2014 Giro d' Italia: Stage 14 Aglie - Oropa (162 km)

[luckyboy]

So i guess with Siutsou out, 20 year old Sebastian Henao is the new leader for SKY He's at least their best placed rider overall from what i can tell.

They are just trying for stages though, no real 'leader'

 

[del1962]

Uran was obviously cooked or he would have followed Poels wheel, having said that Evans went off the back before Uran did, Uran probably put in an effort to stay with Pozzo/Quintana so I doubt Evans is any stronger than Uran.

Uran can still win the Giro, but he has to play it clever, Quintana and Pozzo have a lot of time to make up, so on each stage he has to play it clever, perhaps how thay each do in the MTT will decide

 

[Lanark]

Yeah, right, because, at this stage, their recovery capacity is as good as it was 2 weeks ago, plus him being less capable as a climber than Pozzo and Quintana. Good game bro.


Evans followed Uran, because Uran is his main rival at this point. Plus, he's not as good as Quintana and Pozzo in the mountains, so why should he waste energie trying to follow them? He simply chose to follow Uran, because trying to follow the duo PQ and risking breaking the engines and loosing even more time to Uran was a dumber choice.

So Evans also 'decided' not to follow Kelderman, and later Aru and Majka (who he has a very small lead on with 5 mtf's to go) because of tactical 'reasons'? Is this the first time you watch a cycling race, or are you Australian?

 

[Them Bones]

They are just trying for stages though, no real 'leader'

I know, but it's kind of cool that young Henao is their best placed rider in the GC!

 

[hfer07]

Precisely. After the TT he looked like he could do it again. Today he looked like a corpse. He'll be lucky if he isn't worse tomorrow

Actually he'll be better tomorrow-perhaps today was his "bad day" & having the last rest day after, he can well bounce back. The real Issue is "his team" -which seems in disarray at the moment..

 

[Volderke]

What was wrong with Uran's team? I saw Petacchi, De Gendt, Pauwels and in the end until the finish Poels work like they should?

 

[Red Rick]

Well, that's really stupid of Quintana then.
Fermat's theorem was proven years ago.

Oops, my spanish mind reading skills failed me

 

[lenric]

So Evans also 'decided' not to follow Kelderman, and later Aru and Majka (who he has a very small lead on with 5 mtf's to go) because of tactical 'reasons'? Is this the first time you watch a cycling race, or are you Australian?

Because they aren't threats. Or he thinks they aren't.

Yes, Evans is my adoptive father.

 

[GuyIncognito]

Actually he'll be better tomorrow-perhaps today was his "bad day" & having the last rest day after, he can well bounce back. The real Issue is "his team" -which seems in disarray at the moment..

What I was pointing out is that lenric's theory makes no sense. Yours does, but his precludes a random bad day and explains today as fatigue from the TT. If it's fatigue from the TT he'll be worse tomorrow, not better

 

[RedheadDane]

Yes, Evans is my adoptive father.

Wow! You're pretty articulate for a (around) three-year-old!

 

[jens_attacks]

what an awesome finale by the breakaway
domenico was awesome too and nairito seems to get better. also great riding by pierrot and hesjedal. very nice stage, can't wait for tomorrow

any video of the full last 10 kms? they went pretty fast by the way but i have to check something

 

[lenric]

Wow! You're pretty articulate for a (around) three-year-old!

I'm very precocious

GuyIncognito:
Maybe I'm wrong, but truth be told, I was never able to understand why Uran's chances of winning this year's Giro (wether pre or after TT performance) were so high.
You can look like a carrott in your bike while you're TTing, but if you rocket the mountains *** off, then you're a GC contender, and Uran clearly isn't a rocket.

 

[BigMac]

Someone please shoot this idiot...

 

[Them Bones]

Someone please shoot this idiot...

You don't like the blind?

 

[Netserk]

what an awesome finale by the breakaway
domenico was awesome too and nairito seems to get better. also great riding by pierrot and hesjedal. very nice stage, can't wait for tomorrow

any video of the full last 10 kms? they went pretty fast by the way but i have to check something

I don't know if it's up already, but Rai is the best atm.

edit: here you go: http://www.rai.tv/dl/RaiTV/programm...t-910e3bff-4064-44f8-98a8-15dffc44a58d&page=0

 

[BigMac]

Correct... and the bad thing is he gets some applause here for gaining 5 seconds on Uran for sucking the whole day.
Can´t stand that guy. Anybody but Evans for this Giro. Please no 2nd grandpa rider winning it all.

I get it might be annoying to see someone wheelsuck and eventually win, but you have to understand riders play with the cards they have. Evans is not as strong as the others here and an attack/spending time at the front is suicide. Simple as that.

 

[Poursuivant]

It's all set up beautifully for the final week.

 

[deValtos]

what an awesome finale by the breakaway
domenico was awesome too and nairito seems to get better. also great riding by pierrot and hesjedal. very nice stage, can't wait for tomorrow

any video of the full last 10 kms? they went pretty fast by the way but i have to check something

Does the time you have of Pantani up Oropa in your blog include his mechanical or not ?

 

[Hugo87]

Just finished watching the stage and I like it.

Battaglin with a fantastic final kick to seal the win, little drama with Uran struggling a bit and losing a few seconds to the main contenders and Rolland being Rolland.

Just a little disappointed with the 0 help of Quintana when he got away with Pozzovivo, then right in the last few meters sprinting, had he collaborated the differences would be bigger.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Other than Rolland (and perhaps Hesjedal, lol), I can't say the climbers are particularly strong or impressive in this race. Ok, Pozzo went relatively early on the last climb, but he barely made an impact except beating Kelderman by 4s. Lol.

But the break made the day interesting. I hoped Timmer would win, but in the end he was a bit too heavy and completely used up. Whats with the Giant guys anyway?

Congrats to Battaglin, fighting his way back and still able to sprint for the win.

From the outside, It would appear many are tired and that surely needs to be explored tomorrow.

 

[Escarabajo]

I'm very precocious

GuyIncognito:
Maybe I'm wrong, but truth be told, I was never able to understand why Uran's chances of winning this year's Giro (wether pre or after TT performance) were so high.
You can look like a carrott in your bike while you're TTing, but if you rocket the mountains *** off, then you're a GC contender, and Uran clearly isn't a rocket.

You know he was second last year, right?

 

[murali]

I dont understand a remark about the OPQS team here.

They rode very well, if you ask me. There were 5 OPQS riders with Uran after the penultimate climb. They were working hard for the pink jersey. Then Rolland+Ryder attacked. At that point, it was Cannondale who should set tempo to catch them, as that attack was a direct challenge on Basso's hopes.

when Movistar and ALM set the faster tempo, Poels went to the back of the lead group, conserving his energy, while Uran followed Quintana/Majka/Pozzo wheel. Brambila was dropped only when ALM raised the tempo hard. He came in 10 min behind with serge pauwls.

Uran, obviously, was not feeling good today. When PQ attacked, he brought in poels to ride tempo and close the gap to the duo. Ideally, i would have thought that PQ pair would have made at least a min's adv to Uran. Quintana only managed to take 35 secs.

In short, I think OPQS had decided that they will defend today. otherwise there was no point sending a vermote up the road in today's stage.

Regarding Uran, i think he should come out of Sky's tempo riding mode. He can do much better than just riding tempo.

 

[Escarabajo]

First day in the real mountains could have affected some of the riders. It does not mean that they will get worse from here on.

 

[red_flanders]

Other than Rolland (and perhaps Hesjedal, lol), I can't say the climbers are particularly strong or impressive in this race. Ok, Pozzo went relatively early on the last climb, but he barely made an impact except beating Kelderman by 4s. Lol.

But the break made the day interesting. I hoped Timmer would win, but in the end he was a bit too heavy and completely used up. Whats we the Giant guys anyway?

Congrats to Battaglin, fighting his way back and still able to sprint for the win.

From the outside, It would appear many are tired and that surely needs to be explored tomorrow.

Yeah, would agree this is a pretty weak field and not a particularly interesting race so far. Pozzovivo and Quintana may be able to liven things up tomorrow. If it's going to get interesting, it started today.

 

[murali]

Just a little disappointed with the 0 help of Quintana when he got away with Pozzovivo, then right in the last few meters sprinting, had he collaborated the differences would be bigger.

I thought Quintana did good TBH.
it was Pozzovivo's requirement to cut the gap to Majka. he had a 40 sec deficit before this stage. he only managed to cut down 4 seconds. At the same time, Quintana cut his deficit to Uran by 25 sec + he has conserved his energy for tomorrow. Also, I am not yet convinced that he has completely recovered from his illness.

The best thing about today's race was that it was completely watchable. I postponed a meeting to tomorrow when the riders had 40 km to go. didnt leave my seat till the GC guys returned. that speaks a lot abt how interesting the stage was.

I think that tomorrow's stage is going to be massive.