Giro Pre Race Chat

iainf72

I'm usually super excited for the Giro, but this year I'm really in meh mode.

Hopefully when it starts my mood will change. But it had the danger of being the Bertie procession which we've seen in the Giro before, even though Scarponi won.

rick_chasey

iainf72 wrote:

I'm usually super excited for the Giro, but this year I'm really in meh mode.

Hopefully when it starts my mood will change. But it had the danger of being the Bertie procession which we've seen in the Giro before, even though Scarponi won.

Usually takes a few stages to get me excited.

RichN95.

I'll be in Italy for the final week and in Milan to watch the last stage.

takethehighroad

Uran is almost certain to win the long TT

hammerite

Above The Cows wrote:

MY MAN Richie's going to be cleaning up those Toblerone's with the help of my other man Kiry.

Or he isn't, but who cares, I can't wait!

And he can see for himself on stage 19 that the mountain on the side of a Toblerone box doesn't look like that on the Italian side.

jam1e

I love the way Richie's "bad days" have become a cast-iron internet truth based solely on... well, practically nothing.

TDF 2014 - pneumonia following an illness filled season.
TDF 2013 - working as key domestique on the day it all kicks off, pegs a highly motivated Movistar led group at 2 minutes for god knows how long despite them riding deliberately to drop him. The same stage broke Kiriyenka (My Man) yet Porte (also MM to be fair) was back domestiquing the next day.

I don't think Porte will win, I expect him to get a podium though with dirty bertie getting the victory. However I hope he can put the "off-day" nonsense to bed, although having said that I imagine a day which doesn't go quite according to plan will be labelled his off-day and the legend will continue.

ddraver

I agree with iain really. I'm struggling to see it being much more than a circle jerk for the Bertie fanbois. With the combination of Sky and Saxo riding to shut the important stages down I don't see where much of the excitement is going to come from. If Mr Henderson is right then I suppose Aru could light some fireworks but if he has really been ill then I don't see how his form will be up to much...

Hope I'm wrong

above_the_cows

jam1e wrote:

I love the way Richie's "bad days" have become a cast-iron internet truth based solely on... well, practically nothing.

Its like any good cycling myth.

jam1e wrote:

Kiriyenka (My Man) yet Porte (also MM to be fair)

Good taste!

hammerite

ddraver wrote:

I agree with iain really. I'm struggling to see it being much more than a circle jerk for the Bertie fanbois. With the combination of Sky and Saxo riding to shut the important stages down I don't see where much of the excitement is going to come from. If Mr Henderson is right then I suppose Aru could light some fireworks but if he has really been ill then I don't see how his form will be up to much...

Hope I'm wrong

There is the excitement of those really wet days that look like the Italians have been coating their roads in soap.

Paul 8v

Rick Chasey wrote:

Anyone studied the number of roundabouts in last 30km of stages???

Will have a big impact on attrition rate .

A certain Eurosport commentator has a real 'thing' for roundabouts, can't remember which one but he would love that!

I will be at Stage 6, Montecatini Terme - Castiglione Della Pescaia and Stage 7 Grosseto - Fiuggi

takethehighroad

Has there been a FOCUS on ROUNDABOUTS this year, or have they PINCHED more ideas from the Tour?

talius

I quite like how the route is a v long, backwards, Milan San Remo.

I know it's kind of after the event, but will be interesting to see how Boonen goes on the stages which suit him, and would he have been any good in the classics without injury. Anyway, will be good to see him in the hunt for some stages as not sure there are any real world class sprinters in the field and some stages might suit.

Difficult to see beyond Bertie for the win, though my preference would be Pozzo. Porte does look on super form, but not sure his recent results in PN and Trentino are quite as good as they look, given the fields. And Bertie has been away training in the mountains for a long time...

mididoctors

Talius wrote:

I quite like how the route is a v long, backwards, Milan San Remo.

thomthom

jam1e wrote:

I love the way Richie's "bad days" have become a cast-iron internet truth based solely on... well, practically nothing.

It's a bit like this thing about Froome being bad at descending. Which he by no means is.

RichN95.

The GC comes down to Excellent form & patchy pedigree v Patchy form & excellent pedigree. (With near anagrams Aru & Uran added for flavour)

No_Ta_Doctor

RichN95 wrote:

The GC comes down to Excellent form & patchy pedigree v Patchy form & excellent pedigree. (With near anagrams Aru & Uran added for flavour)

That about nails it.

Struggling to get it up for this one. Hope Porte earns his stripes though.

Think there are just too many teams that don't even look like they're thinking of a podium chance though. Have BMC even brought a GC rider? And what/who are Movistar bringing to the party?

frenchfighter

iainf72 wrote:

I'm usually super excited for the Giro, but this year I'm really in meh mode.

Hopefully when it starts my mood will change. But it had the danger of being the Bertie procession which we've seen in the Giro before, even though Scarponi won.

Well there are more contenders then there were in 2011 which was an amazing race.

The Giro is always a great watch. Proper race. And any race with Contador is 100% bound to have something for the fans.

And not sure what you are on about Scarponi. Maybe you mean he got beat by 6mins but got given the win retrospectively following a positive test (questionable) for Contador in another year then told people (like Andy) that his name is in the books but he knows he didn't win it.

above_the_cows

ThomThom wrote:

jam1e wrote:

I love the way Richie's "bad days" have become a cast-iron internet truth based solely on... well, practically nothing.

It's a bit like this thing about Froome being bad at descending. Which he by no means is.

Like the one time you're photographed eating a bacon sandwich and then that's all anyone ever talks about.

Paul 8v wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Anyone studied the number of roundabouts in last 30km of stages???

Will have a big impact on attrition rate .

A certain Eurosport commentator has a real 'thing' for roundabouts, can't remember which one but he would love that!

It's Carlton. How could it be anyone else? Will forum favourite Stefano be fronting the Eurosport coverage? If so shall we take bets on the colour of his trousers?

frenchfighter

jam1e wrote:

I love the way Richie's "bad days" have become a cast-iron internet truth based solely on... well, practically nothing.

Practically nothing?
Have a look at his GT placings over his career and then let me know.
He has 0 precedent for performing well over three weeks. So if he does, it will be a HUGE jump for him.

RichN95.

frenchfighter wrote:

jam1e wrote:

I love the way Richie's "bad days" have become a cast-iron internet truth based solely on... well, practically nothing.

Practically nothing?
Have a look at his GT placings over his career and then let me know.
He has 0 precedent for performing well over three weeks. So if he does, it will be a HUGE jump for him.

He may well have been on the podium of the 2013 Tour if it hadn't been for that one stage where he got caught on the wrong side of an early split. And that was down to positioning rather than his legs (his chase was actually very impressive).

adr82

frenchfighter wrote:

jam1e wrote:

I love the way Richie's "bad days" have become a cast-iron internet truth based solely on... well, practically nothing.

Practically nothing?
Have a look at his GT placings over his career and then let me know.
He has 0 precedent for performing well over three weeks. So if he does, it will be a HUGE jump for him.

Yes, but how many of those GT placings were the result of him going into the race as unquestioned team leader? Riding a GT as a domestique isn't generally the way to get yourself into the top 10, with some occasional exceptions.

frenchfighter

RichN95 wrote:

He may well...

Seriously?
I may well have won the Tour more times than Contador if I had chosen to race rather than trade.
He didn't, so considering what if's is pointless.
A man with views such as yours should be firmly in line.

frenchfighter

adr82 wrote:

Yes, but how many of those GT placings were the result of him going into the race as unquestioned team leader? Riding a GT as a domestique isn't generally the way to get yourself into the top 10, with some occasional exceptions.

Who knows. And who knows if he could of placed highly if he went balls out for the win. Or whether he should have placed a lot higher if he even could have even if he was riding to help Froome (lots of other riders manage to place top ten despite not being team leader). He is also not riding for Froome in a way that some other rider does - ie/. he is not flogging himself then stepping off the gas and rolling in.

Fact is he hasn't shown anything that could suggest he could walk away with a three week Tour.

frenchfighter

Decent preview, if only for a few cracking photos:
http://cyclingtips.com.au/2015/05/2015- ... a-preview/

frenchfighter

Odds:
http://www.oddschecker.com/cycling/giro-ditalia/winner

Zakarin is racing as well.

frenchfighter

Hansen is racing again, making this his 11th if he finishes.

Nice video on him here:
https://youtu.be/Ju_oHijGZhM

Top bloke.

milton50

Kind of surprised at the apathy towards the race. At the start of the year it looked like it was going to be a procession for Contador but not now. And the charm of the Giro is the unpredictability of it.

jam1e

frenchfighter wrote:

jam1e wrote:

I love the way Richie's "bad days" have become a cast-iron internet truth based solely on... well, practically nothing.

Practically nothing?
Have a look at his GT placings over his career and then let me know.
He has 0 precedent for performing well over three weeks. So if he does, it will be a HUGE jump for him.

You obviously know your point about GT placings is bobbins, this Giro is the first GT where he'll be the confirmed leader going into the race and expected to perform on every stage. He more than performed on the TDF 2013 stage and given the illness which ruined his TDF 2013 seemed to be present throughout most of the season it seems disingenuous to describe it as a "bad day".

But you know all that.

adr82

frenchfighter wrote:

adr82 wrote:

Yes, but how many of those GT placings were the result of him going into the race as unquestioned team leader? Riding a GT as a domestique isn't generally the way to get yourself into the top 10, with some occasional exceptions.

Who knows. And who knows if he could have placed highly if he went balls out for the win. Or whether he should have placed a lot higher if he even could have even if he was riding to help Froome (lots of other riders manage to place top ten despite not being team leader). He is also not riding for Froome in a way that some other rider does - ie/. he is not flogging himself then stepping off the gas and rolling in.

Fact is he hasn't shown anything that could suggest he could walk away with a three week Tour.

This is exactly the point: you should be judging him on his 3 week performance after this Giro, not before he's actually had a chance to show what he can do!

frenchfighter

Whatever folks I am not arguing this further as my opinion on the matter is quite clear. Just get behind your tiny, 0% body fat Aussie and place a bet.