Giro d'Italia Stage 5 **SPOILER**

frenchfighter

Nothing interesting so far.........

Paul Voss (Milram), Yukiya Arashiro (Bbox), Jerome Pineau (Quick Step) and Julien Fouchard (Cofidis) have 5mins on the peloton with 80km to go

frenchfighter

Wiggin's comments.

“Three crashes in two days have kind of dropped me out of contention now, but I still really enjoy this race and riding it for three weeks, I can't fail to get something out of it,” he said on the team website. “Those crashes might even prove to be a blessing in disguise in terms of pressure.

"I'm still going to have a good go on some of the mountain days, and to challenge for another stage win would be nice.”

- Velonation

I think his actions are a little dis-respectful as he is effectively coming here and saying this race holds no importance for me, it is not worthy of my efforts so I shall only use it as training and let you other GC contenders fight it out.

He clearly said he would ride the first 9 days or so as a complete dress rehearsal for the Tour, so I assume then if he crashes in the Tour he will basically also give up?

takethehighroad

frenchfighter wrote:

Wiggin's comments.

“Three crashes in two days have kind of dropped me out of contention now, but I still really enjoy this race and riding it for three weeks, I can't fail to get something out of it,” he said on the team website. “Those crashes might even prove to be a blessing in disguise in terms of pressure.

"I'm still going to have a good go on some of the mountain days, and to challenge for another stage win would be nice.”

- Velonation

I think his actions are a little dis-respectful as he is effectively coming here and saying this race holds no importance for me, it is not worthy of my efforts so I shall only use it as training and let you other GC contenders fight it out.

He clearly said he would ride the first 9 days or so as a complete dress rehearsal for the Tour, so I assume then if he crashes in the Tour he will basically also give up?

Probably. He's four minutes down and there's 20km of time trialling (the most likely place where he can gain time back) on the final day. He's not going to go on a 200k attack through the mountains because he's not Michael Rasmussen

inkyfingers

frenchfighter wrote:

Wiggin's comments.

“Three crashes in two days have kind of dropped me out of contention now, but I still really enjoy this race and riding it for three weeks, I can't fail to get something out of it,” he said on the team website. “Those crashes might even prove to be a blessing in disguise in terms of pressure.

"I'm still going to have a good go on some of the mountain days, and to challenge for another stage win would be nice.”

- Velonation

I think his actions are a little dis-respectful as he is effectively coming here and saying this race holds no importance for me, it is not worthy of my efforts so I shall only use it as training and let you other GC contenders fight it out.

He clearly said he would ride the first 9 days or so as a complete dress rehearsal for the Tour, so I assume then if he crashes in the Tour he will basically also give up?

I think you're being a bit harsh actually. He's lost 4 minutes on GC so is very unlikely to get a podium place now. However at least he still plans on racing and going for another stage win which is still a significant achievement rather than just sitting in the grupetto for 2 weeks.

BenWatson89

Are there any live feeds up yet?

Bakunin

I'm no Wiggins fan, but I don't see how he is being disrespectful. He came into this race with no real GC plans, just pink and a stage or two.

seemunkee

BenWatson89 wrote:

Are there any live feeds up yet?

http://www.justin.tv/pokpok50#cf

amnezia

http://bvls2.yolasite.com/ch-41.php

frenchfighter

100% certain he said he was going to ride the first 9 days or so like the Tour.

If he was serious I don't understand how he lost all that time on stage 3 after the crash. Most especially when Cadel was in the same crash (because of Sky) and got to the finish more than THREE minutes faster than Wigola.

chriskempton

frenchfighter wrote:

Wiggin's comments.

“Three crashes in two days have kind of dropped me out of contention now, but I still really enjoy this race and riding it for three weeks, I can't fail to get something out of it,” he said on the team website. “Those crashes might even prove to be a blessing in disguise in terms of pressure.

"I'm still going to have a good go on some of the mountain days, and to challenge for another stage win would be nice.”

- Velonation

I think his actions are a little dis-respectful as he is effectively coming here and saying this race holds no importance for me, it is not worthy of my efforts so I shall only use it as training and let you other GC contenders fight it out.

He clearly said he would ride the first 9 days or so as a complete dress rehearsal for the Tour, so I assume then if he crashes in the Tour he will basically also give up?

You really don't like him do you

I think he's being realistic. He's lost time in an unexpected way and is changing his mental approach accordingly.

takethehighroad

frenchfighter wrote:

100% certain he said he was going to ride the first 9 days or so like the Tour.

If he was serious I don't understand how he lost all that time on stage 3 after the crash. Most especially when Cadel was in the same crash (because of Sky) and got to the finish more than THREE minutes faster than Wigola.

You can never be 100% certain that you're not gona get caught in a crash on day three.

And for what it's worth, Cadel was just delayed and only just got back to the second group on the road, Wiggins was on the floor.

You're being a little facetious here, bringing him to task for changing his plan after crashing. I'm sure a lot of riders went into the race wanting to do something on GC but have had to change plans. Cunego is the one that springs to mind first. If VDV wasn't so seriously injured, you;d see him making similar comments

mroli

Sorry, can't work out what you're trying to say FF - do you want him to say "I'm going to race the next 4 days like I was on the tour"? Well, he can't do that because he is 4 min down already. And it is only 4 days. And you always slag him off for not racing and trying to win stuff.

If this happens on the tour, I think that Sky will be going for as many stage wins as possible - and I think that is probably what they will be doing here, although I think Wiggins will "reset" in any event as he will want to replicate what he wants to do in the tour and try and ride as consistent as he can for some time....

Not sure what the criticism is, or what the point is - and think you are overanalysing something he's said on his way to/from the bus....

frenchfighter

If Contador loses 4mins in the first few days, say on the cobbles, then you can be sure he will go all out to redress that and take the GC.

But then Wiggins is no Contador.

TTHR, Wiggins and Sky live their lives and speak like the Tour is the only thing that matters, they base everything on that - do you think that if Wiggins crashes they are not going to A. limit the damage on the stage, and B. go nuts afterwards?

disgruntledgoat

frenchfighter wrote:

If Contador loses 4mins in the first few days, say on the cobbles, then you can be sure he will go all out to redress that and take the GC.

But then Wiggins is no Contador.

TTHR, Wiggins and Sky live their lives and speak like the Tour is the only thing that matters, they base everything on that - do you think that if Wiggins crashes they are not going to A. limit the damage on the stage, and B. go nuts afterwards?

You are correct Wiggins is no Contador.. he has to pick and choose his objectives a bit more carefully.

Look at it this way, if Contador crashes in one of his warm up races, 10 weeks before his main goal, is he going to bury himself to make that time up? Or ride the rest of the race in the manner he was going ot anyway ignoring the time lost and maybe try for a stage?

takethehighroad

frenchfighter wrote:

TTHR, Wiggins and Sky live their lives and speak like the Tour is the only thing that matters, they base everything on that - do you think that if Wiggins crashes they are not going to A. limit the damage on the stage, and B. go nuts afterwards?

A. Yes. B. No, because Wiggins cannot climb mountains as well as other contenders.

We all know his limitations, including Sky, and so what would the point be in killing everyone on the stage up the Tourmalet when better climbers will go off up the road?

frenchfighter wrote:

But then Wiggins is no Contador.

No sh*t Sherlock

DaveyL

frenchfighter wrote:

If Contador loses 4mins in the first few days, say on the cobbles, then you can be sure he will go all out to redress that and take the GC.

But then Wiggins is no Contador.

TTHR, Wiggins and Sky live their lives and speak like the Tour is the only thing that matters, they base everything on that - do you think that if Wiggins crashes they are not going to A. limit the damage on the stage, and B. go nuts afterwards?

So you've made up a scenario, decided how Bertie would react and then condemned Wiggins for not doing that? How ludicrous, but I guess it fits with the cartoon cycling world you inhabit.

I guess things didn't go as planned for Bertie in the Criterium International, but he didn't go out to redress it on the next stage. Then again, it's not as important as the Tour, is it?

frenchfighter

45k to go, 4mins advantage.

afx237vi

Is there a bike race on?

takethehighroad

Yeah, I think Coppi's riding today

donrhummy

Question: Has a Japanese rider ever won a stage at either a grand tour or any pro stage race? If not, I really hope arashiro wins! It'd be good for cycling as a global sport.

takethehighroad

I imagine Fumiyuki Beppu got closeto winning in a stage race, probably not a GT though.

Or was he Chinese?

blazing_saddles

This is gripping stuff. :roll:

takethehighroad

Blazing Saddles wrote:

This is gripping stuff. :roll:

I'm going to the pub soon

Bernardus

donrhummy wrote:

Question: Has a Japanese rider ever won a stage at either a grand tour or any pro stage race? If not, I really hope arashiro wins! It'd be good for cycling as a global sport.

Depends of your definition of "pro stage race". The biggest stage victories I could find are in tours like Brixia, Limousin and Leon.

Edit:
Best performance by a Japanese rider in a Protour stage race:
http://cqranking.com/men/asp/gen/race.asp?raceid=5318

Best performance by a Japanese rider in a Grand Tour:
http://cqranking.com/men/asp/gen/race.asp?raceid=12908

Robb0

“Three crashes in two days have kind of dropped me out of contention now[...]
"I'm still going to have a good go on some of the mountain days, and to challenge for another stage win would be nice.”

I know how you feel Bradley. A momentary lapse of concentration, you don't get your PTP pick in on time, and you might as well give up for the next 3 weeks.

donrhummy

TakeTheHighRoad wrote:

I imagine Fumiyuki Beppu got closeto winning in a stage race, probably not a GT though.

Or was he Chinese?

He's japanese. Chinese names would never have that many syllables; they tend to be 2-3 chinese characters. Like Li FuYu, forrmerly of Discovery.

AidanR

Darn JustinTV feed's gone - another one here:

http://www.fromsport.com/video-247102.html

afx237vi

Well, this could be an exciting end to a dull stage.

AidanR

Breakaway has 58" with 7km to go... and that gap's been steady for at least 3km. It might stick...

...but the roads have opened up and it's 30" with 4km to go. People being dropped off the back of the peleton now.

afx237vi

Was this another no-radio day?

andyp

Pineau!