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

[Flying_Monkey]

Well, as I said earlier - the course favoured two kinds of riders - TT specialists and tough climbers. But yes, Nibali's performance was special. It may have been a Giro-winning performance, but there is a long way to go yet.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Sky do have their options back again now with Henao and Uran both back in the Top 10 on GC.

 

[Strathlubnaig]

Dowsett - brilliant result for him, nice one, chuffed.
Nibali - a great TT, bit of a surprise, but he really dug in, well done.
Evans - another good result for a GC hopeful
Wiggins - good effort but not quite what most folk expected
Hesjedal - poor show for him, didn't lose a ton of time but he will be dissapointed a bit I think
Henao - if he had been left to do his own thing yesterday then today he would be in a great position

So, Astana have go to go to work now and protect that maglia rosa

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Henao will win this race in the future.

 

[Nearly there]

I had Wiggins nibali and dowsett in my fantasy team today well chuffed for dowsett

 

[jdtate101]

My thinking:

Nibali - Obv done a lot of work on his TT style and it seems to have paid off. Fantastic effort.
Evans - Great gutsy performance and leaves him well placed.
Wiggins - Never looked comfortable, especially into the corners. Pulled back the time on the 2nd half, but he lost it big time on the technical bit. Had he not had the puncture he may have won, but by not a lot.
Hesjedal - Suprised, he looked really laboured and not good at all. Bouncing all over the place and didn't seem able to settle.

In the end I think the right man (Nibali) has won this round and deservedly too, what a fantastic ride from him.

 

[johnnyh1]

You can watch videos here - http://giro.ilovecycling.net

 

[Get In The Van]

Will Astana have the ability to control the race now like Sky seem to be able to do, esp with Sky having 3 in the top 10? the mountains will be crucial and I still think Sky have the stronger team over Astana when it comes to the lumpy bits.
Makes for a good couple of weeks racing though

 

[kedab]

i think that with wiggo having a fairly bumpy time of things in this first week, it might force sky to have a bit of a rethink - they might actually have to have a bit of an instinctive bike race rather than the 'race by numbers' / marginal gains game they play so well. splendid stuff from dowsett today, massive congrats to him

 

[jdtate101]

Rumour mill on twitter (not that I believe such things, but David Walsh is asking the question) saying that Wiggo may have the same stomach bug that is doing the rounds. It would certainly explain a thing or two. If he's not up for it tomorrow they should let the Columbians off the leash to go for it.

 

[Strathlubnaig]

Will Astana have the ability to control the race now like Sky seem to be able to do, esp with Sky having 3 in the top 10? the mountains will be crucial and I still think Sky have the stronger team over Astana when it comes to the lumpy bits.
Makes for a good couple of weeks racing though

Sky can sit at the front and pace things all they want, Nibbles just needs to sit right behind them and save energy then blitz them on the downhills.

 

[VamP]

Nibali going to take that pink off before the end? I don't think so...

 

[Slaav]

I still cannot see a complete change of plan for Team Sky though at this stage.

My reasoning is that they can fairly easily still race their own race for a day or two and with Henao and Uran in the mix, work for those two to be Wiggo's last couple of lieutenants. That would allow them to stay in touch and limit losses if Wiggo then shows that it is just not his race this year.

HEdging their bets a bit but following that course would certainly allow them to change direction and allow Wiggo a day or two to recover, carrying out minor Domestique duties then piling the pressure on later in teh race as the ultimate super domestique? If Henao or Uran are close, Sky could simply rip the 4rse out of it with Wiggo killing the field with his TT pace at certain crucial points, leaving the Columbians to tear up the hills which they do seem rather good at!

ANyway, all very exciting and possibly more so after today

ps - I cannot see Nibali losing this Giro though after that performance today and his general bike ability - especially balls out downhill technique....

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Sky really need Henao and Uran to be able to attack in the mountains and force Nibali into responding, and eventually, they would hope, blowing, while Siutsou, Xandio, Pate and Cataldo (if he is now feeling better) keep Wiggins close behind at the metronomic pace he likes, ready to sail past if Nibali does blow. But the probem is that it seems just as likely that it would be Evans or Gesink or Scarponi doing the sailing past on current evidence, if indeed anyone can crack Nibali at all. It's going to be a great couple of weeks coming up!

 

[raindog]

unless Nibs crashes, falls ill, or gets attacked by a swarm of hornets it's all over - the Giro just got really boring.

1 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team 29:46:57
2 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:00:29
3 Robert Gesink (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team 0:01:15
4 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling 0:01:16
5 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre-Merida 0:01:24
6 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin-Sharp 0:02:05
7 Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Col) Sky Procycling 0:02:11
8 Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia 0:02:43
9 Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Lampre-Merida 0:02:44
10 Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Sky Procycling 0:02:49