Nairo can't roll and is massively over rated, discuss..

josame

Well I think he is

Garry H

I don't. I expect him to claw back the three minutes from Froome by Sunday and take the MJ.

josame

Garry H wrote:

I don't. I expect him to claw back the three minutes from Froome by Sunday and take the MJ.

There's more chance that I will be ice skating on the Thames this week..

If we compare him to Bertie at the age of 26 - he is a bit of an underachiever (1GT v 4 GT)

hypster

He's a one-trick pony and not even very good at that. It will be a insult to cycling if he ever wins another GT with so much other good talent around. It will take a massive parcours fudge with loads of climbing and little or no TT for him to stand any chance. Even then all the other contenders will need to fall off and abandon but I suppose it worked for Nibali in the Giro this year so anything's possible.

iainf72

He's a very good rider, but he's not very exciting. There is an "idea" of him as a successor to Contador but I don't think he is really.

Good discussion about him on yesterdays cycling podcast

markhewitt1978

Nairo is good, he's just not quite as good as his initial form in 2013 was leading us to all believe. Plus his team isn't exactly supportive of him, he'd do better elsewhere - or somewhere without Valverde.

josame

iainf72 wrote:

He's a very good rider, but he's not very exciting. There is an "idea" of him as a successor to Contador but I don't think he is really.

Good discussion about him on yesterdays cycling podcast

Thanks I'll check it out.

For the record the thread title is a bit click baity I do rate him, just disappointed at the mo

RichN95.

I don't think that someone who has won a Giro and been second in the Tour by 26 is overrated. However, he is a diesel powered chugger and like his type before, he'll likely find that there's usually someone better. (See also Ullrich, Basso, Evans etc)

ugo.santalucia

I agree with the OP... he was supposed to tear the world of GT apart and in three years (2013-2016) he has barely won a Giro in the absence of opposition and nailed two TdF podiums without giving the impression he could actually win the race, basically he didn't do any better than Aru. In the same period, the less rated Nibali has won three GT, an ageing Contador has won 2 and Froome is on the way to the third Tour. His form is patchy and his climbing ability probably over rated... maybe we were barking at the wrong tree after all

tailwindhome

He's finished

hypster

Sky should employ him as a climbing domestique for Froome. He'd only have to move up one place in the line to fulfill that role.

DeVlaeminck

I'd have him as the second best GC rider in the world right now, a better TTer than his last effort suggests, one of the few who has ridden away from Froome on a big mountain in the Tour and almost certainly a future winner.

Whether he's lived up to his promise - maybe not - but he did promise to be right up there with Froome by now. I'd like to see him race more and to be more adventurous when he does race - even if he doesn't want to gamble in the Tour take a chance in some of the more minor races just to get that feel for jumping away, repeated attacks when you aren't sure you can sustain them etc. I'm not a big Movistar fan though they always seem fairly conservative with their tactics so maybe a change of team would help.

timoid.

He's an excellent rider and will probably finish second again this year. As many have said, he's not very exciting though and never seems to take the initiative.

Froome is a class above, but even without Froome in the race, he would probably lose it as someone else takes control. Someone who might not have quite the physical gifts.

milton50

He'll win a TdF and a couple more Giros/Vueltas before he retires.

He won't beat a fully fit Froome though

reformedfatty

We won't ever know, and indeed he won't ever know unless he locates his balls and actually tries to beat Froome.

If he really is giving it all just to stay on Froome's coat tails, he does a bloody good job of hiding his exertion.

josame

I'll be interested to see how he fares at the Vuelta
Also I wonder why he is a chugger, maybe he should change his style
Evans didn't always chug
Could he work on having a kick?
When he went away on ventoux (be it for a few mins) he didn't exactly fly away from the group.

professeur

josame wrote:

Garry H wrote:

I don't. I expect him to claw back the three minutes from Froome by Sunday and take the MJ.

There's more chance that I will be ice skating on the Thames this week..

If we compare him to Bertie at the age of 26 - he is a bit of an underachiever (1GT v 4 GT)

I think you'll find everyone's an underachiever in this regard, including Froome.

I feel like Nairo gets a lot of smug bile on here because he doesn't attack enough the one guy that can beat him. However, he does always seem to have a go at least 2/3 times per Tour. He's just not as strong as Froome over the whole race.

Anyway, I refuse to call a guy that has 1 GT and 2 TdF podiums, so far, an undeachiever. I do, however, wish he would race more.

RideOnTime

results do to some extent speak for themselves... don't know that could be over-rating.

ugo.santalucia

Milton50 wrote:

He'll win a TdF and a couple more Giros/Vueltas before he retires.

He won't beat a fully fit Froome though

One gets a window of opportunity... typically 5-6 tours, very rarely more... he has already 4 under the belt and he was prime cut beef on his first one... I'd say he has a couple more years before other stronger riders come through... and Froome has another 1-2 years in the tank too, so I don't think he will win the Tour

professeur

professeur wrote:

josame wrote:

Garry H wrote:

I don't. I expect him to claw back the three minutes from Froome by Sunday and take the MJ.

There's more chance that I will be ice skating on the Thames this week..

If we compare him to Bertie at the age of 26 - he is a bit of an underachiever (1GT v 4 GT)

I think you'll find everyone's an underachiever in this regard, including Froome.

I feel like Nairo gets a lot of smug bile on here because he doesn't attack enough the one guy that can beat him. However, he does always seem to have a go at least 2/3 times per Tour. He's just not as strong as Froome over the whole race.

Anyway, I refuse to call a guy that has 1 GT and 2 TdF podiums, so far, an undeachiever. I do, however, wish he would race more.

Oh, plus Basque, Burgos, Tirreno, Romandie, and Catalunya.

josame

professeur wrote:

professeur wrote:

josame wrote:

Garry H wrote:

I don't. I expect him to claw back the three minutes from Froome by Sunday and take the MJ.

Anyway, I refuse to call a guy that has 1 GT and 2 TdF podiums, so far, an undeachiever. I do, however, wish he would race more.

Oh, plus Basque, Burgos, Tirreno, Romandie, and Catalunya.

Gerraint Thomas won Paris-Nice for gods sake, he needs to up his game to deserve the credit we are giving him.

professeur

josame wrote:

professeur wrote:

professeur wrote:

josame wrote:

Garry H wrote:

I don't. I expect him to claw back the three minutes from Froome by Sunday and take the MJ.

Anyway, I refuse to call a guy that has 1 GT and 2 TdF podiums, so far, an undeachiever. I do, however, wish he would race more.

Oh, plus Basque, Burgos, Tirreno, Romandie, and Catalunya.

Gerraint Thomas won Paris-Nice for gods sake, he needs to up his game to deserve the credit we are giving him.

OK, you are trolling for responses then.

bigmat

I like Nairo. Perhaps he's racing clean? His racing suggests he is, although not so sure about his training schedule... Anyway, the tour isn't over yet, the business end starts tomorrow.

ugo.santalucia

professeur wrote:

Oh, plus Basque, Burgos, Tirreno, Romandie, and Catalunya.

The point is that at the end of July 2013 we would have bet on Quintana being dominant in GTs in the years to come... and 9 GT later this has not happened and looks increasingly unlikely to happen. So yes, on these grounds he is an underachiever... he will win a few chippers and maybe a Vuelta, but I fear that's it...

milton50

It is odd how such a small, south american climber doesn't seem to have much of a kick.

The mountain TT in the 2014 Giro was, what, 25km at a relatively smooth 8%? He was happy as larry chugging his way up that.

professeur

ugo.santalucia wrote:

professeur wrote:

Oh, plus Basque, Burgos, Tirreno, Romandie, and Catalunya.

The point is that at the end of July 2013 we would have bet on Quintana being dominant in GTs in the years to come... and 9 GT later this has not happened and looks increasingly unlikely to happen. So yes, on these grounds he is an underachiever... he will win a few chippers and maybe a Vuelta, but I fear that's it...

Yeah, fair enough from that perspective. I guess I never saw him as a potential super-dominant guy given size and TT ability so my perspective is a little different. I wonder how he feels about his palmares?

josame

professeur wrote:

OK, you are trolling for responses then.

Bit odd to post on here if you don't want a response, I meant the point I made, minor trophies do not a great champ make

epc06

With the exception of Geraint Thomas, he is the most overrated rider in the Peloton

ugo.santalucia

EPC06 wrote:

With the exception of Geraint Thomas, he is the most overrated rider in the Peloton

Geraint Thomas is only over rated in the UK, elsewhere they barely know him

rick_chasey

It's more people are disappointed that there isn't more of a tussle between him and Froome.

Ultimately that's all we want. A decent GC battle.

He teased us with his Alp ride last year. We were hoping for more.

josame

Rick Chasey wrote:

It's more people are disappointed that there isn't more of a tussle between him and Froome.
Ultimately that's all we want. A decent GC battle.
He teased us with his Alp ride last year. We were hoping for more.

Agreed