Giro 16 Stage 14 ***Spoilers***

ugo.santalucia

Looks like 5 K of climbing but nothing of interest for the GC... in terms of Nibali V Valverde, unless one of them has the trotts... better luck in the MTT tomorrow. The Giau is a mighty climb, shame is too far from the finish

So far a very disappointing Giro in terms of GC. Two weeks in and the top two are a couple of chippers... very disappointing the organisers didn't manage to fit a decent stage and despite keeping it easy, all the sprinters have already left... wouldn't have been better to make it hard from day 1 (or say day 5)?

Flâneur

Background TV for my today as I'm in the kitchen prepping food for a friends birthday later, could be best

Agreed, it would have been nice to see a few more cages rattled and some sweat blood and tears. Commercial reasons or just poor planning?

However it has been good to see a few people in pink and watch them ride in it (IMO).

ugo.santalucia

I think it's just poor planning. The spring classics show that racking up 4-5 K of climbing doesn't sort the peloton, unless the climbing is the right type in the right place. A lot of climbing today, but only the Giau has the potential to hurt in terms of minutes... I can't see Nibali attacking on the Giau... I can't see Valverde attacking at any point in the Giro

mechanism

Q: Where are we Lionel?
A: The Dolomites

alanp23

Mechanism wrote:

Q: Where are we Lionel?
A: The Dolomites

It's Maratona day!

Been looking forward to this ever since the route was published.

Don't underestimate the little nasty ramp just before the finish.

bluemoon17

Can't see any major shake ups today. Will hopefully be a decent fight for the stage at least.

ridgerider

Bluemoon17 wrote:

Can't see any major shake ups today. Will hopefully be a decent fight for the stage at least.

Are we all missing the 'proper' racing you got in the good ol' days of EPO...?

ridgerider

And by that, I mean the current template for winning a GT is not the 100 mile breakaway on a stage like today, but just avoiding having a bad day...

bobmcstuff

I've found it fairly interesting to follow so far despite the lack of GC action. I think the fact the limited range of top GC contenders here is to blame for that - last year the giro was for me the best GT.

Agree that watching Dumoulin and Ettix riding in the pink and trying hard to keep it (particularly Brambilla riding for Jungels) was good to watch.

bobmcstuff

I also think/hope we will see some attacks (maybe not today) from guys like Chaves and Kruijswijk who have been solidly climbing with Nibali and Valverde so far.

blazing_saddles

The final few kms with slightly better graphics:-


The race is approaching the Pordoi.
The breakaway makes it looks as if the peloton has gone up the road and left the grupetto to chase!

Axel Domont, Hugo Houle (Ag2r La Mondiale), Andrey Zeits (Astana), Nicola Boem, Francesco Manuel Bongiorno, Sonny Colbrelli (Bardiani - CSF), Darwin Atapuma (BMC Racing), Moreno Moser, Nathan Brown (Cannondale), Kanstantsin Siutsou (Dimension Data), David De La Cruz, Matteo Trentin (Etixx-QuickStep), Sergey Firsanov (Gazprom-RusVelo), Stefan Denifl (IAM Cycling), Diego Ulissi, Valerio Conti, Sacha Modolo, Manuele Mori (Lampre-Merida), Tim Wellens, Pim Ligthart, Maxime Monfort (Lot Soudal), Carlos Betancu, José Herrada (Movistar), Damiano Cunego, Giacomo Berlato (NIPPO-Vini Fantini), Ruben Plaza (Orica GreenEDGE), Georg Preidler (Giant-Alpecin), Egor Silin, Rein Taaramae (Katusha), Twan Castelijns, Primoz Roglic (Lotto NL-Jumbo), Christian Knees, Nicolas Roche (Sky), Laurent Didier (Trek-Segafredo), Matteo Busato, Daniel Martinez (Wilier-Southeast).

They have around 4'-20"

mcstumpy

I think they've got it right, saving the decisive stages for the final week but still offering a few skirmish points along the way. Better than recent TdFs where an early high mountain finish has all but ended the GC battle.

It's really hard to call, Kruiswijk looks strong though.

rick_chasey

Punchy break.

DeVlaeminck

I think it's been OK so far and it's nicely poised - unfortunate Landa has gone home but that's nothing to do with the route. I quite like a parcours where the rider has to take the initiative to make a difference rather than just a succession of mountain top finishes where the one with the best power to weight can make it count without taking a risk tactical or otherwise.

Sun Dodger

Is it just me, or does the break look exactly the same as yesterday...?

ugo.santalucia

Yes, the final Km, where we can look forward to a 10 seconds gap... that's excitement... :-)

Nibali yesterday was so pleased with himself on the Gazzetta for taking 4 seconds time bonus... miss the good ole days of Chiappucci breaking away for the all day...

KnightOfTheLongTights

Have ridden this loop from Allegehe - the Giau is a right swine, there'll be some selection there.

dav1d1

David Lopez out front on his own.

bobmcstuff

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Yes, the final Km, where we can look forward to a 10 seconds gap... that's excitement... :-)

Nibali yesterday was so pleased with himself on the Gazzetta for taking 4 seconds time bonus... miss the good ole days of Chiappucci breaking away for the all day...

When I were a lad...

I think that's more to do with the riders being a lot closer together in terms of ability rather than anything to do with course design.

blazing_saddles

I've obviously been watching a different race.
To me, the RCS have given us a route more typical of a TDF than a Giro.
So what we are getting is a typical TDF, only well watered down.

At least these here Dolomites have seldom looked better.

bobmcstuff

Blazing Saddles wrote:

I've obviously been watching a different race.
To me, the RCS have given us a route more typical of a TDF than a Giro.
So what we are getting is a typical TDF, only well watered down.

At least these here Dolomites have seldom looked better.

I don't think anyone's really disagreeing, just saying it's still been reasonably entertaining.

ben@31

Stunning scenery. I'd love to cycle there one day.

bobmcstuff

Another one bites the dust - Hesjedal abandon

ben@31

Why are so many top riders abandoning the race? Is it fatigue, saddle sores, struggling in the mountains or are so far out of contention they're saving themselves for a later event ?

mechanism

ben@31 wrote:

Why are so many top riders abandoning the race? Is it fatigue, saddle sores, struggling in the mountains or are so far out of contention they're saving themselves for a later event ?

Yes. Plus crashes and illness.

bobmcstuff

Kittel obviously abandoned for France.

Landa had the sh!ts

Dumoulin saddle sores

Hesjedal wasn't looking too bad and was only at 4'50" or so, not sure why he's dropped out yet.

RichN95.

bobmcstuff wrote:

Hesjedal wasn't looking too bad and was only at 4'50" or so, not sure why he's dropped out yet.

A brown alert. Same as Landa.

phreak

The racing is so so, but it's great to see the Dolomites. Roads I've ridden many times, and the best place in the world to ride imo. Looking forward to seeing them zip up the Giau.

ddraver

poor Amador dropped

mechanism

Gap to the break has dopped from 8 to 5 mins since Astana took up the pace.

Mad_Malx

That Is spectacular scenery. Would love to do that climb.