2014 Giro D'Italia, stage 8: Foligno - Montecopiolo 179 km

[BigMac]

LOL and Ryo said he would be a main worry for Quintana in GC for this race.

Time to call him on his bull****. Since he doesn't hesitate to call others on theirs.

 

[Arredondo]

LOL and Ryo said he would be a main worry for Quintana in GC for this race.

7 minutes is no problem at all for Duarte

 

[PirazziAttacksVino]

Didn't really expect fireworks for this stage, so I wasn't disappointed.

Ulissi with a great win. He will become something like a Purito type of rider.
Quintana may be suffering from the minor injuries he got 2 days ago, or may be saving himself for the last week, or both.
Disappointed with Scarponi. He may be in good form for TDF though.
Cadel taking the leader's jersey too early I might say. Morabito looks to be strong, and he has Samu as well, but I don't find his team strong enough to hold the jersey till Trieste.
Kelderman, Kiserlovski and Hesjedal looked better than I thought they would. Basso was good too, but the sprint finish definitely didn't suit him. He'll crush everybody on Zoncolan.

 

[Netserk]

Didn't really expect fireworks for this stage, so I wasn't disappointed.

Ulissi with a great win. He will become something like a Purito type of rider.
Quintana may be suffering from the minor injuries he got 2 days ago, or may be saving himself for the last week, or both.
Disappointed with Scarponi. He may be in good form for TDF though.
Cadel taking the leader's jersey too early I might say. Morabito looks to be strong, and he has Samu as well, but I don't find his team strong enough to hold the jersey till Trieste.
Kelderman, Kiserlovski and Hesjedal looked better than I thought they would. Basso was good too, but the sprint finish definitely didn't suit him. He'll crush everybody on Zoncolan.

Great username

 

[PirazziAttacksVino]

Great username

Thanks, a break with Pirazzi and Vino would indeed have been hilarious

 

[christopherrowe]

To be honest, I'm not sure I learned much of anything today, other than spotting a possible softness in the Movistar team. And tomorrow doesn't promise real fireworks or GC shakeups either. I still believe that Evans can win, but didn't see anything to influence that opinion one way or the other today. Oh well, that's why they hold the races, I guess.

 

[alspacka]

To those saying Evans is taking the jersey too early, he would surely absolutely have to take it on the ITT anyway to stand a chance of winning. That's only a few of stages away, only one of which should pose any problem to the GC boys in theory. And based on today his team is looking pretty strong.

Won't make any difference, Nairo's got this whenever he decides imo.

 

[rhubroma]

To be honest, I'm not sure I learned much of anything today, other than spotting a possible softness in the Movistar team. And tomorrow doesn't promise real fireworks or GC shakeups either. I still believe that Evans can win, but didn't see anything to influence that opinion one way or the other today. Oh well, that's why they hold the races, I guess.

It's called suspense.

 

[pastronef]

Flo screaming .

edit: that comes out wrong .....

ahahah Zam!

looking at today's result, I am bummed about Ryder loosing so much time on stage 1 TTT (and obviously for Dan Martin falling. if he kept his Liege form and legs, today would've been interesting)

 

[willbick]

You guys seem to idolise Quintana as the greatest thing since sliced bread. He's a great rider of course but he's only human. Perhaps he will prove to be easily the best in the mountains in this Giro but you can take nothing for granted in sport. He is not a machine

 

[jens_attacks]

as expected low speed on the final climb, probably everyone under 6 w/kg

gonna comeback with the two other climbs later

http://www.climbing-records.com/2014/05/peaceful-day-in-giros-first-mountains.html

 

[Cookster15]

You guys seem to idolise Quintana as the greatest thing since sliced bread. He's a great rider of course but he's only human. Perhaps he will prove to be easily the best in the mountains in this Giro but you can take nothing for granted in sport. He is not a machine

Well said. I do think Quintana is still the overall favorite especially with all the mountains in week 3 plus Evans is old. But a lot of fans have this penchant for little climbers. If Quintana was the same size as Evans or Uran I doubt he would be so popular. Ability to climb is determined by power to weight. Not just weight.

 

[Better Call Saul]

Well said. I do think Quintana is still the overall favorite especially with all the mountains in week 3 plus Evans is old. But a lot of fans have this penchant for little climbers. If Quintana was the same size as Evans or Uran I doubt he would be so popular. Ability to climb is determined by power to weight. Not just weight.

Well said. Sure he's a good climber, but gt riders need to be all rounders and Quintana most certainly isn't that. He'll never win a gt in my opinion. If a Colombian is going to go all the way, I reckon it'll be someone more in the mold of uran. That said I think it will be 10 years before a Colombian wins a gt.

 

[Escarabajo]

Well said. Sure he's a good climber, but gt riders need to be all rounders and Quintana most certainly isn't that. He'll never win a gt in my opinion. If a Colombian is going to go all the way, I reckon it'll be someone more in the mold of uran. That said I think it will be 10 years before a Colombian wins a gt.

Doesn't being 2nd in the Tour requires you to be a good all rounder anyway?

 

[Better Call Saul]

Doesn't being 2nd in the Tour requires you to be a good all rounder anyway?

I guess I just think that there's a difference between the guys that get close and the top riders who actually win a gt. There are exceptions to the rule, but those guys generally have a wider range.

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

I guess I just think that there's a difference between the guys that get close and the top riders who actually win a gt. There are exceptions to the rule, but those guys generally have a wider range.

He can climb, he can tt decently, good at positioning himsel in pelotons. He should be able to win gts easily as long as he is the strongest climber.

 

[ILovecycling]

Well said. Sure he's a good climber, but gt riders need to be all rounders and Quintana most certainly isn't that. He'll never win a gt in my opinion. If a Colombian is going to go all the way, I reckon it'll be someone more in the mold of uran. That said I think it will be 10 years before a Colombian wins a gt.

I dont want to be too rude,after all its your opinion,but...
For me this is one of the most ridiculous posts of the year

 

[DirtyWorks]

To be honest, I'm not sure I learned much of anything today, other than spotting a possible softness in the Movistar team. And tomorrow doesn't promise real fireworks or GC shakeups either. I still believe that Evans can win, but didn't see anything to influence that opinion one way or the other today. Oh well, that's why they hold the races, I guess.

Maybe I have the wrong stage, but my recollection is it's a mountaintop finish before a rest day. So, the climbers trying to move up on GC will at bare minumum "test" the not-climbing GC guys. IMHO, we'll see the climbers who came in near Evans put in a good effort to gain some time on him.

Per someone else's post, today definitely shook-out the pretenders. There was no holding wheels to keep your GC hopes on that finish. Tomorrow might see one or two leave the top-10, but it seems pretty set to me.

Changing topics, I don't think Cadel had a choice about becoming GC leader. He took a golden opportunity and now the weight of GC leader will test him. In another situation, I agree it's too early to be GC leader. This situation is exceptional.

 

[Rollthedice]

Well said. Sure he's a good climber, but gt riders need to be all rounders and Quintana most certainly isn't that. He'll never win a gt in my opinion. If a Colombian is going to go all the way, I reckon it'll be someone more in the mold of uran. That said I think it will be 10 years before a Colombian wins a gt.

I would't go that far. He is an all rounder but with slightly less TT capabilities which he compensates with exceptional climbing. This Giro is designed for climbers so it's a great opportunity for Nairo to take it. He is still young and I suspect he is not yet confident as a team leader. Cadel shows he is in charge of his team and this Giro. Whether Cadel will survive the last week or Quintana will repeat his TdF heroics, it remains to be seen. And I wouldn't underestimate Uran. Anyway, in my opinion, these three will share the podium, that is in normal circumstances.

 

[PirazziAttacksVino]

I guess I just think that there's a difference between the guys that get close and the top riders who actually win a gt. There are exceptions to the rule, but those guys generally have a wider range.

Oh c'mon, considering this year's last week Quintana can win this even if he goes all out kamikaze a la Pirazzi

 

[Red Rick]

Well said. Sure he's a good climber, but gt riders need to be all rounders and Quintana most certainly isn't that. He'll never win a gt in my opinion. If a Colombian is going to go all the way, I reckon it'll be someone more in the mold of uran. That said I think it will be 10 years before a Colombian wins a gt.

Ha hahaha ha hahahaahaha

Where's Ryo when you need him

 

[The Eggman]

good at positioning himself in pelotons.

As he proved in Stage 6....

 

[DirtyWorks]

Oh c'mon, considering this year's last week Quintana can win this even if he goes all out kamikaze a la Pirazzi

I'd agree if this was the TdF, but, it's not. The Giro is far and away the better test of a "complete" stage racer.

There's no question Quintana is a contender. Is he "complete" enough???

 

[Better Call Saul]

I would't go that far. He is an all rounder but with slightly less TT capabilities which he compensates with exceptional climbing. This Giro is designed for climbers so it's a great opportunity for Nairo to take it. He is still young and I suspect he is not yet confident as a team leader. Cadel shows he is in charge of his team and this Giro. Whether Cadel will survive the last week or Quintana will repeat his TdF heroics, it remains to be seen. And I wouldn't underestimate Uran. Anyway, in my opinion, these three will share the podium, that is in normal circumstances.

Generally agree with everything you said. I like uran's chances at the top step much more than Quintana. I think he's a much more complete rider.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Quintana gapping Evans

You mean Kelderman. Quintana was just following his main opponents wheel. Kelderman ofcourse