16/04 - 20/04: Tour of the Alps (Giro del Trentino)

[DNP-Old]

Ramiro!

 

[movingtarget]

Well taken win. It seems that cutting off their pay is motivating Astana this year. Froome looked okay. He will be happy with that, a couple of weeks out from the Giro.

 

[Escarabajo]

Does anybody have full results?

 

[May0maniac]

Re:

Ramiro!

A nice 70th birthday for the mighty silverfox Savio.

 

[Robert5091]

Chapeau Astana & Ramiro! (good couple of days for the boys in blue).

What's with Froome cutting off Aru again? (Stage 9 2017 TdF all over again?)

 

[Breh]

Re:

Well taken win. It seems that cutting off their pay is motivating Astana this year. Froome looked okay. He will be happy with that, a couple of weeks out from the Giro.

It might have something to do with Aru, Nibali and their respective cliques leaving aswell.

 

[Gigs_98]

I was just watching the final kilometers of the stage, and I have to say Froome was looking really strong. I expect him to drop everyone tomorrow. Meanwhile MAL wasn't really looking as good as I hoped. Yeah, Astana got a 1-2 but on the climb they all weren't among the strongest.

 

[staubsauger]

Re:

Chapeau Astana & Ramiro! (good couple of days for the boys in blue).

What's with Froome cutting off Aru again? (Stage 9 2017 TdF all over again?)

Nah, as much as Froome should've been fined for that Tour de France incident, this time around it was more Aru going through a very tiny gap while the Sky domestique was swinging out.

At least that's how I saw it and I'm not really known for defending Froome!

 

[staubsauger]

To be honest I didn't see Froome that strong. His attack didn't really crush anybody. It was quite easily followed by Pinot, who in fact had wasted some energy earlier. Let's wait for Alpe di Pampeago tomorrow. Normally the Dawg should proof a point there, if he's able to do so.

Pinot looks quite strong this year. He's had a solid build-up so far. His jump was rather pointless though. But Reichenbach as a relais station and the willingness to go from far out sounds like a good plan for the Giro.

Aru simply is an average rider. To be honest I don't know what he's talking about regarding Lady luck. He always loses precious time in the tt and is way too inconsistent in the mountains. In fact he would've had problems finishing inside the top 5 back in the 90s and 00s. He's simply not good enough ride now. That he got to lead a strong team like Astana which pulled him to a Vuelta win is some good luck actually.

Lopez has been on Teide lately. Maybe he overtrained a bit and / or needs a little more time to arrange with the race speed. Given he already looked vulnerable at T-A it's a bit worrying to be honest.

Bennett, like at T-A already, surprised again. But can he maintain that level of performance for 3 weeks in Italy? I wouldn't rule him out for a surprise top 5,if others struggle.

Same goes for Hermans. Only that I would already answer the question with a no. He might finish 7-9 tough which combined with aggressive racing in the flat stages would be a fine performance by Israel Cycling Academy.

Pozzovivo looked good for the first time this season. I already feared that age might caught up with him. Problem for Pozzovivo of course are the crosswind stages in Israel. His gc ambitions might end early on there. Potentially that could force him to go for the KOM classification instead.

Which brings us to Cicchone who I would rate as no. 1 favorite for the blue jersey, ahead of Betancur and Pantano right now. Anton or Dombrowski ain't much of a factor anymore these days. But Ciccone looked quite strong. Especially the way he jumped away from Reichenbach. Hopefully Johnny Grain can deliver us some great attacks in the mountains.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Feels like there is a real Spanish resurgence going on. For a long time it looked to me like there was no real top class Spanish riders coming up. But they just take a little more time to get there than a young Valverde (by comparison).

The Izagirre's are really doing well. Soler is doing amazingly. Mas rode a strong PV. Bilbao has shown himself multiple times already and now wins.. And there's plenty more.

 

[El Pistolero]

Re:

Feels like there is a real Spanish resurgence going on. For a long time it looked to me like there was no real top class Spanish riders coming up. But they just take a little more time to get there than a young Valverde (by comparison).

The Izagirre's are really doing well. Soler is doing amazingly. Mas rode a strong PV. Bilbao has shown himself multiple times already and now wins.. And there's plenty more.

None that can win big races however. When's the last time someone other than Valverde won a big race? Probably Contador during the 2015 Giro and he's retired now.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Re: Re:

Feels like there is a real Spanish resurgence going on. For a long time it looked to me like there was no real top class Spanish riders coming up. But they just take a little more time to get there than a young Valverde (by comparison).

The Izagirre's are really doing well. Soler is doing amazingly. Mas rode a strong PV. Bilbao has shown himself multiple times already and now wins.. And there's plenty more.

None that can win big races however. When's the last time someone other than Valverde won a big race? Probably Contador during the 2015 Giro and he's retired now.

Last month.

 

[ppanther92]

Re: Re:

Feels like there is a real Spanish resurgence going on. For a long time it looked to me like there was no real top class Spanish riders coming up. But they just take a little more time to get there than a young Valverde (by comparison).

The Izagirre's are really doing well. Soler is doing amazingly. Mas rode a strong PV. Bilbao has shown himself multiple times already and now wins.. And there's plenty more.

None that can win big races however. When's the last time someone other than Valverde won a big race? Probably Contador during the 2015 Giro and he's retired now.

Wouldn't rule Mas (and Soler) out for a grand tour win in the future. Who is better in their age or younger? Only Bernal, Gaudu and Oomen are on a similar level. Of course, this is a bit unpredictable.

 

[El Pistolero]

Re: Re:

Feels like there is a real Spanish resurgence going on. For a long time it looked to me like there was no real top class Spanish riders coming up. But they just take a little more time to get there than a young Valverde (by comparison).

The Izagirre's are really doing well. Soler is doing amazingly. Mas rode a strong PV. Bilbao has shown himself multiple times already and now wins.. And there's plenty more.

None that can win big races however. When's the last time someone other than Valverde won a big race? Probably Contador during the 2015 Giro and he's retired now.

Last month.

That's not a big race and he only won because nobody bothered to follow him as he's still a small fry. Let's see him win next year when he's a marked man.

 

[RedheadDane]

Paris-Nice isn't a big race?

 

[Valv.Piti]

I have seen it all now...

Seriously tho, what the spanish riders are doing at the moment is just so much more than we could have expected. They are doing incredibly well compared to what we thought 3-4 years ago when it looked very bleak when Purito, Bala and AC were going to retire.

 

[Angliru]

Re:

Paris-Nice isn't a big race?

Just let it go. I wouldn't want to encourage anymore of the toxic nature of these posts.

 

[El Pistolero]

Re:

Paris-Nice isn't a big race?

I was clearly talking about the five Monuments, the 3 GTs and the WC.

Not some prep race for the classics with a very weak field (at least this year).

 

[staubsauger]

Landa certainly can win the Giro d'Italia in future, but then again he isn't exactly Spanish!

 

[rick james]

Re: Re:

Feels like there is a real Spanish resurgence going on. For a long time it looked to me like there was no real top class Spanish riders coming up. But they just take a little more time to get there than a young Valverde (by comparison).

The Izagirre's are really doing well. Soler is doing amazingly. Mas rode a strong PV. Bilbao has shown himself multiple times already and now wins.. And there's plenty more.

None that can win big races however. When's the last time someone other than Valverde won a big race? Probably Contador during the 2015 Giro and he's retired now.

Last month.

That's not a big race and he only won because nobody bothered to follow him as he's still a small fry. Let's see him win next year when he's a marked man.

oh furfuxsake. are you for real?

 

[Angliru]

Re: Re:

Paris-Nice isn't a big race?

I was clearly talking about the five Monuments, the 3 GTs and the WC.

Not some prep race for the classics with a very weak field (at least this year).

It wasn't as as clear (at least to me) as you would like to think. Paris-Nice has been one of the most important week long stage races for quite some time. Obviously our definitions of big races are not the same, which is fine.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Re: Re:

That's not a big race and he only won because nobody bothered to follow him as he's still a small fry. Let's see him win next year when he's a marked man.

Did he, or did he not, complete the course in a faster time than anybody else?

Besides, he won Paris-Nice doing exactly what Alberto Contador did last year, only he succeeded because he was underestimated. It's not like he was nowhere for the whole race and then they rode like a bunch of lobotomized fools like how Thomas de Gendt got on the Giro podium either. He was on good form - 3rd in the Ruta del Sol - and he was 2nd in the ITT, and finished with the defending champion on the MTF. He was 37 seconds off the lead, and he attacked from long range, risking sacrificing the lot to try to win. Isn't that the kind of rider you claim to be a fan of?

He won that race because he was underestimated. You can underestimate even people who are the very top riders, especially if there's a lack of cohesion in the chase. You should know, it's how Tom Boonen won Roubaix in a 40km solo, and how Gilbert won de Ronde. It was super exciting, smart, fantastic racing then, but it's not when Soler does the same thing - why do the goalposts move when it's a grimpeur in a stage race?

 

[Breh]

Re: Re:

Paris-Nice isn't a big race?

Just let it go. I wouldn't want to encourage anymore of the toxic nature of these posts.

Yeah, I don't really see why people keep replying to him.

 

[Laplaz]

What's up with Meintjes? Don't like him much as rider but still surprising he's so bad this year.

 

[tobydawq]

Re: Re:

That's not a big race and he only won because nobody bothered to follow him as he's still a small fry. Let's see him win next year when he's a marked man.

Did he, or did he not, complete the course in a faster time than anybody else?

Besides, he won Paris-Nice doing exactly what Alberto Contador did last year, only he succeeded because he was underestimated. It's not like he was nowhere for the whole race and then they rode like a bunch of lobotomized fools like how Thomas de Gendt got on the Giro podium either. He was on good form - 3rd in the Ruta del Sol - and he was 2nd in the ITT, and finished with the defending champion on the MTF. He was 37 seconds off the lead, and he attacked from long range, risking sacrificing the lot to try to win. Isn't that the kind of rider you claim to be a fan of?

He won that race because he was underestimated. You can underestimate even people who are the very top riders, especially if there's a lack of cohesion in the chase. You should know, it's how Tom Boonen won Roubaix in a 40km solo, and how Gilbert won de Ronde. It was super exciting, smart, fantastic racing then, but it's not when Soler does the same thing - why do the goalposts move when it's a grimpeur in a stage race?

Because it's a Spaniard from Movistar, obviously. When Valverde wins by relying on his sprint, he wheelsucks, when Soler wins by going on a long-range attack, it's because the field is weak and doesn't care because it's a prep race.