2013 Giro D'Italia, Stage 1: Napoli - Napoli, 130 km

[roundabout]

The second weekend is a bit meh as well.

 

[Miburo]

That was good for a lol

 

[burning]

Vuelta is not that much better with longer TTT and a stage like this



_______________________/

 

[brilleaben]

A prologue instead of the TTT could well have ended up giving Wiggins more time on others and thus enforcing more parade. Except for AG2R and Pozzovivo ofc and Euskaltel and Samu probably.

 

[Netserk]

The second weekend is a bit meh as well.

The second weekend is great! (to me the weekend is from Friday to Sunday)

@Libertine

It was pretty much the same in '11 and '09.

 

[search]

The second weekend is great! (to me the weekend is from Friday to Sunday)

yeah, the stage to Pescara on friday is propably the best stage of the whole Giro and the stage to Firenze on sunday is looking very good as well

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Prologue > TTT.

And I kind of expect godawful stages at the start of the Tour, just as I expect godawful pacing from it, like when they keep putting totally featureless flat transition stages on the penultimate weekend and all the key mountain stages on weekdays.

I also forgot how annoyed I am that the big key-note climb of the race is the Galibier. Awful. People have been fired for less.

 

[Netserk]

Prologue > TTT.

And I kind of expect godawful stages at the start of the Tour, just as I expect godawful pacing from it, like when they keep putting totally featureless flat transition stages on the penultimate weekend and all the key mountain stages on weekdays.

I also forgot how annoyed I am that the big key-note climb of the race is the Galibier. Awful. People have been fired for less.

The last five years we've had three with a TTT and a flat stage and two with a prologue and a flat stage.

It's not like there's anything particular worse about this year.

 

[manafana]

Cavendish is always at his most vulnerable on the opening day, tempted by bouhanni but maybe the italians do spring a winner.

 

[roundabout]

going by your definition of a weekend for me it would be 30km of Pescara stage at best, a TT which as time goes on I tend to find more and more boring and Firenze where not a lot will happen

 

[theyoungest]

going by your definition of a weekend for me it would be 30km of Pescara stage at best, a TT which as time goes on I tend to find more and more boring and Firenze where not a lot will happen

Everything gets more boring as you overanalyze it. That TT looks quite interesting, at least I've never seen anything like it. Very technical (and beautiful) first half, straightforward second half, and then finishing up a 3 k climb.

 

[Netserk]

What more can we expect from a second weekend? A great hilly stage, a long varied great ITT and then a middle mountain/hilly stage.

The only thing missing is a real mountain stage (with a descent finish).

I'd give the second weekend 8/10.

...

As for the opening weekend, the best thing we could hope for would be something like in '08. More often we'll just have a flat stage and either a prologue, a TTT or another flat stage.

Two bad stages, but if stage 1 was like originally planned, then it would have been an above-average first weekend.

 

[Miburo]

What more can we expect from a second weekend? A great hilly stage, a long varied great ITT and then a middle mountain/hilly stage.

The only thing missing is a real mountain stage (with a descent finish).

I'd give the second weekend 8/10.

This?

 

[Netserk]

This?

That's a from a *third* weekend.

 

[Miburo]

That's a from a *third* weekend.

That was a fail

Well showing those profile pics can never really be considered a fail

 

[Netserk]

That was a fail

Well showing those profile pics can never really be considered a fail

But the second weekend that year was also pretty good

Montevergine (bad and boring)
Tropea (great final, although it was a short pleasure)
Etna cool

 

[gooner]

What an awful route. This is supposed to be a GT. The first weekend couldn't BE any more insulting. "Oh, we're going to have a short, waste of time stage to make sure a sprinter gets to wear the maglia rosa like they don't already get too much glory, then we're going to have a TTT to make sure that the guys who are normally disadvantaged anyway are disadvantaged MORE just in the sake of sating those foolish enough to be sucked in by the argument that "it looks kinda cool".

I don't think I've ever felt so apathetic to the start of the Giro. It's the Giro! It should be about drama, epic battles in the mountains, excitement! Instead we start with a worthless parade, and I don't know if I can even be bothered to tune in. That's a really sad indictment of professional cycling in 2013.

Acquarone is pandering a lot to the riders.

This was a tactic to try and get the best sprinters like Kittel and Greipel here by giving them this token gesture to have the possibility of wearing pink. The route is a lot more watered down from the Zomegnan days especially the length of some of the stages but I am not surprised at any of this now. I loved the stage in T-A where Sagan won the penultimate stage but afterwards Acquarone on twitter said it was too extreme and apologised to the riders for it which makes me think he's more worried by riders deciding to go to P-N in future if he persevered with stages like that. And I think he has the same thinking with the Giro now where if he thinks if he goes too extreme he won't get a high class field who will be too worried about being fatigued for the Tour. Zomegnan would never think along those lines and would respect the best traditions of the Giro and wouldn't worry in the slightest how the riders felt about it either. Sadly that's missing now.

 

[Eshnar]

Acquarone is pandering a lot to the riders.

This was a tactic to get the best sprinters here in the hope he could also get the likes of Kittel and Greipel here by giving them this token gesture to have the possibility of wearing Pink. The route is a lot more watered down from the Zomegnan days especially the length of some of the stages but I am not surprised at any of this now. I loved the stage in T-A where Sagan won the penultimate stage but afterwards Acquarone on twitter said it was too extreme and apologised to the riders for it which makes me think he's more worried by riders deciding to go to P-N in future if he persevered with stages like that. And I think he has the same thinking with the Giro now where if he thinks if he goes too extreme he won't get a high class field who will be too worried about being fatigued for the Tour. Zomegnan would never think along those lines and would respect the best traditions of the Giro and wouldn't worry in the slightest how the riders felt about it either. Sadly that's missing now.

I see you forgot 2009 already.

 

[The Hitch]

A prologue instead of the TTT could well have ended up giving Wiggins more time on others and thus enforcing more parade. Except for AG2R and Pozzovivo ofc and Euskaltel and Samu probably.

If he earns time in the prologue he earns time in the prologue. It's an individual classiment. A ttt is giving people random times that have nothing to do with their actual ability.

 

[Netserk]

2009 is greatly underrated.

I do understand that it's far from the best, but it really isn't that bad.

 

[The Hitch]

Is Ryder starting in pink?

What an awful route. This is supposed to be a GT. The first weekend couldn't BE any more insulting. "Oh, we're going to have a short, waste of time stage to make sure a sprinter gets to wear the maglia rosa like they don't already get too much glory, then we're going to have a TTT to make sure that the guys who are normally disadvantaged anyway are disadvantaged MORE just in the sake of sating those foolish enough to be sucked in by the argument that "it looks kinda cool".

I don't think I've ever felt so apathetic to the start of the Giro. It's the Giro! It should be about drama, epic battles in the mountains, excitement! Instead we start with a worthless parade, and I don't know if I can even be bothered to tune in. That's a really sad indictment of professional cycling in 2013.

Fantastic post as always.

 

[Eshnar]

2009 is greatly underrated.

I do understand that it's far from the best, but it really isn't that bad.

it was the centenary. and we got a final week with a Mtf of 70 kms and a final Mtf with only one climb. On friday.
The Dolomites were ridicoulus. The Cima Coppi was Sestriere. The route was taylor made for one rider.

 

[The Hitch]

2009 is greatly underrated.

I do understand that it's far from the best, but it really isn't that bad.

He wasn't saying it was bad. Though he might hold that opinion too he was replying to this

Zomegnan would never think along those lines and would respect the best traditions of the Giro and wouldn't worry in the slightest how the riders felt about it either. Sadly that's missing now.

 

[Netserk]

He wasn't saying it was bad. Though he might hold that opinion too he was replying to this

There's a reason why I didn't quote Eshnar.

 

[theyoungest]

What an awful route. This is supposed to be a GT. The first weekend couldn't BE any more insulting. "Oh, we're going to have a short, waste of time stage to make sure a sprinter gets to wear the maglia rosa like they don't already get too much glory, then we're going to have a TTT to make sure that the guys who are normally disadvantaged anyway are disadvantaged MORE just in the sake of sating those foolish enough to be sucked in by the argument that "it looks kinda cool".

I don't think I've ever felt so apathetic to the start of the Giro. It's the Giro! It should be about drama, epic battles in the mountains, excitement! Instead we start with a worthless parade, and I don't know if I can even be bothered to tune in. That's a really sad indictment of professional cycling in 2013.

Have you actually looked at the route of the first week?