Stuff this Fantasy nonsense you bunch of ...(insert tagline form IrnBru advert)... we're off to watch it for real, Saturday & Sunday. By tandem, hauling a trailer and then going touring in the south. Happy days.
I think it should be a cracking race. Lots of people capable of winning it this year, all with different strengths should make for some surprises along the way. I'd like to see Dan Martin do well, mostly because he like to attack.
Highland man where are you watching on sat? It goes past my house!
I think I'll be at the Templepatrick roundabout. Might be sketchy in the weather we're forecast... 😯
Got my BumRush boys in the STW league, only a day left to get your teams in....
Very jealous just off the phone to a colleague of mine who also owns a hotel - a number of teams are staying at said hotel and he's surrounded by pros and their bike pro(n)
Kittel, Bouhanni etc may not ride all three weeks as the last week is a bit of a hill-fest.
Scarponi, Basso and Cunego are going to be in the top ten, Quintana and Roriguez are probably favourites but I think Uran is a dark horse and will be leading OPQS and Roche will feature... If only he could TT!! On paper it's the most open Giro in years..
Team 'Rectal Thunder' in and 10 points left over!
We are over for the race - headed to armagh and rode the first bit of stage 3 this afternoon. Everything is very very pink indeed.
Possibly being stupid/blind, are the highlights on terrestrial TV anywhere? I thought ITV4 showed it last year but nothing there so far other than the current women's UK tour which has been good the last 2 nights
How can I watch the Highlights on the TV?
ITV4 normally do air some stages, failing that the Eurosport App and subscribe through iTunes..
Sky for best team
Never!
BBC2 NI has coverage whilst it's in Norn Ireland.
DAN!
NOOOOOOOOO! 🙁
Oh Ffs, 1/2 way through the 1st stage and one of my team leaders is out. Crashing on a straight he could be a triathlete.
Bad news that.
Horrible horrible crash - we were about 10 metres down the road. Martin looked in a lot of pain:(
Jesus, two crashes in as many weeks
Poor Dan, and his merry men 🙁
Poor me, and my velogames team 😥
Nice story about how Tuft's team mates had decided he should cross the line first as it was his birthday.
Well that's a bloody crock of shite innit, Dan out, what's the point in watching it now??
Gutted for him, truly gutted.
Dan out, what's the point in watching it now
Nico?
Must be heartbreaking to put all that effort in and go out like that 🙁
It put a bit of a downer on the first stage.
And yep, that's one of my Velogames guys gone too!
Dan the man is having trouble staying upright lately. He must be absolutely gutted.
Could be goof news for Swifty though
Bit of a mess really today. The sprint was good but the rest was a disaster.
[i]the rest was a disaster[/i]
given how they went down like skittles on that last lap I'd say disaster was avoided by neutralising the stage.
I actually meant the crashes on that lap. The rest looked like a pleasant ride in warm rain. I do find it amusing when the commentators refer to a 90 degree bend in a city as "very technical" though
Well it can be if it's a narrow, wet road and you're surrounded by 100+ other riders vying for position. Like stage 3 in Dublin.
[i] a 90 degree bend in a city as "very technical" though[/i]
Well, it was too technical for half the field 😉
waits for the inevitable 'roadies have no skillz' type comments from the usual riding gods... 😉
Well that was disastrous for quite a few. Good ride by Evans and Mathews. Rodriguez now almost 10 minutes down on gc and looked very uncomfortable. Caruso did not look good at all. Can't find any info about him at the moment.
Literally a bloody horrible finish to yesterday's stage . Not good....
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Shame to be losing so many riders. Looking pretty good for Cadel.
Cadel's going to struggle not to lose a lot of time to Quintana once they get into the mountains I reckon.
Cadel's going to struggle not to lose a lot of time to Quintana once they get into the mountains I reckon.
I think Quintana is a better climber overall and will probably beat Evans on a few stages, but Cadel has looked pretty strong and I think he really wants it this year. I think he'll probably win it due partly to the lead he already has and the fact that he's done it all before. Knows how to play the game.
Purito has retired I think? Broken ribs?
Blimey it's looking like a right war of attrition...
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Time trial today, could be more of the same with a tricky descent on wet roads on TT bikes.
Bingo! Sean Kelly mentions Evans's great bike handling skills being a former mountain biker 🙂
Well he [i]was [/i]off-road at the time!
