Giro Stage 8 ITT - Spoiler thread
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Think the pressure will all be on Nibs now. He needs to prove he can climb better then Wiggins in some real slug fests.
I dont think Sky have the team to do what they did on the Tour with. Uran and Heneo are not Frome and Porte.
Think alot more twists and turns are gonna play out on this race. I know alot of people seem to want to run Wiggins down. But he does come into the race with the best proven climbing of late. when the selections are make with 10km to go on a mountain top finish we may see some surprises.
Still think Wiggins is in a much better position then people are giving him credit for. Evans will crack in the long climbs. Just will be interesting to see how Nibs rises to defend. He has been critical of how Wiggins has ridden the Tour/ Cant wait!0 -
All day it's been the Bradley Wiggins show ... apart from where it mattered on the 54kms of tarmac ...
He was lucky the parcours and lack of competition handed him the Tour last year ... His previous best effort was the Tour's ugly step sister, la Vuelta, and he got done over by a middling course and even more middling field (including a team mate) ...
He won't finish on the podium in the Giro, his only chance was to bag a few seconds here and there first week and monster today's TT, he made an arse of that all on his own ...
He's a good cyclist ... but like all Olympians, not a champion ...0 -
Remember the 2000 Giro, Casagrande looked invincible when he took pink after the first week yet eventually he tired and cracked on the last mountain stage (a TT actually), losing the jersey.RichN95 wrote:
Many Giros have been won by not cracking rather than attacking. With five MTFs and a mountain TT still to come (half of them two weeks away), this may be the case again.No tA Doctor wrote:It's going to be interesting. Look forward to seeing what Wiggins can do if he cant just ride defensively.0 -
Nibali doesnt need to keep the jersey. He can always take it back. Remember last year's jersey ding dong and how exciting that was? You can see it well here. Also note that Uran and Henao are there and see how Henao crumbled. I suspect this year he will be a lot better.
Contador is the Greatest0 -
Nasty sweat patches on Wiggins. It's normal to sweat for sure but those kits are some of the few that show it so badly.
Everything about this photo is superb:
Contador is the Greatest0 -
Contador is the Greatest0 -
Frenchie now that last one of AD is a picPain hurts much less if its topped off with beating your mates to top of a climb.0
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Yeah I like the angle.
Contador is the Greatest0 -
Wiggins and Dowsett need to swap helmets. Those Kask jobs aren't very aero unless, possibly, you ride with your head down. It doesn't look great with Wiggins kit either.0
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inseine wrote:Wiggins and Dowsett need to swap helmets. Those Kask jobs aren't very aero unless, possibly, you ride with your head down. It doesn't look great with Wiggins kit either.
Not sure about this. As shown in pic further up the smurf is like a sail with your head down. For a mixed terrain TT I suspect the kask is more aero.0 -
Drawing conclusions on form to climb multiple big mountains later this Giro based on some split times on a short climb at the end of a 50km TT is pointless.Contador is the Greatest0
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Some good person has done this great document with all the split times. Heavyweight.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc ... hTUE#gid=0
Good to see youngsters Aru and Majka performing well at the end of a long TT. Bodes well.
Even on Int1-Int2, Wiggins didn't put in that much time. Kangert hauling on that part.Contador is the Greatest0 -
I seem to recall a Dowsett interview where he said the team were a bit taken aback when he requested a 2nd TT bike to take home for training. I wonder if he got one and how the team now views that request with hindsight?
On the aero helmet thing. It's been covered by Boardman several times. The long tails are best when facing any oncoming wind but any other angle of wind and they begin to create drag. I always thought this was pretty obvious.0 -
frenchfighter wrote:Some good person has done this great document with all the split times. Heavyweight.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc ... hTUE#gid=0
Good to see youngsters Aru and Majka performing well at the end of a long TT. Bodes well.
Even on Int1-Int2, Wiggins didn't put in that much time.
Interesting numbers.
So between Split 1 and 2 Nibali lost a minute to Wiggins. Which is on for losing 3 mins over a similar length flat/non-technical course.
I think this year's route is tailor made for a Nibs win in the same way the 2012 Tour parcours was perfect for Wiggins.0 -
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Not sure about this. As shown in pic further up the smurf is like a sail with your head down. For a mixed terrain TT I suspect the kask is more aero.On the aero helmet thing. It's been covered by Boardman several times. The long tails are best when facing any oncoming wind but any other angle of wind and they begin to create drag. I always thought this was pretty obvious.
In either case (head up with Kask, or head down with long tail helmet) there is more frontal area than if necessary so more drag. Apparently the Kask isn't very aero, mixed conditions or not, but yes different helmets work differently for different riders.0 -
I wonder if anyone felt they wore the right or wrong helmet yesterday.morstar wrote:On the aero helmet thing. It's been covered by Boardman several times. The long tails are best when facing any oncoming wind but any other angle of wind and they begin to create drag. I always thought this was pretty obvious.
Someone there said that those who started before about 14.00-14.30 had a slight tailwind, which later disappeared.0 -
Forgive me if I have got this totally ar$e about face. Is the shortened tail on the Kask the same principle as a Kammtail where it mimicks the longer tail of a helmet like dowsetts but without the additional material required?Mad_Malx wrote:inseine wrote:Wiggins and Dowsett need to swap helmets. Those Kask jobs aren't very aero unless, possibly, you ride with your head down. It doesn't look great with Wiggins kit either.
Not sure about this. As shown in pic further up the smurf is like a sail with your head down. For a mixed terrain TT I suspect the kask is more aero.0 -
Wiggins the great white dud. LMFAO when he got a flat during the time trial.0
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What a great contribution to the forum, did you sign up just for that? :-)0
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ozroadie wrote:Wiggins the great white dud. LMFAO when he got a flat during the time trial.
Cadel? Is that you?0 -
Dowsett doesn't appear to have the lowest time trial position out there. For a specialist he seems very high. It could just be the contrast with Wiggins though who just looks perfect on a time trial bike.0
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I wonder what Sky's expectations were of the TT before the race started.
In retrospect the forum idea that Wiggins was going to put 3 or 4 minutes into his rivals over that course was misplaced.“New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!0 -
The opinion always seems to have been Wiggins opted for the Giro for the additional TT kilometres but even before the race started he was talking about the extra climbing training he has been doing for the steeper slopes so maybe they didn't expect to gain that much time and with the bonus seconds on mountain stages knew that any time gain was unlikely to be sufficient? That said, they were probably expecting him to be in the lead as no-one would have expected to lose 1 minute 30 the day before.0
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Pross wrote:The opinion always seems to have been Wiggins opted for the Giro for the additional TT kilometres but even before the race started he was talking about the extra climbing training he has been doing for the steeper slopes so maybe they didn't expect to gain that much time and with the bonus seconds on mountain stages knew that any time gain was unlikely to be sufficient? That said, they were probably expecting him to be in the lead as no-one would have expected to lose 1 minute 30 the day before.
Plus I'm sure Nibali's performance came as a surprise0 -
Indeed. Then again without the puncture he'd have taken another 25 secs from the field and won the stage, and if he hadn't forgotten to ride downhill last week he'd have been worth another 30-40 secs as well.TailWindHome wrote:I wonder what Sky's expectations were of the TT before the race started.
In retrospect the forum idea that Wiggins was going to put 3 or 4 minutes into his rivals over that course was misplaced.You only need two tools: WD40 and Duck Tape.
If it doesn't move and should, use the WD40.
If it shouldn't move and does, use the tape.0 -
Contador is the Greatest0 -
I'm confused. Been skimming through Telegraph website and read this from BW:
“My real disappointment was the time-trial,” Wiggins said. “I wanted to win and pick up time but we’ve been surprised by the beginning of this Giro and you have to remember I was delayed by a fall and a puncture... but that’s racing.”
Is he saying he did fall in the TT?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/others ... t-day.html0 -
I was out there for the time trial in Gabicce Mare. The whole Sky team seemed very tense, even the night before. I tried to get a look at the bike Wiggins crashed on the stage before, but compared to the other teams the Sky mechanics were not allowing anyone to even get close.
I was the chap on one of the first corners with the cross of St. George, unveiled as Brad went past0
