DDD: Giro d'italia thread (commuter friendly)

DonDaddyD

OK lets get this done with. Yes there is a pro-race section and yes there are other Giro discussions. As always this one is for the commuters, like me, who want to dip their toe in pro-racing (perhaps learn more about road cycling to become safer in the process) and feel safe that they won't be (i) ridiculed for not understanding why you have to take turns out front or (ii) be bombarded with faction splitting loyalties....

So, whether you agree or disagree with this thread, choose one (either the pro-race one or the commuting section one) and don't whinge its happening until the mods say no.

Spoilers abound:

So two stages down. The first stage Wiggins won the prologue, second stage Sky impressed greatly first time I've seen them properly work as a 'lead the field' team. Not sure if that's part of their Tour de France line-up but those riders have to be contenders surely? Are they good enough?

Gotta give it up to the guy who won the stage, having had that crash and changing his shoe mid-cycle didn't think that was possible. And Sky has to get credit for getting 'Bradders' back to the front after the same crash.

On the crashes, seemed like the road furniture and pinch points (poor course?) caused crashed but the kerbs saved the riders and bikes? Are they safer than what we have over here for cyclists?

*On a seperate note: I watched Liège–Bastogne–Liège (I have live Sky Sports £6per month and Eurosports £2.99 per month on my iPhone it's working out nicely) two things stood out, Contador's climb and chasing of Schleck and Vino winning the thing, the former was hugely impressive the former surprising... could he be a secret surprise at the Tour?

Specialized Needs

Is the Giro only on satellite, or can we mere mortals with just an internet connection and/or freeview get some kind of view/highlights?

jonginge

Specialized Needs wrote:

Is the Giro only on satellite, or can we mere mortals with just an internet connection and/or freeview get some kind of view/highlights?

Live feeds are available. Bimble over to www.cyclingfans.com or www.steephill.tv for links. Depends on the event how many feeds are geo-unrestricted. I've been watching the gazzetta feeds so far this giro. A lot of the time I find a video feed and couple it with the eurosport audio


Shame Twiggo lost the maglia rosa today. I think there'll be a decent amount of discussion from the 'internet forum people' about the suitability of the course today given how many crashes there were.

L-B-L was a great bit of teamwork. All the favourites knew Contador had some form so watched him after his first attack. That allowed Vino to get a gap and by the time Gilbert reacted it was too late. Maybe they didn't think he had the legs but he had just won the overall at Trentino...

Eau Rouge

Sky didn't get Wiggins back to the front, not even with Cervelo sharing the work. trying to get Sastre back. He's already over 30s down on Evans.

Road furniture of all sorts are part and parcel of Dutch, and to a very slightly lesser extent, Belgian, racing. Usually it's less of a problem, but Grand Tours have larger peletons and they mostly stay together near the ends of stages. Big crashes are common enough on the first week of any GT without the road furniture anyway. Tomorrow's stage, amazingly pan flat, is apparently more twisty and furniture-laden.
Dutch cyclists usually don't have to deal with them, they would be on the other road, for cyclists, somewhere off to the side.
Vino would be an outside bet for any GT, maybe more so after today for this Giro He's won the Vuelta before and come 5th in the Tour, but that was all before his doping ban. He hadn't really looked like replicating any of his pre-ban career until L-B-L.

Just watching the highlights programme on RAI, the big crash that took Wiggins and half the field down and split everyone near the end was on a straight, smooth, wide road with no furniture at all, just two riders touching and down everyone goes.

tailwindhome

Eau Rouge wrote:

Just watching the highlights programme on RAI

Where's that now?

DonDaddyD

Eau Rouge wrote:

Sky didn't get Wiggins back to the front

I'm sure after the crash they got him to the front of the peleton (the group behind the the guy in front.

Vino would be an outside bet for any GT, maybe more so after today for this Giro He's won the Vuelta before and come 5th in the Tour, but that was all before his doping ban. He hadn't really looked like replicating any of his pre-ban career until L-B-L.

So what's he on because the personal dislike the Eurosports commentator was saying would have you think Vino was the most guilty man on the planet and its only a matter of time...

Eau Rouge

TailWindHome wrote:

Eau Rouge wrote:

Just watching the highlights programme on RAI

Where's that now?

http://www.raisport.rai.it/dl/RaiTV/pro ... sport.html

The best view of the crash is at 5:10.
It's not the nightly t'Giro show they had last year, which might be on later I guess, though it did have a shortened preview of the next stage that was the best bit of t'Giro.

Wiggins was in a big bunch that finished 37 seconds back, with 60 riders ahead of them, including Evans and Vino and Basso.
From what I gather, Harmon, the Eurosport guy, just really doesn't like Vinokourov. He was caught doping in the middle of the Tour de France, which is about as high-profile as you can get and there was some issues with his ban at the time too.

dugliss

He said yesterday during tt that he had no time for him because he refused to admit his guilt and say sorry. Personally I see no difference between Vino or David Millar

Eau Rouge

dugliss wrote:

He said yesterday during tt that he had no time for him because he refused to admit his guilt and say sorry. Personally I see no difference between Vino or David Millar

Lets not go down that road, we can do that over in ProRace. Harmon doesn't like him due to his attitude to his ban, thats all we need to say about it here.

Tomorrow will be echelon-city. Sky didn't get on with them in Qatar very well, but they could be even more of a problem for Astana or BMC.

BTW, was there a Lampre rider that wasn't involved in an incident today? There seemed to be one at every crash. Is that their plan for publicity and air time I wonder....

tailwindhome

Eau Rouge wrote:

Lets not go down that road, we can do that over in ProRace.

+1

el_presidente

I really enjoyed last year's Giro, there were some awesome stages, including the mountain top finish on Vesuvius, the long hilly timetrial, and the final timetrial through Rome with Menchov getting up off the cobbles to win.

A couple that catch the eye this time:

Stage 15, May 23 - the mountain top finish on the Zoncolan

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/93rd-giro-ditalia-gt/stage-15

Never heard of the Zoncolan? neither had I, but apparently it is "widely regarded as the toughest road climb in Europe".





Stage 16, May 25: The mountain time trial to Plan de Corones

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/93rd-giro-ditalia-gt/stage-16

I saw this last time it was used in 2008. The road is hard-packed dirt not tarmac, it's so narrow you can't get a car up so each rider has a support motorcyclist with a spare bike on his back. Most riders were using compacts and mtb cassettes. At the top there were still skiers on each side of the course. Insane.




Stage 20, May 29: Over the Gavia Pass

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/93rd-giro-ditalia-gt/stage-20

I could have picked any of the other mountain stages but this over the Gavia pass is the day before the final time trial, epic. Flick through those cycling news pages and there's lots more.

el_presidente

Contador's quote after the Plan de Corones in 2008:

“My objective was to keep the pink jersey and perhaps gain a few seconds, so I’m happy with the result,” Contador said in the after race press conference at the summit of Plan de Corones.

“I went to see the course this morning and rode up the final dirt section. I’m glad I did because it made me realise I needed a bigger gear. I used a 34x30 and I think it helped me keep the pink jersey because my back wheel was slipping on the steepest parts of the climb.”

“It was a very, very difficult climb. It was a new experience and very interesting. I couldn’t stand on the pedals because there was so little traction on my back wheel and so had to stay sat down. I’ve never felt that before. Of course I’ll ride whatever they throw at me.”

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/lat ... trial.html

cjcp

A bit bonkers, isn't it? I'm not sure if it was 2007, but I recall something about them not being able to finish the last part of the route because of snow. That might have been Plan de Corones.

Kieran_Burns

I caught yesterdays race from 40k out and saw some of the latter carnage. How the heck did that huge crash on the open straight happen? (about 6k out I think it was?)

That corner that turned 90 degrees into a road half the width was just nuts, and a recipe for a major bit of track standing!

I don't know if it was the sudden series of crashes but the whole race changed within 5k, I lost track of what group was leading

TheStone

Yesterday was a bit of mess, but does challenge the main the contenders to stay up at
the front of the pack (although can still be unlucky). Wiggins, Sastre and Cunego lost out.
I doubt Wiggins is there for the full 3 weeks. Sastre can make back the 30 secs.

Evans, Basso and Vino in the front group.

Possible crosswinds today should be interesting, but it's all about the final week. Some
amazing stages.

el_presidente

cjcp wrote:

A bit bonkers, isn't it? I'm not sure if it was 2007, but I recall something about them not being able to finish the last part of the route because of snow. That might have been Plan de Corones.

In 2006 they could nly make it half way up due to snow. Was never a problem for Hampsten on the Gavia!

oscarbudgie

30 odd seconds isn't the end of the world for Cunego, Wiggins, Sastre etc altho' they wouldn't want it happening again and none of them will want to miss the selection today if its windy. Its a climbers Giro after all and the climbs are where the big gains and losses will be. Someone said they don't expect Wiggins to be there for the full 3 weeks - why do you think that?

TheStone

oscarbudgie wrote:

Someone said they don't expect Wiggins to be there for the full 3 weeks - why do you think that?

I read his plan was to go for it in the first week and try to get the Pink jersey.
If he's in with a shout he'll stay, but the main plan is the Tour, so won't burn himself out
unless really worth it.

He's already won and lost (and might win again on Wed) the jersey, so that might be enough.

With the exception of Evans (who seems to be up for anything at the moment) and Sastre
(who often does all 3 GTs within any problems) there aren't many Tour contenders in the
race. If Vino, Basso etc ride the tour, they'll be there to help other riders.

el_presidente

epic Stage 7. I love this race.




great ride by Millar also

itboffin

Why isn't this race on mainstream UK TV?

Not real enough?

el_presidente

Well it is on Eurosport which is reasonably mainstream these days. the Giro is a bit specialist when your average UK sports fan probably has heard of the Tour de France and Lance Armstrong only.

el_presidente

Oi! get some lights on that bike!



(Maglia Rosa group finishing yesterday's mountain top stage

TheStone

Saturday was one of the best stages of a grand tour I've seen for a long time, but not
a lot happened Sunday.

On paper this week should be quite dull. The main action starts next Saturday.

el_presidente

Another crazy stage, 250km through the rain and the main contendors lose 13 minutes to the likes of Wiggins & Sastre.

Eau Rouge

It hasn't half messed up the GC! The GC guys teams seriously screwed that one up. Why did they ever let that big a group, with some of those names in it, get so far down the road is a question they will be asking themselves again and again.
There are still plenty of big days left to come in this Giro, it's far from over.

Lancslad

Eau Rouge wrote:

It hasn't half messed up the GC! The GC guys teams seriously screwed that one up. Why did they ever let that big a group, with some of those names in it, get so far down the road is a question they will be asking themselves again and again.
There are still plenty of big days left to come in this Giro, it's far from over.

Yes and why cant those tennins players win quicker they delayed coverage I dont want to watch 30mins+ of tennis crap so I dont miss the giro.

Maybe i should have put this in the rant post :oops:

el_presidente

A few in on the Zoncolan!



Another superb stage

jonginge

The Zoncolan was epic, the crowds immense. Great stage. Impressed by Basso and also by Evans. The way Cadel tortures his bike is agony to watch; it was only a matter of time before he got dropped. Good effort, though.

Eau Rouge

I do like it when you have a breakaway of domestiques with a few minutes lead at the bottom of these mountains. Despite the fact they are still climbing far better than I ever could, it's just a little reassuring to be reminded that not everyone is just dancing away on the pedals the way the leaders are.
Not that anyone seemed to be doing anything other than suffering yesterday.

jonginge

Shamelessly stolen from the road forum:
http://www.steephill.tv/2010/giro-d-ita ... /stage-15/

el_presidente

start times for today's piece of craziness, in case any of you are in front of Eurosport