amazing that Contador could ride all that way with Aru in his pocket 😯

Great ride by Landa, watched Aru all the way and then told to go for the win, which he did admirably. Excellent talent, watched him through his Euskatel days (him and all the others) and it’s great to see riders from there doing well.
Bertie, well he played it like he’s won it already. You have to admire the kiss chase going on, only at a base level though when theres really no one else in contention. I predict a 6min lead for him at the finish of this Giro.

We can try to be excited about the coming week, blimey if it was tight we’d be down to the quicks on our nails come Wed’s but as it is it’ll be another masterclass of pure class by Bertie. Brutal climbs coming up, some very deep and wooded areas where someone could escape off, and I do wish and hope they will. It would be really nice to see a young guy take a stage a top of a mountain, for this I could see Nieve go for it (another ex Euskatel rider) now that Porte will fly home tonight (my guess) Konig will be Ok with that so long as he stays in the top ten, after all Porte won’t play any support role in this any longer. Next up I’m supporting Intxusti and Anton (another ex Euskatel rider) who whilst the hills get steeper the better they get.
So I’ll try to be excited (I certainly will be) and hope the weather stays good for them since theres been snow falling in the area (if it does I don’t see RCS doing anything about changing the course despite the riders safety and health)
Stunning area, ridden around there a lot and so looking forward to some stunning heli shots.
😀

Yes indeed, well played Landa and Contador. I doubt Aru will trouble Bertie much now. He’ll probably effortlessly drop Aru at some point soon to nip off and get his stage win in pink too.

A Giro Tour double has a growing whiff of inevitability about it.

nice that bertie nipped out of the Astana train to take the time bonus as well 😆

well played Landa and Contador.

Not quite so well played Landa as he did a bit of a Froome and helped Contador drop Aru and put his leader under pressure 😀

Astana omnipresent in the front group… must have their training and bike set up dialled! 🙄

Porte leaves

http://www.tuttobiciweb.it/index.php?page=news&cod=79901

Think Astana are resigned to second place on GC and now want to bag some stage wins to at least make their obvious team superiority count for something.

Not quite so well played Landa as he did a bit of a Froome and helped Contador drop Aru

My 12 year old daughter said “I thought he was on the same side as the white one” 😀

must have their training and bike set up dialled!

beefed up an already promising squad ?

obvious team superiority

yes….

already promising squad

hmmm….

beef

Nailed it 😆

anyone any idea what just happened there? saxo off the back 40 seconds behind the aru group

Sounds like it all broke up on the descent with Astana and Katusha pushing the pace. Was making my lunch so missed the action.

Edit… sounds like a puncture for Contador on the descent. Gap getting bigger but I can’t see it sticking over the Mortirolo. Big group though.

contadors getting isolated….

It was a puncture for Contador on that descent. Only has one team-mate left…

Edit: 2 team-mates now

Contador on his own now. I can see Astana doing a deal for a Katusha stage win. Zakarin maybe. Still reckon he’ll pull it back on the climb.

this is great

Contador after a rest day 🙄

Be interesting to see how much the chase takes out of him and if Aru can attack.

dirtyrider – Member
this is great

Yeah, I’m not getting much work done this afternoon 😀

Looks like he’s found a handy Spaniard to help him.

Aru slowing… be nice to see Kruijswijk go for it.

Ah balls. Contador back on. Aru looks spent.

catches Aru

Contador’s gone.

gone up the road or gone blown?

The former

Epic stage. What a ride by Contador.

Fascinating stage. Aru slipping off the podium. Landa up the road.

Now that was something. Contador surely is going to rip up the next climb.

What live feed are folk using, to stay up to date with events?

Eurosport ?

I can’t get ES at work, are there text based updates somewhere online, etc, etc?

http://live.cyclingnews.com/

Or twitter.

Eurosport player on the iPad 🙂

Beej.

Thank you.

Small bunch out front 2.20 to Bertie.. raining, bit blustery but the jackets are coming off.

Portes Bus’s on eBay 😆

[hijack] Is there anywhere online that shows detailed route maps for TDF stages this year? I cant find anything on the letour website except for the large generic yellow france map.[/hijack]

Ruthless stuff by Astana.

Very disappointed Eurosport cut out the puncture & chase from their coverage, seemed really short too, wonder if they cut it down ‘cos of the tennis and athletics either side. Def started late.

Don’t you hate it when your favourites drop out/down, with Porte out and Uran not being/doing well I’m kinda losing interest. I need someone to cheer for!! Hopefully that Dutch (?) guy on the Lotto Jumbo team keeps fighting on, he’ll get my fandom!

Building up to a good finish today.

Don’t you hate it when your favourites drop out/down, with Porte out and Uran not being/doing well I’m kinda losing interest. I need someone to cheer for!!

I lose interest when people / teams that i have no faith in are dominating. You can imagine how enthralled I am given the major players in this race appear to be Contador, Tinkoff and Astana.

Don’t forget Katusha 🙂

Full stage to those who missed it.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yul8wpPypuY[/video]

Bit of a pisstake today don’t you think hearing about all the riders fined for sticky bottles on the climbs…