Giro 2023: Stage 19: Longarone – Tre Cime di Lavaredo 183 km The Mega Mountain Stage ***Spoilers***

15678911»

Comments

  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,137
    Pross said:

    Whoever wins is going to be tainted by “they wouldn’t have won if Remco hadn’t got ill” even though I’m not convinced he was the dead cert many seemed to think.


    The counterpoint to people saying that is Evenepoel didn't finish any of the other Giros either.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • DeVlaeminck
    DeVlaeminck Posts: 8,718
    It was shaping up to be a 4 horse race - could have been a good contest.
    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 16,645
    Pross said:

    Whoever wins is going to be tainted by “they wouldn’t have won if Remco hadn’t got ill” even though I’m not convinced he was the dead cert many seemed to think.

    TGH would have won
    "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: 16,645
    RichN95. said:

    The loss of Evenepoel and TGH has done for the race. We were left with three conservative riders happy to take their chances on the TT.

    Circumstances I guess .

    Swap stage 19 and 20 run dates get a better mountain stage perhaps ....
    "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: 16,645
    All said it's a hard call who will win .
    "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
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,069
    It's funny isn't it, three riders have a chance of winning the race tomorrow and I think if you'd told most people that would be the outcome before the race, they'd have happily signed up for it. All expectations before the race were that Evenepoel would ride away with it, with just Roglic as a realistic challenger.

    Yet people are still complaining it's been boring.

    I've enjoyed it. There's been some great stages, lots of breakout performances, i.e. Healy, Gee, Zana, Milan, and a very close GC contest.
  • DeVlaeminck
    DeVlaeminck Posts: 8,718
    Were the expectations really that Remco would ride away with it ? I didn't think that - I thought Roglic and Remco looked pretty even and potentially Gee on the same level given his TdF result last year.

    For me it has been boring - yes it's close and that does help but its one of the worst grand tours of the last 20 years imo. There have been some decent individual stages but even the sub plots like the sprinters battle and the climbers jersey haven't really taken off.
    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,208
    andyp said:

    It's funny isn't it, three riders have a chance of winning the race tomorrow and I think if you'd told most people that would be the outcome before the race, they'd have happily signed up for it. All expectations before the race were that Evenepoel would ride away with it, with just Roglic as a realistic challenger.

    Yet people are still complaining it's been boring.

    I've enjoyed it. There's been some great stages, lots of breakout performances, i.e. Healy, Gee, Zana, Milan, and a very close GC contest.

    For me there have been a lot of decent individual stages but the GC battle has just shown that the boredom people talk about in most GTs aren’t really a result of one rider being too dominant. Being too close can be an issue as no-one wants to take a risk when they think they can still win conservatively. Whilst the GC battle is still close it hasn’t really been exciting to date and there haven’t really been any major attacks.
  • Dorset_Boy
    Dorset_Boy Posts: 6,873
    Tomorrow's micky mouse TT has ruined the race. It needed to either earlier in the race, so riders would attack to try to get time back, or binned and put on a half sensible climb.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,218
    andyp said:

    It's funny isn't it, three riders have a chance of winning the race tomorrow and I think if you'd told most people that would be the outcome before the race, they'd have happily signed up for it. All expectations before the race were that Evenepoel would ride away with it, with just Roglic as a realistic challenger.

    Yet people are still complaining it's been boring.

    I've enjoyed it. There's been some great stages, lots of breakout performances, i.e. Healy, Gee, Zana, Milan, and a very close GC contest.

    The GC has not lit up. The most exciting thing were the crashes and no-one wants those.

    I'm a little surprised people aren't all backing Thomas for the TT. He feels like he's ridden the most within himself and he's a TT specialist who's also been the most consistent climber in the race.

  • stage_hunter
    stage_hunter Posts: 227

    Pross said:

    Whoever wins is going to be tainted by “they wouldn’t have won if Remco hadn’t got ill” even though I’m not convinced he was the dead cert many seemed to think.

    TGH would have won
    I agree with this.
  • orraloon
    orraloon Posts: 12,607

    Total snooze unfortunately

    All depends on what touches your buttons man. Just watched on catch up and kept me interested on that final.
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,137

    RichN95. said:

    The loss of Evenepoel and TGH has done for the race. We were left with three conservative riders happy to take their chances on the TT.

    Circumstances I guess .

    Swap stage 19 and 20 run dates get a better mountain stage perhaps ....

    There's also been a lack of those short sharp climbs (2-4km) at the end of flat/rolling stages that are usually a Giro feature.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,137
    edited May 2023
    For all the talk over the last decade of reduced teams and salary caps, a 37 year old with just four teammates has only lost three seconds to one GC rival
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,218
    edited May 2023
    RichN95. said:

    For all the talk over the last decade of reduced teams and salary caps, a 37 year old with just four teammates has only lost three seconds to one GC rival

    Riveting stuff.

    Thomas has ridden a really good race and he should win it.

    Not least as keeping it black side down is not always what he’s known for.
  • andytee87
    andytee87 Posts: 406
    Bonus seconds don't help when riders are so closely matched either. Ineos have been happy to let breaks take them out of the equation

    If anything shows how poor Jumbo Visma have been it's the fact they didn't pull for a stage win when Roglic specialises in uphill sprints. Maybe they've not been confident in his level at all
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 25,586

    andyp said:

    It's funny isn't it, three riders have a chance of winning the race tomorrow and I think if you'd told most people that would be the outcome before the race, they'd have happily signed up for it. All expectations before the race were that Evenepoel would ride away with it, with just Roglic as a realistic challenger.

    Yet people are still complaining it's been boring.

    I've enjoyed it. There's been some great stages, lots of breakout performances, i.e. Healy, Gee, Zana, Milan, and a very close GC contest.

    The GC has not lit up. The most exciting thing were the crashes and no-one wants those.

    I'm a little surprised people aren't all backing Thomas for the TT. He feels like he's ridden the most within himself and he's a TT specialist who's also been the most consistent climber in the race.

    Well, that aged well. :D
    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.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,218
    pblakeney said:

    andyp said:

    It's funny isn't it, three riders have a chance of winning the race tomorrow and I think if you'd told most people that would be the outcome before the race, they'd have happily signed up for it. All expectations before the race were that Evenepoel would ride away with it, with just Roglic as a realistic challenger.

    Yet people are still complaining it's been boring.

    I've enjoyed it. There's been some great stages, lots of breakout performances, i.e. Healy, Gee, Zana, Milan, and a very close GC contest.

    The GC has not lit up. The most exciting thing were the crashes and no-one wants those.

    I'm a little surprised people aren't all backing Thomas for the TT. He feels like he's ridden the most within himself and he's a TT specialist who's also been the most consistent climber in the race.

    Well, that aged well. :D
    My predictions have been reliably wrong this Giro
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 25,586
    The only predictable thing about a Giro is that it is unpredictable.
    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.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,218
    edited May 2023
    Yeah but there’s no fun in avoiding predictions.

    I love a prediction. Good or bad, as long as it’s well thought out.
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 25,586

    Yeah but there’s no fun in avoiding predictions.

    I love a prediction. Good or bad, as long as it’s well thought out.

    Play PTP. We all make predictions. Our errors are there for all to see. ;)
    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.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,218
    pblakeney said:

    Yeah but there’s no fun in avoiding predictions.

    I love a prediction. Good or bad, as long as it’s well thought out.

    Play PTP. We all make predictions. Our errors are there for all to see. ;)
    Despite the hours I while away on here I struggle to get them in on time
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 25,586

    pblakeney said:

    Yeah but there’s no fun in avoiding predictions.

    I love a prediction. Good or bad, as long as it’s well thought out.

    Play PTP. We all make predictions. Our errors are there for all to see. ;)
    Despite the hours I while away on here I struggle to get them in on time
    What else do you have to do while waiting on a delayed train? ;)
    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: 11,196

    pblakeney said:

    Yeah but there’s no fun in avoiding predictions.

    I love a prediction. Good or bad, as long as it’s well thought out.

    Play PTP. We all make predictions. Our errors are there for all to see. ;)
    Despite the hours I while away on here I struggle to get them in on time
    I missed all the early season races due to being away and am now deliberately avoiding it.
  • Pross said:

    What's the thinking of a winning time tomorrow? I'm assuming around 55 minutes.

    I'm thinking a little in excess of 45 minutes.

    Climb is 900m, so full bore effort <=> VAM = 1800 => 30 minutes.

    Flat before is 11k, slightly uphill, so 15 mins.
    2nd to 8th yesterday all did 45.something. If only Roglic had read the script!