2014 Giro D'Italia, stage 1: Belfast › Belfast, 21.7 km (TTT)

[the sceptic]

2014 Giro D'Italia, stage 1: Belfast › Belfast, 21.7 km (TTT)

And so it begins

Hard to see anoyone other than Orica winning this.

 

[Walkman]

BMC isn't an option for the win but Katusha is?

 

[Geraint Too Fast]

Greenedge should crush this. Their team is ridiculous.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Orica by 20s
Movistar 2nd

SANTAROMITA Ivan
DURBRIDGE Luke
HEPBURN Michael
LANCASTER Brett
MATTHEWS Michael
MEYER Cameron
DOCKER Mitchell
TUFT Svein
WEENING Pieter

 

[ItalianGigolo]

Santaromita to wear the pink jersey along with the Italian champion one!!

 

[Arredondo]

BMC isn't an option for the win but Katusha is?

Katusha is mostly good in TT's. Remember they finished a close 2nd at the Giro 2012 TTT behind Garmin.

I reckon them with the best 5 teams for this discipline.

 

[therhodeo]

Hard to see past OGE for this one.

 

[Bavarianrider]

Will they ever get enough of those pointless gimmick TTT

 

[VeloHuman]

OGE should win but Sky's team is stronger than you might think, Cataldo, Siutsou, EBH are all very strong against the clock. Swift ain't bad either over this kind of distance.

 

[hfer07]

BMC on paper is the likely winner- but there is also Garmin & OPQS with good engines to perform well/upset the results

 

[Anderis]

BMC on paper is the likely winner- but there is also Garmin & OPQS with good engines to perform well/upset the results

I expect Garmin to finish in the bottom 6-8 actually. Maybe even bottom 4.

There are plenty of horrible TT-ers in their roster and not a single TT star. And they have a recent tradition of underperforming in TTTs.

Sad to look at them, a strong contender for the win at any TTT not so long ago.

 

[Publicus]

I like Orica for the overall victory. Movistar for tops amongst the GC teams.

 

[yespatterns]

Yeah if BMC had been an option i would have picked them over moviestar

 

[Jspear]

I'm going with Orica for the win. Out of the "big" GC teams I'm thinking Garmin will perform the worst (except for maybe Ag2r), they haven't done as well in this discipline as they used to. Hoping for good results from Moviestar, Bmc, and Katusha.

 

[Opalius]

Orica just seems too strong this time around. BMC as runner up.

Hrm… Matthews or Santaromita to be allowed to pass the line first? Matthews has the best chance to keep the jersey initially, and perhaps score additional boni seconds in the coming sprint stages. Santaromita is the Italian champion in the primary Italian race, and consequently dressed in pink would likely become the media focal point for quite a bit.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Will they ever get enough of those pointless gimmick TTT

For once on the subject, we are in total agreement, although I suspect for completely opposite reasons.

For example, I think that the words "pointless" and "gimmick" in that sentence above are tautologies.

 

[Cookster15]

Picked OGE. But why no BMC option ?

 

[cycladianpirate]

For once on the subject, we are in total agreement, although I suspect for completely opposite reasons.

For example, I think that the words "pointless" and "gimmick" in that sentence above are tautologies.

The "opening TTT" is a marketing ploy. It's just an extension of the team presentation - it's razzmatazz to get the ball rolling. Guys in skinsuits on ultra-sleek machines riding at absurdly high speeds.

By the bye, a tautology requires a repetition of the same point/argument. Thereby you should have said that the words were "A tautology". Secondly, they are not. What is pointless to a hardcore cycling fan makes an awful lot of sense to a marketing man.

 

[cocteau_ireland]

You don't know how hilarious/brilliant it is to see title of this thread!!

 

[manafana]

weather wise it looks like surely be some rain and wind during the ttt so luck of draw could play its part likely wet roads too.

 

[Anderis]

Btw. it's a travesty not to include the option "other" in the poll in such an open sport like cycling is.

 

[element]

You don't know how hilarious/brilliant it is to see title of this thread!!

Same - mind-blowing! Will be watching the morning practice session from my office window. Orica Ftw.

 

[deValtos]

What time is the team presentation and is it being broadcasted anywhere ? Thanks.

 

[the sceptic]

Btw. it's a travesty not to include the option "other" in the poll in such an open sport like cycling is.

I will admit I forgot to put BMC in the poll, but other than that, it would be a huge surprise if anyone not mentioned wins.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Voted Movistar. On paper, OGE is strongest, but Movistar has a tendency to do great TTTs even with pretty average teams. This time, the team is packed with great TT'ers