Recent content by italoc

Don't kill my dreams with reality, though! I know. But even Antonio or Mosca or Felline pushing it on the first two climbs is better than a soft pace by Quickstep. And Sunweb: I agree that they will probably prefer to play it safe, and perhaps that's the smart move.

After today's borefest and the cancellation of that meraviglia that was stage 20, either I see someone going YOLO already from Campo Carlo Magno, or I will be disappointed. Jokes aside - and knowing it won't happen - any team not named Quickstep should drill it from Pinzolo (km 0) and never...

So, nothing happening on Bondone. Not surprising, but still disappointing.

Aru, Purito, Alberto, Froome. Six years ago and yet it feels like a different era.

Nibali: loses 2 seconds from the pink jersey. Also Nibali: mind games. Nibali thread: Giro in the bag.

I have been fascinated by this stage since the presentation of the route. Now, of course there is a 80% chance that nothing happens until the final climb. It's still more than 60 kms after the end of the Bondone descent, the day after is the Queen stage, the teams are weak, etc. But the first...

As a relative newcomer to the forum, let me say that this thread is the very bag best.

But I think I agree with you (and perhaps wasn't very clear in my previous posts). I also struggle to see anything happening tomorrow, for two main reasons, with the first being even more important than the second: a) the rest of the stage is too easy b) Stelvio the next day. What I mean is...

Madeleine was 17.1 km at 8.4%, Bondone from Aldeno is 22.5 at 6.4% (mostly because of 3 flattish kms in the middle of the climb). So yes, not as hard, but comparable, and that was a bit my point, not really much discussion on Bondone while Madeleine was very hyped. (By the way it's not the...

Good to finally see a Slovenian winning after a tough season for them.

Pacing of this three stages was always one of the weak parts of the Giro route. And it showed today. But soft pedaling today might mean a more interesting race tomorrow. Very curious to see what can happen on the Bondone. That side is nasty (I think the entire Tour might have only had one...

Kelderman will win. Nibali will podium. Almeida will finish outside the top-10.

I would fully agree if this were, I don't know, his 9th or 10th GT podium. But he has a chance to equal giants of the sports by getting his 12th, with a small but reasonable chance to equal the historical record of 13th next year. Now, will Nibali think about all of this? To be honest I have...

The realistic goal should be a podium. Which would be number 12 in a GT. Twelve. With Hinault, Merckx, Gimondi, 1 more than Froome. Record is 13, Anquetil. Just to show a much of a champion he is. Now onto the real stuff. Piancavallo was ridden fast, and in non-Nibali fashion (hard continuous...

Now I fully agree that climbing times should not be treated as science, but they can still provide rough useful indications, and are ultimately the only way to compare races that were ridden in different years. If we look at today's times and compare them to 2017, for example, we can learn that...