2013 Giro d'Italia Stage 7: San Salvo - Pescara 177km

[hfer07]

I will be honest here. I am starting to doubt Nibali's shape, i got that feeling particularly from stage 3. And today after the crash he looked to be in serious trouble.

He Kool no worries at all & he well knows its all about getting through the 1st week well positioned-as he is-which indicates his form is good

 

[jens_attacks]

gigi sgarbozza blasting pirazzi lol
face to face showdown

 

[maxmartin]

I could understand having one of the Colombians being told to wait but both?
It seems to to maximize the chances of the team's overall success in the gc having one of the Colombians in a position to contest the gc should Wiggins eventually not be capable would be the logical decision. Apparently it's Wiggins or nothing at all as their strategy.

SKY robot strategy failed again, seems DS is a robot too, only know how to riding tempo

 

[gooner]

If he is injured - depending on the type of injuries - he might drop out to focus on the tdf.

Walsh just said on twitter he walked past him with an ice pack on his knee.

 

[RHRH19861986]

The thing is, Wiggins crashed and apparently got slightly injured. If not, it at least will have been painful. Then he gets back on the bike, knows the others are going full gas to gain as much as possible. The road remains extremely slippery, though. He has pain, can´t handle the bike properly, and has to avoid another crash.
It´s clear he looked stupid on these last kms. But he is experienced enough to know this is not the end of this GC overall ambitions.

As soon as they reach the mountains, 90 secs are close to nothing..,

 

[jens_attacks]

what about those rumours that wiggo took the virus same as cataldo?
wiggins had no energy at all. it wasn't just the terrible steering and descending

 

[Roude Leiw]

There so many great cycling strategists, but I wonder one question, why are they on the forum, instead of sitting in Sky car?

It is the same phenomenon that let a german coach of the national team say that there a 60 million coaches out there and that they all know better than himself

 

[TANK91]

How is he gonna do well in the MTT if he got dropped by 25 riders on a small hill today?

He was al ready dropped before the descent.

Hi their einstein a MTT is completely diff than today, and this race is 3 weeks long. The rain played a massive part today and how technical it was. If Wiggo is in pink tomorrow he will be favourite still, because that will show us that he is on form. Wiggo can beat Nibali with a 10 sec defecit imo after tomorrow, Nibali is no Contador or Froome he does not have an engine to put big time into Wiggo on the climbs.

 

[icefire]

There so many great cycling strategists, but I wonder one question, why are they on the forum, instead of sitting in Sky car?

There aren't enough Jaguars in the world for them all

 

[Bala Verde]

Walsh just said on twitter he walked past him with an ice pack on his knee.

I am guessing he will do the tt to see how it's going and if he doesn't perform as expected, drop out.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Team Sky twitter talking about SIR Bradley Wiggins being injured

*vomits*

As Evans biggest fanboy I thought you would be able to stomach someone not taking accountability for their own failings.

 

[brilleaben]

Blanco apparently passed the curse on to Sella

 

[movingtarget]

what about those rumours that wiggo took the virus same as cataldo?
wiggins had no energy at all. it wasn't just the terrible steering and descending

There will be nowhere to hide tomorrow.

 

[DiscoPants]

It wasn't a big group and Wiggins decided to take it easy on a climb?

Eh, ok...

I don't know, that's what I'm saying.

Dropping off the back of the bunch on a short climb like that isn't a great sign for a supposed GC contender, so either he hasn't got the legs or there was some other explanation.

 

[goggalor]

Wiggins is still in position to win, but considering how he raced the last kms, I kind of think he'd like to be out of it. If he pulls back a minute or two in the TT tomorrow, he's beyond the point where he can pull out without looking like a ****. I like the reverence Wiggins has for the Giro, but it's not the ideal race for him. He's slowly developed an image as tranquilo, always in control and breathing through his nose, but when things are so clearly spinning out of control and he's desperately trying to remain stony-faced, he just ends up looking silly. And, what's perhaps worse, he loses time.

 

[Roude Leiw]

what about those rumours that wiggo took the virus same as cataldo?
wiggins had no energy at all. it wasn't just the terrible steering and descending

for a sick man, he did a mighty turn yesterday in front of the peloton… I think it is what other said, he seems a bit out of focus or "ohne Biss" as your countrymen would probably say (if you are german/austrian….)

 

[jens_attacks]

it's pretty clear to me that if wiggins wants to win this giro he has to attack in the mountains

i can't see him recovering for tomorrow

 

[roundabout]

iirc this is the 4th year in a row right? 2010 with LLoyD, 2011 De Clerc, last year with Bak and this year with Hansen.

It is indeed impressive.

p.s. oh and 09 with Gilbert ofc

5th as you say, but even a 2009 Gilbert was hardly a surprise to win on an uphill finish.

Maybe it's just breaks, but they sure pick them well. Especially Bak and Hansen today.

 

[Pricey_sky]

And this is why you don't get smug until after the race is done

Anyway, I mean normally I'm more sympathetic towards Wiggins than most of this forum (not that that's much of an achievement ) but Sky really ballsed up by not having a backup plan. And now Wiggins hopes are pretty much gone, but they brought back the Colombians & so now they've both lost a good chunk of time too. Short-sighted but I suppose it's not surprising.

I wasnt me being smug, just I felt at that time Nibali needed to arrive at the TT in top shape because he couldn't afford to lose 3 minutes to Wiggins. Obviously its easy to criticise after the stage when you have hindsight. Also Wiggo crashing anyway now gives Nibs a great chance to limit losses tomorrow.

 

[saunaking]

How ironic is it today Cyclingnews frontpage had an article titled

"Urán aiming to take the pink jersey in Pescara"

 

[movingtarget]

it's pretty clear to me that if wiggins wants to win this giro he has to attack in the mountains

i can't see him recovering for tomorrow

His whole race depends on him doing well tomorrow.

 

[Ferminal]

what about those rumours that wiggo took the virus same as cataldo?
wiggins had no energy at all. it wasn't just the terrible steering and descending

Yeh, remember the first gap came because he was too far back on the climb when Di Luca attacked.

I think the whole team is very weak at the moment, usually it would be Sky in the position of Blanco.

 

[dsut4392]

As Evans biggest fanboy I thought you would be able to stomach someone not taking accountability for their own failings.

Don't TOUCH me!

 

[boladelmundo]

Walsh just said on twitter he walked past him with an ice pack on his knee.

Left or right? On TV it looked the left one and the way he bent his left knee was a bit unusual to my eyes.

 

[GreasyMonkey]

ANyone know what the forecast is tomorrow?

Rain, moderate to heavy, possible storms.....

On a technical course, with rain, chances of Wiggins doing anything superman will be nix after today's "schlecklet" showing......