Giro d'Italia 2013, 4th-26th May - [Spoilers]

[Flying_Monkey]

Will reserve judgement for a while but have been drifting away from it; can't help but wonder if the time bonuses are also anti competitive in the circumstances. On the one hand you might imagine that it would make for competitive finishes but all it appears to do is result in a leader's perk.

I like the time bonuses - they give an extra incentive for well-timed late attacks.

 

[smutchin]

You're all being a little churlish. I am brimming over with admiration for the way Nibali has bossed this race. He's taken chances in awful conditions, ruled imperiously in the mountains and even put in an impressive time trial - impressive by any standards, never mind a non-specialist.

There's nothing boring about watching Mr Nibbles.

Also Carlos Betancur has been great to watch in the mountains - his little dig to beat Niemiec to the line on Sunday was pure class.

 

[smutchin]

Both Nibali and Cav have little in the way of competition.

Cav has worked extremely hard for every one of his stage wins. They haven't come easy at all. Viviani and Bouhanni ran him close in the early flat stages and for him to have even been in contention at the finale on Friday's stage is mind-blowingly impressive.

 

[smutchin]

Oh yeah, and don't forget Uran frooming away off the front for his stage win. Nothing boring about that!

 

[Radchenister]

Just checking we're all still awake - let's see if the race wakes up as well...

 

[smutchin]

And another thing... the resurgence of Evans as a competitive force has been fantastic. He could still make this race very interesting if he gets his time trial mojo back on Thursday.

Really, the only disappointments have been Wiggins and Hesjedal, and especially in Wiggo's case, it isn't his fault.

(I would say Gesink and Scarponi have been disappointing too but they've only performed as expected.)

 

[The Couch]

... Also Carlos Betancur has been great to watch in the mountains - his little dig to beat Niemiec to the line on Sunday was pure class.

Don't know what you guys think about it, but for Betancur it even seems as if he really doesn't need to dig very deep when he is climbing and still has tons of energy left.

When he was in the peloton the day Uran won, he seemed to "play with the pedals" (although he didn't manage to bridge the gap of course).
I had the same feeling in the "sprint" with Majka and Niemiec, while watching it, I didn't doubt that he would win it, since he - again - seemed to look like he had still a lot in the tank (though I guess it must be the way he looks otherwise he would have dropped them)

 

[smutchin]

Well, Santambrogio and Nibali dropped him the day before, so I wouldn't say he's finding it that easy.

He's a canny rider, stays in the peloton until near the end and doesn't go off on suicidal long solo breaks like certain other riders. Plus he has a decent sprint for someone his size. If he can learn to TT too, he'll be a real GC contender.

On Sunday's stage, he'd tried a late solo attack but couldn't make it stick, so when the others caught him, he just stuck with them and saved his efforts for the sprint. That's intelligent bike racing.

 

[Radchenister]

Just looking over the stages and weather combo, they've got more storms to look forward to later in the week when amongst the mountains.

Edit: although checking Venice and the higher mountain forecasts in parallel, it looks like it might not be as bad as previously.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

He's a canny rider, stays in the peloton until near the end and doesn't go off on suicidal long solo breaks like certain other riders. Plus he has a decent sprint for someone his size. If he can learn to TT too, he'll be a real GC contender.

I remember saying exactly the same thing about Henao last year - maybe it is a characteristic of Colombian riders and the way they have been accustomed to race?

 

[Noodley]

I always liken grand tours to test matches, plenty going on but maybe not "exciting" enough for those who want 20/20.

 

[The Couch]

I remember saying exactly the same thing about Henao last year - maybe it is a characteristic of Colombian riders and the way they have been accustomed to race?

Well, if you look at the result of the 1st TT in the Giro, it seems that Henao has defintely improved on that already
(although he didn't have the "luck" that Kelderman crashed in the first part and that he could do a duo-TT during that long flat bit)

 

[The Couch]

Well, it seems that De Greef will actually have a good plan for today (unlike the stage where Navardauskas won and the last one which was won by Visconti).
... of course he wasn't in the initial break-away (that would have been too smart), but still you would expect him to get back during this climb

Then again with Kelderman in the break-away, I don't expect the peloton (Saxo and Ag2r) to hand out a very big time lead, so for me the escape isn't granted to make it to the end yet

(In case you are wondering, yes... I dare to question his racing decisions )

 

[yello]

I always liken grand tours to test matches, plenty going on but maybe not "exciting" enough for those who want 20/20.

A nice analogy.

I have to admit to having insufficient knowledge to really appreciate all that happens in cycle racing. It doesn't stop me watching though! I'm reminded of making a similar remark on a rugby forum once - a response came back 'neither do I mate, and I play the game!'

 

[cisamcgu]

... similar remark on a rugby forum once - a response came back 'neither do I mate, and I play the game!'

Rugby is a complete mystery to me, and I think, most of the players. There is a big ruck, ref blows the whistle, sticks his arm up in a random direction and everyone trots away from the maul and gets ready to restart .. even commentators in international matches seem to have no idea what the whistle was for most of the time - still excellent entertainment

anyway ... back to the cycling ...