Giro d'Italia 2016 ***spoilers***

[Archie]

Just started my first Giro live update of the race - as today's stage should be an interesting one -to find out Landa is 6 minutes down.

 

[smutchin]

Crikey!

According to the feed on cyclingnews.com, he had said in a pre-race interview with Danish TV this morning that he was "looking to attack". Maybe something lost in translation...

Sounds like Astana are putting the hammer down at the front to ensure maximum hurt for him too.

 

[SWSteve]

Looks like he's 7 minutes down, majority of Sky back helping him chase back, would be surprised if they can make it back on this terrain

 

[SWSteve]

Looks like Landa is thumbing for a lift

 

[Berk on a Bike]

Looks like Landa is thumbing for a lift

Tweets abound saying he's quit

 

[Crackle]

Tweets abound saying he's quit

Sky confirming it. Illness.

 

[Crackle]

So Sky without a Giro leader yet again.

 

[Dogtrousers]

To lose one leader may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose two looks like carelessness

 

[Hont]

Might make the Tour team stronger though, eh?

 

[smutchin]

Well done, Ciccone, but what was going on between him and Pirazzi on the penultimate climb? Looked like a lively discussion about team orders - which Ciccone was studiously ignoring! And rightly so.

Interesting tactics by Pirazzi to take Cunego out of the race as well.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

I had to miss the last 10k because of a meeting.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

The new Top 15 looks like this, and given Pirazzi's ride today and Landa dropping out, this perhaps brings the Bardiani rider into contention, although we are perhaps looking at a Top 13 group of favourites now...

1 Bob Jungels (Lux) Etixx - Quick-Step 40:19:52
2 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team 0:00:26
3 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:50
4 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
5 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:00:52
6 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Etixx - Quick-Step 0:01:11
7 Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff Team 0:01:44
8 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:01:46
9 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Team Katusha 0:02:08
10 Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica-GreenEdge 0:02:26
11 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:27
12 Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre - Merida 0:02:53
13 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Cannondale Pro Cycling 0:02:55
14 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Trek-Segafredo 0:03:39
15 Stefano Pirazzi (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:04:10

Sky now has a big problem. Their two highest placed riders are:

26 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sky 0:09:00
30 Sebastian Henao (Col) Team Sky 0:11:57

Roche could in other circumstances have been considered a contender but he's already lost a lot riding in support of Landa. Both could go for stages, but they might be still considered close enough to the top that they might not be allowed to get away. Perhaps the younger Henao has more chance of a stage on this basis than Roche. He's well up in the young riders competition, but the leader of that is Jungels, who isn't looking like he's going to lose it any time soon. And they are nowhere in the Points or the Mountains competition (although a couple of days in the high mountains could change the latter). Unlikely though. Sky look screwed.

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

Sky look screwed.

Classics team

 

[smutchin]

Classics team

Sky could learn a thing or two about riding GTs from Etixx.

 

[smutchin]

Just been looking at stage 11 to make my picks for the punditry. What damn fool came up with this madness? 197km of very flat then a couple of nasty climbs before a fast descent and a very flat, very straight final kilometre on a wide, well-surfaced road.

One for the puncheurs, perhaps, but it'll be interesting to see if any of the sprinters can stay with the pack over the lumpy bits - and then what they have left in the legs...