Giro Stage 15 Castelrotto -Alpe di Siusi (ITT) 10.8k

ugo.santalucia

hammerite wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

hammerite wrote:

Nibali has lost his rear mech, bike change.

great advert for Campagnolo!

They're designed to break off at the hanger if they're under too much stress though aren't they? Saves damaging the mech itself. If you drop your chain and something jams it's going to happen.

I know, I know...

Never happens to me though... possibly because I use a Shimergo setup

ugo.santalucia

curium wrote:

Valverde continues to illustrate what a wheelsucker he is.

FIFY

DeadCalm

Salsiccia1 wrote:

emadden wrote:

WhoTF is this guy who won the stage? :evil: :evil: :evil:

Targeted the stage coming into the race and probably kept out of the wind for 2 weeks, all the leaders worked hard yesterday. Yes, I know he's Russian...

Fair point. 54th yesterday, 24 minutes behind the winner and in the same time as JJ Rojas. Probably not as tired as many others.

onyourright

Dombrowski came 8th, just 12 seconds behind Chaves. Very decent ride.

DeadCalm

OnYourRight wrote:

Dombrowski came 8th, just 12 seconds behind Chaves. Very decent ride.

Yeah but can you trust those eastern bloc riders?

ugo.santalucia

Meanwhile the Gazzetta inform us that Cipollini has been fined 165 Euro for RL jumping...

onyourright

DeadCalm wrote:

OnYourRight wrote:

Dombrowski came 8th, just 12 seconds behind Chaves. Very decent ride.

Yeah but can you trust those eastern bloc riders?

I make an exception for Dombrowski because he speaks half-decent English.

tailwindhome

ugo.santalucia

It's a shame that sprinters come to the Giro for a week and then leave when they are wearing the points jersey. it's a shame that none of the big GT contenders bothers anymore with the Giro, unless they can't do the Tour. It's a shame that the organisers can't deal with road idiots, admiral cars and such amenities. I think it's become a second tier race that really nobody gives a toss about anymore, except Pirazzi and Ulissi

joelsim

ugo.santalucia wrote:

It's a shame that sprinters come to the Giro for a week and then leave when they are wearing the points jersey. it's a shame that none of the big GT contenders bothers anymore with the Giro, unless they can't do the Tour. It's a shame that the organisers can't deal with road idiots, admiral cars and such amenities. I think it's become a second tier race that really nobody gives a toss about anymore, except Pirazzi and Ulissi

It's very simple.

It's too close to the race that has 64% of all cycling's media coverage. In a sponsor-driven sport. And at a time that even the best riders now can't do well in both.

Shadowrider

Chaves seems to be getting into better form. A big gap, but could maybe do something over the mountains on the remaining stages.

We could have the last 2 GT winners being first time winners for since I don't know when.

Haydn1

Froome & Horner?

Kruijswijk looking very strong, hope he can keep it going next week

RonB

2013 and Froome/ Horner?

Edit - I blame the broadband speed!

rick_chasey

So we're giving the Russian the benefit of the doubt since that's fair, but no one will be surprised.

Right?

ugo.santalucia

Rick Chasey wrote:

So we're giving the Russian the benefit of the doubt since that's fair, but no one will be surprised.

Right?

Let's put it this way... if William Hill were accepting bets on the antidoping, you wouldn't get much if he turned out positive... 2:1 seems fair

specialgueststar

Rick Chasey wrote:

So we're giving the Russian the benefit of the doubt since that's fair, but no one will be surprised.

Right?

Trying not to be sceptical. He looks like a true climber to me. At the Avenir two years ago there were a lot of mountain top finishes and he did consistently well on them all including a more or less tour stage to La Toussuire( 2nd behind Louis Vervaeke) . I think two Kazaks tested positive on that stage?

This time trial was only a 10.8 km uphill test that played to his strengths. He was fresh, young and motivated. Let's at least keep it balanced rather than thinking Gewiss have rocked up

rick_chasey

Yeah.

Having worked with gazprom in the past I am biased.

specialgueststar

Rick Chasey wrote:

Yeah.

Having worked with gazprom in the past I am biased.

I can imagine

dish_dash

So if he is on the juice, why not show before now? Or was he just targeting this stage. Guess the next few days will tell...

ugo.santalucia

Rick Chasey wrote:

Yeah.

Having worked with gazprom in the past I am biased.

You can clearly see Gazprom having an interest in clean sport... can you imagine what happened if the all team turned out positive? Hoards of indignated French turning down the central heating in their houses to avoid buying from Gazprom.

If you sell cement, floor boards or fuel the damage you can do to your image is virtually inexistent... nobody buying/selling at that level gives a toss about anything other than price. How many times have you made the conscious decision to avoid stopping for fuel at Shell or BP?

blazing_saddles

The forum is known for taking results on face value and generally giving folks the benefit of the doubt, until proven otherwise.
Like it or not, until that happens, Foliforov deserves the same treatment.
Can't condemn a bloke of the basis he's Russian and that the team has some shady staff, plus 5 recent dope test fails.
Thinking it, is a different matter.
If anyone is to blame, it's the RCS for going with the Ruble instead of their record.

bobmcstuff

dish_dash wrote:

So if he is on the juice, why not show before now? Or was he just targeting this stage. Guess the next few days will tell...

I think it's pretty clear he was targeting this stage isn't it? Hadn't he been in the gruppetto the rest of the time.

I mean he's probably got lower odds than most that he's doping, but one stage doesn't seem enough to condemn him.

sheffsimon

ugo.santalucia wrote:

It's a shame that sprinters come to the Giro for a week and then leave when they are wearing the points jersey. it's a shame that none of the big GT contenders bothers anymore with the Giro, unless they can't do the Tour. It's a shame that the organisers can't deal with road idiots, admiral cars and such amenities. I think it's become a second tier race that really nobody gives a toss about anymore, except Pirazzi and Ulissi

Didn't Contador ride both Giro and Tour, just last year? Much as I dislike him, he could certainly have been described as a big GT contender.

ugo.santalucia

SheffSimon wrote:

Didn't Contador ride both Giro and Tour, just last year? Much as I dislike him, he could certainly have been described as a big GT contender.

Contador belongs to a different age, when bicycle riders were bicycle riders and not posers on wheels who race 30 days per year. He is by far the most talented GT rider of his generation and it's a shame his career has been partially ruined by testing positive for picograms of a substance others (less talented) got away with. I don't have a single bad thing to say about Contador

ugo.santalucia

bobmcstuff wrote:

I think it's pretty clear he was targeting this stage isn't it? Hadn't he been in the gruppetto the rest of the time.

Incidentally increasing his betting odds exponentially... :twisted:

bobmcstuff

Also I would have counted both Nibali and Valverde as big GT contenders, given their history of winning the things...

Yes it's a shame the Giro is seen as second to the Tour but hasn't that always been the case? It would be nice to have a few more big names, but those guys will be at the Tour and the result is that here we get to see some new riders come to the fore (the Contadors and Froomes of the future if you will...).

RichN95.

bobmcstuff wrote:

Also I would have counted both Nibali and Valverde as big GT contenders, given their history of winning the things...

Although arguably neither are their team's first choice GC rider (definitely in Valverde's case)

I've been saying for years that it's a race for reserve teams and Italians (when others were banging on about it being a superior race to the Tour*)

(*It's often more entertaining, but not superior)

blazing_saddles

RichN95 wrote:

bobmcstuff wrote:

Also I would have counted both Nibali and Valverde as big GT contenders, given their history of winning the things...

Although arguably neither are their team's first choice GC rider (definitely in Valverde's case)

I've been saying for years that it's a race for reserve teams and Italians (when others were banging on about it being a superior race to the Tour*)

(*It's often more entertaining, but not superior)

To be fair, I don't think that anyone has ever claimed that the Giro had a superior starlist.
Just that it offered greater variety of parcour and as you mention, often more entertaining racing.

I agree with you on Valverde and possibly Nibali, now being "reserve" leaders.
One could argue that teams like Katusha, Cannondale and Lotto Jumbo buck the trend by sending their reserve leader to the Tour with Rodriguez, Gesink and ummmm Talansky?
Although arguably potential stage winner Kristoff could claim that role.

rick_chasey

Gesink was/is a lot more bankable than Kruiswijk in Jan when they decided the calendar.

blazing_saddles

Yet he got his only Tour top 5 finish at his first attempt.
Seven years on and there has been little sign of him being able to repeat the feat, despite all the home optimism.