2012 Giro d'Italia; May 18th; Stage 13: Savona - Cervere (121km)

[maltiv]

If Cav sprints for points at intermediate sprints, then he surely isn't planning to quit the race anytime soon.

 

[Kwibus]

"Goss will be in contention today and with a stage win already in his pocket, he should be Cavendish's closet rival."

You heard it first. Goss is Cavendish closet rival.

 

[Frosty]

If Cav sprints for points at intermediate sprints, then he surely isn't planning to quit the race anytime soon.

Maybe he needs the practice as people keep on knocking him off before he gets a good go at the end of a stage?

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

I guess I'm not the only one then. Gonna miss the last hour or so of tomorrow's stage.

Im going to miss tomorrows stage as well. kinda ironic, i see all the boring stages but so far missed the mt stages (i missed rocco di cambio as well)

 

[Frosty]

They are barely riding right now. I wonder if stages like this put off casual fans. I can appreciate a sprint stage sometimes, but I bet its dead boring for someone just learning about the sport.

Must be great for insomniacs though! Tape it and then play it back late at night.

 

[will10]

Im going to miss tomorrows stage as well. kinda ironic, i see all the boring stages but so far missed the mt stages (i missed rocco di cambio as well)

Same here, I'm away for both Cervinia and Sunday

 

[Catwhoorg]

Cav gets a few more points.

Definately looks like he may be in this one for the duration to complete the GT points jersey collection.

 

[Zam_Olyas]

Tarmac looks good right now where they are riding.

 

[Caruut]

If Cav sprints for points at intermediate sprints, then he surely isn't planning to quit the race anytime soon.

Sprinting for the primes?

 

[Caruut]

Tarmac looks good right now where they are riding.

The tarmac on the original route yesterday was so bad they altered it to use some new tarmac.

 

[Mellow Velo]

A perfect siesta stage, today. Out like a light for 35kms and missed nothing.

 

[Frosty]

How much of a chance does Cav stand in the overall points competition though? Cant see him picking up many after today and some of the GC guys will get a lot of points on the mountain finishes (although breakaways sometimes take these). Rodriguez isnt that far behind.

 

[Caruut]

They are barely riding right now. I wonder if stages like this put off casual fans. I can appreciate a sprint stage sometimes, but I bet its dead boring for someone just learning about the sport.

A lot of people just learning about the sport love sprints though. I did when I first found cycling. I still love the final sprint, but there's always a tinge of regret that a proper attacker didn't make it stick.

 

[Bernie's eyesore]

Cavendish surely has no chance at all of being inside the time limit on stage 20 and that is if he survives the other stages next week. Even if he gets away with a points deduction he is unlikely to have enough points to hold off J Rod or Pozzovivo.

 

[theyoungest]

The excitement is killing me. What a stage.

 

[Frosty]

Will anyone even bother trying to attack on the small inclines towards the finish?

 

[HoinkDoink]

Will anyone even bother trying to attack on the small inclines towards the finish?

Someone will probably attack for about 400m then give in lol

 

[Catwhoorg]

Will anyone even bother trying to attack on the small inclines towards the finish?

Sky will so they can TTT to victory!

 

[Geraint Too Fast]

Will anyone even bother trying to attack on the small inclines towards the finish?

Dennis Vanendert will probably have a go.

 

[Fetisoff]

Sky will so they can TTT to victory!

White J-Rod will finally succeed in losing his pink jersey by dropping back from the peloton

 

[Caruut]

How much of a chance does Cav stand in the overall points competition though? Cant see him picking up many after today and some of the GC guys will get a lot of points on the mountain finishes (although breakaways sometimes take these). Rodriguez isnt that far behind.

If he wins today, he'll be on 100 points. If Sky want to control it long enough for Cav to get 5 more intermediate sprints, then he'll be on 130, plus one more flat stage, which he'll hope for 25 on to take him to 155. Rodriguez and Pozzovivo have 55 and 49 respectively. So, for Rodriguez and Pozzo that's 4 stage wins to overhaul him - quite a bit, considering that Basso, Scarponi, Rujano and Franky aregoing to be contesting the MTFs as well. The similar attributes of all the GC men (climbers not TTers) suits Cavendish a lot. I left my ProCycling with all the stage profiles up the other end of the country, but a couple of the mountain stages could end up with the breaks too.

If he doesn't get about 20 points today, then I think that if one of the mountain guys feels like he's out of the overall, it'll be worth going full gas on a couple of MTFs to claim the points. Since he probably won't bother with the extra intermediates if he's not looking like winning it, then he'll be at 75, or 100 if he wins the last flat stage.

 

[Caruut]

Does the Giro have a rule allowing the gruppetto to stay if it's big enough?

 

[ElleSquared]

They are barely riding right now. I wonder if stages like this put off casual fans. I can appreciate a sprint stage sometimes, but I bet its dead boring for someone just learning about the sport.

As someone who is "just learning about the sport", I'm going to answer this with a yes and a no.....

While for pure excitement, marvel, and watchability I prefer MTF stages, I find that the "boring" classic sprint stages actually provide a lot more opportunity to increase my understanding of the sport and of team tactics. For one thing, when there is less going on in the parcours in terms of flashy climbs and fireworks, the commentators tend to spend more time discussing things that might otherwise go unmentioned (and which veterans of the sport might take for granted). For example, today I learned about the delicate balance that riders and their DS' negotiate when choosing between staying in a mediocre position in the GC, or sacrificing your GC position and possibly losing time during one stage in order to better position yourself to get in a break and be allowed to get away and possibly secure a stage win in the future. I know the commentators (especially the English ones) get a lot of flak on these boards, but little nuggets like that are actually hugely interesting to people like me, and they often don't get talked about in the more "exciting" stages when there are more direct attacks and overt tactics being played out. I'm sure it's old hat to all of you, but the subtler strategies and individual nuances that go on during stage races are fascinating, and still very new to me......I've got a lot to learn, and I appreciate it when a stage allows these subtler aspects to come to the forefront.


But yeah......I do agree that a straight, flat and (in today's case) slooooow sprint stage is not exactly riveting to watch until the last few kms. I still enjoy it, though.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Rabo with a train at 12km...

 

[Caruut]

Ballan to chance his arm if Greenedge start to look like they're tiring?