Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, 18-24 March 2013 [spoilers]

[smutchin]

A stage race with no TT is never going to be great for Wiggins, but if he stays close to Rodriquez and Valverde on the mountain finishes then this has to be seen as a very sucessful race for him I think.

Well, there's only one more mountaintop finish, and that's tomorrow's stage. If he can stay with Rodriguez and Valverde tomorrow, he has a chance to see if he can repeat his stage one antics on the following two stages, which both have flattish finishes. Of course, Valverde and Rodriguez will be alert to him trying anything like that again...

The final stage has several laps of a finishing circuit with a Cat 3 climb in the middle of it. Could be all still to play for by then.

 

[rich p]

That stage must concentrate Wiggins' thoughts as to how he can win the Giro. It's hard to see him shaking off the pure climbers unless, as someone said, he can push it harder from lower down. I'm not sure myself although I didn't think he could ever win a TdF!
Anyone know what sort of ITTs there are in the Giro?

 

[Slaav]

I am slightly confused - again.....

The talk above is of a climb to the finish and Wiggo attacking.

The show I had on at the office earlier is meant to be Stage 3 and was a town centre finish on teh flat, and no sign of a Wiggo attack?

Or am I being dumb again????

 

[Flying_Monkey]

I've just wached this again and several things strike me:

1. Valverde and Quintana is a hell of a tag-team;
2. Katusha are clearly going to support Rodriguez in a more Sky-like manner this year;
3. Wiggins can now attack with enough ferocity to shift all but the specialist climbers.

This means that Movistar have this one in the bag, but if this is anything to go by then in the GTs, while Movistar may take stages and Katusha may be able compete with Sky as a team, Wiggins will be able to stay up there enough to make his advantage in TTs count.

 

[Strathlubnaig]

I am slightly confused - again.....

The talk above is of a climb to the finish and Wiggo attacking.

The show I had on at the office earlier is meant to be Stage 3 and was a town centre finish on teh flat, and no sign of a Wiggo attack?

Or am I being dumb again????

the first half hour of the show today was a recap / rerun of yesterdays stage

 

[thom]

Anyone know what sort of ITTs there are in the Giro?

Team Time Trial:

Individual Time Trials :

 

[rich p]

Cheers Thom but now I'm just ashamed that I didn't look for the info myself. Still, delegation is a virtue, right?
The long flat one and, to a lesser extent, the hilly one will give Brad a good chance of taking time out of the pure climbers

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Cheers Thom but now I'm just ashamed that I didn't look for the info myself. Still, delegation is a virtue, right?
The long flat one and, to a lesser extent, the hilly one will give Brad a good chance of taking time out of the pure climbers

That particular moutain TT seems an ideal course for Wiggins - there's nothing viciously steep and it is essentially two steady, even climbs with a bit of break in the middle. With three TTs and slighly less vicious mountains, it may not be as perfectly suited as the Tour last year, but this Giro is probably as close as it will ever come to being ideal for Wiggins.

 

[Crackle]

I'd like to see him try a few more breakaways after tomorrow, nothing to lose and stage 6 looks most likely.

 

[smutchin]

The Giro mountain TT is effectively twice up Col d'Eze. Should be ideal for Wiggo.

Nibali, Valverde and Rodriguez will have to really do some damage in the mountains to stop him.

 

[Dave Davenport]

I'm pretty sure the Giro organisers designed the route to attract Wiggins to the race in preference to the TdF.

 

[Slaav]

the first half hour of the show today was a recap / rerun of yesterdays stage

Damn, I turned off after that as was in the office and had work to do

 

[Monsieur Remings]

I'm looking forward to watching this tonight. Its great to see (hear) Wiggins is attacking on mountain stages and staying with the best of them. If he can do the same come May then it bodes well for the Giro. The problem for Wiggins, both in this race and looking ahead to the Giro, is the time bonuses available. Staying in touch with climbing specialists and limiting losses to just a handful of seconds may not be enough. Its an extra disadvantage that there will be no time bonuses in the Giro for time trials. I wonder if this is why he is being more aggressive in Catalunya - to practice and get used to having to find some explosive power in the mountains?

A stage race with no TT is never going to be great for Wiggins, but if he stays close to Rodriquez and Valverde on the mountain finishes then this has to be seen as a very sucessful race for him I think.

It has to be said that both the TDF and the Vuelta look better suited to his capabilities than the Giro, but fair play to him today. I was roaring him on when he bolted just inside the flamme rouge.

Excellent points by the way Tigger.

(Perhaps I'm wrong but somewhere this season there has to be a showdown between Froome and Wiggins on the one hand and Rodriguez/Valverde/Contador on the other. I know the Spaniards represent three different teams, I know, but does anyone remember seeing Contador and Rodriguez having a little chat beneath the last climb of the crucial stage 5 of the Tirreno? It worked rather well. Rodriguez wanted the stage and Contador wanted the GC advantage which he didn't get. As with last year's Vuelta, the three of them, unsurprisingly, undid Froome. It sounds mad to say it but I do think Sky need some strength in depth to succeed in the big three tours).

 

[beastie]

I thought the sky train was kinda absent today, is that Wiggins practising for when he is left alone, or are sky keeping powder dry for a mountain ttt tomorrow?
Wiggins looks like his climbing has improved again. I can't wait for the giro.

 

[PpPete]

The train was there for a brief while. But I think other teams have learned the value of the tactic, so Sky don't need to deploy their own train quite as often.