Giro 16 Stage 14 ***Spoilers***

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Comments

  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,149
    The only thing prettier than the Dolomites today is my betting slip saying "GC: Kruijswijk Each Way 125/1"
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 21,812
    RichN95 wrote:
    The only thing prettier than the Dolomites today is my betting slip saying "GC: Kruijswijk Each Way 125/1"

    Ci_W_FuW0AAu1nS.jpg
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • adr82
    adr82 Posts: 4,002
    https://twitter.com/cyclinghubtv/status ... 8818621440
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,241
    Nibali taking the long way round, but bringing it home in the end
    left the forum March 2023
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,241
    Pross wrote:
    Ugo has been quiet since the first page.

    I was in the garage building myself a set of wheels... :oops: :D
    left the forum March 2023
  • onyourright
    onyourright Posts: 509
    Don’t worry, you didn’t miss a thing.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,241
    OnYourRight wrote:
    Don’t worry, you didn’t miss a thing.

    Not a lot by the look of it... Valverde imploding, which was a possibility, given he's not one for the steep climbs and he peaked a month ago for the classics.
    Nibali is short of one gear or two, but if he finds them, even just for a day, the Giro is over... the opposition is second tier
    left the forum March 2023
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,196
    Lol
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,584
    My man, the flying coathanger, in pink. Phwoar!
    _
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,196
    I don't really like saying my man but chaves was one of my picks.

    Shame they aren't doing proper backstage passes.
  • Mad_Malx
    Mad_Malx Posts: 5,002
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    My man, the flying coathanger, in pink. Phwoar!

    Was thinking today that he is one of the few riders identifiable from space (helicoper) by his shoulders alone, even without pink.
  • KnightOfTheLongTights
    KnightOfTheLongTights Posts: 1,415
    Pross wrote:
    KnightOfTheLongTights wrote:
    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.

    Typical TDF recently has been a procession for one dominant rider / team from about the halfway point?
    This is a closely fought unpredictable contest with a several riders in contention and the jersey changing hands regularly.
    Know which I'd rather watch.

    It's been a turd until today.
    Because some Big Time Charlie hasn't walked away with it yet?
    Makes sense...
  • mechanism
    mechanism Posts: 891
    I don't expect many to agree but for me this might have been the 2nd most exciting day of race watching so far this year.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,241
    Mechanism wrote:
    I don't expect many to agree but for me this might have been the 2nd most exciting day of race watching so far this year.

    After Paris-Roubaix, I hope...
    left the forum March 2023
  • mechanism
    mechanism Posts: 891
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    Mechanism wrote:
    I don't expect many to agree but for me this might have been the 2nd most exciting day of race watching so far this year.

    After Paris-Roubaix, I hope...

    Yup.
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,196
    Mechanism wrote:
    I don't expect many to agree but for me this might have been the 2nd most exciting day of race watching so far this year.
    Same here, P-R number 1 then this giro stage.
  • takethehighroad
    takethehighroad Posts: 6,641
    To be fair, what are the other options. I'm struggling to think of anything else that's up there
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,478
    KnightOfTheLongTights wrote:
    Pross wrote:
    KnightOfTheLongTights wrote:
    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.

    Typical TDF recently has been a procession for one dominant rider / team from about the halfway point?
    This is a closely fought unpredictable contest with a several riders in contention and the jersey changing hands regularly.
    Know which I'd rather watch.

    It's been a turd until today.
    Because some Big Time Charlie hasn't walked away with it yet?
    Makes sense...

    No, because no-one had bothered trying to race and it was the worst route I've seen at the Giro for as long as I can remember. Generally the Giro is a more exciting race to watch than the Tour but this one has been dire for the first 2 weeks (other than the 'Strade Bianchi' stage).
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,103
    TakeTheHighRoad wrote:
    To be fair, what are the other options. I'm struggling to think of anything else that's up there

    How quickly everyone's forgotten the Tour of Flanders.
  • pinno
    pinno Posts: 51,320
    Glad I have kept out of Pro Race for this year's Giro (so far)*.

    I must be amongst a handful of [quirky?] individuals who have enjoyed the Giro. Plenty of Pink Jersey wearers. A Dutchman out front. Valverde making a decent fist of it at the age of 36 - like him or not. The 'will Nibali recover enough and find his legs?' question still running. Can Kruijswijk hang on? Esteban Chaves doing well and looking like a good prospect for years to come. Fantastic scenery. Not too many bad crashes. Great ride so far by Jungles (only 24). Watching Amador descend is pure magic, even if he hasn't made many gains out of it...

    *A lot of that might be because I have to catch the highlights on Eurosport in the evening due to other commitments and 2 rugrats but that is bye the bye.
    seanoconn - gruagach craic!
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,196
    No, I've enjoyed it too :)

    People on here can be very negative.
  • KnightOfTheLongTights
    KnightOfTheLongTights Posts: 1,415
    bobmcstuff wrote:
    No, I've enjoyed it too :)

    People on here can be very negative.
    Indeed. Staggering.
    Like the leading riders are taking part in some sub-standard competition?
  • pinno
    pinno Posts: 51,320
    Yesterdays stage was a good example. A long and brutal stage which was hardly going to be explosive, so as a spectacle appearing lack lustre but with the length and severity, the whole peleton gets strung out and the weaker/tired riders slowly ebb away. it was a fascinating grind, a stage not for the faint hearted.
    It's just a pity that the TdF has too much hype, too many (big) early accidents, too many teams either dominating the flat stages or dominating the mountains and ultimately dominating the proceedings.
    However, saying that, Astana had a very strong team last year in the Giro and still failed to break Bertie and still their strength failed to wreck and make a procession of it....

    cont. p94
    seanoconn - gruagach craic!
  • professeur
    professeur Posts: 232
    Pinno wrote:
    Glad I have kept out of Pro Race for this year's Giro (so far)*.

    I must be amongst a handful of [quirky?] individuals who have enjoyed the Giro. Plenty of Pink Jersey wearers. A Dutchman out front. Valverde making a decent fist of it at the age of 36 - like him or not. The 'will Nibali recover enough and find his legs?' question still running. Can Kruijswijk hang on? Esteban Chaves doing well and looking like a good prospect for years to come. Fantastic scenery. Not too many bad crashes. Great ride so far by Jungles (only 24). Watching Amador descend is pure magic, even if he hasn't made many gains out of it...

    *A lot of that might be because I have to catch the highlights on Eurosport in the evening due to other commitments and 2 rugrats but that is bye the bye.

    Nicely put - I've thoroughly enjoyed it so far and the lack of Galacticos hasn't bothered me in the slightest.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,241
    Of course you can enjoy a race without the top names, in the same way as you can enjoy a football game of first division... it's the lack of bother which is frustrating. Greipel abandoning when wearing a jersey, Kittel even before, a never heard of Russian rider winning the MTT... a mid pack rider wearing pink convincingly... you've got a start line worth of the Tour of Britain
    left the forum March 2023
  • phreak
    phreak Posts: 2,905
    The Giro does suffer a bit at the moment, as many focus on the Tour, with the Vuelta then used as the back-up should the Tour not go well. This leaves the Giro having a fantastic playground to craft a route, but a lack of real top names participating.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,241
    phreak wrote:
    The Giro does suffer a bit at the moment, as many focus on the Tour, with the Vuelta then used as the back-up should the Tour not go well. This leaves the Giro having a fantastic playground to craft a route, but a lack of real top names participating.

    I think it's the same in every sport though... look at football, only the Champions League matters, the rest is peanuts for monkeys... win the FA cup and they sack you for failing... 20 years ago a trophy would have been a good season. Tennis managed to keep 4 main events, but that's because they play with a monster regularity
    left the forum March 2023
  • specialgueststar
    specialgueststar Posts: 3,418
    phreak wrote:
    The Giro does suffer a bit at the moment, as many focus on the Tour, with the Vuelta then used as the back-up should the Tour not go well. This leaves the Giro having a fantastic playground to craft a route, but a lack of real top names participating.

    The Italians want some Italian on Italian action like the 1990's to mid 2000's Now they are lucky if there is 1 or 2 Italians in the top 10 GC and those look like they are thinking of the Tour

    On top of this they are (weakly) following the Tour model for international recognition

    The Tour of Italy is losing it's Italyianess
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,196
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    a mid pack rider wearing pink convincingly...

    Not sure calling Kruijswijk a mid-pack rider is entirely fair, with the number of top 10 WT results he has and given his history with injury.

    And I look forward to the day Nibali and Valverde ride the ToB.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,241
    bobmcstuff wrote:

    Not sure calling Kruijswijk a mid-pack rider is entirely fair, with the number of top 10 WT results he has and given his history with injury.

    He has won the Arctic race after all...
    left the forum March 2023

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