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2018 Giro d'Italia, stage 2: Haifa - Tel Aviv 167 km

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Jul 23, 2017
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Looked to me like Viviani didn’t go full out in the intermediate sprint. I suspect Quickstep, who don’t have GC hopes, let Dennis take 1st and Pink expecting payback later. In fact, it could very well happen at the end of this stage, with BMC keeping the pace high so QS can conserve their train and not worry about chasing down escapees. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Dennis helping out with his TT skill. The best way to avoid getting caught up in a crash during a sprint is to be in the front.
 
Poncho said:
Looked to me like Viviani didn’t go full out in the intermediate sprint. I suspect Quickstep, who don’t have GC hopes, let Dennis take 1st and Pink expecting payback later. In fact, it could very well happen at the end of this stage, with BMC keeping the pace high so QS can conserve their train and not worry about chasing down escapees. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Dennis helping out with his TT skill. The best way to avoid getting caught up in a crash during a sprint is to be in the front.

Or, a half-hearted intermediate sprint Viviani just wasn't as sharp as a full-on sprinting Dennis for pink...

Sometimes cycling is a chess game, but usually it is rock-paper-scissors.
 
Re:

DFA123 said:
That was all a bit predictable. Viviani should really do a Gaviria here and take 4 or 5 stages. He has the best train (even if he didn't use it brilliantly today) and he's by far the fastest in a really weak sprinting field.

Alternatively you could say that he had a pretty brilliant way of solving the fact that his sprint train had kinda dissolved. ;)
 
Re: Re:

RedheadDane said:
DFA123 said:
That was all a bit predictable. Viviani should really do a Gaviria here and take 4 or 5 stages. He has the best train (even if he didn't use it brilliantly today) and he's by far the fastest in a really weak sprinting field.

Alternatively you could say that he had a pretty brilliant way of solving the fact that his sprint train had kinda dissolved. ;)
No, it didn't dissolve. Viviani just managed to get himself out of position before the sprint, while the riders in his train were doing their jobs.
 
Re: Re:

RedheadDane said:
DFA123 said:
That was all a bit predictable. Viviani should really do a Gaviria here and take 4 or 5 stages. He has the best train (even if he didn't use it brilliantly today) and he's by far the fastest in a really weak sprinting field.

Alternatively you could say that he had a pretty brilliant way of solving the fact that his sprint train had kinda dissolved. ;)
I half wondered if it was deliberate. Kittel rode pretty much the same way last year, just using his train to keep a high pace and everything fairly strung out up until the final 500m, but not actually following them. It could be the best tactic if you're by far the fastest rider in the field.

But the way his team mates were looking around with 400m to go, suggests it wasn't quite so planned.
 
Re: Re:

Cance > TheRest said:
RedheadDane said:
DFA123 said:
That was all a bit predictable. Viviani should really do a Gaviria here and take 4 or 5 stages. He has the best train (even if he didn't use it brilliantly today) and he's by far the fastest in a really weak sprinting field.

Alternatively you could say that he had a pretty brilliant way of solving the fact that his sprint train had kinda dissolved. ;)
No, it didn't dissolve. Viviani just managed to get himself out of position before the sprint, while the riders in his train were doing their jobs.

Looked pretty disolved in the last K. And Holm doesn't think it was too pretty either.
 

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