2013 Giro D'Italia Field Discussion

[rhubroma]

Lucky you run into a humble down to earth bloke like Nibali. Not all cyclists are that nice.

Yes, he seemed rather down to earth. It was funny, you know. At the start of the Granfondo there were like over 1000 participants. Myself and the guys I ride with were in the first grill, though it still took about 3 minutes to actually depart, because there were about 300 riders in front of us.

The first 20K were lightning fast and so it was a matter of getting your a$$ up to the front without crashing or going fuori giro, then the first climb came!

I got over that with the leaders. We were at that point a group of 40-50, no more. Then there was another climb and that shed another 20 or so out the back. Finally the pace dropped back down in the valley and one could take a bit of a breather before the next climb (there was over 2300 meters of total vertical ascent on the course).

It was at this point that a noticed two really fit guys with sky blue kit among us. I immediately realized neither had race numbers on and remembered that Nibali and Agnoli were above Fiuggi at altitude according to la Gazzetta dello Sport. Then I thought "Sh!t, that's Nibali and Agnoli."

We had been going so hard before and I was so concentrated on my race and holding position, first getting up to the front, then on the climbs, that I hadn't even noticed them. Then I thought, pfff, gotta say something to the bloke, so I did. No big deal. He got a kick out of the fact though that, while American, my mother's side of the family had emigrated to the US from Messina a century or so ago. After our brief exchange then came the next climb to Fiuggi, not the longest of the day, but the steepest. A brutal series of switchbacks, with brief sections at 20% for about 3-4k. Still there, but a break of 4 gets away, among whom was the eventual winner.
It was on the next climb of 10k that Nibali and Agnoli bridged up to the leaders. Bye-Bye…or rather, ciao.

 

[maxmartin]

Yes, he seemed rather down to earth. It was funny, you know. At the start of the Granfondo there were like over 1000 participants. Myself and the guys I ride with were in the first grill, though it still took about 3 minutes to actually depart, because there were about 300 riders in front of us.

The first 20K were lightning fast and so it was a matter of getting your a$$ up to the front without crashing or going fuori giro, then the first climb came!

I got over that with the leaders. We were at that point a group of 40-50, no more. Then there was another climb and that shed another 20 or so out the back. Finally the pace dropped back down in the valley and one could take a bit of a breather before the next climb (there was over 2300 meters of total vertical ascent on the course).

It was at this point that a noticed two really fit guys with sky blue kit among us. I immediately realized neither had race numbers on and remembered that Nibali and Agnoli were above Fiuggi at altitude according to la Gazzetta dello Sport. Then I thought "Sh!t, that's Nibali and Agnoli."

We had been going so hard before and I was so concentrated on my race and holding position, first getting up to the front, then on the climbs, that I hadn't even noticed them. Then I thought, pfff, gotta say something to the bloke, so I did. No big deal. He got a kick out of the fact though that, while American, my mother's side of the family had emigrated to the US from Messina a century or so ago. After our brief exchange then came the next climb to Fiuggi, not the longest of the day, but the steepest. A brutal series of switchbacks, with brief sections at 20% for about 3-4k. Still there, but a break of 4 gets away, among whom was the eventual winner.
It was on the next climb of 10k that Nibali and Agnoli bridged up to the leaders. Bye-Bye…or rather, ciao.

Cool stuff, you should also share the info in nibali discussion thread

 

[taiwan]

I thought briefly you were subtly implying he had a swimming coach now. They are en vogue after all. Apologies for lowering the tone, but that was what I got.

 

[taiwan]

Mattia Gavazzi seems in shape right in time for the Giro.

Vini Fantini and Androni will have extremely strong line-ups. Every single rider of these teams can win a stage. Both are much, much, much better than teams like Lotto-Belisol or Argos.

Yeah IMO Vini Fantini are very strong across the board but Androni may score more if Pellizotti and Gavazzi are both good at the moment. Although Santambrogio seems to be in blazing form going into the race, Il Delfino already has a podium.

 

[rhubroma]

I thought briefly you were subtly implying he had a swimming coach now. They are en vogue after all. Apologies for lowering the tone, but that was what I got.

No, no. I was simply commenting on the fact that there really is something of a squalo look about Nibali and the new uniform blue made it even more apparent. At least as far as I could tell.

 

[rhubroma]

Cool stuff, you should also share the info in nibali discussion thread

Will do.

 

[wirral]

Did Pozzovivo pull out of the Giro with his cracked ribs or are they good enough for him to race?

 

[Eshnar]

Did Pozzovivo pull out of the Giro with his cracked ribs or are they good enough for him to race?

he's still in, though it's not sure yet.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Did Pozzovivo pull out of the Giro with his cracked ribs or are they good enough for him to race?

Pozzo is lined up for the Rund um den Finanzplatz one-day race on May 1st.

Think the ribs were bruised a bit, but nothing really serious luckily.

 

[Ferminal]

Hello, winner.

Cobo, Intxausti, Capecchi, Dowsett, Lastras, Karpets, Ventoso, Visconti y José Herrada

 

[Flamin]

Lotto squad is official:

Bak, Bellemakers, De Greef, Dehaes, Dockx, Hansen, Kaisen, Wellens en Willems.

First gt for young Wellens.

edit: Wellens out with a knee-injury, replaced by Reynes.

 

[Eshnar]

Movistar Team: Beñat Intxausti, José Herrada, Pablo Lastras, Fran Ventoso, Juanjo Cobo, Alex Dowsett, Vladimir Karpets, Eros Capecchi y Giovanni Visconti.

http://www.biciciclismo.com/cas/site/noticias-ficha.asp?id=61423

edit:

 

[Eshnar]

edit: Wellens out with a knee-injury, replaced by Reynes.

thanks....

 

[Parrulo]

Hello, winner.

Cobo, Intxausti, Capecchi, Dowsett, Lastras, Karpets, Ventoso, Visconti y José Herrada

Karpets is the scariest looking person on the planet

 

[jens_attacks]

good team for juanjo to defend the maglia rosa.

 

[Swabian Lass]

Vincenzo Nibali was riding in my group at the front of a Granfondo as a training ride with his teammate Valerio Agnoli who is from Fiuggi, where the race began. Nibali and Agnoli are staying at altitude above Fiuggi in preparation for the Giro, since Nibali's wife is from there (they met because Nibali and Agnoli are good friends). I actually spoke with him, Nibali, briefly while we were cruising along on one of the only flat spots on the 130k (80 mile) course. What did I say? Naturally best of luck at the Giro. He's known as "the Shark of Messina." Now I know why. He doesn't have a muscle or any fat that's not in function of peddling a bike and, I dare say, he doesn't seem to be peddling, but swimming. Weird. The Giro starts next week, so it was interesting to see one of the best bike racers in the world at near maximum form. He will fly in the race. You heard it first here.

Very, very cool. I'm jealous.

 

[theyoungest]

Karpets is the scariest looking person on the planet

His name refers to his hair.

 

[Ferminal]

good team for juanjo to defend the maglia rosa.

Or if he's struggling to take the lead, he can have Vlad eliminate any opponents.

 

[Sophistic82]

Astana doing altitude training now...stupid, expect a subpar ITT and first mountain stage by Nibali

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

All the recent noises make it feel like Wiggins is going to call in sick for the Tour and ride the Vuelta instead, which makes a lot more sense.

“I see it as a Giro/Tour project. The Giro comes first so that is the priority, but the minute the Giro is finished, it is not a case of going back to normality. I will be preparing as seriously as I can for the Tour,” said Wiggins, pointing to the post-Tour form that yielded Olympic gold last year. “I believe I can come out of the Giro in the same shape and be seriously competitive in the Tour.”

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/wiggins-it-was-easier-to-spit-out-from-the-tent-than-spit-into-it

 

[theyoungest]

Astana doing altitude training now...stupid, expect a subpar ITT and first mountain stage by Nibali

Isn't that the way he always does it? I'm sure he knows what he's doing.

The only worrying thing is that he was approaching his best form in Trentino already.

 

[afpm90]

Bardiani-CSF: Sacha Modolo, Stefano Pirazzi, Enrico Battaglin, Nicola Boem, Francesco Manuel Bongiorno, Marco Canola, Sonny Colbrelli, Stefano Locatelli and Edoardo Zardini

Age average of the team: 24,3, the youngest team in the Giro.

 

[Eshnar]

Bardiani-CSF: Sacha Modolo, Stefano Pirazzi, Enrico Battaglin, Nicola Boem, Francesco Manuel Bongiorno, Marco Canola, Sonny Colbrelli, Stefano Locatelli and Edoardo Zardini

Age average of the team: 24,3, the youngest team in the Giro.

After Trentino I have some expectation about them

 

[greenedge]

They should get at least one stage win.
So should Movistar- but they have a very nice squad who could get up to 3 even.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Very nice team. Hopefully Battaglin can finally show something.