Jump to content

Procycling thread


myshkin

Recommended Posts

As usual this has been a fantastic giro so far. Tomorrow will be a make or break day I think. Yes they are climbing the Mortirolo from the 'easiest' side and the decent gives people a chance to claw back some of the time they may have lost going uphill. Would love to have seen Bardet as I reckon he'd have been a favourite for the stage along with Nibali after how he climbed the other day and we all know he's a phenomenal descender. There was a really good piece on his descending done by Adam Blythe during coverage yesterday. Got to think Carapaz is looking at the Pordoi stage to put some real time into, in particular, Almeida as Almeida is by far a superior time triallist. Would think Carapaz would like something north of 40 seconds over him going into the final TT.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can't agree it's been fantastic, at least from a GC point of view.  Yes, it's very close, but that's because there's been virtually no GC action, ie between genuine GC contenders.  

On the other hand, there have been some fascinating and unusual stages, like 14 where Bora tore the race apart.  And 13, where it was on a knife edge for the breakaway until the last 1km.

I'm really getting into the early part of the stages to see the breakaway forming.  A couple of stages have seen constant attacking for 60-70km until the break finally forms.

Link to comment
Share on other sites




I'm really getting into the early part of the stages to see the breakaway forming.  A couple of stages have seen constant attacking for 60-70km until the break finally forms.


This is partly why I think it's been great. There's been very few stages where half a dozen go up the road and the peloton just go through the motions for the day. Also the lack of clear leader has made it more interesting than someone like Pogacar just blowing everyone else away on the first mountain stage and it being a procession for the remainder of the stages.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, jaggyness said:


This is partly why I think it's been great. There's been very few stages where half a dozen go up the road and the peloton just go through the motions for the day. Also the lack of clear leader has made it more interesting than someone like Pogacar just blowing everyone else away on the first mountain stage and it being a procession for the remainder of the stages.

 

Yes, I agree the Pogacar / Roglic processions are not great viewing, at least by the time you get to the 3rd week.  Ideally, different riders would be strong on different days and lead would be changing hands, but I suppose that's not realistic.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, I agree the Pogacar / Roglic processions are not great viewing, at least by the time you get to the 3rd week.  Ideally, different riders would be strong on different days and lead would be changing hands, but I suppose that's not realistic.  
I just like it where we aren't 10 stages into a grand tour and we don't have someone who, barring any disasters, will clearly win. I can appreciate how brilliant the likes of Pogacar are but it's not great from an entertainment point of view.

As an aside, is this going to be the first time in a decade that ineos could potentially just be going for stages at the tour? They don't appear to have anyone who will ride who you could argue is now a genuine GC contender
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, jaggyness said:


As an aside, is this going to be the first time in a decade that ineos could potentially just be going for stages at the tour? They don't appear to have anyone who will ride who you could argue is now a genuine GC contender

Probably how they should have billed their squads in the past few years instead of the nonsense dual/trio leadership roles when Bernal has been injured. Their best hope of a GT is the Giro as I’m sure Pogacar is off to both the Tour and Vuelta this year, barring any disaster he’ll likely have a clean sweep with the both of them. 
 

Jai Hindley in fantastic form at the Giro, Carapaz will be doing well to get a fair amount of time on him before the Verona time trial on Sunday. He’s at least shown that his 2nd place at the Giro was no fluke when the field was pretty depleted, unlike that year’s winner Geoghegan-Hart. Not sure how Hindley/Carapaz compare on their time trialing ability but Hindley to lose it twice on a TT would be pretty cruel if it comes to it. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Don't know what Landa was playing at? He nearly made a complete pigs ear of todays stage, almost riding into  gutter, whilst looking back.

He then shat himself in avoiding a roadside photographer, he hadn't seen & caught Bilbao's wheel!

That his team mate came off worst, was more through luck than judgement. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, kiddy said:

Don't know what Landa was playing at? He nearly made a complete pigs ear of todays stage, almost riding into  gutter, whilst looking back.

He then shat himself in avoiding a roadside photographer, he hadn't seen & caught Bilbao's wheel!

That his team mate came off worst, was more through luck than judgement. 

That final run in descent by Jan Hirt was scary at times....

paid off though...

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 minutes ago, Bob in Denny said:

That final run in descent by Jan Hirt was scary at times....

paid off though...

 

If only it was Nibali taking that descent for victory.

Fair doo's to Hirt though, it was pretty sketchy. Though Arensman did manage to take close to 30 secs out of him from the top of di Santa Cristina.

Ride of the day, for me was Almeida. Limited his losses to keep him in touch with the other 3 GC contenders.

Would take something if a Froomesque, in Bardonecchia, recovery for Nibbles to podium now. But he is riding into some form.

Edited by kiddy
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, kiddy said:

If only it was Nibali taking that descent for victory.

Fair doo's to Hirt though, it was pretty sketchy. Though Arensman did manage to take close to 30 secs out of him from the top of di Santa Cristina.

Ride of the day, for me was Almeida. Limited his losses to keep him in touch with the other 3 GC contenders.

Would take something di Santa Cristina a Froomesque recovery for Nibbles to podium now. But he is riding into some form.

his last Giro so more motivated but are the legs as willing?

I hope so...

Sir Wiggo commented today that Valverde is three days older than him and they both rode the Juniors at the same time....

I'd have never thought that...

I'm a bottle merchant at descending on my trusty hybrid and that's why I fear the worse watching the pros and as you said in an earlier post, it takes only to turn your head and bang, down ala Alaphillipe with yon motorbike the other year.

watching the Norway Tour and I could have sworn it was down the side of Long Long or Fyne.

13c good Scottish cycling temperature...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, Bob in Denny said:

his last Giro so more motivated but are the legs as willing?

I hope so...

Sir Wiggo commented today that Valverde is three days older than him and they both rode the Juniors at the same time....

I'd have never thought that...

I'm a bottle merchant at descending on my trusty hybrid and that's why I fear the worse watching the pros and as you said in an earlier post, it takes only to turn your head and bang, down ala Alaphillipe with yon motorbike the other year.

watching the Norway Tour and I could have sworn it was down the side of Long Long or Fyne.

13c good Scottish cycling temperature...

Loved Adam Blythe's Inbetweeners comment about Wiggo.

The Inbetweeners Thumbs Up GIF

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Almeida out of the Giro having tested Covid +ve.
In a way makes the race more exciting although after his performance yesterday (which we now have an explanation for) he was unlikely to challenge for the win, but could still have been in podium contention with his time trialling ability compared to the other main GC contenders.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Break takes it, as the sprinters teams miscalculate the gap & the peloton come in 14 secs back.

Hindley comes in over a min down on Carapaz, though reports of a flat in the last 3km suggest he'll get the same time.

I thought that rule was only for crashes, not mechanicals?

Edited by kiddy
Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 minutes ago, kiddy said:

Break takes it, as the sprinters teams miscalculate the gap & the peloton come in 14 secs back.

Hindley comes in over a min down on Carapaz, though reports of a flat in the last 3km suggest he'll get the same time.

I thought that rule was only for crashes, not mechanicals?

They interviewed another of the team and he said he THINKS he had a mechanical.....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...