not off to the best start. So who do we think for the GC ?

vincenzo must be feeling confident
[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UFQOJyKb_w[/video]

😯

Italian riders on Pro Conti Italian team getting caught doping? Isn’t that fairly normal?

I think they are honouring the 100th Giro in the best way possible!

Quintana for GC.

team sky going all soppy over Geraint
[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4hXNz28kL8#t=13.090375[/video] 🙄

Quintana FTW, barring acts of god

3 Movistar riders in top 10

Mollema on podium

Yates in top 5

Nibali off podium

Kruijswijk and DuMoulin to start really hard but fade from top 5

Thomas, sadly, also out of top 5

Ewan for points (but I’d rather Greipel)

stage 1

Stage 1
For the first time Alghero hosts a stage at the Giro. The stage runs along the northern coast of the island. The route is relatively wavy and bumpy, with a long, steady sequence of constant undulations, and a number of short, steep ramps, including 3 categorised climbs in Multeddu, Trinità d’Agultu and San Pantaleo. The latter, less than 20 km from the finish, totals approximately 5 km at an 8% slope over a few kilometres, and maximum gradients are even higher in the first part. A rolling finale leads all the way to Olbia, that unlike Alghero, has already hosted twice the Giro in 1991. Two km before the finish, the route covers a short stretch on stone-slab paved road. There is a last, wide bend 600 m before the finish, leading into the home straight on 8-m wide asphalt road.

soppy on Landa too 😕

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVPhglGAc-E[/video]

he’s had more views too and it’s not been up as long.

All got your teams in for the fantasy giro to back up these assertions?

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/stw-fantasy-giro

(I see a few names up there from my team, and it’s making me rethink)

soppy on Landa too
he’s had more views too and it’s not been up as long.

Been up a year, that was their 2016 video 😉

sky really do love this sentimental claptrap don’t they 😉

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

Been up a year, that was their 2016 video

oops 🙂

Nibali for the win, Quintana and Kruijswijk on the podium, Sky finally get busted and thrown out!

Favourite Race of the year for me.

Not bothered who wins, more interested whose going to take a punt off the front for glory.

Gaviria will pop off the front no doubt and I really want him to win a hilly stage.
As for the main contenders, blah. Could be anyone of the top 15 favourite contenders, but the Movistar boys will be right there. Interested to see how Quintana does, I hope he’s still in good form and his never say die attitude remains. Nibali will be up there, but I wonder if he’ll have the support of his team. Astana will come along with one less in thier squad, sadly and tragically Scarps would have been right up there too and I’m gutted. But the squad will pull off a couple of stage wins and Cataldo and Kangert have the right qualities to win stages, I hope for them they do. As a mark of respect Scarps bike will be on the rack of the lead car.. makes me want to go out there just to see that.
Sky, well Thomas and Landa have established quality, but they will be marked and they will Mark everyone else unless some random incident happens and they get a break.
Always been a fan of kruijswijk, he’s a quality rider who drops under the radar quite often but someone who is always up in the top 10. I hope he gets a stage win at least and is in the top 5.

Other than that it’s the 100th anniversary so the Italians will always destined to put on a huge show, I’m looking forward to the race.

Italian riders on Pro Conti Italian team getting caught doping? Isn’t that fairly normal?
I think they are honouring the 100th Giro in the best way possible!

Most definitely a Giro tradition 😀 Though interesting to see that the whole team is now suspended and will miss the Giro, a much bigger deal for them than in the past.

Can’t see past Quintana for the win. Hope it’s not all over on Etna. Battle for the next two steps on the podium will likely be the more interesting contest. Plenty of contenders there. I’d quite like to see Pinot get a result. Kruijswijk too after what happened last year.

For Quintana the most intriguing part of the race will probably be how hard he needs to work for it and what it’ll take out of him for the Tour. Contador had to work pretty hard for his Giro win last year, and was 5 years older than Quintana is now. If any of the big GC riders can do the double it’s probably Quintana.

Still Giro is not usually without some drama so who knows what might happen. At least they’ve dropped the best descender madness. And will be nice to see Scarponi honoured on the Stelvio…

Interested to see how Bertie does, I hope he’s still in good form and his never say die attitude remains.

Bertie who ? Contador’s not riding is he ?

Bertie who ? Contador’s not riding is he ?

No. Mollema the GC man for Trek.

You are right, I meant Quintana when I wrote that scribble.

Pinning my hopes on some Orica Scott-Edge wonder tactics and Chaves heroics!

Pinning my hopes on some Orica Scott-Edge wonder tactics and Chaves heroics!

You’ll have to wait for the Tour as Chaves not doing the Giro. Even a bit doubtful for the Tour due to injury which is why the other Yates is now doing the Tour.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/giro-ditalia/start-list/

nnnooooo missed that one! Ah well go Yatesy and the crazy sprinter!

Cant really see past Quintana for the win, but potential for a great scrap for 2nd/3rd.
Going to be cheering Thomas as i’m a big fan, but tbh don’t think hes got the consistency needed for a GT.

mrblobby – Member
Bertie who ? Contador’s not riding is he ?
No. Mollema the GC man for Trek

They call him Bertie too ? – weird

I did correct myself, sincerely yours bikebouy.

My Dear Bikebuoy,
It was with great sadness that I received your recent missive; I fear that there has been a terrible misunderstanding. I have confused comments of yours and our good friend MrBlobby and,in doing so, perhaps caused you terrible discomfortmentiture.
Please accept my sincerest apology.
Your faithful servant
scaredypants

😆

https://mobile.twitter.com/SW_SportWeek/status/859688788435628032/photo/1

You need a model in the Maglia rosa as well as a positive dope test to know the giro is about to start

ffs respect the jersey!

There was a good piece about the Giro and sexism by inrng a while back. At the end of this post…

Giro Stage 10 Preview

The Giro is: …sexist… but so is Italy.
…
The Giro is a reflection of Italian society rather than an outpost.

Parazzi, of all people Parazzi….

I can hear the Androni groans from my desk..

Who are we going for to win 1st stage then?

not the giro but a heart warming story from italy, dusty in here 🙂

Who are we going for to win 1st stage then?

First stage, pink up for grabs, proven sprint train, my money’s on Greipel.

biggish crowds out, breakaway has 7 with 162 to go. They have some live heart rate monitors, orica rider up around 165, andre griepel 125 🙂

Thomas/Teejay to be there or thereabouts for the first week and a half then lose a handful of minutes putting them out of contention. Greipel for a stage win. Quintana to win. Yates top 5. Nibali we’ll know more about on the Etna stage but he’s quite possible for a podium.

Someone’s just mentioned cross winds for today’s stage. Anyone who wants to beat Nairo needs to watch last year’s Tour and make sure he gets as hard a time as possible on flat and transition stages.

angry il gruppo, took 1.30 out of the breakaway in 5km !

Jesus, the CCC Sprandi Polkowice team kit/bikes aren’t subtle are they.

My team in the office sweepstake is Wilier Triestina. No, I wasn’t impressed either…

Heart says G but I suspect he’ll do what he usally does, namely be there or thereabouts for 2 weeks and then plummet down the rankings due to one bad day. Maybe being a protected rider will help him a bit this time round.

Sardinia is looking lovely in the spring sunshine. I do like the road riding there, I’ve been to Alghero a few times.

They just had Geraint Thomas’ data on screen… in the pack, on the flat, 27kmph…. 271 watts. Surely some of that is wrong.

probably, they had someone else up earlier it started at 220 then a couple of seconds later it was upto 370 just cruising along on the flat.