105 th Giro di Lombardia. La classica delle foglie morte.

[Geraint Too Fast]

May I highlight a pattern with the winners?

2002 Michele Bartoli (ITA) Fassa Bortolo
2003 Michele Bartoli (ITA) Fassa Bortolo
2004 Damiano Cunego (ITA) Saeco
2005 Paolo Bettini (ITA) Quick Step-Innergetic
2006 Paolo Bettini (ITA) Quick Step-Innergetic
2007 Damiano Cunego (ITA) Lampre-Fondital
2008 Damiano Cunego (ITA) Lampre
2009 Philippe Gilbert (BEL) Silence-Lotto
2010 Philippe Gilbert (BEL)


many of the winners win two years in a row and then don't win. I am superstitious so I will make a bold prediction and say Gilbert won't win.

Ok, I admit that this pattern is kinda stupid and Cunego winning in 2004 wrecks my pattern but I just wanted to have some hope that Phil wouldn't win.

So are you putting some money on Zaugg to win in 2012?

 

[roundabout]

Löfkvist was stronger than Uran today and was one of the strongest 2 days ago and had a good Emilia. It's slightly irritating that he had to work for Uran with Uran doing absolutely zero in the end and them finishing s.t but that's about it.

Edit: I am extremely impressed by Paolini. Doubly so considering all the attacking he did.

 

[palmerq]

I only saw the last 20 or 15 km so I missed nibali on the attack, but it was a very good end to the race, great work from zaugg very good timing and very strong with his attack a highly deserving winner...

I didnt think gilbert would win(I voted for dan martin in the poll), he's not been on great form for a wee while now but after his great season that is to be expected.

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

i wouldn't say he already is a contender for the big monuments. he is 1 year younger then costa this guys need some time to develop and adapt to this kind of races. thats why i say that putting all your eggs on a 23 year old basket may not the be the smartest option. i would have gone with lofkvist if i was sky tbh

I didn't realise Rui Costa was the new benchmark.

When you've finished 3rd at Lombardia, and 5th at LBL, you're a contender in hilly classics.

 

[Christian]

re: Sky chasing.

On RTBF they said that Sky wanted to place as many riders in the top-10 or top-20 as possible, as to get 1st place in UCI team rankings from Omega Pharma.

I don't know how many points Zaugg will get for his win and Gilbert for his 8th place but I assume LEOPARD TREK will probably pass Sky for 2nd place and maybe even Omega Pharma. Here is the current ranking:

1 1 OMEGA PHARMA-LOTTO (OLO) BEL 1,099
2 2 SKY PROCYCLING (SKY) GBR 1,059
3 3 LEOPARD TREK (LEO) LUX 1,024

http://www.uciprotour.com/templates/BUILTIN-NOFRAMES/Template3/layout.asp?MenuId=MTYwNzg&LangId=2

I guess we'll find out on Monday, that's when the new ranking comes out

 

[roundabout]

I would guess that Zaugg still isn't one of the best 5 so his result doesn't matter.

 

[Christian]

So only the results of the top 5 riders matter? (Sorry I don't know how this exactly works)

 

[hatcher]

re: Sky chasing.

On RTBF they said that Sky wanted to place as many riders in the top-10 or top-20 as possible, as to get 1st place in UCI team rankings from Omega Pharma.

I don't know how many points Zaugg will get for his win and Gilbert for his 8th place but I assume LEOPARD TREK will probably pass Sky for 2nd place and maybe even Omega Pharma. Here is the current ranking:

1 1 OMEGA PHARMA-LOTTO (OLO) BEL 1,099
2 2 SKY PROCYCLING (SKY) GBR 1,059
3 3 LEOPARD TREK (LEO) LUX 1,024

http://www.uciprotour.com/templates/BUILTIN-NOFRAMES/Template3/layout.asp?MenuId=MTYwNzg&LangId=2

I guess we'll find out on Monday, that's when the new ranking comes out

I think they were going for the win. If they were looking to just place people as high as possible they wouldn't have had Rogers and Lofkvist doing those big pulls on the front, they would have conserved energy.

FWIW the Sky website says they finished 2nd.

 

[William H]

re: Sky chasing.

On RTBF they said that Sky wanted to place as many riders in the top-10 or top-20 as possible, as to get 1st place in UCI team rankings from Omega Pharma.

If that was the case they wouldn't have worked at all, surely?

 

[roundabout]

Unless they changed the rules somewhere after the point I started losing interest.

Edit: here are the points details

http://www.uci.html.infostradasports.com/asp/xml/index.asp?SportID=102&PhaseID=711320

I think it's the final rankings

 

[Christian]

Unless they changed the rules somewhere after the point I started losing interest.

Edit: here are the points details

http://www.uci.html.infostradasports.com/asp/xml/index.asp?SportID=102&PhaseID=711320

I think it's the final rankings

Yeah looks like it! Thanks for the link

 

[roundabout]

If that was the case they wouldn't have worked at all, surely?

Looking at the individual rankings even if Löfkvist and Rogers had won they would have less points than Gerrans who is the 5th best Sky rider. Cummings would have needed to win while Uran had to finish 4th or 5th (don't know how ties are decided).

 

[Nielsa]

Lol Zaugg with lipstick on his cheek.

 

[theyoungest]

I would guess that Zaugg still isn't one of the best 5 so his result doesn't matter.

Their main scorers are Cancellara, Schleck 1, Schleck 2... and then?

 

[roundabout]

I posted that before I checked the scores.

Fuglsang is 4th best and Bennati was 5th before today and now it's indeed Zaugg in 5th but he has only 6 points more than Bennati.

 

[JRanton]

Just shows how stupid the ''top five only'' rule is. You win Lombardia and it doesn't have an impact on your team's world ranking.

 

[theyoungest]

Just shows how stupid the ''top five only'' rule is. You win Lombardia and it doesn't have an impact on your team's world ranking.

What's the reasoning behind this rule anyway?

 

[Christian]

The race report on cyclingnews also speaks of UCI WorldTour ambitions for Sky:

Behind, though, Team Sky hit the front of a still sizeable peloton and reeled him in on the 16 kilometres of flat road before the start of the Villa Vergano climb. Sky's attempts to seize first place in the UCI World Tour team rankings from Gilbert's Omega-Pharma, alas, turned out to be in vain.

 

[JRanton]

The race report on cyclingnews also speaks of UCI WorldTour ambitions for Sky:

No, they were going for the win, simple as that. Uran effectively had to finish 2/3 places higher than Gilbert in the top 10 in order for Sky to top the rankings so there was no need to catch Nibali if they'd only been focussed on the WT ranking. They had the most riders in the peleton so it was their job to ride anyway really.

 

[hatcher]

The race report on cyclingnews also speaks of UCI WorldTour ambitions for Sky:

By winning the race. The only way their tactics make sense is if they were trying to win the race. Putting Lofkvist and Rogers on the front in order to get top 10 placings for Rogers and Lofkivst makes absolutely no sense.

 

[Anonymous]

Final 18km, sorry its late
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xlpsme_gdilo-2011-final-20km_sport

 

[Anonymous]

By winning the race. The only way their tactics make sense is if they were trying to win the race. Putting Lofkvist and Rogers on the front in order to get top 10 placings for Rogers and Lofkivst makes absolutely no sense.

If Uran had finished top 7 and three places ahead of Gilbert, Sky would have topped the UCI rankings. Rogers and Lofkvist would not have counted as they are outside the top five riders for the team.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Decent ride by Peter Stetina, to finish 14th after doing some visible work for Martin.

 

[Matthijs]

OK, so what is Sky to do? They've got as many guys in the lead group as anybody else, just let Nibali go and go for the Bruyneel approach ("we had four guys in the top 20, isn't that AMAZING??")?

In the words of Óscar Freire, "in order to win you must first be prepared to lose". Sky tried to win today, but they lost. Still, would you have rather the four guys all sat up as soon as Rigo felt slightly less than 100%? Did Katyusha have 4 guys in there? I only counted 3 and J-Rod was clearly bluffing at the back on the flat. Euskaltel had 3, but 2 were designated leaders of whom one was feeling bad, and they still toasted Txurruka on the front, where's the post-mortem for them?

Jeez, when I am defending Sky against you and calling into question Euskaltel as part of my defence, you know something's not right.

J rodriguez, dani moreno, luca paolini and giampoalo caruso

 

[Matthijs]

I would guess that Zaugg still isn't one of the best 5 so his result doesn't matter.

I allways thought it worked like de team-Clas. The 5 best every race are giving team points. So every race the 5 best.
It's impossible to say who are the 5 best before the season is over. So with only the 5 best riders of the team it itsn't possible to have any ranking halfway during the season. So I definately dont onderstand the system if it's the way you describe it.