Vincenzo Nibali

[SeriousSam]

I'm swayed towards Vicenzo because:

1)
After his Vuelta win in 2010 Nibali had a full season without a win.
A dope-fuelled ambition would find that hard to wait out.
Nibs is a bit like Evans in that he accepts the bad times
without apparent recourse to peds imo.

2)
Vino's letter was like saying 'What did I tell you Vincenzo if you don't take our doping advice you'll never win the Tour".
And if Vino didn't think Nibs was doping that is a massive expert testimony.

3) He still looks his doubters in the eye.

It's remarkable how different people process information differently. None of those 3 things come close to modifying by assessment of how probable it is Nibali dopes by 1%

 

[sir fly]

Indeed, I wouldn't say Contador 2007 was a massive jump in performance.

There are no massive jumps in performance if you're raised by Saiz.

 

[hrotha]

There are no massive jumps in performance if you're raised by Saiz.

 

[sir fly]

Literally dirty.

 

[jens_attacks]

i think he got a shower just before the final mountain time trial and that's why robertito beat him

 

[perico]

Contador 2007?

He had very good progression till that point. And throw in a brain injury as well. Yes doping in 2007 but he was an very good junior and progressed well to the 2007 Tour.

Agreed. He may have been Dirty Bertie in 2007, but him winning was about the least surprising aspect of that tour. It was pretty obvious as far back as 2005 that he was going to be a superstar on the bike, doping or not.

 

[maxmartin]

Agreed. He may have been Dirty Bertie in 2007, but him winning was about the least surprising aspect of that tour. It was pretty obvious as far back as 2005 that he was going to be a superstar on the bike, doping or not.

So did you know his performance level without doping?

 

[TourOfSardinia]

So did you know his performance level without doping?

Who's Nibali's just to keep on topic.
There's another thread for Bertie:
http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?p=1523043#post1523043

 

[sniper]

four and a half minutes to valverde.
nibbles should start toning it down a bit if he doesn't want to raise too many eyebrows.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

four and a half minutes to valverde.
nibbles should start toning it down a bit if he doesn't want to raise too many eyebrows.

most of those minute were not won in the mountains by an anorexic freak.

 

[SeriousSam]

Being less alien than the Alien is the new clean.

 

[Ledigi]

From being decent in Dauphine to 6+ minutes and not even breathing in TdF, i find Nibali extremely ridiculous.

But because there are so many frenchies in top 10 nothing will happen , ASO can't allow any doping controversy.

The fact that pensioner Peraud and Nibali beat Armstrong times on climbs is very telling.

 

[doperhopper]

Being less alien than the Alien is the new clean.

come on, poor Nibs, he came charged to the levels of Dirtie/Vroomie, and now has to listen the whole stage to his radio saying "easy, dont attack early, slow down, let someone go for a while", day by day, stage by stage... soooo booooring

 

[pastronef]

ehm, MrConde...

https://www.twitter.com/mrconde/status/492003927878270976

Tomorrow, Vincenzo Nibali will be the first clean winner on Hautacam in many years. Preview online in a couple of hours. #TDF

 

[SeriousSam]

Remember, if they have not yet tested positive they are clean. But if they have tested positive once, then they will retroactively have been, and continue to be, doped to the eyeballs despite all those negatives.

 

[pastronef]

From being decent in Dauphine to 6+ minutes and not even breathing in TdF, i find Nibali extremely ridiculous.

yes, climbing and breathing through his nose

 

[Dear Wiggo]

I asked this before - but why does he have to keep asserting domination? Is it air time for the sponsor? Does Tinkov have his family?

I mean seriously - surely flying under the radar for a few days makes more sense than constantly making the bunch look like Pro-conti riders?

Or is he so completely confident in his cleanness that he wants to prove a point?

Any theories or ideas?

 

[CycloAndy]

I asked this before - but why does he have to keep asserting domination? Is it air time for the sponsor? Does Tinkov have his family?

I mean seriously - surely flying under the radar for a few days makes more sense than constantly making the bunch look like Pro-conti riders?

Or is he so completely confident in his cleanness that he wants to prove a point?

Any theories or ideas?

He probably feels that not only has he got to prove himself better than the rest of the peloton but better than Contador or Froome would have been.

 

[hrotha]

Exactly. Doping doesn't even enter into it, it's an irrelevance to these guys.

 

[Dear Wiggo]

Personally (yeah yeah) I'd be doing the bare minimum to win so I had more in the tank post-tour to prepare for worlds, etc.

Needlessly pushing yourself just doesn't make sense to me.

I get what you're saying re: proving himself, but find that interesting. I would have thought only a mentally weak rider would be influenced in his racing style by riders that are not even there.

 

[IndianCyclist]

Contador 2007?

He had very good progression till that point. And throw in a brain injury as well. Yes doping in 2007 but he was an very good junior and progressed well to the 2007 Tour.

He had no results to speak of in the GTs. Huge difference between winning 1 week races and GTs. Even the dope manager Bruyneel only planned for Contador to challenge for the white jersey in the tour with Levi as the leader.

 

[observer]

Personally (yeah yeah) I'd be doing the bare minimum to win so I had more in the tank post-tour to prepare for worlds, etc.

Needlessly pushing yourself just doesn't make sense to me.

I get what you're saying re: proving himself, but find that interesting. I would have thought only a mentally weak rider would be influenced in his racing style by riders that are not even there.

Maybe he harbours concerns about the TT.

 

[Dear Wiggo]

Maybe he harbours concerns about the TT.

Perhaps.

If he beats Valverde it will have been for nought

 

[Oldman]

He probably feels that not only has he got to prove himself better than the rest of the peloton but better than Contador or Froome would have been.

I'm not sure he is attempting to prove anything. Obviously he feels really, really good and is not being taxed. Watching today's stage and seeing he and the French boys remind a lot of seeing another rider CHARGING up the last climb. Something's not quite right.

 

[doperhopper]

I asked this before - but why does he have to keep asserting domination? Is it air time for the sponsor? Does Tinkov have his family?

I mean seriously - surely flying under the radar for a few days makes more sense than constantly making the bunch look like Pro-conti riders?

Or is he so completely confident in his cleanness that he wants to prove a point?

Any theories or ideas?

just training (at his usual training "levels" to preserve the form for Vuelta)