2015 Giro Stage 7 **Spoilers**

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Comments

  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,163
    pinarello001 wrote:
    260K - What's wrong with that? In years gone by, riders spent long long hours in the saddle. Maybe the TdF needs a few really long stages so that it calms down a little. Too many crashes in the TdF, often making it a lottery.
    It was boring though, wasn't it? Earlier in the week we had a couple of cracking stages largely because they were short.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • thomthom
    thomthom Posts: 3,574
    Also, has it even been that of a crash-crazy first week? Bar the odd one or two freak crashes, an early TTT usually eases things down a bit. Especially overexcited sprinters with more than stage win as an agenda.

    For me, we could do without a 260km stage. It's boring for everyone. Riders and us..
  • ben@31
    ben@31 Posts: 2,327
    Slim Boy Fat wrote:
    inseine wrote:
    Gilbert moaning about the stage length. 8.12 in the saddle, his second longest race ever.
    Just about to post the same.

    PHILIPPE GILBERT ‏@PhilippeGilbert 35m35 minutes ago
    Today was my second longest race in my career after a stage in the giro in 2009 also. 8h12! Very stupid.

    I know of a guy doing the RAAM ( Race Across America ). 3000 miles from west coast to east coast.

    It has no stages. It's up to the participants when they stop and for how long? The leaders will cycle through the night and go through sleep deprevation. I think the event record for the shortest elapsed time is 7 days 15 hours 56 minutes.
    "The Prince of Wales is now the King of France" - Calton Kirby
  • FJS
    FJS Posts: 4,820
    RichN95 wrote:
    pinarello001 wrote:
    260K - What's wrong with that? In years gone by, riders spent long long hours in the saddle. Maybe the TdF needs a few really long stages so that it calms down a little. Too many crashes in the TdF, often making it a lottery.
    It was boring though, wasn't it? Earlier in the week we had a couple of cracking stages largely because they were short.
    Was it boring because it was long though? The spectacular 2010 stage to L Aquila that turned the gc upside down was 260 km.
    Yesterday's stage was largely completely flat at the end of a hectic week. It would have been boring if it would have been 150 km
    The stage Greipel won on Thursday was only 180 km and utterly boring.

    I think there's a place for 260 km stages in grand tours
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,397
    ben@31 wrote:
    Slim Boy Fat wrote:
    inseine wrote:
    Gilbert moaning about the stage length. 8.12 in the saddle, his second longest race ever.
    Just about to post the same.

    PHILIPPE GILBERT ‏@PhilippeGilbert 35m35 minutes ago
    Today was my second longest race in my career after a stage in the giro in 2009 also. 8h12! Very stupid.

    I know of a guy doing the RAAM ( Race Across America ). 3000 miles from west coast to east coast.

    It has no stages. It's up to the participants when they stop and for how long? The leaders will cycle through the night and go through sleep deprevation. I think the event record for the shortest elapsed time is 7 days 15 hours 56 minutes.

    Way to miss the point there Ben...
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • frenchfighter
    frenchfighter Posts: 30,642
    Macaloon wrote:
    Nice to see the sanctimonious bs making a comeback. It's been a while. Is it any wonder the man is prone to exaggeration when the King of Spain wades in on a few picigrams of clen? Can you imagine the tedium of that stage without the joint drama?

    Exactly.

    Got to wonder at people saying he is lying because of the way he is out of the saddle (which his DS said he did a lot at the end to deliberately test how it felt ahead of when he needs to dance to the win).

    Contador, what a champion.
    Contador is the Greatest
  • pinno
    pinno Posts: 51,438
    Milan San Remo - 298km. Boring as heck. The most boring Classic in the calender. The Cipressa is too far from the finish and the Poggio is too near/too short the end to have any real impact. I only ever 'tune in' for the last 15k. However, no one seems to moan about it - I am surprised at Gilbert, perhaps it was because he had an off this year in the M - SR.

    If there was a viscous head/crosswind in yesterdays stage, it would have been interesting. It did throw up an unlikely winner and you have to hand it to the guy who wins a stage that long. Saxo Tinkoff controlled the proceedings brilliantly and kept AC safe. Therein lies the reason people maybe thought it boring.
    The point FJS was making is that if amateurs can do the distance, then pro's should be able to. It was a leg sapping stage which will have an impact over the next two weeks.
    I think the short stages are too short, it's professional racing after all that should test a riders/team's tactical, mental and endurance skills.
    seanoconn - gruagach craic!
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,720
    I've got no problem with one or two longer stages to change the dynamic a bit. Pointing out it's shorter than Milan - San Remo is pointless though, this is one stage of a 3 week race not a one off, single day effort. Seriously slow stage though on a stage that, whilst a bit lumpy, wasn't overly hilly so moaning about the length based on time in the saddle is disingenuous.

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