2014 Giro d'Italia Stage 6: Sassano – Montecassino | 257 km

[postmanhat]

Yes, and I dislike that kind of whining. I never even cared when they used to whine about Chiappucci attakcing in feed zones and wherever. Again, deal with it, this is a sport, not a tea party. I love this sport, but there's too much whining over stuff that's just accepted in every other sport. I have yet to see a skier slow down or stop because a rival crashed or broke a tip. I have yet to see a boxer avoid hitting an opponent in the midsection after it becomes obvious a rib has been broken. When a basketball player twists an ankle on the court and it's a 5 on 4 situation, the team with 5 rushes in to score an easy basket. It's part of the sport. Suck it up.

What a load of c**k

Crashes in Skiing are due to less skill

A boxer's whole raison d'etre is to hurt an an opponent

The Basketball analogy is just desperate

It's cycling, not Death Race 2000

Evans and Matthews knew full well what was going on. I wish them nothing but punctures and mechanicals for the rest of the race. And that the peleton turns them over good style

 

[jens_attacks]

Damn sad to read abouy angel vicioso
Caruso looked the worse. terrible crash

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Prediction: Majka and Kelderman in the final podium with Evans.

In all honousty, I like Kelderman a lot but I think he doesn't have the skills for high mountains (yet, if ever). But yeah, now that a lot of contenders have literally fallen out, you never know.

Majka still there, if he recovers well from the crash he could be on the podium. But.. how bad was his crash?

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Belkin's damage:
-Rick Flens: broken index finger + road rash
-Steven Kruijswijk: wounded elbow
-Wilco Kelderman: road rash
-Maarten Tjallingii: bruises
-David Tanner: knee injury

So seems half the team went down

 

[classicomano]

In all honousty, I like Kelderman a lot but I think he doesn't have the skills for high mountains (yet, if ever). But yeah, now that a lot of contenders have literally fallen out, you never know.

Majka still there, if he recovers well from the crash he could be on the podium. But.. how bad was his crash?

Did you read his interview in AD? Hes oozing self confidence, im very sceptical about Keldermerckx in the high mountains aswell but he doesnt seem to have a worry in the world

 

[BigMac]

What a load of c**k

Crashes in Skiing are due to less skill

A boxer's whole raison d'etre is to hurt an an opponent

The Basketball analogy is just desperate

It's cycling, not Death Race 2000

Evans and Matthews knew full well what was going on. I wish them nothing but punctures and mechanicals for the rest of the race. And that the peleton turns them over good style

Sometimes, **** just happens. I was gutted for Valverde's mechanical in last year's Tour, but in the end I just had to deal with it. Besides, in this case, BMC was already pulling in the front.

You say this is not Death Race 2000. Of course it is not, it is a very dynamic sport and the point is to win, not to show cordiality of any kind. You are supposed to crush your opponents, not give them a free pass to victory. Cadel and BMC know that if they want win, they will have to take every opportunity they get. There won't be many.

 

[chiocciolis_calves]

What a load of c**k

Crashes in Skiing are due to less skill

A boxer's whole raison d'etre is to hurt an an opponent

The Basketball analogy is just desperate

It's cycling, not Death Race 2000

Evans and Matthews knew full well what was going on. I wish them nothing but punctures and mechanicals for the rest of the race. And that the peleton turns them over good style

Of course they knew what was going on. Did I argue they didn't? Good to see you're not getting emotional and overreacting.

In quick order:

1. No, crashes in skiing, both downhill and X-C (to which I was most specifically referring) are not necessarily due to lack of skill. In downhill, ruts that cannot be anticipated can cause crashes, as can quick changes in conditions, as can simple bad mechanical luck. In X-C skiing, other skiers can bring competitors down. Plus, you have some of the same variables as downhill that I mentioned. You have no idea what you're talking about here.

2. No, the whole "raison d'etre" is not to hurt an opponent in boxing, the whole point is to win, perferably as quick as possible. If the point were to hurt the opponent, fighters would drag it out as long as possible to inflict the most pain.

3. Yes, the basketball comparison is "desperate," yet you cannot articulate why. Got it, Skippy.

4. A fine strawman. I have never argued that cycling should be like "Deathrace 2000." A surefire way to know who is losing a debate is to observe who resorts to strawman arguments and hyperbole quickest. Jesus, get over yourselves with all this unnecessary drama.

 

[Amsterhammer]

So 70 years after the Battle of Cassino we get the Montecassino Massacre

Snap. I made the same connection because my father was there. 'Bloodbath' was the word that came to mind.

 

[TANK91]

I think Kelderman is looking better every race i think you should be real confident DT he always up their even today he was atleast trying to push the pace on Top 8 would be great i think to have the ability to be a great GT rider he needs to be top 8.

 

[cineteq]

In all honousty, I like Kelderman a lot but I think he doesn't have the skills for high mountains (yet, if ever). But yeah, now that a lot of contenders have literally fallen out, you never know.

Majka still there, if he recovers well from the crash he could be on the podium. But.. how bad was his crash?

The good news is that these guys are young, and if they're fit to race tomorrow they can be a big factor the last week of racing! I don't know about Quintana's health, but his problem is clearly Movistar.

 

[happychappy]

Such a shame for Purito he hasn't got many chances left and and deserves a GT.

It's **** having to abandon but no one "deserves" a GT.

 

[T-Nielsen]

Are there any words from Evans.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Did you read his interview in AD? Hes oozing self confidence, im very sceptical about Keldermerckx in the high mountains aswell but he doesnt seem to have a worry in the world

Yeah... I've read it. It's very un-Dutch. I kinda like that overconfidence of his. Reminds me of Thomas Dekker when he was young, and one of the reasons I liked Dekker so much.
Arrogance maybe, but I like the confident talk. Not the stupid Mollema/Gesink way of "yeah maybe top 15 and blablabla" talking

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Are there any words from Evans.

Yeah, the following was released by Evans to the rest of the world

 

[TANK91]

It's **** having to abandon but no one "deserves" a GT.

lol what Purito defo deserves a GT he dominated the Vuelta was superious to Contador yet lost it in 1 day a day were he should not have lost it. Play that stage 100 times Purito would be fine 99 times.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

It's not PCM where you can replay a stage when it doesn't work out unfortuantely

 

[SKSemtex]

Yeah... I've read it. It's very un-Dutch. I kinda like that overconfidence of his. Reminds me of Thomas Dekker when he was young, and one of the reasons I liked Dekker so much.
Arrogance maybe, but I like the confident talk. Not the stupid Mollema/Gesink way of "yeah maybe top 15 and blablabla" talking

The same here. I like the confidence. This is what I like on Sagan most. He is not like other Slovak sportmen full of maybe, we will try to make good result, we must be humble, we are not the favourit and similar bull**** all the time.
First time we have sportman who is confident, happy only with winning.

I know you hate Sagan and consider him arrogant but ... it is very subjective where confidence ends and arogance starts.

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

It's not PCM where you can replay a stage when it doesn't work out unfortuantely

that cheating anyways. Only done it once, in my PCM 10, where i had the lead in the giro with Vino until last mountain stage, and I got a -4 daily form. I thought that it was to bull****, and started the day over again. Felt awful afterwards

 

[SafeBet]

Should they have waited?
No, I don't think so. Sure, if there's a big pileup early in a race it's very common to slack the speed a Little and let those involved get back up.
But with about ten K? There's simply no time for waiting.

I don't believe it's as clear cut as most posters here make it. Again, I'm usually ok with riders going full gas after a crash but here we're looking at something different. 50 riders crashed, another hundred had to stop. I don't blame them for not waiting but they could have. Quinziato begged for the neutralization two days ago and now he drills it after the whole peloton goes down in the rain. I get why some people are upset. And I won't be surprised if other teams go berserk next time Cadel has a mechanical.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

The same here. I like the confidence. This is what I like on Sagan most. He is not like other Slovak sportmen full of maybe, we will try to make good result, we must be humble, we are not the favourit and similar bull**** all the time.
First time we have sportman who is confident, happy only with winning.

I know you hate Sagan and consider him arrogant but ... it is very subjective where confidence ends and arogance starts.

I don't hate Sagan, he is one of my favorite riders. Also because of his talk.
Like I said. Thomas Dekker used to be like that when he was young and still winning. (unfortunately because he was cheating, but still, who wasn't at the time)

 

[Rollthedice]

Are there any words from Evans.

"The communication in the final isn't clear and to make rational decisions for such an unexpected situation isn't easy," Evans said. "Our job is to race and to race to the finish. That's the first thing on our mind. What happened behind, I really have no idea. I haven't seen it. Unfortunately, it has been a very bad day for some of the riders."

 

[TANK91]

that cheating anyways. Only done it once, in my PCM 10, where i had the lead in the giro with Vino until last mountain stage, and I got a -4 daily form. I thought that it was to bull****, and started the day over again. Felt awful afterwards

i no off topic but do you play much. Im in 2015 for Movistar leaders are Degenkolb Valverde and Contador. Races won last year for Quintana won La Vuelta and 2nd in Giro. Valverde 2nd MSR, 2nd AGR, 1st F-W, 1st LBL, 3rd TDF, 1st WC.

 

[SKSemtex]

I don't hate Sagan, he is one of my favorite riders. Also because of his talk.
Like I said. Thomas Dekker used to be like that when he was young and still winning. (unfortunately because he was cheating, but still, who wasn't at the time)

Sorry it is Libertine

 

[ILovecycling]

the tour flat itt he sucked because there was terrible wind. look at san luis and tirreno this year to see his level in pure flat itt

I remember you wrote this at least 3 times,its ridiculous how many people dont understand it.

The same here. I like the confidence. This is what I like on Sagan most. He is not like other Slovak sportmen full of maybe, we will try to make good result, we must be humble, we are not the favourit and similar bull**** all the time.
First time we have sportman who is confident, happy only with winning.

I know you hate Sagan and consider him arrogant but ... it is very subjective where confidence ends and arogance starts.

This is word of man.

 

[TANK91]

Stop being a suckup ILoveCycling Quintana is not a great ITT rider.