2014 Tirreno Adriatico, Stage 5: Amatrice - Guardiagrele: 192 km

[podunavac]

I was waiting for someone to start the thread, but it seem everybody's shy.

Very tricky finish. Not just because of the gradient.
The positioning will be important, effort measuring, timing of the eventual attack...
I believe individual pacing will decide this stage rather than racing.
Unexpected gaps we could see here.

 

[Netserk]

 

[podunavac]

Unexpected gaps we could see here.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

A good design of a stage, but the riders must perform on Lanciano.
Kreuziger seems to be the strongest rider in the race and hes pretty good on a descent. Must take the opportunity and go deep here.

 

[Netserk]

I think Kreuziger will keep his powder dry for the Muro, and then go full gas from the bottom of it. If Contador can get away with Quintana on the Muro, he should pull through and not worry about the stage win. IMO.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

I think Kreuziger will keep his powder dry for the Muro, and then go full gas from the bottom of it. If Contador can get away with Quintana on the Muro, he should pull through and not worry about the stage win. IMO.

If nobody races Lanciano, Kwiat might end up winning the stage. Seems to be a much more explosive rider than Kreuziger and Contador combined.

 

[Netserk]

If nobody races Lanciano, Kwiat might end up winning the stage. Seems to be a much more explosive rider than Kreuziger and Contador combined.

Disagree about Kwiat. Perhaps if it was 600m @ 12%. No farking way on this Muro.

 

[podunavac]

It's not a secret that this kind of gradient favors feather-weight riders.
I even think it's the steepness where weight starts to contribute significantly more to power to weight ratio than the power and shapes the graph.

 

[kingjr]

That muro looks very delicious indeed.

 

[BigMac]

Disagree about Kwiat. Perhaps if it was 600m @ 12%. No farking way on this Muro.

Quoted for truth. And lol @ the hype.

 

[hfer07]

Lets face it- Conta-Quinta & MORENO - watch out

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Disagree about Kwiat. Perhaps if it was 600m @ 12%. No farking way on this Muro.

Not talking about being the fastest up the Muro, but rather the gap Kwia wil have if nobody races Lanciano. Kwia is an excellent descender. Better than Contador and Kreuziger imo. Drag him over the climb at your peril.

 

[Jspear]

I'm hoping Contador works with Quintana to distance both Porte and Kwiatkowski. He'll need the time for the tt.

 

[Ferminal]

Lanciano finally delivers imo.

 

[podunavac]

Would be interesting to learn about the gearing for the finale.
It's not like they'll ride miles on the insane gradient, but couple of teeth could make a huge difference for someone.
Contador has started to pay attention on these details.

 

[Afrank]

Contador and Quintana to go 1-2 again. This time with Quintana winning. And one of them to take over the overall.

 

[manafana]

Everyone forgetting about on Daniel Moreno understudy to the king of this type of stage, also other lightweights you might go well Pozzovivo, Horner Arredondo.

 

[ILovecycling]

How is the Lanciano descent?how many km falt is between the bottom of Lanciano and next climb?What percentages does the penultimate climb have?do you have more details?
Without these questions we cant predict the winner.
Anyway my not so profesional pick is Pozzovivo

 

[Jelantik]

If nobody races Lanciano, Kwiat might end up winning the stage. Seems to be a much more explosive rider than Kreuziger and Contador combined.

What's Kwiat track record on double digit percent climb?

 

[willbick]

Contador and Quintana to go 1-2 again. This time with Quintana winning. And one of them to take over the overall.

quintana is not so good on super steep stuff. he is a lightweight diesel

 

[classicomano]

I want the man in my avatar to get some revenge on yesterdays mediocore performance. Was 2nd last year in a likeminded stage.

 

[The Hitch]

Not talking about being the fastest up the Muro, but rather the gap Kwia wil have if nobody races Lanciano. Kwia is an excellent descender. Better than Contador and Kreuziger imo. Drag him over the climb at your peril.

What is Kwiatkowski= great descender based on? I'm assuming its one example maybe 2 because thats all we usually get since 99% of descents are not raced.

Contador showed in Pinerolo insane descending form. He showed some good descending skills on Alpe last year and even though he crashed, courage on Manse.

Anyway when was the last time the gc leader attacked on a descent. Attacks on descents are rare enough on their own but a leader doing it would be even more surprising. With a climb still to go?

I'm hoping Contador works with Quintana to distance both Porte and Kwiatkowski. He'll need the time for the tt.

Not necessarily. Final tt is 9k. Contador at his prime was one of the best in the world at short tts, maybe even top 3 or even top 2. Its flatter than he would like but is at the end so recovery is a factor. If this "Contador is back" hubub, is true, he can match Kwiatkowski and beat Porte on Monday.

 

[SafeBet]

Everyone forgetting about on Daniel Moreno understudy to the king of this type of stage

Agreed. Top favorite in my books.

 

[Jancouver]

Purito FTW
... ooooops

For those who mentioned Kreuziger, it is not a secret he dislikes steep climbs. Ideally he will ride some strong tempo for Berti on the lower part of the climb.

 

[willbick]

this is an open goal for moreno. strong finish to stage 4 shows he is back to good form