2012 Giro d'Italia, May 23rd, stage 17: Falzes → Cortina D'Ampezzo, 186 Kms

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Hey guys what did I miss. Was this good enough? I only came back in time to watch the final 6 km.

It was ok, if not for SS puncture IMO it would have been very good.

Basso is gonna own on the weekend IMO.

Gogo basso !!

 

[Unkown]

Basso may be the strongest but it doesn't look like he has to power to gap everybody on 19/20, just a bad day for Scarponi or is his overall form bad?

 

[c&cfan]

Hey guys what did I miss. Was this good enough? I only came back in time to watch the final 6 km.

only since the beginning of the last climb it became good.

basso drilling it, kreuziger exploding, everyone at their respective limits and pozzo puts and infernal pace in the last km of the climb, putting everyone in the red zone. scarponi and uran catches them soon after and then you know.

 

[SafeBet]

my man domenico clearly waiting for his favorite climb, i expect to see him attacking big time on the pampeago stage

Actually Pozzo could be Basso's best ally, but he needs to attack earlier.

 

[nvpacchi]

Cyclists have the weakest handshakes

JRod and Basso handing each other deadfishes

 

[shalgo]

Yes but it was hardly a beautiful win. If he had danced clear at 1km to go and held everyone off on the descent then maybe. But following all day and winning sprint? Beautiful win? nah.

Yes, I think this is the point. It is not that it wasn't a good win, or a deserved win, or a smart win. But certainly not beautiful.

 

[Carl0880]

Basso looked pretty impressive. This could have been so much different if Smyzd didn't have that mechanical. Smzyd could have kept the pace up while Basso sat instead of making the pace himself. That mechanical may end up costing him this Giro.

 

[SantiBotero]

Actually this stage was really boring. Nothing really happened. The only good thing that Hesjedal is one more step closer to win or at least reach a podium spot.

+1. Things got a little clearer, but the top 4 stayed right the same.

 

[The Sheep]

So are we down to four serious contenders now?

JRod
Hesjedal
Basso
Scarponi

Uran

 

[c&cfan]

Yes but it was hardly a beautiful win. If he had danced clear at 1km to go and held everyone off on the descent then maybe. But following all day and winning sprint? Beautiful win? nah.

yes because this was a panflat stage, j-rod is know for his consistency, he does not have the pink jersey and no one was trying to drop him since km0!

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

well.. he has a brain. he looked like at his limit at giau and he has the best sprint.

only if he was as stupid as your post you would see him working..

My post?

It was a good win by Rodriguez and he did what he had to do. But the poster I quoted called it a beautiful win. Like it was some amazing feat.

Sorry but that's ridicolous and I stand by my right to ridicule such a post

 

[SafeBet]

Basso may be the strongest but it doesn't look like he has to power to gap everybody on 19/20, just a bad day for Scarponi or is his overall form bad?

He didn't look great from the beginning of Giau to me.
But he's got great recovery.

 

[Sophistic]

very impressive climbing by Hesjedal, looking stronger than the featherweights on 10% slopes but also very unimpressive descending by the canadian, how the hell can an ex-mtb pro not drop Basso downhill....

 

[gustienordic]

Now just hoping for someone to screw JRod

Time trial...

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Basso may be the strongest but it doesn't look like he has to power to gap everybody on 19/20, just a bad day for Scarponi or is his overall form bad?

Disagree he was holding back on the final climb IMO. Aso SS was a big loss. On the weekend he is gonna put the hammer down and not look back, something we didn't see today.

 

[will10]

Some people are impossible to please. The race blows to pieces at 25km to go with everyone on their limits, but the stage sucks.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

He is in pink, so all he has to do is defend. It's up to others to ride him off their wheel.

Sure, but there's a difference between a tactically sound win and a "beautiful win". Otherwise, this forum would be in ecstatics every time Cavendish wins.

As an aside, while I agree that all JRod had to do on this stage was defend, I think that, given his time trialling frailties, he'd be well advised to try to build a bigger cushion before the TT.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

JROd did exactly what the Maglia Rosa was supposed to do

Yes exactly and that's why it's a normal win. Not an AMAZING BEAUTIFUL WIN OMG

Time for you guys to use your brain like Rodriguez did. Maybe then you'd understand what I exactly mean.

 

[shalgo]

He is in pink, so all he has to do is defend. It's up to others to ride him off their wheel.

Is that really true though? Surely if he has only 30 seconds on Hesjedal before the ITT he will lose.

I think that JRod, Basso, and Scarponi still aren't treating Hesjedal like a real contender. They expect him to crack one of these days, and so are only thinking about each other.

 

[dlwssonic]

Basso looked good he will win and crack Jrod on friday or saturday.
GO ROBOBASSO!

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Disagree he was holding back on the final climb IMO. Aso SS was a big loss. On the weekend he is gonna put the hammer down and not look back, something we didn't see today.

Why on earth would he have been holding back there? If he had been capable of tightening the screws even a little more, Scarponi, his biggest rival in theory, would be out of the reckoning.

 

[Catwhoorg]

Cav needs to be on top form tomorrow.

JRod is only a point adrift from the red jersey.

Shows that those intermediate points he srpinted for on a few days do matter.

 

[Havetts]

Some people are impossible to please. The race blows to pieces at 25km to go with everyone on their limits, but the stage sucks.

+1... rode as fast as they could it seems but still it isnt enough for some.

 

[Fetisoff]

My post?

It was a good win by Rodriguez and he did what he had to do. But the poster I quoted called it a beautiful win. Like it was some amazing feat.

Sorry but that's ridicolous and I stand by my right to ridicule such a post

Actually, I'm pretty sure the posted you are referring to was actually ridiculing Purito's win

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Some people are impossible to please. The race blows to pieces at 25km to go with everyone on their limits, but the stage sucks.

No way it sucked, it was good has me very excited for the weekend. Could have been better, but again it was an entertaining stage.