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2014 Giro D'Italia: Stage-by-stage Analysis

Page 3 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
Aug 4, 2010
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Yes,Giro preview from Eshnar,I was waiting with all my giro predictions and bets on this.I haven't read it yet (an evening hour with glass of good italian wine:D) but Eshnar's giro previews are always brand of quality.Looking forward to read that.

Thanks Eshnar;)
 
Aug 4, 2010
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Finally I had enough time to read this.Great preview eshnar,thanks again:)

as for the route...wow,Im afraid nothing serious will happen in GC until stage 16.That MTT is epic tho,and I like climbs before Zoncolan too,if someone is down in GC and has balls for the win,he should attack there!(still not very likely tho:eek:)
Few interesting hilly stages too,but not really great by Giro standards,on the other hand,route has a potential,now it is up to riders and WEATHER:D

Viva il Giro
 
Eshnar said:
Stage 3: Armagh - Dublin 187 km

tappa_dettagli_tecnici_planimetria_03.jpg


Technical overview:
Very similar to stage 2. It should be easier since it's shorter and there aren't many coastal kms. The wind could still play a role, but it's less likely than the day before.

What to expect:
A bigger bunch sprint.

Really hoping for crosswinds to make this one interesting, as I'll be at it, and I think there's a great chance considering Ireland's prevailing winds, even though May is usually one of the calmer times of the year.

dublin.png


Most of the run in though is likely to be into a strongish headwind (I use that Howth-Clontarf road regularly and my average speed is often nearly double outbound vs inbound due to head/tailwinds.
 
ILovecycling said:
Finally I had enough time to read this.Great preview eshnar,thanks again:)

as for the route...wow,Im afraid nothing serious will happen in GC until stage 16.That MTT is epic tho,and I like climbs before Zoncolan too,if someone is down in GC and has balls for the win,he should attack there!(still not very likely tho:eek:)
Few interesting hilly stages too,but not really great by Giro standards,on the other hand,route has a potential,now it is up to riders and WEATHER:D

Viva il Giro
I'll be shocked if nothing happens on stages 8, 9, 14 and 15. Seriously. How can that happen???
 
Aug 4, 2010
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Escarabajo said:
I'll be shocked if nothing happens on stages 8, 9, 14 and 15. Seriously. How can that happen???

I said 'nothing serious';)
I meant that there won't be a bigger gap than 2 minutes between podium places until stage 15.
 
Eshnar said:
Stage 18: Belluno - Rifugio Panarotta (Valsugana) 171 km

tappa_dettagli_tecnici_planimetria_18.jpg


tappa_dettagli_tecnici_altimetria_18.jpg


NOTE: The altimetry of Panarotta is not on the official website atm. Once it will be up, I'll put it here.

Technical overview:
The final three GC days start with the easier of them. A shortish stage with three major climbs, quite far from each other: the famous San Pellegrino, the irregularly steep Passo del Redebus and the final ascent to Rifugio Panarotta, which is simply a continuation of the well known climb to Vetriolo Terme, just 4.6 km more. It is a very regular climb, with a total of 16.3 km at 7.8%.

What to expect:
Attacks at 3-4 km to go, maybe even shorter because of what's still to come. Likely to have a strong breakaway on the San Pellegrino.
Rifugio_Panarotta_Levico_Terme_profile.gif

Average grade: 8 %
Length: 16.2 km
Height start: 490 m
Height top: 1780 m
Elevation gain: 1290 m
Maximum: %

http://www.climbbybike.com/race.asp?Race=Giro2014
 
eljimberino said:
Isn't it better that the race isn't blown apart by the end of the first week?

well, not sure anybody are looking for the race to be "blown apart" by the first week. However having a couple of GC contenders losing time along with smaller gaps at the top will often force better action in the second week and later.

A very "close" GC will enhance the waiting game all the way to the end imo. See Giro '12 as an example. Very poor race action on most stages as the contenders didn't want to take risks. Of course some would argue the unpredictability of who would win was the interesting part, but if the reason is lack of initiative by the contenders (on most stages) it seems rather pointless to me.

Backloading GTs is a "dangerous" game imo.
 
Kwibus said:
Really dissapointing route tbh. Too many mtf's, too few epic hilly stages.
I agree.
The Giro's hilly stages have often been some of the best, "full on" racing in the entire race.

Ferminal said:
"epic hilly stages" ... aka pointless breakaway stages.


Roude Leiw said:
or alternatively a 40+ bunch sprint

Short memories?
Just a few examples:

http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/road/2003/giro03/?id=results/stage10

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/giro-ditalia-2010/stage-7/results

http://www.steephill.tv/2013/giro-d-italia/previews-results/stage-03/

http://www.steephill.tv/2013/giro-d-italia/previews-results/stage-03/

All fantastic stages and all had an impact on the GC.

http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/road/2006//giro06/?id=results/giro0612

http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/road/2004/giro04/?id=results/stage11

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/giro-ditalia-2010/stage-7/results

OK, a couple or three of my favourite breakaway, hilly stages.:)
 

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