Giro d'italia SPOILER

[trustysteed]

shame work gets in the way of watching it during the day!

 

[lukesdad]

Saxobank s second string aren t doing bad are they. 2 clasics and....well? Bet the sponsors will be lining up.

 

[rich p]

Wow, just watched it on V+. fantastic and almost beyond belief that they would get away.
What with the bianche strade, an awesome Giro and everything to play for.

 

[Skip Madness]

This truly is the Giro that keeps on giving.

The good stuff wasn't meant to be until the final week!

 

[Skip Madness]

A few thoughts:

• David Arroyo and Xavier Tondo could be very hard to shift - they have a much more active stake in really fighting for the GC than either has ever had before. Yes, Arroyo isn't in the same league as Evans, Sastre or Vinokourov, but the nearest of those is Sastre - five and a half minutes behind him.

• Sastre has suffered in this Giro, no doubt. But he has a couple of days to keep on licking his wounds before Monte Grappa, and that won't be as hard-fought as Zoncolan on Sunday. Even if he's not yet quite recovered, he's got 2'49" on Vinokourov and 4'01" on Evans - quite a cushion.

• Does Wiggins go for this? I'd say it probably won't work out if he does, he'll lose a lot of time to Evans in the final week, but it's got to be tempting hasn't it? He may not get a chance like this again. I suppose it depends on how he feels his condition is.

• Does anyone think Valerio Agnoli might actually be able to hang in there for quite a while? My guess is he'll not worry about the GC and carry on working for Basso and Nibali, but he's a better climber than his mountain results would have us think, and he's Liquigas' best-placed rider by 6'47". EDIT: Forgot about Robert Kiserlovski, in third almost three minutes ahead of Agnoli and also riding impressively. What a headache!

 

[lukesdad]

Agnoli lost time today dont think hell be there long once they get to the serious stuff,and on todays evidence I think Tondo s target is probably the mountains classification, but, he s gonna be a hell of a decoy for Sastre.

Has everybody got their eye on the ball though. Porte is sitting there and if he s half the rider people are saying he s going to be, he s not going to give that jersey up without a fight. If the favourites start worrying about each other we are going to have a surprise winner and he can hold his own in the TT s inc. the mountain one. This could be the undoing of some mind.

 

[mangaman]

A few thoughts:

• David Arroyo and Xavier Tondo could be very hard to shift - they have a much more active stake in really fighting for the GC than either has ever had before. Yes, Arroyo isn't in the same league as Evans, Sastre or Vinokourov, but the nearest of those is Sastre - five and a half minutes behind him.

I agree they have a great chance if they keep things going

• Sastre has suffered in this Giro, no doubt. But he has a couple of days to keep on licking his wounds before Monte Grappa, and that won't be as hard-fought as Zoncolan on Sunday. Even if he's not yet quite recovered, he's got 2'49" on Vinokourov and 4'01" on Evans - quite a cushion.

Sastre is my outside tip - he always gets stronger as tours go on and witness nis showing on the Alp D'Huez a couple of years ago - he could put serious time into everyone if he's up for it

• Does Wiggins go for this? I'd say it probably won't work out if he does, he'll lose a lot of time to Evans in the final week, but it's got to be tempting hasn't it? He may not get a chance like this again. I suppose it depends on how he feels his condition is.

I think his aim (like Sastre) is the TDF and neither will go ballistic unless things pan out in their favour. I think the'yll play it by ear. I think Brad will go for it on at least one Dolomite stage, to test his legs.

• Does anyone think Valerio Agnoli might actually be able to hang in there for quite a while? My guess is he'll not worry about the GC and carry on working for Basso and Nibali, but he's a better climber than his mountain results would have us think, and he's Liquigas' best-placed rider by 6'47". EDIT: Forgot about Robert Kiserlovski, in third almost three minutes ahead of Agnoli and also riding impressively. What a headache!

No - not really!

a few thougts

 

[lukesdad]

I understood Sastre wasn t doing the TDF.

 

[mangaman]

I understood Sastre wasn t doing the TDF.

Really, I didn't know that - I think that makes him a strong favourite for the Giro. We knww, from the TDF on Alp D'Huez, he can ride the best climbers off his wheel towards the end of 3 week tours.

I'm glad to see Basso seems to be struggling - I found his cruising up hills, much faster than the rest, without even breaking sweat deeply worrying. I've only seen Armstrong/Valverde/Heras and him really do that n GTs - and I think I know why.

He seems to be struggling - but the Dolomites will decide. It would be good to see a push from Bradley, but on a "level playing field" if you get my drift, Sastre is in a great position as a true and proven climber, to win.

 

[raindog]

• Does Wiggins go for this? I'd say it probably won't work out if he does, he'll lose a lot of time to Evans in the final week, but it's got to be tempting hasn't it? He may not get a chance like this again. I suppose it depends on how he feels his condition is.

Nice post skip.
As for Wiggins, I should think he'll take it day by day and see how it goes, but as you say, there's a hell of alot of time between those little fishes at the front and the favourites a bit further back. We have the prospect of some fantastic racing ahead of us and there could yet be a surprise winner.

 

[Legs]

Not to mention the thing that we all love about cycling - those Cedric Vasseur moments when a rider who is clearly a 'little fish' really pulls a quality ride out of the bag in order to stay in the lead. We don't expect Porte to last the duration, but who knows what inspiration he can draw from the maglia rose?

 

[lukesdad]

Come on then guys, put yourself in the shoes of the DS of a particular team. Youve had the night to sleep on it, what would you be saying to the troops? Except BMC of course, cos they ve only got a general, his troops have gone AWOL

 

[johnr]

Hope the dope testers have cleaned their bottles properly for today's stage. I can feel a Landis coming on.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Wiggins is human and he'll be thinking about his chances here as much as anyone else, despite the pre-season plans he may have had. I think Sastre has a realistic chance of pulling this out of the bag with a couple of good attacks in the mountains. Wiggins's best hope is to get on the podium by sticking like glue to whoever is looking the best prospect, and at this point this means Sastre, Arroyo and Tondo (a minor Spanish rider suddenly riding like a super-domestique... hmm... interesting). Wiggins is a good climber, but he's not someone who can launch a devastating attack in the mountains... if he's still in contact by the time of the final TT, then he has a serious chance of winning, but I am guessing that a Top 5 is the best he could get from here.

 

[biking_fox]

Another scrappy finish - traditional sprinter runouts really aren't doing very well this year.