Giro 2020 - Stage 19: Morbegno – Asti 253 km *Spoilers*

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Comments

  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,253
    gsk82 said:

    Does anyone think it would've been shortened if froome was there and at his prime?

    This is a third rate race this year. Almost 3/4 cat


    Froome (and others) got the last stage in Rome neutralised in 2018
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • No_Ta_Doctor
    No_Ta_Doctor Posts: 14,652
    blazing_saddles said:

    RichN95. said:

    I don't think anyone needed another 130km of that though

    This is the first Giro stage I have not bothered to watch when able.
    I would have watched it even less if it had been longer. As it was I only didn't watch from the "restart" instead of not watching from the proper start.
    davidof said:

    Hindley said Sunweb would put TGH to the sword tomorrow

    Fighting talk. Hope Tao mullers them.
    jam1e said:

    Did he not have quite a thoughtful blog at one point or an I thinking of someone else?

    Tao did, yes, pre-Sky. He still has a site though it's not often updated, and the long philosophical reflections don't feature much any more.
    Warning No formatter is installed for the format
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    edited October 2020
    I’d be well cheesed if I was RCS.

    We all knew the route. For some time. Why only decide on the day?

    All that effort to get the race to go ahead in corona.

    _
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,908
    gsk82 said:

    Does anyone think it would've been shortened if froome was there and at his prime?

    This is a third rate race this year. Almost 3/4 cat

    LOL
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    *we want to race*


    No no not that much
    _
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    They got their short stages in the first half of the race!
    _
  • jimmyjams
    jimmyjams Posts: 781
    mididoctors said:

    But why did the riders strike ...must have been brewing ... The weather first thing was appalling no one could assume it was going to.clear up... What drove them to strike .

    I heard that though the original stage was to be 253 kms (258 kms when one includes the neutralised start), overnight a bridge along the route had partially collapsed, meaning a necessary detour would bring the full distance to well over 260 kms.
    And that was the straw which broke the camel's back, or at least Ag2R's and Lotto's backs, who apparently proposed the strike. Ag2R = Gallopin, Warbasse, Bouchard, etc; Lotto-S = De Gendt, Hansen, Armee, etc (Armee was in today's break)
    The rainy weather helped their argument a lot, and the tiring day before too, but it was the additional distance to what was already felt too long stage which was the initial catalyst.
    Don't know how true this is, however.
    Would have an interesting development had Armee won today!
  • gweeds
    gweeds Posts: 2,613
    Meh. It’s a fucking GT. They knew the route. Tomorrow is already an easier day. It’s hardly Arctic and rain is a part of this sport.

    Can you imagine Hinault mincing about like this. He’d have asked for another 50km to sort the men from the boys.

    Napoleon, don't be jealous that I've been chatting online with babes all day. Besides, we both know that I'm training to be a cage fighter.
  • N0bodyOfTheGoat
    N0bodyOfTheGoat Posts: 6,056
    Send them all off individually tomorrow according to GC gaps, that will learn them for throwing a strop on the day today! >:)
    ================
    2020 Voodoo Marasa
    2017 Cube Attain GTC Pro Disc 2016
    2016 Voodoo Wazoo
  • markwb79
    markwb79 Posts: 937
    gweeds said:

    Meh. It’s a censored GT. They knew the route. Tomorrow is already an easier day. It’s hardly Arctic and rain is a part of this sport.

    Can you imagine Hinault mincing about like this. He’d have asked for another 50km to sort the men from the boys.


    Or imagine the reaction of cyclists if the two football teams at the semi finals of the Euro's complained about the rain and cold.

    There would be cycling hard man memes all over the place.

    Scott Addict 2011
    Giant TCR 2012
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 27,320
    edited October 2020
    I can't see today's prima donnas playing on this though. 😉



    Edit - It is also an example of why we play* the ball in the air more than the europeans.
    * or used to at least.
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,435
    gweeds said:

    Meh. It’s a censored GT. They knew the route. Tomorrow is already an easier day. It’s hardly Arctic and rain is a part of this sport.

    Can you imagine Hinault mincing about like this. He’d have asked for another 50km to sort the men from the boys.

    Well, if they had to lengthen the stage (if true) I have a bit of sympathy I guess. Is there a stage length limit in GTs?

    But yeah, being wet and long shouldn't be a problem (hyurr).
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,908
    jimmyjams said:

    mididoctors said:

    But why did the riders strike ...must have been brewing ... The weather first thing was appalling no one could assume it was going to.clear up... What drove them to strike .

    I heard that though the original stage was to be 253 kms (258 kms when one includes the neutralised start), overnight a bridge along the route had partially collapsed, meaning a necessary detour would bring the full distance to well over 260 kms.
    And that was the straw which broke the camel's back, or at least Ag2R's and Lotto's backs, who apparently proposed the strike. Ag2R = Gallopin, Warbasse, Bouchard, etc; Lotto-S = De Gendt, Hansen, Armee, etc (Armee was in today's break)
    The rainy weather helped their argument a lot, and the tiring day before too, but it was the additional distance to what was already felt too long stage which was the initial catalyst.
    Don't know how true this is, however.
    Would have an interesting development had Armee won today!
    helpful info
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,908
    rick_chasey said:

    I’d be well cheesed if I was RCS.

    We all knew the route. For some time. Why only decide on the day?

    All that effort to get the race to go ahead in corona.

    not sure the "think of the covid sacrifice people had made" thing will resonate with the peloton
    some of these riders have not been able to see their families for a goodly stints all season

    basically 130k got chopped off a boring stage from a tv pov

    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • gweeds
    gweeds Posts: 2,613
    bobmcstuff said:

    gweeds said:

    Meh. It’s a censored GT. They knew the route. Tomorrow is already an easier day. It’s hardly Arctic and rain is a part of this sport.

    Can you imagine Hinault mincing about like this. He’d have asked for another 50km to sort the men from the boys.

    Well, if they had to lengthen the stage (if true) I have a bit of sympathy I guess. Is there a stage length limit in GTs?

    But yeah, being wet and long shouldn't be a problem (hyurr).


    Napoleon, don't be jealous that I've been chatting online with babes all day. Besides, we both know that I'm training to be a cage fighter.
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,908
    blazing_saddles said:

    RichN95. said:

    I don't think anyone needed another 130km of that though

    Depends.
    If Tao ends up losing this Giro by 5 seconds, I am guessing a few folks will be looking at this stage and pointing.

    .
    that will be the case.. what the cutoff to quell such talk? 1 min?

    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,908
    gweeds said:

    bobmcstuff said:

    gweeds said:

    Meh. It’s a censored GT. They knew the route. Tomorrow is already an easier day. It’s hardly Arctic and rain is a part of this sport.

    Can you imagine Hinault mincing about like this. He’d have asked for another 50km to sort the men from the boys.

    Well, if they had to lengthen the stage (if true) I have a bit of sympathy I guess. Is there a stage length limit in GTs?

    But yeah, being wet and long shouldn't be a problem (hyurr).


    so the re-routed stage bypassing the bridge would have been against the UCI rules at over 260km
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • TheBigBean
    TheBigBean Posts: 21,910
    markwb79 said:

    gweeds said:

    Meh. It’s a censored GT. They knew the route. Tomorrow is already an easier day. It’s hardly Arctic and rain is a part of this sport.

    Can you imagine Hinault mincing about like this. He’d have asked for another 50km to sort the men from the boys.


    Or imagine the reaction of cyclists if the two football teams at the semi finals of the Euro's complained about the rain and cold.

    There would be cycling hard man memes all over the place.

    Football does a lot of complaining about heat.
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,435
    mididoctors said:

    gweeds said:

    bobmcstuff said:

    gweeds said:

    Meh. It’s a censored GT. They knew the route. Tomorrow is already an easier day. It’s hardly Arctic and rain is a part of this sport.

    Can you imagine Hinault mincing about like this. He’d have asked for another 50km to sort the men from the boys.

    Well, if they had to lengthen the stage (if true) I have a bit of sympathy I guess. Is there a stage length limit in GTs?

    But yeah, being wet and long shouldn't be a problem (hyurr).


    so the re-routed stage bypassing the bridge would have been against the UCI rules at over 260km
    This makes logical sense to me. If it turns out to be true, I'd have sympathy.
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,549
    If the stage had gone ahead as planned, this thread would've been full of people moaning about why such a dull stage had been planned for the final Friday of the race.
  • Matti66
    Matti66 Posts: 190
    Yes , thats true but cold comfort for the Giro Organisers and stage hosts.
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 27,320
    mididoctors said:

    rick_chasey said:

    I’d be well cheesed if I was RCS.

    We all knew the route. For some time. Why only decide on the day?

    All that effort to get the race to go ahead in corona.

    not sure the "think of the covid sacrifice people had made" thing will resonate with the peloton
    some of these riders have not been able to see their families for a goodly stints all season

    basically 130k got chopped off a boring stage from a tv pov

    True. I never intended watching any more than the last 20kms anyway.
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • webboo
    webboo Posts: 6,087
    Most of the time I watch a bit to see if anything dramatic is happening. If it looks fairly mundane, I wait until it’s finished, put on from the start and just fast forward through the boring bits. Rewinding if it looks like I’ve missed how attack started or the like. This is all on the Eurosport player, however I did watch 3 hours plus of yesterday’s stage.
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,463
    jimmyjams said:

    mididoctors said:

    But why did the riders strike ...must have been brewing ... The weather first thing was appalling no one could assume it was going to.clear up... What drove them to strike .

    I heard that though the original stage was to be 253 kms (258 kms when one includes the neutralised start), overnight a bridge along the route had partially collapsed, meaning a necessary detour would bring the full distance to well over 260 kms.
    And that was the straw which broke the camel's back, or at least Ag2R's and Lotto's backs, who apparently proposed the strike. Ag2R = Gallopin, Warbasse, Bouchard, etc; Lotto-S = De Gendt, Hansen, Armee, etc (Armee was in today's break)
    The rainy weather helped their argument a lot, and the tiring day before too, but it was the additional distance to what was already felt too long stage which was the initial catalyst.
    Don't know how true this is, however.
    Would have an interesting development had Armee won today!
    Surely it would have been possible to start somewhere on the route closer to the finish with losing quite so much distance?
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    mididoctors said:

    rick_chasey said:

    I’d be well cheesed if I was RCS.

    We all knew the route. For some time. Why only decide on the day?

    All that effort to get the race to go ahead in corona.

    not sure the "think of the covid sacrifice people had made" thing will resonate with the peloton
    some of these riders have not been able to see their families for a goodly stints all season

    basically 130k got chopped off a boring stage from a tv pov

    Might as well make MSR shorter than.

    The KMs add up
    _
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,463
    andyp said:

    If the stage had gone ahead as planned, this thread would've been full of people moaning about why such a dull stage had been planned for the final Friday of the race.

    I assumed it would be a dull stage. The point is it would have reduced recovery after yesterday's stage and added to the fatigue for tomorrow surely?
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,725
    edited October 2020
    mididoctors said:

    gweeds said:

    bobmcstuff said:

    gweeds said:

    Meh. It’s a censored GT. They knew the route. Tomorrow is already an easier day. It’s hardly Arctic and rain is a part of this sport.

    Can you imagine Hinault mincing about like this. He’d have asked for another 50km to sort the men from the boys.

    Well, if they had to lengthen the stage (if true) I have a bit of sympathy I guess. Is there a stage length limit in GTs?

    But yeah, being wet and long shouldn't be a problem (hyurr).


    so the re-routed stage bypassing the bridge would have been against the UCI rules at over 260km
    In that case, far easier for the riders to hang around in the cold (allegedly) and wet for a couple of hours, wait for the coaches that were already en route to the finish to turn around and pick them up, drive 130kms and start the race again, than chop off the offending 5 kms.



    not.
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • Lanterne_Rogue
    Lanterne_Rogue Posts: 4,332
    Pross said:

    jimmyjams said:

    mididoctors said:

    But why did the riders strike ...must have been brewing ... The weather first thing was appalling no one could assume it was going to.clear up... What drove them to strike .

    I heard that though the original stage was to be 253 kms (258 kms when one includes the neutralised start), overnight a bridge along the route had partially collapsed, meaning a necessary detour would bring the full distance to well over 260 kms.
    And that was the straw which broke the camel's back, or at least Ag2R's and Lotto's backs, who apparently proposed the strike. Ag2R = Gallopin, Warbasse, Bouchard, etc; Lotto-S = De Gendt, Hansen, Armee, etc (Armee was in today's break)
    The rainy weather helped their argument a lot, and the tiring day before too, but it was the additional distance to what was already felt too long stage which was the initial catalyst.
    Don't know how true this is, however.
    Would have an interesting development had Armee won today!
    Surely it would have been possible to start somewhere on the route closer to the finish with losing quite so much distance?
    Difficult. It was scragged at the last minute, so there's time lost getting back to the coaches, making sure everyone agrees a plan, then there's a traffic jam getting them out the car park, someone's still scouting for a sensible restart point...

    Meanwhile the clock's ticking and the restart needs to take place at roughly the same time the peloton would have been passing anyway because TV timings. It's going to take time to get off the bus etc, so that means you need to eat even more kilometres up getting ahead of where the bikes would have been in order to buy you that time.

    I think they've done a really good job to not screw things up further, to be totally honest, and the stress of doing so will at least partly explain the race director's reaction to it all.
    Twitter: @canocola @thedreadships
  • DeVlaeminck
    DeVlaeminck Posts: 9,104
    It's one of those where I can see the riders' point but given the aggro the organisers have had getting this race on and on the hoof changes surely they could have ridden it or at the very least once it had been shortened make sure we get a bunch sprint. The lesson for the organisers should be throw another mountain stage in next year and forget the pan flat stuff in the last week.
    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • shirley_basso
    shirley_basso Posts: 6,195
    Adam hanson has twittered about it if you are interested.

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