[Closed] the Giro Thread

FIRING THE CANNON[dale] IN 3... 2... 1...

[i]pffft[/i]

Landa in the break.... interesting

As for the Giro, when will Adam Yates attack? Looking forward to seeing him try something.

He'll likely move up a fair few places just by hanging on to the Movistar train.

Landa in the break.... interesting

Not anymore. All back together. Tiny peloton shredded by Movistar.

Edit... ah live coverage... break of 20. Cannondale breathe a sigh of relief as Rolland is in there!

Gonna need to be a big break to take back half an hour though.

Tejay dropped from the peloton 🙄

The wifi in my office is making it difficult to stream Eurosport on my phone

#firstworldproblems

Oooh Movistar sending Amador up the road, only 4:39 down on GC. If I was Dumoulin I'd be tempted to bluff and let him go a bit knowing that Quintana really wants a shot at a Giro/Tour double. Plenty of others will want to chase him down too for podium positions.

As for the Giro, when will Adam Yates attack? Looking forward to seeing him try something.

Got to hope for a full-blown Orica Scott-Edge tactical masterclass at some point

I wonder if TJ has completely messed up his training and come to the Giro way off form, or if he could be ill?

I'll be a bit of a TJ basher like everyone else, but he seems miles off where he should be. Even if we're used to seeing him crack on mountain stages, he usually puts in a decent performance in a Grand Tour TT.

Possibly matts. I'd like to think he's deliberately losing more time today to go for a stage win later. But probably not.

I wonder if TJ has completely messed up his training

well the team appear to have given him the rope he needed...

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/van-garderen-im-not-going-to-the-giro-just-to-take-in-the-scenery/

"I just wanted to try and take a different approach," he told Cyclingnews after securing sixth in the Tour de Romandie on Sunday.

"I was with my family for a month in Nice. I didn't do any recon, I didn't do any altitude, I just hired a motor pacer and I brought my wife and two daughters to Nice. The weather was perfect and I was surrounded by a lot of love. It was a relaxed and calm atmosphere and I could just focus on my work...I think that's the best thing that I could have done heading into the Giro."

Teejay, coming to a pro-conti team near you.

Dropped again 🙂

Nibali Attacks, G dropped Sky are spent.

Good stage this. I'd quite like to see Rolland and Cannondale get a win though if he gets to the line with Fraile then I know who my money's on.

Good job by Rui Costa there. He should be able to do Rolland and Fraile in a sprint.

Curious to see Thomas crack there. Did he dig too deep yesterday?

Edit... great finish that.

Good ending for a break that.

Enjoyed the play at the end and the best rider won, I have to question Roland's tactics mind.

I have to question Roland's tactics mind.

I doubt he thought he could win it. He really needed a gap at the top of the climb.

Curious to see Thomas crack there. Did he dig too deep yesterday?

He's in proper pain following that crash. Its one thing to ride a solo TT for under an hour, but another entirely to ride in a bunch for nearly four and a half hours of climbing and descending.

Curious to see Thomas crack there. Did he dig too deep yesterday?

Not enough "beef" last night 😆

How did Yates get on?

How did Yates get on?

Pretty sure he finished with Dumoulin and Quintana.

Stage 12 Forli > Reggio Emilia It's a long long way to Ferrari

The stage starts from Forlì, town stage for the nineteenth time, and is mostly flat, although it features two uncomplicated climbs in the first part (Colla di Casaglia and Valico Appenninico, both awarding KOM points). After the feed zone at Lago di Bilancino, the route takes the A1 motorway (and passes through a series of well-lit tunnels, both up- and downwards). After leaving the motorway and clearing the intermediate sprint in Sasso Marconi, the route flattens out on wide and straight roads with series of roundabouts, and cuts across a number of densely inhabited areas (especially Modena). The final kilometres to Reggio Emilia (for six times starting town at the Giro and 5 times arrival) are on wide and well-surfaced roads, with roundabouts, traffic dividers, pedestrian islands and speed being the main obstacles. The home straight is 350-m long, on 7-m wide asphalt road.

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Given BMC have Rohan Dennis trying to convert to GC and doing a semi-decent job of it and they also have Richie Porte, Tejay surely has to be on the way out. Someone who thinks the best way to prepare for a Grand Tour is to motorpace a bit and get cuddles with his family is probably not committing at the highest level. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure it's far more pleasant than 3 weeks on a sodding volcano with other riders but that's what it takes. It wouldn't be too bad if he was a bit more anonymous but he's trotted out as a challenger every bloody year. It seems that not even Tejay takes Tejay the challenger seriously.

My guess is a couple of years at Cannondale to maximise their US marketing then off to race in the USA full time.

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but he's trotted out as a challenger every bloody year

and the reason he deserves all the grief he gets is he trots himself out as a challenger every year (as opposed to say Pinot who is hyped by the French media). I remember the recent TdeF press conferences when a journo mentioned the 3 favourites and he said "there are 4", ranking himself the equal of Froome, Nibali and Quintana. Consistently overpromised and under-delivered whilst on a huge GC-contender salary. No recce and no altitude training - weird that he's now getting fired out of the back on climbs 🙄

Terrific finish yesterday, the only one I didn't want to win was Costa (always felt that Purito should have won that worlds). Would have been nice to see a C'dale win but Fraile deserved it after doing so much work, and great for DiData with their 2 usual stage winners (Cummins, Cavendish) both out.

Probably with Tejay, but can't really blame him for trying something different this year even if it hasn't worked out.

Thing is with Tejay, he's probably still the best American stage racer, and a likeable popular guy over there. Very marketable in a huge market for BMC where there aren't many big names at the moment. If he was, say, French or Italian, he'd have been out long ago. Though if Porte is convincing at the Tour this year then I'd not be surprised to see Tejay carrying bottles the year after. Depends if BMC want to try and win the Tour or sell bikes to Americans.

Should be a nice easy day for GC today. Is Gaviria a bit broken? I think he's had a few falls this Giro. I'll go for Ewan today.

Terrific finish yesterday, the only one I didn't want to win was Costa (always felt that Purito should have won that worlds).

+1 and another reason to dislike Valverde.

Thing is with Tejay, he's probably still the best American stage racer, and a likeable popular guy over there. Very marketable in a huge market for BMC where there aren't many big names at the moment.

See also Taylor Phinney. Lots of natural talent and seemingly a nice guy but the results are not coming (even before his big smash). Maybe BMC just aren't talent developers.

Shame about Phinney, it did feel like he was progressing quite nicely for the classics before the accident.

Anyone watching the Tour of California? Skujins getting back on the bike with concussion 😯 ([url= https://cyclingtips.com/2017/05/california-concussion-incident-raises-questions-done-differently/ ]here[/url])

I'm watching it, but mostly on FF until the last 5km... It's not a massively exciting race or field is it.

Cracking stage yesterday, great win by Fraile.

The last few stages have really made up for the dull first week - and the placement of that TT means there's some nice tension as to whether Quintana can put enough time into Tommy D in the mountains.

I expect he can, but you never know what's going to happen.

Haha, not a Giro comment but listening to eurosport and yesterday's tour of Calif stage. There's a chase on and Magnus Backstedt is talking about the breakaway bunch working at (for him) 800w at the front and then "recovering" at 450-500 before their next turn

It'll be interesting to see. I reckon he needs a little over 2 minutes on Dumoulin to be safe going into that final TT. So he'd need to gain about 4:30 over the next week. They've got 4 (if you include stage 20) steep finishes, and there's the big Stelvio stage.

I'd expect Quintana to do it, especially with Movistar being so strong. But it would be smashing to be big Tom hold on 🙂 (When I say "big" I think he's only about 70 kilos despite being over 6 ft, though he's still well over 10kg heaving than Quintana!)

Magnus Backstedt is talking about the breakaway bunch working at (for him)

I'd not be surprised if those were his sorts of numbers in that situation, he's a big bloke is Magnus!

Speaking of which and relative weights and powers, [url= https://cyclingtips.com/2017/05/numbers-nairo-quintana-won-stage-9-summit-finish-giro-ditalia/ ]this article[/url] over at cyclingtips is quite interesting. Nairo's at around 5k to go on the Blockhaus, 6 mins at 368W and putting time into Dumoulin chasing at 440W.

I did 440W for 6 minutes once.

...what? I have to do it in the middle 40 minute 5.8W/Kg threshold effort during a 4 hours stage.

Hmmm.. 😯 🙄

Bardiani and Gazprom in the break, this would be what inrng calls a "commerical" break 🙂

thrashing it down a motorway at the moment 😯

I like their dining table 🙂

Well that was fast and furious

more from the [s]wolverines[/s] scabs

Stage 13 Reggio Emilia > Tortona [b]Sprint Paradiso[/b]

The route is completely flat, and passes through the entire Po Valley. The stage finale, past Casteggio, follows the traditional Milan-Sanremo route. After leaving Reggio Emilia, the route first heads for Cavriago, and then (past Montecchio Emilia) goes back onto the ss. 9 “Via Emilia” leading to Piacenza following a straight course. Past Piacenza, the route takes the former Statale Padana Inferiore all the way to the finish, passing through several cities that have been featured in many Giro stages, and in the Milan-Sanremo finale. Arrival in Tortona, as the Giro did in 1989. The final kilometres are essentially straight, with just a few roundabouts along the route. There is one last bend (on a roundabout) approx. 500 m before the finish. The home straight is 450 m long, on 7.5-m wide asphalt road.

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[u]
S[/u]_________________________[u]TV[/u]_______[u]R[/u]______________[u]TV[/u]________________[u]F[/u]

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Well that's one to just watch the last 10km of.

scabbers remorse

Thomas withdrawn from the race.

Gutted. Geraint is my absolute favourite.
Let's hope he gets a good placing in Le Tour.

what's the "scabs" about, Klunk ?

Interesting comment by Millar in his blog on CyclingNews about the Blockhaus crash...

Remember the 2012 Vuelta, stage 4 and Valverde fell while in the leaders jersey, Sky kept riding then – so when the crash happened on the way to Blockhaus it was payback time as far as Movistar were concerned. You can cry fairness and whatever but those guys in the cars have long memories.

I'd forgotten about that. But DS's do seem to have long memories and grudges!

Undoubtedly, but if the teams were already racing hard in both cases it's probably more a case of why would they stop without knowing the full story.

It's not like they can see the overhead footage and know right away it was caused by the moto rather than rider error.

When I say "big" I think he's only about 70 kilos despite being over 6 ft, though he's still well over 10kg heaving than Quintana!

Yep, looked up Quintana the other day when my wife commented how tiny he looked.

5'5" / 9st 1lb / 58kg

Which is virtually identical to my daughter, who is just turned 13.

I'm never going to be any good at hills really, am I?

I'm 5'7" and 61kg. I don't think I could keep up.

5'9" and 60kg here - reckon I'd have him

Just caught up with UK cycling expert's twitter feed. Amused by this from the rest day...

Today is a rest day on the Le Giro of Italy. Back in the days when drugging was popular (1990-2011) it was called the Arrest Day.

😀

Today is a rest day on the Le Giro of Italy. Back in the days when drugging was popular (1990-2011) it was called the Arrest Day.

Still popular now judging by the two who were pulled before the start.

what's the "scabs" about, Klunk ?

it's how Chris Juul-Jensen described themselves in one of the videos some thing like "we're a really scabby team" Something about the way they were "extorting" gifts from well wishers/supporters for signed paper cups 🙂

Bardiani and Gazprom riders in a small break. Not sure I'm watching today's stage or a replay of yesterday's!

the intermediate sprints are becoming a bit of a farce 🙂 Back loading the tour really has killed any competition in the points jersey!

also some of the wheels being used are not very "aero" for a pan flat stage stage

Klunk - Member
also some of the wheels being used are not very "aero" for a pan flat stage stage

Noticed folk using the wrong wheels a few times in this race. Think we should tell them?

FG... that was impressive.

wonder what gear he was turning there ! considering everyone was flat and he just cruised past 😯

Momentum and timing 🙂

Great finish by Gaviria there and nice work by the other Quickstepper to box Ewan in and leave room for Gaviria to come through.

Edit... lots of pressure in the media on QS to pull him from the Giro and take him to the Tour. Personally think he's going to win a lot of Tour stages over the next few years so it'd be nice now to see him get his jersey in Milan, then not have a distraction for Kittel at the Tour.

Great finish by Gaviria there and nice work by the other Quickstepper to box Ewan in and leave room for Gaviria to come through.

Do we think he's on massive form or are the others a bit of a let-down ?

Do we think he's on massive form or are the others a bit of a let-down ?

He does seem to be on form and with each win gets more confident less desperate. He's working well with his lead out too. His track background is likely serving him well on finishes like todays.

A day for the break? Looks like 120k of flatish roads then a 10k climb to the finish. Probably not a day for Quintana to bother Dumoulin too much. Can see it playing out much like the Etna day.

sorry for being late, quick 50k on the road before the rain sets in 🙂

Stage 14 Castellania > Oropa Short Sharp and Punchy

This stage is very short and clearly divided into two parts: the route is fast-running and perfectly flat for 120 km, across the Po Valley; then comes an 11-km climb, with gradients over 7% and peaks topping out at 13% a few kilometres before the finish. Oropa will be this year's Montagna Pantani. After leaving Castellania (unprecedented stage town at the Giro), the route covers an 8 km transfer towards the actual start, then cuts across Vercelli and the surrounding plain. The final 11-km stretch, climbing all the way to the sanctuary (five times arrival and KOM), begins just past Biella. The final climb is 11-km long. The gradient is low in the first part, up to Favaro. The climb reaches its steepest gradient (around 13%) across the porphyry-paved center of Favaro, and then continues with several bends and a gradient around 9%, up to the 130-m long home stretch, on 6.5-m wide, porphyry-paved road.

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easy as 1 2 3 4

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they keep on smiling

Other team video blogs are available 😉

link them up then, they don't come up on my feed or youtube searches for the giro.

A day for the break?

if they let it getaway 🙂

FDJ setting the pace. Pinot with thoughts of a consolation stage win probably.

Think the organizers are hoping for fireworks up the final climb, short stage tail wind. Sub 18 mins from someone perhaps ?

According to [url= https://www.oddschecker.com/cycling/giro-ditalia/winner ]this page[/url], Michele Scarponi is 33/1 to win the Giro if anyone fancies an outsider 🙁

http://www.steephill.tv/giro-d-italia/

wow thats one crappy road, pinch flats a go go

Movistar are trying to burn the pink jersey

What the hell is up with TJV?

Good to see Teejay doing better.....

TJ blown 🙂

pink [s]is[/s] was struggling

Nairo on the attack and looking good, house wives favourite Dumoulin just taps it out and slowly brings him back.