lance, he had considerable shortcomings, again especially uphill, and finished 7th.
But, even I have to admit he is considerably stronger than last year, especially, once again, in the mountains.
Still doubt (yes I'm that stubborn) if it's enough for TDF level though. I really think he'll have a hard time doing better than that 7th place if the level of the TDF is as high as it was this year (because as boring as the tour was, the level was very high with Contador and Schleck this time working together to pull away).
We'll see. It's hard to compare anyway.

 

[Arnout]

Antón was also very, very good at 23 but then he had a 4-year-long crash which is still ongoing.

He was good and he was talented, but it took him years to toughen up. It is only since 2 years that he is consistent enough to compete at top level every day.

About Contador, you're maybe right. Before his crash though he was not a top mountain guy as far as I can recall.

 

[hiero2]

Congrats Vincenzo, sure as hell proved me wrong. And in what fashion during the final stage.

He's definitely shown style this year. I'd say it was "True Grit". He has been outclassed, but that hasn't stopped him. Good on 'im.

Antón was also very, very good at 23 but then he had a 4-year-long crash which is still ongoing.

And wasn't this one a b--(hrumph) -- a bad one! Man, the luck! But that is always part of it. It also shows he's likely riding on the rivet to stay with the lead groups.

 

[Ferminal]

Well deserved, might be a long while before his next one if Basso and Ricco dominate the Giro.

 

[Mambo95]

For some reason, which I can't understand, Nibali reminds me of this fellow from the Bugs Bunny cartoons. And that's why I like him.

I don't know! He just does.

 

[DenisMenchov]

For some reason, which I can't understand, Nibali reminds me of this fellow from the Bugs Bunny cartoons. And that's why I like him.

I don't know! He just does.

Totally

 

[El Imbatido]

When i saw the title of this thread the first thing that ran through my head was that Simpsons episode where Homer is part of the Stonecutters cult. Everyone abandons him and they relocate their club to an icecream parlour(??). Homer is peering in the window wanting to join when he sees a sign in the window that says 'No Homers'. I just had this vision of Evans peering in the window at Contador, Armstrong, Nibali, Menchov, Sastre, Basso et al and there being a big sign in the window 'No Cadels'

I have no idea why the title made me think of that but it did and i thought it was pretty funny.......

But anyone welcome Mr Nibali to a select club, just remember the secret password and handshake.

 

[Señor_Contador]

Congratulations Vincenzo!!

Best of the rest without a doubt.

 

[Jamsque]

Now that he's won the Vuelta, I move that his nickname be changed from 'Nibbles' to 'Bites'.

 

[Liquigas]

Well deserved, might be a long while before his next one if Basso and Ricco dominate the Giro.

He should do the Tour, every year till he wins it.

 

[The Hitch]

He should do the Tour, every year till he wins it.

what like evans

 

[c&cfan]

what like evans

sorry but nibali at age 26 isnt even close to andy. and andy isnt at contador's level.
maybe a much stronger nibali can do a top five at next year's tour. in fact, it depends more of how contador (the best) andy (eternal 2nd) menchov (very very strong but not an amazing prodigy) and the others usual suspects are. nibali will be, at is maximum, near menchov's level.

it's funny some of you saying that he is the "one" when he has almost the same age as contador and the difference is huuuggggggeeeee (especially in palmares and how they were able to get those victories)

 

[Barrus]

One thing that does appear clear is that he will do the giro next year. Which is good, better for him to do something other than what Schleck is doing, trying the tour, time and time again, and failing time and time again, at the expense of the other GT's. This strategy of Schleck could well prove to be quite detrimental to him, and may even leave him without a GT win, kinda like Evans will (probably, not sure yet), which is a pity, although I would like Evans to win a GT better than Schleck winning one

 

[roundabout]

Only in cycling people try to make an issue out of going for a higher hanging fruit.

 

[Barrus]

Only in cycling people try to make an issue out of going for a higher hanging fruit.

To the detriment of other objectives, yes certainly. The problem I have is that many prioritise (spelling?) the tour over everything else, even when they have no or remarkably little chance of winning it. An example would be Gesink this year, he could've had a tremendous chance in the giro and the vuelta, but opted solely for the tour, where he had a snowball's chance in hell

 

[roundabout]

What other objectives? Giro and Vuelta? It's their and their teams preference. IIRC a poll on this forum shows that cycling fans who bothered to sign up don't really consider Evans to be a lesser rider than Menchov despite the formers lack of GT wins.

 

[Barrus]

What other objectives? Giro and Vuelta? It's their and their teams preference. IIRC a poll on this forum shows that cycling fans who bothered to sign up don't really consider Evans to be a lesser rider than Menchov despite the formers lack of GT wins.

The first is certainly true, but I find it a pity for these riders to do this, because other races are a lot more suited towards them.

Also the latter is true, but again I find it a pity that Evans does not have a GT win, which he rightly deserves.

I know what I say won't be what the riders and especially the teams want, but it is my opinion that I would rather see the riders do those races that are suited towards them the best, instead of overprioritizing the Tour

 

[roundabout]

I don't know. This Vuelta demonstrated that a specific focus on one GT intentionally (Anton) or unintentionally (Mosquera) gives an edge over the competition. OTOH maybe it could be due to accumulated fatigue and the Tour isn't far enough into the season for it to be a factor. Ironically i also think that given his TT and abilities as an uphill finisher this was a good Vuelta for Evans.

 

[The Hitch]

sorry but nibali at age 26 isnt even close to andy. and andy isnt at contador's level.
maybe a much stronger nibali can do a top five at next year's tour. in fact, it depends more of how contador (the best) andy (eternal 2nd) menchov (very very strong but not an amazing prodigy) and the others usual suspects are. nibali will be, at is maximum, near menchov's level.

it's funny some of you saying that he is the "one" when he has almost the same age as contador and the difference is huuuggggggeeeee (especially in palmares and how they were able to get those victories)

why you telling me. Earlier in this thread i said pretty much this, that Andy Schleck is way better than Nibali.

 

[Climbing]

sorry but nibali at age 26 isnt even close to andy. and andy isnt at contador's level.
maybe a much stronger nibali can do a top five at next year's tour. in fact, it depends more of how contador (the best) andy (eternal 2nd) menchov (very very strong but not an amazing prodigy) and the others usual suspects are. nibali will be, at is maximum, near menchov's level.

it's funny some of you saying that he is the "one" when he has almost the same age as contador and the difference is huuuggggggeeeee (especially in palmares and how they were able to get those victories)

Nibali was 7th in 2009 TdF and made enormous progress in 2010.
No one is saying that Nibali is equal to Contador and neither he is equal to Andy... even he himself said that those two are at the moment far away from his strenght.

By the way I think he is going for Giro (and Basso is going for Tour I suppose) next year, and I suppose he got a decent shot at it if supported well (like Basso this year).

What will be Nibali you cannot say, cause he's young and has margin for improvement... and at 25 he has 1 top ten at TdF a podium at Giro (working for Basso) and a won Vuelta.
Not bad at all.

 

[Carols]

Congrats to the Shark

The Shark may not have panache but he sure has consistency and guts! At 25 there is still room for improvement, the mental maturity and Grit is already obvious.

Not a bad haul so far in his career, a Vuelta win, a Giro 3rd while riding in service to Basso and a Tour top 10. Beats what Andy's got on his palmares, you can have all the #2s in the Tour you want it'll never beat a GT win .

Bravo Vincenzo!

Now let's see what he can do against the Big Guns. I see a Giro win in his future but not a Tour win as long as Contador stays at his peak....

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Nibali was 7th in 2009 TdF and made enormous progress in 2010.
No one is saying that Nibali is equal to Contador and neither he is equal to Andy... even he himself said that those two are at the moment far away from his strenght.

By the way I think he is going for Giro (and Basso is going for Tour I suppose) next year, and I suppose he got a decent shot at it if supported well (like Basso this year).

What will be Nibali you cannot say, cause he's young and has margin for improvement... and at 25 he has 1 top ten at TdF a podium at Giro (working for Basso) and a won Vuelta.
Not bad at all.

Nibali made progress this season.
But I would not call it enormous. The 2009 Tour level was pretty much the same as the 2010 Vuelta level Nibali showed.
It was only in the Giro 2010 that his level was higher. Although not by much, again.
In his greatest uphill performance in the Vuelta (Bola del Mundo) Nibali gained 39 seconds on Nicolas Roche? How is that much better than what he showed uphill in the Tour last year? (Sometimes 4th/5th best climber in a few stages)

No. Nibali made just another small step, same thing he has been doing for the past 5 years now. I don't think he can improve much anyway. But that's another discussion

 

[TheDude]

Congrats, I had faith and was rooting since before the start.

 

[CatsNK]

I'm very happy for him and was very much rooting for him. He's still very young. Yes other riders are his age and are far better, but he could peak at 28, 30, 33... we don't know. There's no reason he has to peak at 26.

He was terrific in the final stage - when it seemed that he was really dropping off he somehow came back. Impressive - showed a lot of guts.

 

[Bag_O_Wallet]

The first is certainly true, but I find it a pity for these riders to do this, because other races are a lot more suited towards them.

Also the latter is true, but again I find it a pity that Evans does not have a GT win, which he rightly deserves.

I know what I say won't be what the riders and especially the teams want, but it is my opinion that I would rather see the riders do those races that are suited towards them the best, instead of overprioritizing the Tour

Yup. Nibali guarantees himself a nice little legacy as a grand tour winner.

Especially with a new team, I can't see Andy doing anything but over-prioritizing the Tour for at least another 2 years.

As for Cuddles, hopefully it's not too late.