I’d have changed my shoes for hiking boots, not my bike 🙂

Cheeky Roglic bike change in the valley. GCN said 10-44 cassette, and something like a 40-44T single front chainring.

Be more impressed if he’d swapped to an old school 11-25 and beasted them all…

knowing he was going to change, would it have been advantageous for Ineos to go hard for basically as long as he was changing, it’s not a mechanical so it’s all fair? He’s already given up a distance he then needs to work harder on the rejoin the group, why not maximise that distance to just make it that bit harder?

lashing it down now

Hailstones now apparently

LOL – anyone just see the guy running alongside with the stuffed fox on his arm? It looked like something out of Vic n Bob’s Shooting Stars.

Come on Gee…. no not that one…

Ooooof! Not saying anything as I don’t want to jinx anything!

some gutsy riding !!!

From both of them at the end.

surely everyone knows not to interview Dutch riders for fear of the F-bomb

Meanwhile here in Rome, the streets are starting to be taped off ready for Sunday with tapes a signs that won’t stop anybody.

In other news, I wouldn’t like to ride let alone race the current state of the cobbled streets.

What a great stage finish that was. 👏

LOL – anyone just see the guy running alongside with the stuffed fox on his arm? It looked like something out of Vic n Bob’s Shooting Stars.

ALMOST exactly what I thought but I had Big Night Out in mind.

Interesting options tomorrow. There’s an “optional bike swap zone” at km 9.4 which presumably is to formalise the issue and force anyone who does change to change at the same point in a controlled manner.

Ride the whole lot on a road bike and accept possibly being slower in the initial phase buy saving the time loss of changing?
TT bike then change – could probably slam the brakes on, change bikes and get going again for a loss of only 10-15″ but potentially being on the quickest bike for each half of the stage?

🤔

I’d be aiming for cyclocross style but coming in at TT speed and dismounting onto tarmac in road cleats.

What could go wrong!?!

I wondered how this stage compared to the Bergen Worlds 2017 course, it twice as long and twice as steep in places ! 😀

top ten that day

DUMOULIN Tom Netherlands 350 250 0:44:41 41.626
ROGLIČ Primož Slovenia 250 190 0:57 40.760
FROOME Chris Great Britain 200 140 1:21 40.406
OLIVEIRA Nelson Portugal 150 110 1:28 40.303
KIRYIENKA Vasil Belarus 125 100 ,, 40.303
MOSCON Gianni Italy 100 90 1:29 40.289
KELDERMAN Wilco Netherlands 85 80 1:34 40.216
DENNIS Rohan Australia 70 70 1:37 40.173
MARTIN Tony Germany 60 60 1:39 40.144
TRATNIK Jan Slovenia 50 50 1:43 40.086

it’s a 1k longer than La Planche des Belles Filles

top ten that day

POGAČAR Tadej UAE Team Emirates 120 100 0:55:55 38.844
DUMOULIN Tom Team Jumbo-Visma 50 70 1:21 37.928
PORTE Richie Trek – Segafredo 25 50 ,, 37.928
VAN AERT Wout Team Jumbo-Visma 15 40 1:31 37.818
ROGLIČ Primož Team Jumbo-Visma 5 32 1:56 37.545
CAVAGNA Rémi Deceuninck – Quick Step 26 1:59 37.513
CARUSO Damiano Bahrain – McLaren 22 2:29 37.192
DE LA CRUZ David UAE Team Emirates 18 2:40 37.075
MAS Enric Movistar Team 14 2:45 37.023
URÁN Rigoberto EF Pro Cycling 10 2:54 36.928

even though he lost the jersey it wasn’t that bad a ride from Primoz it was just something special from the Pog monster.

I think the take from these kinds of tt’s is it’s very easy to get it wrong and drop time.

Ride the whole lot on a road bike and accept possibly being slower in the initial phase buy saving the time loss of changing?

would a road bike with clip on tribars be allowed ? that climb is insane for a tt bike surely :/ pretty brutal on a 6.8kg road bike!

I wondered how this stage compared to the Bergen Worlds 2017 course,

Yeah, we were talking about that cos that had a bike change zone too. I think most riders changed didn’t they?

IIRC Tom powered up on his tt bike (he was a man on a mission that day 🙂 )

It will definitely be a bike change and we’ve just seen the one Rog will be using for the climb. I think a helmet change might be a good idea too.

I’m having a really good time watching this Giro. It’s built so nicely to a crescendo.

I was just thinking if Geraint does win this it could be the most efficient GT win I’ve seen. He’s made one (1) attack in the whole race.

Oh and I gather the bike change will be compulsory.

https://escapecollective.com/the-final-giro-tt-is-going-to-be-a-weird-one/

I wonder if having Rohan Dennis (2 time WC in ITT) going out early is good for Roglic. Though he’s forms pretty far off his insight and experience from riding the parcour may prove valuable.

Verkenning van de laatste klim van de #Giro2023
Monte Lussari is het slot van de tijdrit, etappe 20, 27 mei. #inhetwiel@thijszonneveld @rhoroel @PimBruijnzeels @ADSportwereld pic.twitter.com/1yPYhTicd0

— Hidde van Warmerdam (@HIDDEvWARMERDAM) May 18, 2023

Well, unless they sweep that course, a gravel bike is probably the correct choice! Those drainage ditches looked vicious and the mats didn’t seem to cover the entire width…

Skillz!!

The skills of Niccolò Bonifazio to get bottles out of the way 😮 #Giro pic.twitter.com/iO09YL31Lz

— Intermarché-Wanty (@IntermarcheW) May 25, 2023

Why oh why pick a finish like that for a GT? It’s like having a DH race that finishes with a lap of a velodrome.

It’s just stupid for the sake of being different.

The race can now be won by luck rather than riding, which is quite frankly, ridiculous

The race can now be won by the strongest overall rider, not the one with the strongest support riders.

Or the one who doesn’t puncture on a rock. It’s possible the bloke in 3rd could be slower than the leading 2, but still win the overall as they flat at a bad time.

Daft if you ask me.

It’s supposed to be the best rider. Sure, throw in a daft hill, no issues for me with that, but at least make it a road.

Why do we always do this. The XC courses can be ridden on a gravel bike, the winner of the Giro’s going to be the luckiest not the best…..when a bit of basic 4F actually suggests that all the things that are going to happen that makes this such a bad idea, won’t happen.

Giro d’Italia Stage 20 Preview

Then comes the brand new climb of Monte Lussari, although it’s also known as Svete Visarje in Slovenian, the border is close. Obviously the mountain’s been around for a bit now but the route up has been an unpaved trail, the creator of the Strava segment branded it “Lussari MTB Long Climb 2014”. But it’s been paved for the Giro and there’s 5km at 15% and with some very tight hairpins, think the Mur de Huy five times over, and under woodland canopy. Oh, and instead of smooth tarmac, it’s part concrete with rasping drainage groves.

Even if it was gravel, which it isn’t, that’s part of the parcours – to select the tool for the job and if that means less than paper thin tyres then so be it. At 15+% uphill, how fast will they be hitting these rocks, I don’t think snakebites are going to be an issue on bits of gravel at comparative walking pace. If there were any rocks at all – which there aren’t.

Is it a travesty if they put cobbles in to the TdF? Way more punctures there.

Let’s reconvene after the event and see what a travesty it became. If I’m wrong I’ll admit it. But I can’t wait, just off out now and beer and snacks on standby for later.

was just thinking if Geraint does win this it could be the most efficient GT win I’ve seen. He’s made one (1) attack in the whole race.

imagine Pogacar riding for 3 weeks and never attacking!

Is there anywhere to watch the stage that isn’t subscription?

It seems a very curious choice for a stage route. I wonder what they are going to do about crowds – looks too tight to get lined with fans.

I feel it’s Roglic’s to loose with a stage like today to finish it off. Or…if there is 1 or 2 seconds between them after today, will tradition go out off the window and fun and games be played out on the final stage trying to make a split in the peleton.

“Is there anywhere to watch the stage that isn’t subscription?”

Eurosport 1 on the German satellite (Astra 1) if you want to move your dish 10 degrees south 🙂 (I have a motor so it is simple). Mind you the commentary is pretty tedious and constant, I would imagine it would still be annoying even if you didn’t understand it!

imagine Pogacar riding for 3 weeks minutes and never attacking!

ftfy 😀

Andy_Sweet
Free Member
Is there anywhere to watch the stage that isn’t subscription?

Where do you live? You’re welcome to come to our house to watch. Or have you a neighbour or friend nearby with SKY/GCN. Maybe a bikeshop near you is showing the race on a big screen.

Apart from the GC action I’m looking forward to seeing how Derek Gee can conspire to be in the break again today.