The Giro - Where did it all go wrong

iainf72

deejay wrote:

This year the riders kept me interested until the Final 10 metres and after last years complete Bore where a wheel sucker won. (yes I know he can do better)
It's just that Bruyneel couldn't get contol again this year which pleased me..

This year the race was over after the ITT. Was Menchov ever under pressure? No.

Was Bertie last year? Yes, yes he was.

deejay

iainf72 wrote:

deejay wrote:

This year the riders kept me interested until the Final 10 metres and after last years complete Bore where a wheel sucker won. (yes I know he can do better)
It's just that Bruyneel couldn't get contol again this year which pleased me..

This year the race was over after the ITT. Was Menchov ever under pressure? No.

Was Bertie last year? Yes, yes he was.

You mean you enjoyed last years Giro., Strewth. ?????

iainf72

deejay wrote:

You mean you enjoyed last years Giro., Strewth. ?????

The racing was better.

More interesting attacks, better route etc. DDL's attack last year and then collapse was better than anything in this years Giro.

dennisn

Is it possible that a lot of you have become "jaded" and if you don't see something
totally spectacular each day the whole thing becomes a yawner? I'd be willing to bet that if you asked the riders if they thought it was "boring" you would not find a one who thought it was. How bored would you be riding for 3 weeks straight in a major race
like that? Would you even have time to be bored. To me it's sort of sad that people can't appreciate the efforts put forth in this type of event. Instead they sit in their comfortable chair and moan because the riders / organizers didn't put on a good enough show for them.

frenchfighter

Maybe a few points on the 2008 Giro will demonstrate why this Giro was no where near as good (at least for some of the parts).

Pink Jersey: 5 riders in both Giros yet after Stage 5 in this Giro, only two riders had it. After stage 5 in Giro8, 4 riders had it.
Green Jersey: Sella had it from start to finish yet he went on some incredible breakaways (3 successful; regardless of the influence of doping). Giro9 four riders held it, but only 1 long breakaway from Garzelli (unsuccessful)
Magenta Jersey: Giro9 it was held by two riders from one team. Giro8 it was held by two riders from different teams BUT it changed shoulders 3 times compared to 1. It was also won by a real sprinter.
White Jersey: Four riders held it in Giro9 and Giro8 but in Giro8 there were more equal chunks (eg/. Cav had it for 2 days and Farrar for 1 in this GIro)

Withdrawals for whatever reason in 2008: 54
Withdrawals for whatever reason in 2009: 29

You could even break it down stage by stage and provide other details but I haven't got time at the moment.

greeny12

I kind of agree with Dennis. I watched some part of every stage this year and there were lots of sub-plots and mini battles going on.

Highlights just off the top of my head:

Cav in pink!
Cav vs Petacchi
Wiggins' climbing
Armstrong-watching
Very few pan flat sprinters' stages (certainly compared with this year's TdF)
Leipheimer rumbled (sorry, just don't like him)
Menchov vs Di Luca (what great cat and mouse in those final mountain stages)
Sastre showing his climbing prowess
THAT final time trial

Still think it's a dirty race and some of the stage winners/teams leave a suspicious taste in my mouth, but it's got me through a quiet couple of weeks at work just nicely.

Roll on the Dauphine

frenchfighter

Forgot to put a link to a few stage profiles in my other post. The saying 'a picture speaks a 1000 words' is very apt here:

Stage 7


Stage 14, 15 and 16. Note they come right after eachother




Stage 19 and 20. Note they come after eachother and are right before the end

mididoctors2

iainf72 wrote:

deejay wrote:

This year the riders kept me interested until the Final 10 metres and after last years complete Bore where a wheel sucker won. (yes I know he can do better)
It's just that Bruyneel couldn't get contol again this year which pleased me..

This year the race was over after the ITT. Was Menchov ever under pressure? No.

Was Bertie last year? Yes, yes he was.

i think menchov was pressurised by DDL to some extent...

maybe not enough given the quality of riders around him but RAB defended with intelligent tactics/stratergy. They shut down the race and left LPR to control the breaks..it was up to the others to go down the road

which in of itself was a tactical conumdrum the others needed to address.

LIQ had the basso pellizotti double card which did get one of them onto the podium

Astana simply did not try... Levi should of made a stab at it...
(6th place by following! would it really have been worse coming 15th and having a fling at it.. at least we would remember it.)

sastre had a bad day on the blockhaus.. ?

Still... I think your over playing the worst giro ever label somewhat. the third week was ok. and the ITT was ok as well.

imagine a flat TT with menchov burying everyone by minutes.. that would have been very tedious.

on balance the race did not furfil my expectations and I think the riders didn't raise their game for the 100 yrs celebration

plus points

TTT prologue,all the teams are at full strength good opener for any GT
ITT technical rolling course, much closer splits surprise results
vesuvious
final day TT

neg points

negative racing
Milan :roll:
early mountains too early
time bonus distortion of race stratergy
LA and co moaning about everything
Lack of zist for 100yr celebration
needed a truly mega mountain stage

micron

midi, agreed about the teachnical TT, though not your other plus points but you sum the negatives up quite nicely - too much negativity for what was supposed to be a celebratory race. For Armstrong to 'assert' himself in the peloton in the way he did - moaning about everything - left a bad taste. Far better to let the legs do the walking. The Italians seemed far too busy in internecine warfare than concertedly attacking the 'interloper' Menchov and as for Denis 'half owl half limpet' - it might be effective but it sure aint pretty. But then the others couldn't answer the questions he posed so fair play to him.

mididoctors

micron wrote:

Far better to let the legs do the walking. The Italians seemed far too busy in internecine warfare than concertedly attacking the 'interloper' Menchov and as for Denis 'half owl half limpet' - it might be effective but it sure aint pretty. But then the others couldn't answer the questions he posed so fair play to him.

agree with you there

LPR should never have chased basso down (or any other potential threat) after Denis got the jersey... should of paniced Denis into doing the work and attacked over the top... perhaps feigning weakness rather than this constant aggressive bulldog riding style of DDL's

it was a matter of nerve letting your place on GC become vulnerable just long enough... and the gap between Menchov and DDL was so small... its not like Denis had minutes of sliding room to bluff with!

disgruntledgoat

I hadn't thought of it until now... but the mental strength displayed by Rabo after what happened to Horillo was impressive too.

Kléber

micron wrote:

The Italians seemed far too busy in internecine warfare than concertedly attacking the 'interloper' Menchov

That's a common feature of the Giro. Far from ganging up on foreigners, the Italians enjoy fighting amongst each other for the media spotlight.

dennisn

micron wrote:

midi, agreed about the teachnical TT, though not your other plus points but you sum the negatives up quite nicely - too much negativity for what was supposed to be a celebratory race. For Armstrong to 'assert' himself in the peloton in the way he did - moaning about everything - left a bad taste. Far better to let the legs do the walking. The Italians seemed far too busy in internecine warfare than concertedly attacking the 'interloper' Menchov and as for Denis 'half owl half limpet' - it might be effective but it sure aint pretty. But then the others couldn't answer the questions he posed so fair play to him.

As for Lance asserting himself, if you can you do. I don't find asserting yourself in a race of this nature(or any race) unusual. It's been said that he can play the head game,
so I didn't see anything new from him. As for "the others who couldn't answer....." . You're right on the money. There are many different ways to win a race and Menchov
found one.

drenkrom

Not my favorite Giro at all, but still a good 3-week's entertainment.

I liked:
-The TTT: A lost art, a good place for rivalries (and comedic performances from unpracticed Italian teams), and a tight one this year.
-Venice (who doesn't)
-The ITT: It sealed the deal too early, but what a ride that was! Rollercoasters on bikes.
-Cervelo: While I bemoaned their performances after the first week, they made me swallow my words.
-Cav making Petacchi eat up his comments made after his victories. "Back on top", heh?
-Mental images of Simoni and Cunego bickering 4 minutes behind the leaders.
-Diquigiovanni-far..... erm... y'know... Savio's team. The man must be smiling, dear readers.
-That Procycling cover in my bathroom mag-holder: "Astana VS Italy! How Lance and Levi will win the Giro"...uh-huh....

I liked less:
-LPR: While they rode about the same kind of choking, boring race, at least USPS used to win in the end.
-Basso's quest to silence his critics by proving he could win a Giro in 2006 fashion without doping. well... yeah... maybe next time...
-The podium hardly screams "clean new generation" to me, to say the least...
-The utter lack of competition in the sprints once Cav got his game together (OK, that could apply to pretty much every race)
-The idea that somehow, even if it'd been contested fully, a criterium would be an entertaining way of filling a Sunday. Sundays are for mountain stages and Italians can't race crits!!!
-The "soft" Dolomites stages ("soft" in a Dolomite kind of way, of course)

Kléber

One thing: it was totally free to watch. Thanks to internet streaming from RAI, even the dullest moments of a stage helped to pass the time in the afternoons at work. The chance to watch so many races like this is fantastic, although too distracting at times. A te Pancani...

knedlicky

mpd62 wrote:

Is this the cleanest grand tour ever??

This isn't what Cunego suggested at the finish, and I've not had the impression he's a sour grapes type person before. There does seem a question mark over Menchow, hitherto a rider rarely doubted.

As for the excitement of the Giro, or its lack of, I think Dennis N is right in questioning, what does one expect. The organiser tried a different idea in the early stages, and in the TT. Neither worked out that extra exciting or relevant, but they were worth it, as a variation and because the margins stayed pretty small until the end.

The lack of excitement goes back to the riders and their teams, that they didn't make the most of it. An unwillingness to gamble, for fear of the possible greater loss. It happens increasingly in football too. Maybe because the differences in prestige and financial rewards are so much greater than previously between winner and runners-up.

SpaceJunk

dennisn wrote:

Is it possible that a lot of you have become "jaded" and if you don't see something
totally spectacular each day the whole thing becomes a yawner? I'd be willing to bet that if you asked the riders if they thought it was "boring" you would not find a one who thought it was. How bored would you be riding for 3 weeks straight in a major race
like that? Would you even have time to be bored. To me it's sort of sad that people can't appreciate the efforts put forth in this type of event. Instead they sit in their comfortable chair and moan because the riders / organizers didn't put on a good enough show for them.

I enjoyed the Giro. Sure there were some negative elements to the race; but I think the positives outweighed them.

As Dennis pointed out, there were many of little sub-plots to the race. I didn't really appreciate Serge Pauwels effort (21st on GC), until I read that the longest race he had previously done was only 10 stages. What a great effort.