2011 Giro d'Italia, May 7th, Stage 1: Venaria Reale → Torino, 19.3km TTT

[Dalakhani]

Is it just me, or does anyone else think TTTs suck?

Of course, I'll watch, but I find it hard to get excited.

Steve

 

[The Hitch]

Liqui
saxo
Katusha
Astana
Geox
Katusha

Are we really ignoring Scarponi as a gc contender at this stage?

 

[taiwan]

Totally, I don't think there's a less exciting format. They also further penalise conti teams, which for me has an unfavourable effect on the competition.

 

[theyoungest]

Totally, I don't think there's a less exciting format. They also further penalise conti teams, which for me has an unfavourable effect on the competition.

Cycling is a team sport. If you start a GT with a crap team, you can't expect to win.

 

[taiwan]

Cycling is a team sport. If you start a GT with a crap team, you can't expect to win...

...anyway. You don't need to give extra advantage to the big teams if you want the GC to be quite open. Also imagine a scenario where someone wins the tour by gaining time in the TTT and just hanging on. Would anyone find that satisfactory? Not that this TTT is long enought to make a significant difference in the end.

 

[Kwibus]

Is it just me, or does anyone else think TTTs suck?

Of course, I'll watch, but I find it hard to get excited.

Steve

I used to have a great dislike toward TTT's. Nowadays I like watching them since I can appreciate the difficulty of it. The flaw is that it usually helps the favourite. Since they usually ride for the strongest teams.

 

[theyoungest]

...anyway. You don't need to give extra advantage to the big teams if you want the GC to be quite open. Also imagine a scenario where someone wins the tour by gaining time in the TTT and just hanging on. Would anyone find that satisfactory? Not that this TTT is long enought to make a significant difference in the end.

Such a TT would have to be pretty darn long, and chances are that if you manage to hang on for the entire stage race, you are a pretty good climber to begin with.

I think it's a beautiful discipline with a lot of history. Many say it's the hardest discipline, you can't suffer more than in a TTT.

 

[Cobblestoned]

I can hear something

http://videochat.gazzetta.it/index_giro.shtml

TTT - one of the most beautiful things in cycling

 

[DenisMenchov]

...anyway. You don't need to give extra advantage to the big teams if you want the GC to be quite open. Also imagine a scenario where someone wins the tour by gaining time in the TTT and just hanging on. Would anyone find that satisfactory? Not that this TTT is long enought to make a significant difference in the end.

I`d love this see a guy that justs hang on on A. Schlecks wheel. (Contador does not count)

 

[jens_attacks]

TTT - one of the most beautiful things in cycling

same here.i hope once in 5-6 years the grand tours will give us a 70 km ttt.hell, manolo will be back with once next year so a little gift for him

 

[jaylew]

Is it just me, or does anyone else think TTTs suck?

Of course, I'll watch, but I find it hard to get excited.

Steve

I like watching them but I wish they weren't in GTs as I don't like the effect they have on GC.

Not going to skip my ride to watch this one live, though. Hopefully I can catch it later.

 

[taiwan]

I`d love this see a guy that justs hang on on A. Schlecks wheel. (Contador does not count)

That was tour with a small 't', FYI.

 

[Lanark]

I like watching them but I wish they weren't in GTs as I don't like the effect they have on GC.

Agree, a short TTT like this is fine (although I prefer a prologue), but because the best riders usually ride with the bigger teams, a long TTT gives them a big advantage over the climber/underdog types. In the Tour the long TTT's almost always made the race more boring.

 

[cineteq]

I wish they weren't in GTs as I don't like the effect they have on GC.

Isn't that the whole point, to have an effect in the GC? I personally love watching it. Road cycling is also about teams.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Isn't that the whole point, to have an effect in the GC? I personally love watching it. Road cycling is also about teams.

Yes but the gc is an INDIVIDUAL classification therefore a team race should not go towards individual time.

Cycling news has started their ticker with Christian vande velde
http://live.cyclingnews.com/

 

[cineteq]

Yes but the gc is an INDIVIDUAL classification therefore a team race should not go towards individual time.

It's perhaps the only time the whole team can contribute to the aspiration of its GC leader.

 

[auscyclefan94]

That doesn't justify why it should be in a GT.

 

[DenisMenchov]

200 men on the biggest quest of their lives. There are going all through Italy, On a course that even the strongest fear. Going to climb Mount Everst half a dozen times , climb to Mount Etna - twice, and face the ultimate challenge of Monte Zoncolan. Through dirt, snow, ice and rain, they are going to suffer a lot, there will be tears, but also the memorable moments of joy. They are going to fight on the most steepest, most dangerous roads for the maglia rosa. They are facing IL GIRO.

 

[auscyclefan94]

200 men on the biggest quest of their lives. There are going all through Italy, On a course that even the strongest fear. Going to climb Mount Everst half a dozen times , climb to Mount Etna - twice, and face the ultimate challenge of Monte Zoncolan. Through dirt, snow, ice and rain, they are going to suffer a lot, there will be tears, but also the memorable moments of joy. They are going to fight on the most steepest, most dangerous roads for the maglia rosa. They are facing IL GIRO.

Great summation. It should and I think it will be a great edition like every year.

 

[killswitch]

Nice preview of the course on gazzetta website.

Cycling news has started their ticker with Christian vande velde
http://live.cyclingnews.com/

Zabriskie still says that he could have passed me but he didn’t want to go to the press conference afterwards.

 

[Cobblestoned]

Yes but the gc is an INDIVIDUAL classification therefore a team race should not go towards individual time.

Yeah, but cycling is a team sport. And TTT is part of a GT.

A team that carries the captain through a GT to win, should also be able to carry him through a TTT. Its essential to have a good team - not only in TTT.
Some teams always have disadvantages somewhere and are focused on other goals anyway.

While TTT is mostly about practicing. And problem is that most teams give a sheit, even about just riding TT bikes.
Thats their own problem, not problem for teams that take that discipline serious.

 

[Moondance]

Personally I'm a supporter of TTTs as long as they are not too long. For a GT I think a good upper limit is around 30kms, rather like the TTT in the Giro last year.

It allows strong teams, or teams with TT specialist, enough to get a proper win on merit and some advantage for the GC, but not long enough that strong riders on weaker teams are essentially shut out from the off. A good example of excess TTTing were those super-long 60+km monsters that the Tour always had a decade or so ago. US Postal and ONCE would just so thoroughly demolish 'weaker' teams that the certain riders would already have one foot on the podium.

Unless your team completely sucks, however, the max anyone will lose in a 30km TTT is about 1'30. Which is a lot, but doesn't rule anyone out yet. But take the 2000 Tour where Armstrong gained almost 4 minutes over previous year's 2nd Alex Zulle in the Stage 4 TTT that year, which was 70kms long. And its not even like Zulle was on a horrid team, he was on Banesto FFS.

 

[More Strides than Rides]

Yes but the gc is an INDIVIDUAL classification therefore a team race should not go towards individual time.

Cycling news has started their ticker with Christian vande velde
http://live.cyclingnews.com/

I'm going out of my way to be a snot, but it is the general classification. Just like we have to delineate the points jerseys from a sprints jersey, I suppose this general classification should include rank riders along everything: flat and mountain, as well as specific individual and team efforts.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Yeah, but cycling is a team sport. And TTT is part of a GT.

A team that carries the captain through a GT to win, should also be able to carry him through a TTT. Its essential to have a good team - not only in TTT.
Some teams always have disadvantages somewhere and are focused on other goals anyway.

While TTT is mostly about practicing. And problem is that most teams give a sheit, even about just riding TT bikes.
Thats their own problem, not problem for teams that take that discipline serious.

It is also an individual sport. It doesn't change the fact that a team event shouldn't be apart of an individual time classification. You want the best tatical, smartest and strongest rider to win. A gc rider shouldn't be hampered by his team in an event which he has little control over.

Anyway, lets not ramble on about the validity of ttt's, lets talk about today's race.

 

[spalco]

Ha, it's on.

Go anyone but Contador!