2013 Giro D'Italia, Stage 4: Policastro Bussentino - Serra San Bruno

[cineteq]

riccardo ricco about wiggo:

"un morto in bici"

Riccò knows his stuff

He was in a group behind the peloton at 3km to go. What do you think he was doing there?

Also what's wrong with this picture => Why Uran and Henao were not with him?

 

[hrotha]

care to translate?

"A dead man on a bike"

 

[JRanton]

That is 3km after the top of the climb. Its entirely consistent with him wanting to take wet corners very easily. It gives no evidence to suggest an issue with his legs.

And I'd be interested to know the definition of behind in any case - the peloton was split in 3 sections with no more than 2 seconds between each section. You need to stop acting like he's been dropped, or put your money where your mouth is because betfair will give you amazing odds to lay if he's as weak as you think you saw.

You can see Wiggins grimacing on the climb at the point that Siutsou takes over control at the front (11.9km to go). He then spots the camera is looking at him and does his best to pretend there's nothing wrong. Quite funny watching it back actually. There's definitely an issue with his legs. Come back on stage 7 and you can mock me if I'm wrong. My prediction? He'll lose 3 minutes plus and his Giro will effectively be over.

 

[maxmartin]

I don't hate Wiggins the way most on here do but it would be quite funny if the answer were (a), after all the talk from him about his numbers and doing the Giro-Tour double. But I can't believe he is that stupid, to run his mouth so much if he is nowhere near strong enough to do anything at all (other than get dropped).

I don't know if W really targeted G-T double. He probably was forced to ride Giro due to internal conflict with teammate. Maybe for him, Tour is still the prize, soft-pedal getting through Giro, then keep his best to defend his Tour title.

Isn't there a interview with Vino, he thought W does not has his whole heart in the this Giro?

 

[maxmartin]

"A dead man on a bike"

haha I like that

Thank you.

 

[pastronef]

Daniel Friebe http://www.twitter.com/friebos

This may be old news now, but @cyclingpro says race jury used Wiggins' transponder to determine that crash didn't affect him.


about the 17 secs:

the Wiggo hate here is reaching the zenith. I prefer Hesjedal, but I'd like to see Wiggo gain minutes on the TT, just to shut everybody up for a while.

but hey, you know what could be worse?
both GESINK and Wiggo losing those 17 secs

this thread would become unreadable

 

[Beech Mtn]

Can someone who watched the race say what actually happened here? On a stage like this, a GC winner really shouldn't be so weak that his own domestiques leave him behind.

I'll give you three options.

(a) He is weak, out of shape, and is likely to finish several minutes down. All the chat about his numbers being better than last year is just empty talk.

(b) He had the legs but screwed up the race and put himself in a bad position.

(c) He was unlucky.

Or some combination of the three?

Wiggins really didn't look that great on the climb when following the Sky train. That said, remember that this is the longest stage, and the weather went from sunny to pouring down rain, so there were reasons to look uncomfortable. Cadel looked miserable too, but came in with a nice finish, so who knows.

If Wiggins doesn't have form (and I don't yet know whether that's the case, but today certainly raised suspicions for me), he could always claim he's caught Cataldo's flu, DNF, and put massive pressure on Brailsford re the TdF leadership. Since Wiggo is the defending champ and all that.

Could get interesting

 

[JRanton]

I don't hate Wiggins the way most on here do but it would be quite funny if the answer were (a), after all the talk from him about his numbers and doing the Giro-Tour double. But I can't believe he is that stupid, to run his mouth so much if he is nowhere near strong enough to do anything at all (other than get dropped).

It wouldn't surprise me at all though. We saw exactly the same thing in 2010.

 

[martinvickers]

I don't know if W really targeted G-T double. He probably was forced to ride Giro due to internal conflict with teammate. Maybe for him, Tour is still the prize, soft-pedal getting through Giro, then keep his best to defend his Tour title.

Isn't there a interview with Vino, he thought W does not has his whole heart in the this Giro?

Tend to agree. In 2010 he made all the noises about the shape he was in and it was rubbish. Wiggins can laser focus on a project, but he has regularly had motivation problems after major success. Madison in beijing, 2010, so it would be no shock. In which case getting up froomes nose may just be him amusing himself...

 

[Fearless Greg Lemond]

Daniel Friebe http://www.twitter.com/friebos

This may be old news now, but @cyclingpro says race jury used Wiggins' transponder to determine that crash didn't affect him.


about the 17 secs:

the Wiggo hate here is reaching the zenith. I prefer Hesjedal, but I'd like to see Wiggo gain minutes on the TT, just to shut everybody up for a while.

but hey, you know what could be worse?
both GESINK and Wiggo losing those 17 secs

this thread would become unreadable

Good to see the tv cameras here didnt interfere with the transmission. In Romandia there must have been much more camera's.

What a screw up by Sky. Uran sprinting for the stage win while dear Brad is 300 metres back.

Marginal loss.

 

[Richeypen]

the Wiggo hate here is reaching the zenith. I prefer Hesjedal, but I'd like to see Wiggo gain minutes on the TT, just to shut everybody up for a while.

A threeway battle between Ryder, Wiggins and Nibali has the potential to be epic and produce some brilliant racing. What I want to see is riders on top of their game racing for the title. Its sad that certain people on here seem to want Wiggins out of the reckoning all together due to petty hate.

I personally cant stand Contador but I hope he shows up in great shape for the Tour

 

[pastronef]

A threeway battle between Ryder, Wiggins and Nibali has the potential to be epic and produce some brilliant racing. What I want to see is riders on top of their game racing for the title. Its sad that certain people on here seem to want Wiggins out of the reckoning all together due to petty hate.

I personally cant stand Contador but I hope he shows up in great shape for the Tour

quote 100%

 

[Magnus]

You can see Wiggins grimacing on the climb at the point that Siutsou takes over control at the front (11.9km to go). He then spots the camera is looking at him and does his best to pretend there's nothing wrong.

I just saw the rerun of that. Wiggins just look like a cyclist who is riding in the rain and don't like getting wheel spray in his face.

 

[JRanton]

I just saw the rerun of that. Wiggins just look like a cyclist who is riding in the rain and don't like getting wheel spray in his face.

We all see things differently I guess.

Sorry, but a big GC contender doesn't allow himself to get in such a bad position if there's nothing wrong with him. It's not like it was an easy last 500m where splits in the peloton were unlikely to occur. This was exactly the type of finish when you needed to be in the first 20-25 riders!

 

[rghysens]

Wiggins said a few days ago team numbers show he's better than before the tour last year. While he is hardly someone who has any reservations about lying, it would be pointless in this case to claim to be in the form of your life if you've got nothing.

Trying to scare your opponents into a defensive racing style? Kind of: " You can try all you want, I'm not gonna crack." You can't keep it up if the results show otherwise, though. But for the moment nothing important happened.

 

[Afrank]

Couldn't see the rest of the stage live, stupid classes. But anyways, a fantastic win for Battaglin! He hasn't been very good thus far this season, but I just knew he would make good on his potential in the Giro. Very happy to see him win today.

 

[Fearless Greg Lemond]

We all see things differently I guess.

Sorry, but a big GC contender doesn't allow himself to get in such a bad position if there's nothing wrong with him. It's not like it was an easy last 500m where splits in the peloton were unlikely to occur. This was exactly the type of finish when you needed to be in the first 20-25 riders!

Driving rain and 3% bodyfat is not a good combo.

Why was there no teammate for Wiggins?

Trouble in camp Sky?

 

[the sceptic]

Daniel Friebe http://www.twitter.com/friebos

This may be old news now, but @cyclingpro says race jury used Wiggins' transponder to determine that crash didn't affect him.


about the 17 secs:

the Wiggo hate here is reaching the zenith. I prefer Hesjedal, but I'd like to see Wiggo gain minutes on the TT, just to shut everybody up for a while.

but hey, you know what could be worse?
both GESINK and Wiggo losing those 17 secs

this thread would become unreadable

I think its more due to the fact that noone wants to see Wiggo take a 3 min lead followed by sky TTing through every stage. Its just boring that way.

 

[Magnus]

yes it was already settled

“Wiggins was already behind at three kilometers [to go],” said Brocque. “After the last 3km, we had all the time checks thanks to the transponders. We saw who crashed. We had the time at the 3K and finish, and we gave back the time to those that were left behind.”

http://velonews.competitor.com/2013/05/news/race-jury-explains-wiggins-giro-stage-4-time-loss_285496

Are they saying W is not delayed at all by the accident?

Others should smell the blood, more fantastic racing is ahead of us.

Brocques' statement makes no sense at all imo.
Didn't Salernos' crash (did he even crash?) when the leaders was at 1.6 km from the finish?
So what does the times at 3km from the finish have to do with anything?

On the other hand the gaps at the finish (at least the one between Locatelli, who finished s.t. as Battaglin and Weening who finished at 10") looked like they could very well just have been from riders taking it easy in a curve or turn and not necessarily related to Salerno, in which case there would be no ground for using the 3km rule (which just make Brocques' comment seem even more stupid).

 

[Orvieto]

A threeway battle between Ryder, Wiggins and Nibali has the potential to be epic and produce some brilliant racing. What I want to see is riders on top of their game racing for the title. Its sad that certain people on here seem to want Wiggins out of the reckoning all together due to petty hate.

I personally cant stand Contador but I hope he shows up in great shape for the Tour

+1
I don't despise Wiggins, but I do very much dislike the style of racing that his skillset engenders. If you can win it in the TT you want all the other stages to be boring, and Sky works to make that so. The more time Wiggins loses early in the race the more others will feel they have a chance, the more chances Sky will have to take and the more real racing we'll have.

Spot on on the Contador aspect too. I'm no fan, but he certainly spices up a grand tour.

Also, I'm wondering if this might become a 4-way battle. Cadel isn't looking great, but he keeps popping up towards the front at the finish line when it matters. If he stays in contact, he could ride himself into shape and onto the podium.

 

[Magnus]

We all see things differently I guess.

Sorry, but a big GC contender doesn't allow himself to get in such a bad position if there's nothing wrong with him. It's not like it was an easy last 500m where splits in the peloton were unlikely to occur. This was exactly the type of finish when you needed to be in the first 20-25 riders!

It's not that I (necessarily) disagree with you, but you could argue that in this type of finish, with a lot of fresh riders aiming for the stage win, it's actually safer (as in, more likely to avoid crashes) to stay out of the first 15-20 riders.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Its sad that certain people on here seem to want Wiggins out of the reckoning all together due to petty hate.

There is no "petty hate" for Wiggins. Nobody wants the guy to crash or anything. Please stop with the melodrama.

 

[Fearless Greg Lemond]

There is no "petty hate" for Wiggins. Nobody wants the guy to crash or anything. Please stop with the melodrama.

No, it is much easier/convenient to say everyone hates Sky while Sky messed up today, big time. Uran sprinting for the win, Henao just behind him and the old Brad swimming/drowning 300 metres back.

 

[maxmartin]

Brocques' statement makes no sense at all imo.
Didn't Salernos' crash (did he even crash?) when the leaders was at 1.6 km from the finish?
So what does the times at 3km from the finish have to do with anything?

On the other hand the gaps at the finish (at least the one between Locatelli, who finished s.t. as Battaglin and Weening who finished at 10") looked like they could very well just have been from riders taking it easy in a curve or turn and not necessarily related to Salerno, in which case there would be no ground for using the 3km rule (which just make Brocques' comment seem even more stupid).

It makes sense for me, W is at the back of the peloton, there is an accident before him to cause the gap. But W was not affected by the accident whatsoever, but due to the gap he was not given the same time as the group before him. It is the risk you take when riding at the back of the peloton, gap can always happen before you.

 

[taiwan]

Man I hate when these "gates" dominate the discussion of a race so much.