… at times. But he sure knows how to descend.

[video]https://youtu.be/iPHnqI13vPk[/video]

Was a great race that. Nicely played by Nibali and Rosa at the end.

Nah there’s a fine line between brave descending and good descending – thats more brave than good.

Nah there’s a fine line between brave descending and good descending – thats more desperate than good.

I wish I could be half that desperate.

Cant help but think that a Sagan, Rasmussen, Smee would have got down that hill much quicker.

I wish I could be half that desperate.

Get paid a ridiculous amount of money on the back of a serendipitous TdF win and then fail miserably to do anything to justify it the following season…..until the final event of any note.Does wonders for motivation.

You do realise Nibali is one of only 6 people in the entire history of cycling to win each Grand Tour? He isn’t just some nobody with a lucky tdf gc win 😉

Cant help but think that a Sagan, Rasmussen, Smee would have got down that hill much quicker

Doubt it. Sagan is fast but he’s not Nibali fast, Sagan is moar brute force braaaap, Nibali’s normally effortless, that was semi forced but as usual his corner speed was insane!

You do realise Nibali is one of only 6 people in the entire history of cycling to win each Grand Tour? He isn’t just some nobody with a lucky tdf gc win

^ This. We can now add a monument to that list, won with panache too. He’s a pure racer and races with his heart on his sleeve, for sure he’s made a few rash decisions recently but I’ve still got a huge man crush on him.

I watched that last descent through my fingers. It’s incredible but makes me feel ill!

I like Nibali. Say what you like about him, but he’s a fantastic racer. More versatile than most. Not always the strongest, but he makes up for it in other ways.

I guess he must have been a mountain biker…………………..doping for descending!

You do realise Nibali is one of only 6 people in the entire history of cycling to win each Grand Tour? He isn’t just some nobody but does have a lucky tdf gc win

😉

He’s not the most stable of individuals under pressure, moaning about Wiggo looking at him funny in 2012 (remember, the year he couldn’t keep up with a guy routinely described as a poor gc climber on the climbs?) then later moaning about Wiggo not looking at him at all.

Blaming Froome for the TDF 2015 crash which took out Tony Martin (definitely not chucking bottles around though, oh no), attacking a yellow jersey mechanical then randomly blaming Caleb Ewen for causing the Vuelta crash in the lead up to his car holding on debacle.

I think his dodgy temperament and even dodgier team put him firmly into the “probable weasel” category and no amount of descending panache will change that.

Some great blocking there from his team mate, Rosa. Never out of the top two in the “chase” group and taking some fine lines to hold the group back on the sharp corners. I did not see much sublime descending skill to be honest, but a good win in a big race. I was a fan until sticky bottlegate.

The sticky bottle thing was very deliberate to p1ss off vino and earn a deliberate DQ from a race he didn’t want to be at. Even ballsier than balls out descending 🙂

Nibali is a ****

Smee would win hands down.

Astana.

That’s all, really.

Astana.

That is some balls. Astana or no Astana.

given the mess the chasing group were making of the descent, that’s pretty incredible

meh.
I recorded the highlights and was looking forward to watching them until I realised that Nibali was probably going to win, at which point I FFWD to the end.
Everything about Nibali stinks – I wish he’d just go away.

Good rider no doubt, but tosser.

Wasn’t a classic race this year have to admit. Shame as it’s always my favourite and one I watch from start to finish, every year. Some great early breaks, some exceptional climbing and stunning scenery as ever. But, well it seemed to lack that phutzzazzzz and buzz of previous years.
Still great though…

Nibbs defending was excellent, if you’ve ever ridden there and seen it for yourselves you’d understand to balls he had to go flat chat downhill. It’s mentally steep, something you don’t see on the screen. The hill climb section on the Sumano(sp) is a brutal climb, I remember back in 2010 watching the locals hold a hillclimb event there in June when it was baking hot, some guys were sweating at the gate at the bottom an hour before their slot. It’s a monster, then the decent over the top has switchbacks at 25% in some parts and one village there’s a gap no wider than a smart car they went through, imagine that at Nibbs speed….loved it.

Arsehole who rides for a supremely dodgy team. I’d like to like him as he does have a bit of that old-style flair but, as above, probable weasel.

He did a decent job of descending to get something out of 2015 but it was made to look better by the chasing pack not looking that committed to the descent too.

Cant help but think that a Sagan, Rasmussen, Smee would have got down that hill much quicker.

Pfft I’d put my money on Nibali any day. He does make a few mistakes on this descent but that’s largely due to the conditions with a lot of wet patches on the road forcing him to miss apex’s or take them later than he’d normally do, forcing him out wider on the exit.

In Nibali’s defence he hates Astana too and by all accounts has been generally treated like crap so I can forgive some of the tension and frustration that has presented itself. A GT must be a ton of pressure particularly if you have GC aspirations and even more so if you DS is telling the world you are crap in every press conference. If Nibali is a weasel then who isn’t. People love Sagan for some reason yet he has more tantrums and prima donna moments than anyone, not to mention being waaay off the pace at the start of the year and miraculously coming into world beating form for the TDF and World Champs… Can’t have anything to do with the guys on his team with a shady past themselves can it.

interesting I thought I was in the minority in disliking him – the expression an STWer used in a different thread was something like “spectacularly lacking in class” for many of the reasons others have listed.

Like Valverde – fantastic racers who I just can’t like (and given I’m a fan of Contador I completely get how fickle that makes me!).

Doubt it. Sagan is fast but he’s not Nibali fast,

Nibali might look like he descends with more finesse (apart from that Lombardia descent which was very much like Sagan on Col de Manse- basically going into corners too quick and saving it) but I don’t believe he’s quicker. A GCN poll of the peloton would seem to agree.

If Nibali is a weasel then who isn’t.

Loads of riders don’t cheat. Loads of riders don’t attack the GC leader when they have a mechanical. Loads of riders don’t throw bottles at other riders for stuff they neither saw nor understand. Find me another rider who has had a season so lacking in sportsmanship without actually having a doping positive.

Get paid a ridiculous amount of money on the back of a serendipitous TdF win and then fail miserably to do anything to justify it the following season….

sorry I thought we were talking about Nibali, not Wiggins 😈

Nibali has built up a great palmares – all three grand tours and now a monument, many all time greats havent managed that. However at the same time id never expect him to beat any of his main GC rivals over the years if they were starting in the same race (and didnt crash out).

If Nibali is a weasel then who isn’t. People love Sagan for some reason yet he has more tantrums and prima donna moments than anyone, not to mention being waaay off the pace at the start of the year and miraculously coming into world beating form for the TDF and World Champs… Can’t have anything to do with the guys on his team with a shady past themselves can it.

Sagan didnt have a great start to the year, however he was 4th in Milan San Remo and Flanders, was a bit unlucky in Roubaix with mechanicals and won the Tour of California. It might not have been stellar form but it wasnt that bad either.

Sagan didnt have a great start to the year, however he was 4th in Milan San Remo and Flanders, was a bit unlucky in Roubaix with mechanicals and won the Tour of California. It might not have been stellar form but it wasnt that bad either.

Too right. He got slated by Tinkov a lot, but I seem to remember him being at the front of pretty much every race. Definitely not way off pace….just a stone’s throw from it.

Anyway, Cycling Weekly did an analysis of the Sagan vs Nibbs descending argument earlier this week

Sagan has been a marked man all year – he’s been a contender all season but other teams have been watching his moves constantly.

Its good, but is it ‘Spartacus’ good?

[video]https://youtu.be/RxXqQqAc2pA[/video]

Or indeed Romain Bardet: http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/watch-highlights-of-the-criterium-du-dauphines-mountains-opener-video-176499