Vino Comeback Thread

[Vino attacks everyone]

You mean like 2007?

I'm glad Vino decided to be a one day racer instead of a mediocre GT contender. At least someone with brains in the peloton.

medicore? he would have won the 06 tour without a problem if he had started, and the yrs before that he had to fight with LA and Ullrich (who is the most talented GC rider ever )

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

After that Brajkovic should step up.

Fat chance. Astana's best bet is for Vino to soldier on and perhaps get a top-10 in the end. I don't think he'll try, though, with the Olympic TT in mind.

 

[will10]

medicore? he would have won the 06 tour without a problem if he had started, and the yrs before that he had to fight with LA and Ullrich (who is the most talented GC rider ever )

Against 06 Basso and Ullrich, Vino would've been chanceless.

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

Against 06 Basso and Ullrich, Vino would've been chanceless.

Operacion Puerto didn`t have anything to do with Vino (just half of his team) so he should have been able to race

 

[CatsNK]

It's too good to be true:

http://cyclingtime.com/en/2553/article/Cyclingtime-interview-with-Alexandre-Vinokourov

...Nothing is determined yet. At first, I want to spin the legs in the bunch of Le Tour de Langkawi. After that race, I’ll see if my condition is good enough for the big races. All depends on my condition. If it’s good, I’ll go for the Giro. Same goes for the Tour de France. If I’m on good form, it would be the ideal race to end up my career.

 

[jens_attacks]

vino did everything for cycling. in my humble opinion,he has nothing to prove anymore.i really don't dare to expect any significant result in this beautiful last year.i just hope he enjoys the ride and stays healthy.everything more is a bonus.

Vino 4ever!

 

[joe_papp]

Vino4-ever

It's too good to be true:

http://cyclingtime.com/en/2553/article/Cyclingtime-interview-with-Alexandre-Vinokourov

Frankly I hope that he DOES take one of those two precious Olympic spots. If this is truly Vino's final year (and I can tearfully accept that it probably is) then I want to see him ride as many prestigious events as he can w/o blowing a gasket. In fact, if I was someone other than Joe Papp and didn't believe in the anti-doping movement and now generally find doping distasteful, I could understand how some Vino fanatic would happily turn a blind eye to their hero's hedging against his natural fitness and buying the cooperation of his competitors in the peloton while even topping off the tank w/ an extra 1/2 pint or more.

I'm not saying that I personally would support or condone such scandalous behavior. But if I were someone else I might be able to understand why a Vino-fanatic might want his hero to risk it all so he could go out in a blaze of NAZARBAYEVist glory while Kazakhstan National Anthem play in background. Or wait - is THIS the correct version (lol)?!

Face it, haters, Vino is more popular than Borat! Vino4-ever!

PS. Reading this description of the Kazakh flag, while I found it to be beautiful and inspiring, couldn't they achieve the same effect by replacing one side or the other with Vino's portrait?

" a gold sun with 32 rays above a soaring golden steppe eagle, both centered on a sky blue background; the hoist side displays a national ornamental pattern "koshkar-muiz" (the horns of the ram) in gold; the blue color is of religious significance to the Turkic peoples of the country, and so symbolizes cultural and ethnic unity; it also represents the endless sky as well as water; the sun, a source of life and energy, exemplifies wealth and plenitude; the sun's rays are shaped like grain, which is the basis of abundance and prosperity; the eagle has appeared on the flags of Kazakh tribes for centuries and represents freedom, power, and the flight to the future "

UPDATE: Vino 40th in Langkawi TT. Hmmmm :/

 

[joe_papp]

Concerned...

Very concerned...Vino lost another 46sec today in Malaysia.

 

[analo69]

Yes it is too bad. I hope he will get onto form before the more important races.

But I guess there is not much even Vino can do about bad form. Except train even more and harder. If it was just some physical thing, i.e. broken bone, he would just have suffered through it, still winning races.

Do you remember the tour when he got kicked out. He had a crash injuring both knees severely. No problem. He just bent his knees when he got the approx. 35 stitches in each knee so he could still ride the bike. Later on he won the TT. There has been many good examples of bike riders suffering all the way through stage races, but it has to be one of the more impressive.

The last impression I have of Vino was when he got carried out of the ditch at last years Tour with teammates standing and waiting for him on the road. Please cycling gods (if you exist), don't let that impression be my last of Vino. I want to remember you as the rider who beat all the sprinters on Champs Ellyses

 

[Michele]

Yesterday during KBK on italian Raisport they said Vino is considering (or already decided?) to ride Giro d'Italia.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

some are training like this in the winter:

vino is not such a big fan of those trainings and usually goes like this:

vladimir putin watch out!

god created adam, eve and vinokourov...

 

[markene2]

Yesterday during KBK on italian Raisport they said Vino is considering (or already decided?) to ride Giro d'Italia.

As "CatsNK" quoted above, he will ride the giro if he feels he has the form.

Source: http://cyclingtime.com/en/2553/article/Cyclingtime-interview-with-Alexandre-Vinokourov

 

[skidmark]

Very concerned...Vino lost another 46sec today in Malaysia.

Have faith, remember his return in the Vuelta 2009, anything but spectacular. He'll be back on track in a few months.

 

[joe_papp]

god created adam, eve and vinokourov...

And when he said, "Let there be light," that light came from the sun's beaming rays, reflecting off of Vino's cherubic face and dazzling smile lol

I know he lost time again today, but then again so did Clarke Hilton, and both he and Vino had sprinters in the top-5. So maybe both of them were involved in leading out their rider, w/ Clarke pulling for Keough and Vino for Valentin Iglinskiy?

Anyone want to go into business w/ me selling the Vino4-ever kit (or an updated version?) through http://www.vino4-ever.com? I was inspired when he wore that for his comeback! And if you've never read it, BikeSnob NYC's blog post on Vino did make me laugh (from Aug. 2009): http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/2009/08/undeterred-powered-by-ego-repelled-by.html.

"Undeterred: Powered by Ego, Repelled by Disgust
Sometimes when a professional cyclist leaves the sport for awhile the time spent out of competition can re-charge both his competitive spirit and his ego. There is one Astana rider in particular who has recently made a much-publicized comeback, and whose ego has swelled up like a saddle sore in the intervening years. I am talking of course about Alexander Vinokourov, seen here wearing a jersey in the "Alexander Vinokourov" egoway:

"

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

Vino will end his career with 3 more giro stages, 2 tour stages (+ yellow jersey for 15 days) and 2 olympic gold medals, you`ll see

 

[markene2]

Vino will end his career with 3 more giro stages, 2 tour stages (+ yellow jersey for 15 days) and 2 olympic gold medals, you`ll see

And world domination.

But on a serrious note, i think he is lucky if he gets a stage in the Tour.

 

[jens_attacks]

definitely he will fire up some stages in il giro.remember that liquigas still owe him a stage victory.so he will take three stage wins and a virgin.

 

[palmerq]

it wasnt so long ago http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8S_a4Z1UMs

 

[happychappy]

Video interview: http://velonews.competitor.com/2012...re-vinkourov-exclusive-in-vino-veritas_207664

 

[joe_papp]

it wasnt so long ago http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8S_a4Z1UMs

Thanks for sharing this. Reminds us anything is possible, and a good tonic to another grimm stage result for Vino in Malaysia. Wish we were on the ground there and could see how he looks during the stages and how much work he's doing.

Vino4-ever...

UPDATE: I'm going to make it my goal to land a Vino interview ASAP. I'll email Bozic and see if he will put me in touch. Fingers crossed. If it comes together, I'll want a few questions from Vino's Mafia, so start thinking of what is the one Q? you'd pose to him if given the chance.

No promises though - only hope.

 

[Fetisoff]

This has been mentioned before, but it looks like Vino is not doing any of the Ardennes this year, and maybe doing Giro instead.

http://astanafans.com/aleksandr-vinokurov-bez-radio-rebyata-rasteryalis-nemnogo.html#more-70813

Q: So what are you doing after Coppi e Bartali?
A: Turkey, most likely

Q: And what about Belgium?
A: No, I just can’t. For me to ride the Ardennes, I should have started doing intense training in December. At 39, I just can’t get peak and get into a good form for races like that in a short period of training anymore. No, I’m not going to Ardennes.

Q: Then we can see you at Giro in May?
A: We’ll see how things go, I can’t say anything for sure right now

 

[joe_papp]

Vino velonews interview

This has been mentioned before, but it looks like Vino is not doing any of the Ardennes this year, and maybe doing Giro instead.

http://astanafans.com/aleksandr-vinokurov-bez-radio-rebyata-rasteryalis-nemnogo.html#more-70813

Q: So what are you doing after Coppi e Bartali?
A: Turkey, most likely

Q: And what about Belgium?
A: No, I just can’t. For me to ride the Ardennes, I should have started doing intense training in December. At 39, I just can’t get peak and get into a good form for races like that in a short period of training anymore. No, I’m not going to Ardennes.

Q: Then we can see you at Giro in May?
A: We’ll see how things go, I can’t say anything for sure right now

Having read the interview, I still curse violently the mierda luck of Vino in last year's Tour. What cruel fate, how Fortuna robbed us of one more round of Vino brilliance. He sounds a tired, sobered man. I hope his form comes around quickly so he banishes all doubt with a flash of the old brilliance - however momentary and transient. Even if we must wait until May to see it. He must taste victory once more before retiring again. Please.

EDIT: I know they rightly took my wins there away from me, but as consolation I am pleased that Vino will have followed in my footsteps and raced the Tour of Turkey There are many stages there that suit his characteristics. Perhaps he shall be victorious there too.

EDIT2: Has anyone watched the VeloNews interview of Vino? I am not a fan of Tan's, and the fact that he describes the interview as excruciating is a turn-off, as the only one who it could've been excruciating for was Vino, having to talk to Tan... Here's the link:

http://velonews.competitor.com/2012...re-vinkourov-exclusive-in-vino-veritas_207664

 

[Fetisoff]

What cruel fate, how Fortuna robbed us of one more round of Vino brilliance. He sounds a tired, sobered man.

Maybe he's just trying to fool the competition

But seriously though, yeah he almost sounds like someone made him ride out this last year, and he doesn't really want to, which is not the Vino I know, so I'm hoping once (if???) he gets some form and smells the blood again, it will be the good old Vino.

 

[joe_papp]

Maybe he's just trying to fool the competition

But seriously though, yeah he almost sounds like someone made him ride out this last year, and he doesn't really want to, which is not the Vino I know, so I'm hoping once (if???) he gets some form and smells the blood again, it will be the good old Vino.

Have you watched the VeloNews interview of Vino? I am not a fan of the author/interviewer, Anthony Tan, and the fact that he describes the interview as excruciating is a turn-off, as the only one who it could've been excruciating for was Vino, having to talk to Tan. I couldn't bring myself to watch it... Here's the link:

http://velonews.competitor.com/2012...re-vinkourov-exclusive-in-vino-veritas_207664

Is it worth suffering through?

 

[Fetisoff]

Have you watched the VeloNews interview of Vino? I am not a fan of the author/interviewer, Anthony Tan, and the fact that he describes the interview as excruciating is a turn-off, as the only one who it could've been excruciating for was Vino, having to talk to Tan. I couldn't bring myself to watch it... Here's the link:

http://velonews.competitor.com/2012...re-vinkourov-exclusive-in-vino-veritas_207664

Is it worth suffering through?

I'll watch it once I get home, no speakers at the computer I'm currently at. I'll let you know what it's like when I do.