Plenty of speculation over at The Clinic. Pog can only beat who turns up, and the most pertinent comment is probably that the Giro attracts a second-rate field compared with the Tour and there is therefore no real competition.
Or he could just have an e-bike 😀
Is anyone else playing the "What shoes is Orla wearing today game?". It's all be a bit restrained so far with yesterday's fringed boots being the most out-there fashion so far.
The difficulty is in explaining the size of the gap.
As mentioned above - no-one was able to go with that attack (bearing in mind it's at altitude, at the end of a brutal day and Pog is already minute up the standings so realistically it doesn't matter if he's 5 minutes up or 10 minutes, up, he's pretty much got this won already).
Going after him risks blowing instantly, dying a death and watching all your rivals gain minutes on you. GC 2-5 were in that group and it's all really close between them. Everyone is on "preserve current position" mode now. The fight is no longer with Pog; G is fighting Dani Martinez and Ben O'Connor for 2/3/4, there's a further battle for 5/6/7 who are all really close (plus Arensman and Tiberi are in their own little fight for the White Jersey, only a few seconds in that one)
So everyone got really cagey, everyone was already on the limit anyway and meanwhile Pogacar could just ride away and do his own thing - that's why the gap opened so quickly and by so much.
even Rafal Majka got back on the group of chasers at one stage as they were fannying about and only lost ~45s on G by the finish.
That’d be an all-day ride for me
That’s about a month’s worth for me
I'll join in your grupetto.
Pog can only beat who turns up, and the most pertinent comment is probably that the Giro attracts a second-rate field compared with the Tour.
A bit of an unfair comment on the other riders but by that logic there are probably only 2 or 3 "first rate" riders.
I was wondering whether G has one eye on the Tour, Jonas may not be fully fit, Pog maybe cooked, Primoz will crash, Remco has a habit of going bang in the high mountains, so if he's there or there about he can steal it on the final ITT stage into Nice
The difficulty is in explaining the size of the gap.
As mentioned above – no-one was able to go with that attack
I was referring to the perfomance gap between the top few riders (Pogacar, Vingegaard, MVdP, etc) and everybody else. Pogacar has done this consistently in every race he's ridden recently, attacking from any obscene distance he chooses and with success each time.
It's just as questionable how Vingegaard was able to win the Tour by 7 mins.
Prior to these guys, these kinds of performances weren't considered to be possible. In fact they were considered less possible over time as training, nutrition and technology became more finely tuned and aligned. Yet there's been a massive shift towards superhuman performances at the front of the race. However you explain it, the question why fascinates me.
Looks like the local were having fun at Livigno - I don't recall seeing this on the video feed
Edit - you can see the kicker as he passes under the flamme rouge at 06:55:37, but the skiiers must have jumped after the camera bike passed - no bad thing if anything had gone wrong!
there are probably only 2 or 3 “first rate” riders
A few more (and discipline dependent; e.g., Ganna). But not a lot. G is not one of them. Second place yesterday won the Giro ten years ago.
“ Is anyone else playing the “What shoes is Orla wearing today game?”.”
Just no.
She is so awful we don’t turn on until they switch to the live commentary and turn off immediately when they hand back to her cackling in the studio.
It’s just as questionable how Vingegaard was able to win the Tour by 7 mins.
Prior to these guys, these kinds of performances weren’t considered to be possible
Mercx won the Tour by over quarter of an hour once and destroyed other riders in tts, single day classics and tours. Anquetil won the Tour by quarter of an hour also. If anything Pog is less spectacular as Mercx raced a lot more.
On the other hand, Pogacar is beatable. By Vingegaard at the Tour for one.
Vingegaard can only beat Pogacar in very specific scenarios IMO. I don't see him as generally being on the same level.
I mean he's beaten him at the last 2 TdF, that's a fairly decent and also fairly broad scenario!
Pog is still young, very young for grand tour winning. If he is clean he could well be Mercx second coming. I find it rather off putting, he is so far ahead. I hope tdf isn't as one sided!
Doesn't strike me as very broad. Although I agree Pog has come up short against Vin in the last 2 TdFs his overall performance across all races is far more impressive.
I can't see 'G' being in La Tour, unless it's as a lieutenant to Egan Bernal .
Pog is still young, very young for grand tour winning
Not massively so; Fignon and Bernal won the Tour at 22, Hianault at 23 - as was Fignon for his second win. Coppi won the giro at 20. With the possible exception of Bernal, Pog has a much easier racing schedule than all of them. He’s not another Mercx because of the sheer amount of races Mercx would win every year, Pog is much more focused (as are most pros now).
Tom-BFree Member
I mean he’s beaten him at the last 2 TdF, that’s a fairly decent and also fairly broad scenario!
Yeah, I suppose if there's one you come good at it doesn't get much better than that. But it seems like JV has to focus his entire season on that to pull it off.
https://inrng.com/2024/05/giro-ditalia-stage-16-preview-santa-cristina/
Today's stage preview. Still the will-they-won't-they use (most of) Stelvio and the Umbrail Pass descent into Switzerland, there's talk that it might be done in team cars if the weather is too bad or could be cut altogether with the race just sticking to the lower roads around it before the final two climbs.
I can’t see ‘G’ being in La Tour,
Eiffel?
that it might be done in team cars
What does that mean? That the riders all jump in a car and get a lift over? 😳
Teams unanimously vote to remove Umbrail Pass due to extreme weather. They'll be getting a lift over to the other side.
They’ll be getting a lift over to the other side.
There's a tunnel from Livigno through the mountain and into Switzerland. Turn right then it climbs and descends a bit before bringing you to the bottom of the Umbrail Pass. I'm not sure the team coaches would get through it but for everything else, it's an option.
I've been through it a couple of times; you have to wait at a pickup point for a minibus with a trailer, bike gets loaded onto the trailer and you get driven through. Not allowed to cycle through it. Cool experience though and you cross a massive dam on the Italy side to get to the tunnel.
There’s a tunnel from Livigno through the mountain and into Switzerland.
I had thought about that one or possibly diverting over the Gavia (might not be much better though - if at all).
It all sounds "well um, you see, quite diffur cult".
stand off at the moment. Giro organisers RCS saying "you can ride neutralised to prato dello stelvio", riders saying "nope, we aren't riding over there"
problem seems to be that if the race does not ride out of Livigno, then RCS HAVE to include it on next year's race
will it be like last year where they start, jump in the bus, then start again?
Kind of, it looks like they will ride out then use cars to go through the tunnel
I suppose that might mean turning round some busses as I'd assume at least a few are on their way.....
Saying a neutralised start and a proper start at 1pm
Absolutely guarantee that pogs on the bus just now plotting how to somehow turn this into a chance to take more time
not sure buses will fit through the tunnel
plus the weather looks horrible, I'm sure they will not exactly be disappointed
I can’t see ‘G’ being in La Tour, unless it’s as a lieutenant to Egan Bernal .
They go with Thomas/Pidcock/Bernal as not-really-saying-who-the-leader-is and/or wait-and-see-what-happens strategy
Doesn’t strike me as very broad. Although I agree Pog has come up short against Vin in the last 2 TdFs his overall performance across all races is far more impressive.
There was a reason for that, first time no team support, second time injury. This time UAE is stronger and the injury is the other way around. It means its going to be interesting that is for sure.
chaos 🙂
Pog didn't look like he was at max effort on Sunday yet won at a canter, that stage apparently had more climbing than any other stage across the three grand tours yet he put 3 minutes into his nearest rivals and went past Quintana like he wasn't moving.
The gap between Pog and the rest is huge and is putting me off from watching the rest of the Giro.
How can someone be so far ahead physically without some sort of assistance? If not by drugs then maybe a hidden motor?
Currently loading bikes onto cars and riders into cars / buses, start moved to Spondinig at 13:00 UK time. RCS have admitted that weather is too horrible to ride even a neutralised start
Start pushed back again, due to roll out at 13:15 with the flag drop at 13:30 - but rumours are riders still considering not riding
https://twitter.com/SportsOrla/status/1792881196658999739
They really need to just swap the Vuelta and Giro around.
This is nothing new for northern Italy in May - hell, Livigno is hosting the Winter Olympics in a couple of years time!
On the other hand, Spain at this time of year is nice, not too insanely hot like it often is in August when the Vuelta is held.
Vuelta now, then Tour, the finish with the Giro when the northern Italian mountains are not under 3m of snow.
Also, this wasn't exactly unforeseeable so the current situation right now is a farce. They had ample time for Plan B and maybe Plans C & D as well but no-one seems to have considered that.
Looks like riders are getting ready to roll and the weather forecast is that things will improve, so fingers crossed we do actually see some racing. There's still rumours that the riders will strike and refuse to race to make it clear to RCS that their safety needs to be respected
Yay, they're rolling out now and they're already jostling to be at the front for the flag drop
Lol - frigo out front. Isn't that "fridge" in French ?
M. Frigo (Israel Premier tech) is in shorts. He's one tough guy at the front.
