2014 Tirreno Adriatico, Stage 7: San Benedetto del Tronto TT (9.1 Km)

[ILovecycling]

I will go with he outside pick and say Sagan ftw!
Alberto to finish top5 and do his pistol shot!
Kreuziger for second,but I hope Nairito will fight for it

 

[tomorrow]

I will go with he outside pick and say Sagan ftw!
Alberto to finish top5 and do his pistol shot!
Kreuziger for second,but I hope Nairito will fight for it

naah, it is short TT, but it's far from technical for sagan to have chance to win. While this is short TT and that suit him well, with this course it's TT position and brute power that's more important, and in these aspects, there are better riders, for me it will be decided between Martin and Kwiat, with Cancellara maybe coming to the party too, if he has any form. Sagan I see in top ten maybe.

 

[Kazistuta]

I think Kreuziger will make it a Tinkoff one-two podium, and Peraud will make Quintana fight for the third spot on the GC podium.

Due to the short distance my favorite actually isn't Tony the Tank. Cancellara probably is, but either one of the Movistar TT'ers, Castroviejo & Dowsett could surprise.

Neither Contador or Sagan will be in the top5.

 

[Miburo]

If this is really the contador of 2009 then he should be able to top 3. I remember that he once destroyed wiggins and martin in a flat ITT.

 

[Roude Leiw]

A bit surprised that Wiggo shows up in the predictions, his form seems far from stellar

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

If this is really the contador of 2009 then he should be able to top 3. I remember that he once destroyed wiggins and martin in a flat ITT.

Wiggins and Martin weren't that great back then. Cancellara was still miles better.

 

[Rollthedice]

I will go with he outside pick and say Sagan ftw!
Alberto to finish top5 and do his pistol shot!
Kreuziger for second,but I hope Nairito will fight for it

Sagan will surely battle for the points jersey, I say top 10 for him.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Sagan will surely battle for the points jersey, I say top 10 for him.

Last year he battled for it too and finished 21st with a lesser field.

 

[tomorrow]

remember what stage preceded last year ITT in T-A? And what role played sagan there? He won't win, but top ten is perfectly doable. Question is where will bertie come.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Tony is of course the big favorite today. He hasn't been quite as strong in the two ITT's he has done this year (both short) as usual, which could indicate that he's not in quite as good a shape as last year. However, his performances here in Tirreno indicate otherwise. He was very strong in the TTT and has been looking very good as part of Cavendish's train, single handedly creating the selection on stage 3.

However, one rider not to overlook today is Malori, who has come first and second in two of the ITT's he's done this year, beating Phinney in San Luis and only losing to Kwiatkowski in Algarve where he even beat Martin by 2 seconds. In Dubai, however, he "only" finished seventh, beaten by 10 seconds by Martin who finished 4th.

Malori really excels in these relatively short ITT's and he was second here last year, beaten only by Martin by 6 seconds. This ITT should be one of his eearly targets this year, and he seems to have improved a bit compared to last year. I wouldn't be surprised to see him run away with the win here.

 

[LaFlorecita]

remember what stage preceded last year ITT in T-A? And what role played sagan there? He won't win, but top ten is perfectly doable. Question is where will bertie come.

We will see.. I am hoping Contador grabs the jersey of course

 

[TomasC]

Sagan and to some extent Kreuziger have a number of good results in these short TTs but IIRC it usually were technical courses. This seems like a pure power test and in that respect I think there are better candidates for top 10 than Sagan. But he should be near.

 

[del1962]

Be interesting to see how Wiggins does today tope 5 I hope

Malori ftw

 

[Pricey_sky]

Be interesting to see how Wiggins does today tope 5 I hope

Malori ftw

I would assume that Wiggins needs a good show here. He did ok in the TTT so let's wait and see.

 

[Grupetto1]

Be interesting to see how Wiggins does today tope 5 I hope

Maybe a bit short for him but good for him being at the end of the week

 

[fraserhughes]

The Kreuziger vs Quintana looks to be the most interesting part at least for me.

+1

Also interested to see if moving to sky has improved Nieve's TT...

 

[pastronef]

Also interested to see if moving to sky has improved Nieve's TT...

I hope so. If Quintana can improve his performances in TT, so can Nieve.

 

[Bavarianrider]

I don't see why Contador should go full throttle. If he's smart he'll simply cruse

 

[DenisMenchov]

Kwiat wins, Contador 2nd, Wiggins 3rd.

 

[Cimber]

I don't see why Contador should go full throttle. If he's smart he'll simply cruse

He doesnt have alot of TTs before the Tour so he will try to test himself.

 

[wirral]

I don't see why Contador should go full throttle. If he's smart he'll simply cruse

It is pretty much 4.5 km straight, a U-turn and then 4.5 km straight. No risk involved. He will go for it.

 

[LaFlorecita]

It is pretty much 4.5 km straight, a U-turn and then 4.5 km straight. No risk involved. He will go for it.

Good point. Just be extra careful in that one corner. He needs to test himself.

 

[Guybrush]

Michael Hepburn should be fresh and fast

 

[Bavarianrider]

I don't see how a 9km time trial is a test for a 53km TT at the end of the Tour de France.

 

[Cimber]

I don't see how a 9km time trial is a test for a 53km TT at the end of the Tour de France.

It isnt but its better than nothing. And he needs to build some TT-self confidence