Giro Stage 9 *Spoiler*

LangerDan

Well, they're up and racing. Break of 3 away, with a lead of around four minutes - Brian Bulgac (Lotto) ,Pierre Cazaux (Euskaltel), and Martijn Keizer (Vacansoleil).

And its around 14°C and raining

rick_chasey

Supposed to be a mega fast first hour.

inkyfingers

Be nice if this turned out to be more than a simple Cav sprint win as am sat at home feeling like crap today so will actually be able to watch it.

Some little hills in the last 10KM apparently, might be able to shake it up but I doubt it.

afx237vi

Watching the tennis (in proper HD) - these ladies really need to work on their inner chimps, because their body language is abysmal. Lady in blue is about to have a full scale mental breakdown.

Simmotino

Unfortunately the only little hills on view currently are those belonging to the grunter in blue as women's bat and ball appears to be on instead at the moment

afx237vi

I'm gonna take a stab in the dark and say we aren't missing much.

ilm_zero7

some nice pictures of italian villages and market towns, but the gap seems fixed at 3:40 ish now - it will get gobbled up for sure - come on Cav

Simmotino

afx237vi wrote:

I'm gonna take a stab in the dark and say we aren't missing much.

Nope, you're not.

The one in orange has a terrible pull to her backhand and really needs to work the baseline a little more. The one in blue is just, well, crap. No serve to speak of and her passing play is awful.

Oh, you meant the Giro, right..... :oops:

rick_chasey

65 Cazaux, 132 Bulgac and 217 Keizer have 3' over the peloton, FDJ massed near the front, Stannard doing the pulling for Team Sky

ilm_zero7

I hope this little blip near the finish doesnt see off Cavendish - it would favour Goss perhaps?

rick_chasey

ILM Zero7 wrote:

I hope this little blip near the finish doesnt see off Cavendish - it would favour Goss perhaps?

Bookies say otherwise but common sense says yes.

cal_stewart

cavs not that bad on hills when he wants to be, remember the tour and him beating gilbert.

afx237vi

PTP has Goss on 34 and Cav on 26. But that could be people hedging their bets... Goss is likely to finish in the top 8, whereas Cav will either finish 1st or 181st.

avoidingmyphd

Cal_Stewart wrote:

cavs not that bad on hills when he wants to be, remember the tour and him beating gilbert.

There's a difference between sprinting up a little hill (like when he beat gilbert in the tour) and winning a flat sprint a few km after a little hill. Cav is capable of either, but he needs really good form to do the latter, which is what today requires. The uncertainty should make for good watching and racing later.

rick_chasey

afx237vi wrote:

PTP has Goss on 34 and Cav on 26. But that could be people hedging their bets... Goss is likely to finish in the top 8, whereas Cav will either finish 1st or 181st.

Most bookies had Cav near a 1-1 pay out, with Goss at roughly 3-1.

Mark Cavendish (5/8), Matthew Goss (13/18) for each way.

So either the punters are all going for Cav, or, more likely, Cav's a better shout.

rick_chasey

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... UDbGcoaC68

Saved a bit of energy anyway.

ilm_zero7

GreenEdge are moving forward to help out FDJ on the front of the pack. The Aussies will hope to launch Matt Goss to the finish line today. The escapees near four minutes again.

tailwindhome

Rick Chasey wrote:

afx237vi wrote:

PTP has Goss on 34 and Cav on 26. But that could be people hedging their bets... Goss is likely to finish in the top 8, whereas Cav will either finish 1st or 181st.

Most bookies had Cav near a 1-1 pay out, with Goss at roughly 3-1.

Mark Cavendish (5/8), Matthew Goss (13/18) for each way.

So either the punters are all going for Cav, or, more likely, Cav's a better shout.

Bookies aren't going to make money by giving good odds on Cav.

I reckon he needs a couple of days 'rest' before he wins again - he's a banker for stage 11

afx237vi

Rick Chasey wrote:

afx237vi wrote:

PTP has Goss on 34 and Cav on 26. But that could be people hedging their bets... Goss is likely to finish in the top 8, whereas Cav will either finish 1st or 181st.

Most bookies had Cav near a 1-1 pay out, with Goss at roughly 3-1.

Mark Cavendish (5/8), Matthew Goss (13/18) for each way.

So either the punters are all going for Cav, or, more likely, Cav's a better shout.

Basically the bet is not "will Cav win" but "will Cav make it over the hills".

ilm_zero7

excitement. a what happens next moment as Ryder Hesjedal takes off his long sleeved pink rain jersey and gets one of the arms gets caught in his spokes.

afx237vi

Last time the Giro finished here, no bunch sprint: http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/road/200 ... ts/giro054

snoopsmydogg

ILM Zero7 wrote:

excitement. a what happens next moment as Ryder Hesjedal takes off his long sleeved pink rain jersey and gets one of the arms gets caught in Jack Bauers spokes.

fixed it for you

ilm_zero7

good use of the team car slipstream by Colnago

TheBigBean

afx237vi wrote:

PTP has Goss on 34 and Cav on 26. But that could be people hedging their bets... Goss is likely to finish in the top 8, whereas Cav will either finish 1st or 181st.

That was my thinking. Sometimes, I think the PTP points system is too high for second place. Picking the winning deserves more.

ilm_zero7

interesting that some reports are saying this is an uphill finish and tipping J Rod

rick_chasey

ILM Zero7 wrote:

interesting that some reports are saying this is an uphill finish and tipping J Rod

Only because they have money riding on Cav .

I keep an eye on the odds quite a lot nowadays and it's rare the bookies get it way out. Whoever they tip is near the front, save for mechanicals or crashes.

ilm_zero7

Sky pushing the pace, I hope they still have the guts for a lead out train

Pross

Rises 20m from 2km to 500m from the finish and than pan flat in the last 500m according to the Giro website. I think even Cav can cope with that!

peterst6906

afx237vi wrote:

Basically the bet is not "will Cav win" but "will Cav make it over the hills".

Those aren't really big hills though. Rising a couple of hundred metres over about 10 or so kilometres with a little bit of shorter inclines and declines.

Cavendish can easily handle those in comparison to some other stages he's won in the past.

ilm_zero7

the hammer has gone down - that gap falls to under one minute now and 34km to go

ilm_zero7

gutsy by Keizer, as he goes alone, but one man cant hold of the peloton over another 27 Km of reasonably flat roads surely?