55th Tirreno-Adriatico, September 7th to 14th 2020 *Spoilers*
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Had no clue this stage was so tough.0
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Woods looking excellent on the 20% plus climb, Thomas going well but couldn't quite hold him and Woods pulls away.0
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Majka crosses and there's a small group containing Yates, Thomas, Haig and possibly Vlasov behind. 6km to go, leaders have around 10 seconds.0
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Horrible little descent claims Dunbar but he seems OK.0
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Actually a slight touch of wheels on an uphill section took Dunbar out.0
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Henao and Kelderman also in the group of around 10 with Thomas and co.0
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Chasers throwing it away, relying on Haig with Kangert sitting on his wheel. 11 seconds and 1.3km.0
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That was enjoyable.0
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Woods opens up early and takes a comfortable, well deserved win from Majka. The others are busy gifting him GC time by marking each other out. Astana in particular refusing to commit one of their two riders in the group to chasing.
Great ride for someone who broke a femur 6 months ago.0 -
Sprint by Majka was reminiscent of Uran in the 2012 Olympics.3
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If he had that in mind before, he doesn't now. He came in over 18 minutes down today.RichN95. said:When Froome had dropped back after this turn he was fighting to stay on the back of the peloton, which is probably Dead Calm saw. The fact that he didn't just drop off the back like a normal domestique may suggest he fancies doing a little GC ride amongst his dom duties.
Thomas looks to be on an upwards trajectory following the Dauphine. Don't think he will win T-A but think he will be there or thereabouts in the Giro.0 -
Yeah, Thomas looked pretty comfortable but not quite up to Woods' attack on the really steep section which is never really Thomas' strong point. Looked a bit over-geared at that point too.0
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Dunbar broken collarbone.0
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Shoot.
That's part of the Giro mountain help down the pan and they aren't exactly over endowed to begin with.
Wasn't his fault either.
He could just make it I suppose, but he's got less than a month.
Both Woods and Majka will need a lot more than 20 seconds with the usual pan flat ITT to finish."Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0 -
Looked a really innocuous crash with Dunbar and he didn't seem badly hurt. He was riding well on that final hill just beforehand too.
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I've just looked at their squad on their website. They really don't have any climbing depth this season. Loads of young, small South American climbers, but not much else.blazing_saddles said:Shoot.
That's part of the Giro mountain help down the pan and they aren't exactly over endowed to begin with.
Wasn't his fault either.
He could just make it I suppose, but he's got less than a month.
They'll probably win all 3 time trials with Thomas, Dennis and Ganna there though."Unfortunately these days a lot of people don’t understand the real quality of a bike" Ernesto Colnago0 -
Geoghan Hart is okay in the mountains?gsk82 said:
I've just looked at their squad on their website. They really don't have any climbing depth this season. Loads of young, small South American climbers, but not much else.blazing_saddles said:Shoot.
That's part of the Giro mountain help down the pan and they aren't exactly over endowed to begin with.
Wasn't his fault either.
He could just make it I suppose, but he's got less than a month.
They'll probably win all 3 time trials with Thomas, Dennis and Ganna there though.0 -
There's Hayter too but again he's talented but inexperienced at this level. Maybe it's a chance to just bite the bullet though. The problem will be the overlap with the Vuelta but I suspect Froome will be looking at taking the Tour squad mainly to that. What's Sosa doing at the moment? Was he ill?gsk82 said:
I've just looked at their squad on their website. They really don't have any climbing depth this season. Loads of young, small South American climbers, but not much else.blazing_saddles said:Shoot.
That's part of the Giro mountain help down the pan and they aren't exactly over endowed to begin with.
Wasn't his fault either.
He could just make it I suppose, but he's got less than a month.
They'll probably win all 3 time trials with Thomas, Dennis and Ganna there though.0 -
Decent stage finish again today. Woods and Yates attacked on the final climb with Thomas the first to get across. Most of the other favorites then joined before Lucas Hamilton and Vendrame attacked. Hamilton made an excellent long sprint to open up a clear gap and the stage. Woods leading in a group of favourites including Thomas, Yates and Majka 10 seconds behind to retain his overall lead. Mitchelton Scott having a very good race with 3 riders in the top 10 today. James Knox also doing very well and finished with the Woods group.0
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Hamilton went clear with Masnada, then played him like a cheap fiddle in the sprint.0
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Just watched the final 30 kms on catch up. That was a decent finish.Pross said:Decent stage finish again today. Woods and Yates attacked on the final climb with Thomas the first to get across. Most of the other favorites then joined before Lucas Hamilton and Vendrame attacked. Hamilton made an excellent long sprint to open up a clear gap and the stage. Woods leading in a group of favourites including Thomas, Yates and Majka 10 seconds behind to retain his overall lead. Mitchelton Scott having a very good race with 3 riders in the top 10 today. James Knox also doing very well and finished with the Woods group.
My PTP pick, Nibali, was way off the pace,
just in front of teammate Peter Weening who I'd assumed had retired from Pro-Cycling a while ago.
Pross's concerns about climbing support for Thomas in the Giro are looking justified. With Dunbar gone, he really only has TGH left to provide climbing help. Not sure who Ineos have to bring in that could significantly bolster that support.
That said, Thomas looks to be in decent form. I have no doubt that, where he is right now, riding as a domestique, he would have been a huge asset for Bernal in the Tour. I wonder whether Brailsford is beginning to regret his decision to exclude him?0 -
Did very well for an inexperienced rider. Did enough work to help keep them away whilst having the backing of team mates behind to allow him to bluff. I think the thing he did well was take a turn quite late on that may have made Masnada think he was going to keep riding through. He looked like he had the legs to win even if he'd got pushed into leading out.andyp said:Hamilton went clear with Masnada, then played him like a cheap fiddle in the sprint.
Stephens and Magnus seemed to think the tactics weren't the best for MS as he was helping Masnada leapfrog Yates but for a stage win losing a few seconds on GC isn't a big issue especially as Yates is unlikely to win overall with the TT to come.0 -
It used to be very, very rare, that on a mountain stage do you find an Ineos leader alone, while several contenders have a team mate.
Now it's happening in the both of the big stage races."Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0 -
I assumed Sivakov would still be doing the Giro, seeing as it was his main race before being drafted to france last minute.0
