Giro Stage 7 - Spoiler Thread

thomthom

Look at this little beauty. Could be a tough day for Wiggins if Hesjedal is in the same mood as on that previous stage. A 'mini LBL' if you like.

I WILL hurt a canary if we don't get proper action throughout this stage. No swans were hurt last time as I got what I demanded btw.

tailwindhome

Is it normal for the KOM points only to be awarded in the televised section of the day?

davep1

It's a beautiful part of the country...I've done some riding around Guardiagrele and Buccianico. Wish I was there today!

patchy

I've got an old saw that looks like that. Surely a day for a breakaway to succeed? Possible that the other GC favourites - esp Nibali, Evans - might try and nick some seconds?

inseine

Is it normal for the KOM points only to be awarded in the televised section of the day?

..?

The TVs are the intermediate sprints, if that's what you mean.

mididoctors

depends on katusha having the will and legs to defend the jersey for one more day

hence why they can not let visconti down the road for the mountain points he is at 5:12 which is a tad close...well maybe

I think the peloton will find it hard to control the makeup of the break.

whats the weather like?

inkyfingers

Rain is forecast, but warm temperatures and not much wind.

Very hard stage to call, as much as i'd like to see one of the big favourites try and shake it up I don't think any of them will risk dulling their legs ahead of tomorrow.

Think we'll see a none GC break survive or perhaps a late attack from a chancer like Di Luca, who as much as I dislike him, clearly has some decent legs.

tailwindhome

inseine wrote:

Is it normal for the KOM points only to be awarded in the televised section of the day?

..?

The TVs are the intermediate sprints, if that's what you mean.

Sorry. Let me rephrase that.

Why would there be no points for the climbs at 13.5k, 51.5k and 92.9k?

Is it because the TV coverage won't have started yet?

inkyfingers

TailWindHome wrote:

inseine wrote:

Is it normal for the KOM points only to be awarded in the televised section of the day?

..?

The TVs are the intermediate sprints, if that's what you mean.

Sorry. Let me rephrase that.

Why would there be no points for the climbs at 13.5k, 51.5k and 92.9k?

Is it because the TV coverage won't have started yet?

Sometimes the categorisation of climbs is quite arbitrary, particularly with smaller climbs. I imagine they may have decided to backload the stage a bit to try and encourage action when the TV cameras are on and also to make sure that one relatively mundane stage didn't have too much of an effect on the KotM competition.

jibberjim

TailWindHome wrote:

Why would there be no points for the climbs at 13.5k, 51.5k and 92.9k?

Is it because the TV coverage won't have started yet?

Because you can't put dozens of categorized climbs on a stage as it means those who get in the break take a disproportionate number of points in the overall competition compared to the effort they made.

Hence they only have some climbs and the ones at the end are more useful.

Richmond Racer

So what do peeps think about how today will play out? GC contenders keeping as fresh as possible for tomorrow's monster TT? Or any one or all of Nibali/Hesjedal/Evans having a pop?

tailwindhome

Richmond Racer wrote:

So what do peeps think about how today will play out? GC contenders keeping as fresh as possible for tomorrow's monster TT? Or any one or all of Nibali/Hesjedal/Evans having a pop?

I fear that on a day when anything could happen, nothing will happen.

That said I've gone for Nibs for PTP.

inkyfingers

Richmond Racer wrote:

So what do peeps think about how today will play out? GC contenders keeping as fresh as possible for tomorrow's monster TT? Or any one or all of Nibali/Hesjedal/Evans having a pop?

As I said above, unless Wiggins (or one of the others) shows some weakness (i.e. misses a split) then I can't see any of the big guns making any big efforts today.

The TT tomorrow is so important to the race. At the moment all the big favourites are within a minute of each other on GC, tomorrow the spread could be as much as 4-5 minutes if some of them have a bad day. 55km is a long TT by modern standards and it's going to be a very unpleasant day for the non-specialists. I am really hoping that Wiggins absolutely nails it, as it will force the others to really go on the offensive in the second half of the race, rather than just launching late attacks and fighting over time bonuses.

dish_dash

Surely today's a day for the breakaway/smaller teams? Why bust a gut, unless they plan to knacker Wiggo out...

ddraver

Unless Astana/Garmin think that the bes chance they might have of derailing the Sky Train is on "classics" stages

Richmond Racer

A good few riders from the area too, who'd love to put on a good show in front of friends and family...

Cataldo (but been poorly, besides he'll be guiding Wiggins on his home roads), Di Luca, Rubiano...

Richmond Racer

ddraver wrote:

Unless Astana/Garmin think that the bes chance they might have of derailing the Sky Train is on "classics" stages

Its not about a train today. No one team's going to be able to control this stage

BelgianBeerGeek

Yep, I also reckon a breakaway is on the cards. GC riders to come in at roughly the same time to keep it together at the top. If anyone tried to put time in on Wiggo before tomorrow it would be brought back, so the top GC will only knacker themselves out.

thomthom

Wiggins sure needs to improve his positioning. That's what it's all about today.

frenchfighter

dish_dash wrote:

Surely today's a day for the breakaway/smaller teams? Why bust a gut, unless they plan to knacker Wiggo out...

This is the main point.

frenchfighter

Leigh Howard @leighhoward1

Well I wanted to wait for official results, but X-ray confirms fractured collarbone and unfortunately won't start stage 7.

inkyfingers

frenchfighter wrote:

dish_dash wrote:

Surely today's a day for the breakaway/smaller teams? Why bust a gut, unless they plan to knacker Wiggo out...

This is the main point.

The only way this can work is if Wiggins misses a move or they can isolate him from his team mates, otherwise they'll just knacker themselves out as well.

frenchfighter

Yeah possible. People recover differently than others and they could use B riders. They have Heano who could cover these if they wanted (and who is riding with ridiculous ease).

thomthom

They really should have swopped yesterday's stage with the one today.

frenchfighter

Nice grpahic from last year`s Giro I have come across. Would enjoy seeing more of these.


http://25.media.tumblr.com/97f2648e0c55 ... 1_1280.jpg

Macaloon

dish_dash wrote:

Surely today's a day for the breakaway/smaller teams? Why bust a gut, unless they plan to knacker Wiggo out...

Time bonuses might skew the risk reward: there's at least 30s on offer to the intrepid GC guy, especially if it's wet. Much better to pile the pressure on Wiggins rather than rely on minimizing TT losses. Short climbs mean there's a low risk of taking a packet. And Katusha have every reason to ride down all but the most obscure breakaways. Sky seem the only team with an overriding interest in letting a breakaway take it.
EDIT To confirm my canary is safely in the witness protection programme

Richmond Racer

Evans and Scarponi both a team mate down:

Klaas Lodewijck (BMC) didnt start today
Mattia Cattaneo (Lampre-Merida) crashed after 3km

Paolo Tiralongo's nursing a knee injury and now a fever. Phinney's struggling with hay fever.

That's it for now from Cycling Surgery

deejay

inkyfingers wrote:

The only way this can work is if Wiggins misses a move or they can isolate him from his team mates, otherwise they'll just knacker themselves out as well.

Well wiggo's had another mech breakdown just now. ? (13.10 CET)

knedlicky

Richmond Racer wrote:

So what do peeps think about how today will play out? GC contenders keeping as fresh as possible for tomorrow's monster TT? Or any one or all of Nibali/Hesjedal/Evans having a pop?

Could be a day for the ‘vice-captains’ who are already a bit back in the GC, the likes of Niemiec, Machado or Weening, or for teams eyeing a stage win rather than the GC, like Cannondale.
For the same reason, and because they’ve been fairly active anyway, any break will likely include someone from Vini Fantini.

Typically a break should also include someone from Euskatel and Ag2R, and I’d guess for this stage someone from Blanco too, as the profile should suit them.

If any of the main GC contenders join in, I’d guess it’ll be not before the last third of the stage and only those who may be no longer up to, or not interested in, coping with the high mountains - Evans and Sanchez?

Richmond Racer

deejay wrote:

inkyfingers wrote:

The only way this can work is if Wiggins misses a move or they can isolate him from his team mates, otherwise they'll just knacker themselves out as well.

Well wiggo's had another mech breakdown just now. ?

He's back in the bunch. Sky might want to take a few Wiggo spares on the car for the remaining stages...


Race update: group of six have 2'14" on the bunch:

Emanuele Sella (Androni Giacattoli), Ioannis Tamoridis (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Maarten Tjallingii (Blanco), Dominique Rollin (FdJ), Adam Hansen (Lotto Belisol) and Pim Ligthart (Vacansoleil-DCM).

frenchfighter

2:14 for Emanuele Sella (Androni Giacattoli), Ioannis Tamoridis (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Maarten Tjallingii (Blanco), Dominique Rollin (FdJ), Adam Hansen (Lotto Belisol) and Pim Ligthart (Vacansoleil-DCM)