How is going to pan out this week in Giro

iainf72

Thoughts?

With people saying "the race starts tomorrow" what do you think will happen? Will Tom L from Columbia manage to remain up there? Will those little bits of weakness Levi displayed this weekend turn into something more? Will DDL hang on in there?

Will the ITT just end up being dull and not have much in the way of time differences?

How many times will the camera cut away from the action to show pictures of an Italian fox applying her makeup?

timoid.

Di Luca will be as hard to shake off the top of GC as poo off a stick. Basso will always be a 'monster' stage away from catching him. Levi will diesel his way to the podium.

The big unknowns are Menchov and Rogers. Assuming they have found suitable replacements for the Freiburg clinic, either could snatch this one.

Pokerface

The race will be decided before Friday morning. Combination of the mountains on Tuesday and the ITT on Thursday will sort out the GC.

I predict it will be just a matter of defending the jersey after Thursday.


And 62 more shots of Italian foxes.

alanmcn1

Despite going with Levi in PTP, it's hard to see where Di Luca will lose time. The Giro has shot itself in the foot again with a supposedly hard as hell stage (62Km TT) that will really only end up in small time gaps. And tomorrow has a big run down hill to finish. In reality am not sure where DDL will lose it.

Every year the Giro comes up with supposedly brutal stages that end up in cagey riding and no big peleton blows (basso and superblood excepted).........Mortirolo, plan de corones, guys just end up riding them sensibly and there is a negative effect.

blazing_saddles

I have a nasty feeling that the race will start and end on Thursday.

Still, at least the weather is set to be hot and sunny, so not likely that stage 10 will end in a rider protest at actually having to ride downhill.

I honestly can't see past the "power output junkies" taking huge chunks of time out of the racing "artists".

After that, it'll be let the train take the strain time, while some of the discarded hopefuls chase forlorn stage wins in the low mountains.

I now await the cancellation of the extremely difficult stage 19, due to riders fears over a possible eruption. :roll:

mididoctors

Timoid. wrote:

Di Luca will be as hard to shake off the top of GC as poo off a stick. Basso will always be a 'monster' stage away from catching him. Levi will diesel his way to the podium.

The big unknowns are Menchov and Rogers. Assuming they have found suitable replacements for the Freiburg clinic, either could snatch this one.

about right me thinks

rogers hasn't got it and Basso may crack... menchov will balls it up somewhere

Lövkvist is the dark horse for a podium place..he is just going to keep following the fastest wheel. is he going to fade in the third week

looks remarkably fresh to me of all the GC guys

hard to see where Basso is going to get a minute if di luca keeps sprinting for time bonus.

di luca has to have a bad day in the hills

looking good for but rome is a bloody long way away

its going to be decided in the third if big time gaps don't appear in the TT

cswebbo

I think a lot of people are underestimating the stage up mt vesuvius next friday.
Having riden up it, albeit 15 years ago, i can still remember it being very difficult.

Coming as it does, almost at the end of the tour, some riders will have nothing to lose by giving it full gas.
I do agree that unfortunately tomorrows stage is not looking as good as hopped for, and everyone is waiting for the tt.

teagar

I have a feeling, though not a particularly well informed feeling, that Basso is going to sh!t on everyone in the next two weeks.

Just a hunch.

andyp

There are some tough stages in the Appenines to come that people seem to be discounting already. Stage 16 has two tough climbs and an uphill finish and is on narrow twisty roads where organising a chase will be difficult. The Blockhaus climb will favour explosive riders like Di Luca rather than diesels like Basso and Leipheimer.

I think Thursday's stage will shape the race but it won't define it.

blazing_saddles

andyp wrote:

There are some tough stages in the Appenines to come that people seem to be discounting already. Stage 16 has two tough climbs and an uphill finish and is on narrow twisty roads where organising a chase will be difficult. The Blockhaus climb will favour explosive riders like Di Luca rather than diesels like Basso and Leipheimer.

Last used in 2006, now finishing at the exact same point.
Was the Giro's "warm up" climb. Di Luca got dropped early.
Cunego tried, but Basso had them fried.

le_patron

I think teagar's right, I expect ET to take off at some point and not be brought back. As long as Levi doesn't storm the TT, but looks a bit hilly for that.

Pokerface

teagar wrote:

I have a feeling, though not a particularly well informed feeling, that Basso is going to sh!t on everyone in the next two weeks.

Just a hunch.

Isn't it Alan Davis that might be pooing on everyone!!??

(From his twitter feed the other day: "First time in my career I've had to poo my pants 4 times and vomit 5 times all in the last 100km and race the giro! Straight to ambulance! I am still in the game but, normally this passes fast, hopefully!")

andyp

Blazing Saddles wrote:

Last used in 2006, now finishing at the exact same point.
Was the Giro's "warm up" climb. Di Luca got dropped early.
Cunego tried, but Basso had them fried.

It was an even year, therefore Di Luca was destined to do badly.

Then it was at the end of a 170 km stage, this time it's less than half that distance.

dave_1

the day after a rest day sometimes brings surprises..Leiphemer will be outsprinted at the finish...he's good enough to hold any of them when they put the hammer down even if he takes a few bike lenghts of a hit when they jump...he closes in

donrhummy

I think if Di Luca loses 2 minutes or fewer to levi in the TT, then he's likely to win it all in one of the later mountain stages. If he loses 3+ minutes, Levi takes it.

redddraggon

Are the time bonuses the same on "mountain" stages as they are on "flat" stages?

teagar

Pokerface wrote:

teagar wrote:

I have a feeling, though not a particularly well informed feeling, that Basso is going to sh!t on everyone in the next two weeks.

Just a hunch.

Isn't it Alan Davis that might be pooing on everyone!!??

(From his twitter feed the other day: "First time in my career I've had to poo my pants 4 times and vomit 5 times all in the last 100km and race the giro! Straight to ambulance! I am still in the game but, normally this passes fast, hopefully!")

The thought did cross my mind.


Rather disturbingly...

teagar

andyp wrote:

Blazing Saddles wrote:

Last used in 2006, now finishing at the exact same point.
Was the Giro's "warm up" climb. Di Luca got dropped early.
Cunego tried, but Basso had them fried.

It was an even year, therefore Di Luca was destined to do badly.

Then it was at the end of a 170 km stage, this time it's less than half that distance.

Never underestimate the power of an odd year for Di Luca!

Moomaloid

Di Luca so good that i think he may have it nailed, even this early. But, if Levi can stay stuck to his wheel, then i'm sure he can put minutes into him in the TT and then go back to braces on the back of Danilo's saddle for the rest of the tour.