Giro d'Italia 2015 *spoilers*

[raindog]

Visconti pointed out Clarke's mistake to him after they crossed the line poor lad
What a great 3 days for Orica in pink though. Wow, what a stage, eh?

 

[robertob]

Epic stage. Hats off to Formolo. Brave ride. Surely one for the future. Makes all that's still coming even more intriguing. Bit of a surprise to see Tinkoff's team falling apart. That was more than "just a bad day in the office" I suspect. Compare that to the "Astana machines"...

 

[rich p]

I'd like to see a photo of Greg Henderson to see how high his eyebrows are raised.

 

[Apollonius]

That was like a Tour de Yorkshire day. So much crazy stuff it was hard for the TV to keep track of it. Tinkoff (team and man) have been all over the place this year - ask Sagan! Absolutely nothing wrong with having your number 2 in the break Oleg.
Astana? Obviously trying to deflect suspicion in a sort of Saville "hiding in plain sight" kind of way, but Cataldo always has at least one crazy day. The minor teams like Androni and Bardiani always do that kind of thing and did. Orica always go like crazy at the start of a grand tour and then fade. Sky have to cover everything and dictate every section of the race and almost did. Etixx messed up gloriously just like the rest of the season to date. Marvellous!

 

[400bhp]

Woaaa-just watched the highlights. The race is blown apart. And what a beautiful place.

I was willing Formolo on - have we just seen one of the future greats of cycling?

Can't see Aru keeping it going for 3 weeks, so it's between Porte & Contador.

 

[The Couch]

@The Couch Ulissi, Gilbert and Gerrans were the three on my shortlist for the punditry - if you think they're contenders, I find that reassuring. Almost makes me think I might have a clue what I'm talking about. Almost...

I definitely fancy Ulissi's chances today but I didn't really want to pick him on principle.

Ulissi 17 min down
Gilbert 13 min down
Gerrans see Ulissi

(Fellini - see Ulissi, Matthews 20 min down)

Yeah... we're bonafide experts alright

 

[robertob]

So, who has the crystal ball and predict what happens today? GC contenders show their hands? Final climb not tough enough, though? But then yesterday wasn't thought to be too tough for them either... things can change quickly. Orica in green after today again? Maybe with Esteban Chaves... as a betting man I like him at 40/1 today. Maybe Battaglin can show his hands today too? 80/1 in places looks pretty massive. Think I go with those two today...

 

[BrumJim]

Given Contador's team problems yesterday, I'd like to see the other GC contenders' teams try to put some time into him on the final climb.
However three weeks is a long time, and there is a lot of riding left before the finish.

 

[MisterStan]

Do we think Tinkov ran out of steam yesterday having tried to rule the roost on the previous stages?

 

[raindog]

big lumps today

 

[HF2300]

Do we think Tinkov ran out of steam yesterday having tried to rule the roost on the previous stages?

Not expert enough to know. I did wonder why they've been spending so much energy so early, and why Kreuziger went in the break yesterday - a plan to put someone up the road for Contador, or just opportunism? Supposedly Oleg's involved this week, so frankly who knows?

Tinkoff weren't the only team to blow apart yesterday though, by a long way!

 

[MisterStan]

Just seems a bit odd, considering Dirty Bertie is supposed to be chasing the double - burn your team in the first of 3 weeks racing...

God knows what Oleg's plan is!

 

[HF2300]

God knows what Oleg's plan is!

I bet he doesn't. I don't think even Oleg knows.

 

[smutchin]

The most obvious take on Tinkoff and Astana's tactics is that they're trying to put as many of their rivals as possible out of contention before they hit the really hard stages. And it seems to be working.

Whatever happens in the next few weeks, it's been fantastic racing so far.

 

[The Couch]

Given Contador's team problems yesterday, I'd like to see the other GC contenders' teams try to put some time into him on the final climb.

This stage is purely the last climb that will make the difference.
So even if he should loose all his captains early on, it's going to be climbing till the end of the stage, if he ain't good enough to follow the others (Aru, more specifically it seems) it won't make that big a difference if he has helpers or not. (I know ...pace-making and/or mental support, but there will bound to be other GC riders dropping out as well to form a group with)

The fact that it seems he has a weak(er) team (than Astana) could be more/very helpful in the stages where GC guys can start the battle before the final/worst climb (or if the finish ins't on top of that climb)... then the - potential - isolation between the mountains and/or finish could mean many minutes