2013 Giro D'Italia Field Discussion

[Ferminal]

Big mistake, IMO.

Not so bad if Siutsou is on the table.

Whether or not he's over his injury and can rediscover his 2011 form is another matter.

Wiggins, Uran, Henao, 3 of (Cataldo, Lopez, Kiryienka, Siutsou), 3 of (Knees, Pate, Kennaugh, Zandio, Puccio).

 

[JRanton]

Big mistake, IMO.

Possibly. Kiri has obviously gone very well at the Giro in the past. It really depends on how well the other Sky riders perform. Cataldo and Lopez were very impressive at Tirreno/P-N respectively.

 

[melkemugg]

Nibby is going to win this one. I dont think Wiggo got it this time. The Giro always have this extra layer of randomness that will mess up the BORGS calculating.

Ill root for Gesink though.

 

[Contadoraus Schlecks]

Nibby is going to win this one. I dont think Wiggo got it this time. The Giro always have this extra layer of randomness that will mess up the BORGS calculating.

Ill root for Gesink though.

Hesjedal looked good yesterday. I think he might have a good chance again this year.

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

Hesjedal looked good yesterday. I think he might have a good chance again this year.

He cooked himself completely with a pointless attempt at TV time, bridging to G2 and finished well back.

 

[will10]

here is a gazetta interview with wiggins on a training run in the dolomites
http://video.gazzetta.it/sir-wiggins-scala-tre-cime/f1417d00-a53e-11e2-bddd-9462f279b233

We will find out his form vs Nibali this week.

Looking mighty skinny again.

 

[maxmartin]

He told Gazzetta that he has been on antibiotics “for the last two or three days” due to a saddle sore and he confirmed that he will not line up at next Sunday’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège: “Doing it two days after Trentino would be too stressful.”

Interesting, is it too close to Giro? I thought W can peak all year around like he did last year. What is going on?

 

[jens_attacks]

it is pretty logical in my book that he won't do damage in trentino either

if you want to peak tremendously for the giro-tour double, it is wise to light it up only from the second week of il giro

an all-year round peaking involving giro-tour double(i mean to win both of course) is absolutely impossible for the body

we'll see the real wiggins in the giro, in my opinion.

 

[maxmartin]

it is pretty logical in my book that he won't do damage in trentino either

if you want to peak tremendously for the giro-tour double, it is wise to light it up only from the second week of il giro

an all-year round peaking involving giro-tour double(i mean to win both of course) is absolutely impossible for the body

we'll see the real wiggins in the giro, in my opinion.

go for win in Giro-Tour double, in his wildest dream

he either dropped out of Giro after one week to focus on Tour, or he podium Giro then rides for CF or RP in the Tour. It is also quite possible he won't even podium in neither.

 

[SafeBet]

My guess - he doesn't seem to like riding for anyone else and Scarponi would/should be the outright leader at the Giro, so send him to the Vuelta as Lampre could do with Ulissi picking up some points elsewhere.

More likely he is currently past his peak and won't be ready for the Giro. Doesn't make sense to go there and be a non factor, better prepare for other races.

 

[Orvieto]

He cooked himself completely with a pointless attempt at TV time, bridging to G2 and finished well back.

I wouldn't say pointless. Maybe he hoped someone would come with him to help bridge. He probably would have finished higher if he'd saved himself for the Cauburg, but he wasn't going to win it by hanging back either. He look a risk, a low percentage one, but then hey, we criticize riders for not being aggressive. I appreciated somebody mixing up the tactics.

It is some indication of his form that he's able to put in an attack after 240km. He's still a long shot to defend, but you won't see him overcook himself like that in a three week race. He won it last year by balancing his efforts over three weeks.

 

[will10]

I wouldn't say pointless. Maybe he hoped someone would come with him to help bridge. He probably would have finished higher if he'd saved himself for the Cauburg, but he wasn't going to win it by hanging back either. He look a risk, a low percentage one, but then hey, we criticize riders for not being aggressive. I appreciated somebody mixing up the tactics.

It is some indication of his form that he's able to put in an attack after 240km. He's still a long shot to defend, but you won't see him overcook himself like that in a three week race. He won it last year by balancing his efforts over three weeks.

+1

Getting across that gap solo was pretty impressive. You've got to have the legs to do that. You could see he was dead as he got across, of course, and it certainly wasn't the way to get a result at Amstel, but bodes well for the Giro for sure.

 

[ernesto.]

Giro Mountain Categories on the Official Programme

The official programme. I presume these are the right ones... It's practically the same profile but longer in length.

Wow. Cool! Look, I know this might sound crazy, but since the Giro website is not updated, would you consider listing the categories of the climbs for each stage? Or at least the first 7? Sorry to ask, I'm just so anxious to see how they categorized those climbs and the Giro website, all the climbs still appear with the same "blueish" tint on the GPM, so I can't grade the difficulty of each climb. Thanks!

 

[JRanton]

Not so bad if Siutsou is on the table.

Whether or not he's over his injury and can rediscover his 2011 form is another matter.

Wiggins, Uran, Henao, 3 of (Cataldo, Lopez, Kiryienka, Siutsou), 3 of (Knees, Pate, Kennaugh, Zandio, Puccio).

Could easily be four of the latter group. Zandio has said he's riding the Giro. It's still most likely that Siutsou only does the Tour, after all he specifically went to Corsica a week before Crit International with Porte, Froome and Kiri to recon the first Tour stages. Could possibly be doing both but I think he's a late reserve option to replace the likes of Cataldo or Lopez.

Wiggins, Uran, Henao, Cataldo, Lopez, Kennaugh, Zandio, Knees and Pate is what I think it will be. Not a very good team for the TTT but it's short so the gaps will be meaningless anyway.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

why are they taking kennaugh? that guy has been horrible in pretty much every arce for the past one and a ahfl years

 

[JRanton]

why are they taking kennaugh? that guy has been horrible in pretty much every arce for the past one and a ahfl years

You're being a bit harsh on him. He had some promising performances in 2011 and focused on winning Olympic gold on the track last year.

He hasn't been great so far this year but Sky can't have 8 Jonny foreigners going to support Wiggins.

 

[CycloAndy]

why are they taking kennaugh? that guy has been horrible in pretty much every arce for the past one and a ahfl years

Agree with JRanton, his focus was elsewhere last year so it's unfair to judge him yet. I think they picked him because of a combination of his nationality, and that they want to test him in a GT this year to see what he's got. Would love him do well but don't think he's good enough as a climber so can see him being put in the classics squad next year. Does anyone know whether he would be any good as a puncheur?

 

[Linkeballer]

It's half of april, all contenders are more or less known. I don't expect too many changes anymore concerning the main contenders.Time for some predictions!
Since Wiggins has his focus on Giro-Tour and Nibbles on just the Giro, i predict that that this one is for Nibbles. Though Ryder will come very close to them.
Last year Intxausti was sixth before he got ill. This year he looks even better and the course suits him very well with those chrono's. I think he'll becme fourth. Fifth i predict will be Scarponi. He looked good in paris-nice and showed progression in Catalunya. The track doesnt suit him totally, but his climbing skills will bring him to the fifth place. Sixth wil be Gesink. The time trials are in his advantage, but the steep irregular climbs aren't. Therefore sixth.
Behind that comes a group consisting of Uran, Sanchez, Kiserlovski and Evans.
As you can see, i dont expect too much of Sanchez. I think he's getting rather old and i highly doubt if he still can perform 3 weeks.

 

[Parrulo]

I think machado will pull a surprise top 10 somewhere between 6 and 10.

I am actually being serious this time!!!! For the first time it seems like he is preparing himself properly for a GT with the support of the shack. I mean usually he used to go to altitude camp by himself on Serra da Estrela which isn't all that high and not for that long either( 1 week is longest camp he mentioned doing i think). Now he went to some other place, he didn't mention where, with nelson oliveira and a couple other giro squad shacks, probably kiserlovski is also there, and has been there for 2 weeks now and should still be there a couple more days.

He also has a trainer with him there who has been working with machado since December with the giro as a goal.

Anyway knowing machado, now that i got a bit hyped, he will probably just crash a couple times in the first week and ruin it for me

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

you are always overhyping portugese riders. machado can't handle long climbs anyway.

 

[Linkeballer]

Kiserlovski is the first man for Radioshack.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Kiserlovski is the first man for Radioshack.

do you know this or a qualified guess?

 

[Parrulo]

you are always overhyping portugese riders. machado can't handle long climbs anyway.

pot calling kettle black

just in your case you hype for world domination and not for an anonymous top 10

 

[iZnoGouD]

I think machado will pull a surprise top 10 somewhere between 6 and 10.

I am actually being serious this time!!!! For the first time it seems like he is preparing himself properly for a GT with the support of the shack. I mean usually he used to go to altitude camp by himself on Serra da Estrela which isn't all that high and not for that long either( 1 week is longest camp he mentioned doing i think). Now he went to some other place, he didn't mention where, with nelson oliveira and a couple other giro squad shacks, probably kiserlovski is also there, and has been there for 2 weeks now and should still be there a couple more days.

He also has a trainer with him there who has been working with machado since December with the giro as a goal.

Anyway knowing machado, now that i got a bit hyped, he will probably just crash a couple times in the first week and ruin it for me

+1 He will totally destroy the field, he will make Wiggo look like an amateur

 

[wwabbit]

you are always overhyping portugese riders. machado can't handle long climbs anyway.

Oh the irony....