2017 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1: Alghero - Olbia 206 km

[Arredondo]

Re: Re:

Would be kind of cool for the race if Quintana lost two minutes on a few other GC contenders, due to getting caught out behind a split in one of these Sardinian stages. He's such an overwhelming favourite at the moment, but that would level the field nicely and make it anybody's race.

An overwhelming favorite for sure, if you ignore the real possibility that he has been training and will be racing with one foot towards the Tour. He may not be in 100% form, or may not reach full strength until the very end. He may pass up opportunities to pile on his advantage late in the race, and get caught up in Giro chaos like Kruijswijk[/b].

He may well be below 100% and may well make tactical errors; and he may well still win in spite of it all - because he's that much better than everyone else on the startlist. He's currently odds on to win the race; in a three week tour where so much can happen, that's about as overwhelming favourite as it gets. Pretty much the same odds as Froome is to win the Tour.

If Kruijswijk can reach his shape of last year, how much is he off to Quintana who is targetting the double you think?

 

[Jspear]

I'm rooting for Gaviria

 

[DNP-Old]

Pirazzi and Ruffoni DNS because they got caught with their hands in the cookie jar.

 

[Tank Engine]

Gaviria vs Greipel vs Ewan (I'm guessing he has to be above Hofland in the hierarchy, but in this field Hofland might fancy his chances) with Nizzolo to play the role of Rojas. I'll go with the Columbian climber

 

[happytramp]

Re:

Gaviria vs Greipel vs Ewan (I'm guessing he has to be above Hofland in the hierarchy, but in this field Hofland might fancy his chances) with Nizzolo to play the role of Rojas. I'll go with the Columbian climber

Sam Bennett not even getting a look in?....

 

[Tank Engine]

Re: Re:

Gaviria vs Greipel vs Ewan (I'm guessing he has to be above Hofland in the hierarchy, but in this field Hofland might fancy his chances) with Nizzolo to play the role of Rojas. I'll go with the Columbian climber

Sam Bennett not even getting a look in?....

I'd say that he has a reasonably good shot for top 5.

Edit: He'd have a better shot if Sagan was leading him out (Juraj, of course ). Ettix, Lotto S. and Orica just seem stronger.

 

[sir fly]

Re: Re:

Echelons would look great in this scenery.

Too much twists and turns for that to happen, no?

Not sure... The twists make wind direction changeable, many times the splits occurred on the way out of corners. Straights are good for using the road width in breaking the group.
It really depends on the wind and determination.

 

[Robert5091]

Greipel in pink ... or Bardiani CSF riders to come first, second and third

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Re: Re:

Gaviria vs Greipel vs Ewan (I'm guessing he has to be above Hofland in the hierarchy, but in this field Hofland might fancy his chances) with Nizzolo to play the role of Rojas. I'll go with the Columbian climber

Sam Bennett not even getting a look in?....

Really dependant on his leadout. Bennett is not good at positioning himself on his own. But if he happens to be as well placed as the other three mentioned, he has every chance to beat them.

 

[42x16ss]

Really nice stage for a stage 1. Possible echelons, stunning scenery, just lumpy enough to encourage attacks. I approve.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Re: Re:

Gaviria in pink..

Will that be crazy? GT debut, 1st stage and gets the leader jersey? has that happened before?
If he does get it, how long will he realistically keep it for?

He'll lose it on stage 4 (obviously )

He would probably already lose it on stage 2. Only if the stage ends in a bunch sprint or if the winner of stage 2 had already lost time on stage 1, Gaviria could keep the jersey.

I think Gaviria is the favorite for stage 2 as well.

 

[Davesta]

Re: Re:

Gaviria in pink..

Will that be crazy? GT debut, 1st stage and gets the leader jersey? has that happened before?
If he does get it, how long will he realistically keep it for?

Hruska and Millar in 2000, the Canc in 2004, Gasparotto in 2007, Castroviejo in 2012.

And Phinney in 2012, I think?

 

[Squire]

Re: Re:

Gaviria in pink..

Will that be crazy? GT debut, 1st stage and gets the leader jersey? has that happened before?
If he does get it, how long will he realistically keep it for?

Hruska and Millar in 2000, the Canc in 2004, Gasparotto in 2007, Castroviejo in 2012.

And Phinney in 2012, I think?

He rode the Vuelta in 2011.

 

[RedheadDane]

Break:

Mirco Maestri (Bardiani-CSF), Cesare Benedetti (Bora-Hansgrohe), Marcin Bialoblocki (CCC Sprandi Polkowice), Pavel Brutt (Gazprom-Rusvelo), Daniel Teklehaimanot (Dimension Data) and Eugert Zhupa (Wilier Selle Italia) already have a lead of 1:20 over the peloton.

Can't wait for the live coverage to start. I'm a kid at Christmas.
Well... except for the fact that I'm not a kid, and it isn't Christmas, but part from those little details.

 

[BYOP88]

Lets hope for an interesting stage and most importantly, no crash when the field sprint starts.

 

[Pricey_sky]

Headwind for most of the stage until the tiders turn South-East with around 60k's to go, could be crosswinds from there.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

live now on RAI Sport -174km break of 6 already at 6mins+

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Break contains Pavel Brutt last winner of a race on Sardinian soil.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Break contains Pavel Brutt last winner of a race on Sardinian soil.

Interesting factoid!

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Re: Re:

Break contains Pavel Brutt last winner of a race on Sardinian soil.

Interesting factoid!

Pinkest place in Alghero yesterday:

they are flowers

 

[staubsauger]

German Eurosport only starts it's coverage at 4 o'clock today and tomorrow!

 

[Davesta]

Re: Re:

Gaviria in pink..

Will that be crazy? GT debut, 1st stage and gets the leader jersey? has that happened before?
If he does get it, how long will he realistically keep it for?

Hruska and Millar in 2000, the Canc in 2004, Gasparotto in 2007, Castroviejo in 2012.

And Phinney in 2012, I think?

He rode the Vuelta in 2011.

Ah yes, well spotted!

 

[BYOP88]

Re: Re:

Gaviria in pink..

Will that be crazy? GT debut, 1st stage and gets the leader jersey? has that happened before?
If he does get it, how long will he realistically keep it for?

Didn't Oscarito win the 1st stage of his first GT ride. Vuelta circa 1999-2000?

 

[Squire]

Re: Re:

Gaviria in pink..

Will that be crazy? GT debut, 1st stage and gets the leader jersey? has that happened before?
If he does get it, how long will he realistically keep it for?

Didn't Oscarito win the 1st stage of his first GT ride. Vuelta circa 1999-2000?

He won the first road stage. There was a time trial before that, which Zülle won. I think my list is exhaustive for this side of the milennium, but there are surely loads of riders who won the first stage of their first GT in the 1900s as well. Hopefully Gaviria is added to that list today.

 

[Ikbengodniet]

Already 3 work breaks, thanks for that eurosport....