2012 Tirreno -Adriatico, Stage 5:Martinsicuro - Prati di Tivo: 196 km

[greenedge]

Nibali will be hungry for it after losing out today and he done plenty of racing so far this season so his condition will be good here for a stage like this. He has already done San Luis and won Green Mountain and that will stand him in good nick here so him to beat Horner and Kreuziger.

I doubt though that he can make up a 27 second gap on Kreuziger or a 34 second gap on Horner. We saw that Kreuziger is maybe the better sprinter out of the two on harder finishes. Also Kreuziger has Kessiakoff to help him ( he should be invaluable ). I doubt Nibali ( even if he has great form ) can take matters into his own hands and crack both Kreuziger/ Horner and ride Di Luca off his wheel.

 

[rxgqgxnyfz]

I doubt though that he can make up a 27 second gap on Kreuziger or a 34 second gap on Horner. We saw that Kreuziger is maybe the better sprinter out of the two on harder finishes. Also Kreuziger has Kessiakoff to help him ( he should be invaluable ). I doubt Nibali ( even if he has great form ) can take matters into his own hands and crack both Kreuziger/ Horner and ride Di Luca off his wheel.

Kessiakoff is slightly off form, he is getting better as he says though on his blog.

Tiralongo also looks good.

Let's hope team will do something of their talents.

 

[Lexman]

Kreuziger or Nibali FTW , i doubt if Di Luca can hold it on longer climbs...

Evans improving but not enough to win or to be top 3 in GC...

Gilbert losing 15 minutes today...

 

[Red Rick]

I hope Horner doesn't win, because he just would've won because of the TTT where Radioschleck had favourable wind

 

[TeoSheva]

I hope Horner doesn't win, because he just would've won because of the TTT where Radioschleck had favourable wind

so if he wins today is because of the wind that there was on Wednesday?

 

[dlwssonic]

Hoping for some magic from evans today. His form I dont think is anywhere close to where it was at TA last year. due to the olympic year and a good WC for him.

 

[Trofinios]

Tough stage today: 196k, up and down all day and two long climbs in the end. And this after 250k yesterday. If the pace is hard we could see som real time gaps even among the GC contenders. Nibali seems strong so I believe Liquigas will set a good pace and make it a really hard day.

Stage:
1. JOR
2. Nibali
3. Kreuziger

 

[jens_attacks]

the route is great,in the last 150 km no flat at all!

 

[Red Rick]

so if he wins today is because of the wind that there was on Wednesday?

I mean that if he gets dropped but hangs on to the jersey. I'm talking about the GC. If he drops everyone and wins today i'm still not happy, but then it's just me being biased. I'm just not a fan.

 

[theyoungest]

the route is great,in the last 150 km no flat at all!

Yeah, I think this was the stage that impelled Di Luca to skip Strade Bianche, to train some more on his climbing?

 

[jens_attacks]

Yeah, I think this was the stage that impelled Di Luca to skip Strade Bianche, to train some more on his climbing?

yes he said this will decide tirreno-adriatico not the stage with lanciano.he did it two times before the start of this year's edition.he also said it won't be a lot of guys at the start of prati ti tivo,it will be an uber hard stage.from yesterday,he was most impressed by nibali.

this is today's break by the way:

45 km

Goddaert, Martinez and Debusschere

7:00

peloton

 

[Ferminal]

the route is great,in the last 150 km no flat at all!

You're right, I only ever really saw the final two big climbs.

Overall about 3500m of climbing (proper numbers from the profile, not inflated google numbers).

If only they would charge over the early stuff, doesn't seem like it though with the break already at 7mins. 42.7kmh for the first hour, which i guess is something around 37kmh for the bunch.

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

Kreuziger or Nibali FTW , i doubt if Di Luca can hold it on longer climbs...

He didn't do too bad in the first days of the Tour de Suisse last year:

http://www.cqranking.com/men/asp/gen/race.asp?raceid=20560

Granted, the level of his competitors wasn't that high, but his form was already pretty bad by then. He's in much better shape right now, though, and seems to have lost a few kgs, too. He'll be up there no doubt.

Pozzovivo to take the stage though

 

[jens_attacks]

weather looks fine at the finish

 

[meat puppet]

hope papi horner goes well. yes, his pro-LA stuff was ridiculous, but come on, the redneck's awesome. too bad he doesn't sport the goatee.

 

[movingtarget]

Hoping for some magic from evans today. His form I dont think is anywhere close to where it was at TA last year. due to the olympic year and a good WC for him.

Yeah I think it's a positive for him. Big second half year coming up but his natural competitiveness will keep him up there for the majority of this stage. I think Kreuziger will be vulnerable in the TT. Not the TT rider he used to be but still maybe good enough to win this race if he does not lose too much time today. The TT will suit Horner.

 

[theyoungest]

Hoping for some magic from evans today. His form I dont think is anywhere close to where it was at TA last year. due to the olympic year and a good WC for him.

Even when he won last year in Tirreno he wasn't that strong on the long climb in Catalunya, one week after. So I don't expect too much from him (top-10 should be possible though).

 

[Ruudz0r]

Today it is time for a Pozzovivo show. Hopefully Di Luca for overall.

 

[Lance Armstrong]

Sagan to attack on downhill with Nibali on his wheel?

 

[Eyeballs Out]

Sagan to attack on downhill with Nibali on his wheel?

I don't think the downhill is going to be testing enough. Not steep and the weather seems ok

 

[dlwssonic]

Yeah I think it's a positive for him. Big second half year coming up but his natural competitiveness will keep him up there for the majority of this stage. I think Kreuziger will be vulnerable in the TT. Not the TT rider he used to be but still maybe good enough to win this race if he does not lose too much time today. The TT will suit Horner.

Even when he won last year in Tirreno he wasn't that strong on the long climb in Catalunya, one week after. So I don't expect too much from him (top-10 should be possible though).

Yup wont be surprised at all if he struggles a lot on this stage. He can only really climb competitively in big mountains when he is on really good form.

 

[Mellow Velo]

Not sure about Eurosport schedules for Tirreno, today. Completely different to Rai 3.

 

[dlwssonic]

Not sure about Eurosport schedules for Tirreno, today. Completely different to Rai 3.

on my eurosport they are showing that stupid World touring car thing.

 

[Froome19]

Not sure about Eurosport schedules for Tirreno, today. Completely different to Rai 3.

It seems like it will be on straight after Paris-Nice and will continue until the stage is finished (at least in Britain) so should be on from 2 as wiggins is scheduled to leave at 1:25

 

[movingtarget]

on my eurosport they are showing that stupid World touring car thing.

Eurosport seems to favour the PN over TA...same thing happened last year. According to Eurosport in Australia we see no Tirreno action tonight but one hour of highlights at midday tomorrow ! Pathetic.......least we saw the final hour last night.