Giro Stage 14 *Spoiler*
Comments
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afx237vi wrote:^ He actually won the stage, but RAI are boycotting him, so put Gerrans' name first
''St 14 done. Hot, hilly, and fast. And this insanely steep finish in Bologna. Break went early and stayed away''
Grumpy old sod isn't he?0 -
16% is pretty steep though...Contador is the Greatest0
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frenchfighter wrote:16% is pretty steep though...
True.0 -
Doesn't stop him being a grumpy old sod though
Contador is the Greatest0 -
Simoni loses 40".
He has been saying that due to the speed of the peloton, he is not able to recover between stages.
Interesting that Simoni has now said something along the same lines as Cunego.
After a couple of years of a more sedate peloton, we are now back in the era of the motorcyclists. :roll:"Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0 -
frenchfighter wrote:Lovely town by the looks of it.
A beautiful road, if you don't have to ride up it. Lovely medieval covered footpath alongside the road all the way to the church at the top.0 -
Quite Frankly wrote:''St 14 done. Hot, hilly, and fast. And this insanely steep finish in Bologna. Break went early and stayed away''
Grumpy old sod isn't he?
He'll be even more grumpy tomorrow then, as the temperature will be mid-thirties rather than low thirties.
The stages around Rimini/Cesena/Forlì/Bologna are often won by a breakaway. It's very hilly terrain on twisty roads once away from the flat coastal plain, with a good chance of baking heat at this time of year, so I reckon the GC guys will opt to hold a truce until the big climbing days, though perhaps Garzelli goes for another long-ranger to protect his mountains points and maybe get a stage win.0 -
16% isn't actually that steep, it just looks like Froome was waaay overgeared! Me and other riders I know have gone up 20%ers before (probably slower) and not wobbled about that much... :shock:0
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One thing that I hadn't noticed at the time, and due to the pictures that RAI chose to show, was that Lance and Popo both went to the front to set the pace on that last climb with 1.5km left to the finish.
Presumably the intention was to look after Levi rather than trying to set him up for an attack. Maybe they thought that if they rode at a fast enough pace then the other GC contenders wouldn't attack?
In any case Popo and Lance were soon straight out the back when Pellizotti/Di Luca upped the pace. Clearly neither of them are quite strong enough to provide Levi with the necessary support.0 -
frenchfighter wrote:Lovely town by the looks of it.
Bologna is, highly recommend it!
Lance's tone about the steepness of the climb make it sound as if it's some rarely used, undiscovered climb. Errrr, only used every year in the Giro dell'Emilia mate, even Ulle won that won!0 -
Blazing Saddles wrote:Simoni loses 40".
He has been saying that due to the speed of the peloton, he is not able to recover between stages.
Interesting that Simoni has now said something along the same lines as Cunego.
After a couple of years of a more sedate peloton, we are now back in the era of the motorcyclists. :roll:
Seen Michael Barry's take on it on Velonews? http://www.velonews.com/article/92339
Seems like he's saying the Italians aren't used to racing a whole stage. So perhaps the bits where Simoni was used to knocking out piano before it went tonto on the climb are being ridden harder and he hasn't got the chops to cope anymore. Would it make any sense to suggest that by keeping the pace high some teams are trying to put the opposition a bit closer to their limit because there's lower thresholds so it's now about getting the gap rather than wearing down?0 -
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Back to Zomegnan's classic slapdown about legs getting shorter and tongues getting longer as riders get older.0
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ISD's two man assualt on the mountains classification.
day off tomorrow then another pop on monday along with garzelli?
hard day had by all there but a lot of negative racing
I think astana should go down the road..no one from astana can support levi on the climbs when the hammer goes down anyway."If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm0 -
You can criticise Rabobank's classics tactics, but they tend to get the GC tactics spot on. Controlled the race intelligently today.
Kudos.Note: the above post is an opinion and not fact. It might be a lie.0 -
Bhima wrote:16% isn't actually that steep, it just looks like Froome was waaay overgeared! Me and other riders I know have gone up 20%ers before (probably slower) and not wobbled about that much... :shock:
Err ok if you say so. Were you riding that 20% on a mountain bike with a 20T up front?
No probably about it - definitely is more to the point.
Froome simply went a bloc and died on that climb. It is not unnatural - ever seen the riders on Montelupone?
Also you know that the pros ride the Angliru in the Vuelta with a compact? Ever seen everyone but Contador and Rodriguez destroyed on that climb?Contador is the Greatest0 -
Le Commentateur wrote:frenchfighter wrote:Lovely town by the looks of it.
A beautiful road, if you don't have to ride up it. Lovely medieval covered footpath alongside the road all the way to the church at the top.
Oh so that is what that structure was...thought they were the walls of the town or something. Very impressive.Contador is the Greatest0
