Nibali's comments

frenchfighter

Nibali did not race for 50 days after winning the Tour de France and completing a series of post-Tour criteriums. He was back in action last week at the Trittico Lombardo and at the Memorial Pantani and GP di Prato but failed to finished three of the five races. He also crashed on his left hip in the Tre Valli Varesine race and according to Gazzetta dello Sport is struggling to recover from his injuries and may need a skin transplant at the end of the season. The wound is apparently open and slightly infected.

“There's no point in hiding it, it hurts. When I start riding it bothers me but it gets better when I warm up,” Nibali told Gazzetta dello Sport. “Before going to bed (on Monday) I got a scalpel and took quite a bit of asphalt and infected material out of it. It's a little better but is far from healed.”

The Sicilian is conscious that he does not have the form to be competitive in the World Championships. Gazzetta suggest he is annoyed that his Astana team forced him to travel to Kazakhstan for a week in late August to celebrate his Tour de France victory rather than allowing him to train at home.

The Astana team has also insisted that Nibali misses Il Lombardia and instead rides the Tour of Almaty in Kazakhstan on the same day. Gazzetta dello Sport has revealed that he will also miss the presentation of the Giro d'Italia because the Kazakhstan delegation have him invited to go hunting.

“I don't want to go. I've never shot a gun in my life. I don't like to shoot and I'm not interested in hunting. I also want to be at the presentation. Let's see what happens,” Gazzetta report Nibali as saying.

“To prepare for the World Championships it would have been good not to go to Kazhastan (in August) and put off the trip until October.”

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/nibali- ... t-his-form

spaceman147

frenchfighter wrote:

“There's no point in hiding it, it hurts. When I start riding it bothers me but it gets better when I warm up,” Nibali told Gazzetta dello Sport. “Before going to bed (on Monday) I got a scalpel and took quite a bit of asphalt and infected material out of it. It's a little better but is far from healed.”


http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/nibali- ... t-his-form

Do these people not have doctors?

andy_wrx

Seems they think they're more important than the people who pay their salaries...

My contract/job spec has a clause saying roughly 'and anything else you might be told to do'

Mind you, being taken hunting in Kazakhstan, presumably with Vino and lots of vodka, sounds like a repeat of LeMond's experience

rodgers73

andy_wrx wrote:

Mind you, being taken hunting in Kazakhstan, presumably with Vino and lots of vodka, sounds like a repeat of LeMond's experience

Not the best way to look after your main asset though - forcing him to stop training, get drunk and miss out on high profile events like the Giro presentation. Odd use of him I'd say...

RichN95.

NIbali: "So Vino what are we hunting"

Vino: "Valentin Iglinsky. Ha.Ha Ha....."

Vino: "....Oh and also andy_wrx who will do absolutely anything his employers tell him to without question"

frenchfighter

On Iglinsky and the Giro.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/nibali- ... -by-astana

Le Commentateur

Gazzetta dello Sport has revealed that he will also miss the presentation of the Giro d'Italia because the Kazakhstan delegation have him invited to go hunting.

“I don't want to go. I've never shot a gun in my life. I don't like to shoot and I'm not interested in hunting. I also want to be at the presentation. Let's see what happens,” Gazzetta report Nibali as saying.

Maybe the Sicilian was made an offer he can't refuse.

frenchfighter

Good comment's as usual:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/exc ... nzo-nibali

inseine

frenchfighter wrote:

Good comment's as usual:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/exc ... nzo-nibali

sounds like part two might be more interesting...

In part two of our exclusive interview with Vincenzo Nibali, which will be published later this week, the Italian talks about the impact of the EPO doping cases on his Astana team, gives his position on doping, team manager Alexandre Vinokourov and the MPCC.

I like the guy but the team is starting to worry me.

joelsim

Nibs showed early season how good he is off the sauce. Then miraculously won the Tour.

Yellow Peril

joelsim wrote:

Nibs showed early season how good he is off the sauce. Then miraculously won the Tour.

To be fair his form was reasonable early season and I would say consistent with someone building towards July. He had a dig in MSR which was a precocious tactic similar to that which won stage 2 of the Tour and maybe the cobbled stage?

joelsim

He was a million miles away from the untouchable in France tho'.

argyllflyer

joelsim wrote:

He was a million miles away from the untouchable in France tho'.

At the same time, he was as good as he needed to be in the Tour. Going into it, Froome, Contador, Nibali and Valverde were the most realistic challengers and everyone else was going to be fighting for scraps. The time gained on the cobbles gave him a bit of breathing space and I'm not sure if anyone made any serious dig for the yellow jersey once Froome and Bertie were out. The GC battle was great... but only for 2nd and 3rd place. The lack of serious challenge (i.e. one that would make him ride as aggressively as he did in the first week) perhaps magnified his achievement.

joelsim

Understand about Froome and Contador, but there is no doubt in my mind that Nibali is a doper. His Giro and Tour wins were just too good, as were the whole Astana team especially in the Giro.

Yellow Peril

joelsim wrote:

Understand about Froome and Contador, but there is no doubt in my mind that Nibali is a doper. His Giro and Tour wins were just too good, as were the whole Astana team especially in the Giro.

I just don't know. I'd probably have rated him 3rd prior to the start of the Tour behind Froome and Bert but definitely a contender following the cheeky steal of time over Contador.

I don't think Nibs has ever had the consistency of Froome 2013 or that of Bert as a multiple GT winner. I just think the planets aligned nicely for him that Tour as they did for Wiggo 2012

RichN95.

joelsim wrote:

Understand about Froome and Contador, but there is no doubt in my mind that Nibali is a doper. His Giro and Tour wins were just too good, as were the whole Astana team especially in the Giro.

But you think everyone from Armstrong to the old man passes you on the way to the shops is doping, so that's meaningless.

frenchfighter

Part 2:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/exc ... o-nibali-1

blazing_saddles

frenchfighter wrote:

Part 2:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/exc ... o-nibali-1

The standard nothing to do with team or Vino.
Quelle surprise, Vincenzo.

frenchfighter

Just keeping this updated:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/nibali-and-aru-show-united-front-ahead-of-vuelta-a-espaa/

ddraver

I take it we re all assuming this is bullsugar yes?

blazing_saddles

They will have no problems in co-existing in the team....................because they will both be water boys for Landa. 8)

FocusZing

"Born near the Strait of Messina, his nickname is the "Shark of the Strait", "the Shark of Messina" or simply "The Shark".

Nibali has a younger brother, Antonio, who is also a racing cyclist, and who turned professional in 2014 to ride for the Marchiol-Emisfero team in Italy."

davidof

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19679212#p19679212]frenchfighter[/url] wrote:

Just keeping this updated:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/nibali-and-aru-show-united-front-ahead-of-vuelta-a-espaa/

> “At the time, I preferred not to mention it, but in 2010 Froome was excluded from the Giro for being towed by a car…”

well a police motorbike, he'd abandoned and was just finishing the climb to get to the team car.

FocusZing

Astana have been quick to dismiss rumours circulating on Thursday that Vincenzo Nibali had been told by the team’s general manager Alexander Vinokourov that he could find a new team for the 2016 season, after falling out of contention in the 2015 Tour de France on the first mountain stage.

According to reports in Spanish newspaper AS, Vinokourov was so angered by the Italian champion’s poor performances throughout 2015, that he was looking to offload Nibali before his contract expires at the end of 2016.

Nibali lost over four minutes to race leader Chris Froome (Team Sky) on the first summit finish of the to La Pierre-Saint-Martin on stage 10, prompting his Kazakh boss to tell the press that “Vincenzo needs a good mechanic because something is broken in his head.”

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/racing/tour-de-france/astana-dismiss-rumours-that-vincenzo-nibali-was-told-to-find-a-new-team-for-2016-183028

He certainly got fired up after that.