2018 Giro d'Italia stage 7: Pizzo – Praia a Mare 159 km

[Red Rick]

STAGE 7: Pizzo – Praia a Mare 159 km

May 11th

Technical Overview:
After 3 demanding stages in Sicily, the peloton reaches the mainland for a much easier stage. The short length and the absence of meaningful climbs (the uphill section at 15 km to go only measures 4 km at 3.5%...) make wind the only possible threat for the riders. The stage runs entirely along the coast, so it is a concrete chance. Considering how the last stage to Praia a Mare looked like (see 2016), this route is very underwhelming, but considering the rest of the stages of this week, it's understandable...

Final km

What to Expect:
Either mass sprint or echelons and reduced sprint.

Praia a Mare

 

[MrTea1976]

So.....if it's a bunch sprint, Viviani, and if there is wind and echelons, Quick Step will win it - probably with Viviani?

 

[Leinster]

Re:

So.....if it's a bunch sprint, Viviani, and if there is wind and echelons, Quick Step will win it - probably with Viviani?

Probably. Zelig didn’t start today, so Bennett’s train is down 1. Viviani’s just going to clean up from here. The only thing that can stop him keeping the Ciclamino is if Yates or some other GC rider starts picking up intermediate sprints as well as stage finish points.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Well Willier saved their entired team for a Mareczko win. Let's see it

 

[Jspear]

Lol understandly there’s not much discussion about this stage yet. Viviani for the win of course. I need Froome to get dropped in the some cross winds. Anyone know if there will be wind?

 

[jsem94]

Not much wind at all. No chance of crosswinds.

 

[Laplaz]

Viviani for his 3rd. Hopefully no crashes.

 

[Gigs_98]

It's a pity Kittel isn't riding. I wonder whether that little hill with 15 k to go would have been too much for him

 

[Lequack]

The other teams have learned nothing and will let Viviani win a bunch sprint. I wonder who makes these brilliant strategies in these other teams. Is their strategy simply lets wait for the bunch sprint and hopefully the guy who always beats us won't beat us again?

 

[Red Rick]

It's a pity Kittel isn't riding. I wonder whether that little hill with 15 k to go would have been too much for him

I don't wonder

I know

 

[tobydawq]

It's a pity Kittel isn't riding. I wonder whether that little hill with 15 k to go would have been too much for him

It will probably be too much for Mareczko. He seems to be a worse climber than Kittel.

 

[Koronin]

Agreed. Vivianni for the win.

 

[DNP-Old]

Last 2k is pretty much a straight line. That should be fun.

 

[movingtarget]

Vivianai will start his sprint with 100 metres to go and win by 2 metres............

 

[Velolover2]

It's a pity Kittel isn't riding. I wonder whether that little hill with 15 k to go would have been too much for him

It will probably be too much for Mareczko. He seems to be a worse climber than Kittel.

Which leads me to another question. How shallow does the hill has to be before the purest sprinters begin to suffer?

Can 2 km at 4% put Kittel under pressure? Even less? If it's less 3% or less it's not even a hill anymore, it's just a bump or if longer: an uphill drag.

 

[wirral]

Re:

The other teams have learned nothing and will let Viviani win a bunch sprint. I wonder who makes these brilliant strategies in these other teams. Is their strategy simply lets wait for the bunch sprint and hopefully the guy who always beats us won't beat us again?

I know, they never do. The Spring Classics was a perfect example of this. (Making the same mistake over and over is the definition of stupid) But in order to learn from their mistakes, it is necessary for perhaps 80 to 90% of the teams to learn. That means 80 to 90% of the DS's have to learn and have the nerve to change their strategy. It takes about 10 losses before you reach that number by which time all the sprints in the Giro are long since over.

 

[phanatic]

As a tv tourist, these are always stages I look forward to.

 

[Robert5091]

Weather forecast -

Partly cloudy skies during the morning giving way to a few showers late. High 18C. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 km/h. Chance of rain 40%

QS will see it as a failure if Viviani does not win. If they don't hang around they'll all have time for an ice cream on the beach afterwards.

 

[rghysens]

Re:

The other teams have learned nothing and will let Viviani win a bunch sprint. I wonder who makes these brilliant strategies in these other teams. Is their strategy simply lets wait for the bunch sprint and hopefully the guy who always beats us won't beat us again?

It took 5 years to find out at the Fleche Wallonne, this is only the 3rd stage. Besides, Viviani is no Cavendish, Greipel or Kittel in terms of sprint successes. That said, he is of course the overwhelming favourit.

 

[Velolover2]

It's a pity Kittel isn't riding. I wonder whether that little hill with 15 k to go would have been too much for him

It will probably be too much for Mareczko. He seems to be a worse climber than Kittel.

Which leads me to another question. How shallow does the hill has to be before the purest sprinters begin to suffer?

Can 2 km at 4% put Kittel under pressure? Even less? If it's less 3% or less it's not even a hill anymore, it's just a bump or if longer: an uphill drag.

Of course it depends on how far the hill is located from the finish line. But let's say a 2 km hill at 4% where the summit is reached 7 km before the finish line. Is that enough to finish off someone like Kittel?

 

[DFA123]

It's a pity Kittel isn't riding. I wonder whether that little hill with 15 k to go would have been too much for him

It will probably be too much for Mareczko. He seems to be a worse climber than Kittel.

Which leads me to another question. How shallow does the hill has to be before the purest sprinters begin to suffer?

Can 2 km at 4% put Kittel under pressure? Even less? If it's less 3% or less it's not even a hill anymore, it's just a bump or if longer: an uphill drag.

Of course it depends on how far the hill is located from the finish line. But let's say a 2 km hill at 4% where the summit is reached 7 km before the finish line. Is that enough to finish off someone like Kittel?

I think another big factor would be what the rest of the stage is like. If it's flat with just the one climb at the end, I think Kittel would be fine with 2km at 4% - at least if he is in decent condition. If it's a fairly lumpy stage and he's already used up a lot of matches, he'd get dropped more of than not imo.

 

[fauniera]

 

[Red Rick]

Don't underestimate the aerobic thrash that is a sprinter in bad form. On a hard flat stage they might just be dropped on a flat road

 

[DFA123]

Re:

Don't underestimate the aerobic thrash that is a sprinter in bad form. On a hard flat stage they might just be dropped on a flat road

For sure. I remember that stage of Abu Dhabi (?) a couple of years ago around the race track, where Kittel was in horrible shape and couldn't even follow wheels in the final 20km.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Pretty disappointing finish considering the stage here in 2016, but I guess they needed to throw in one for the sprinters. Its getting more and more obvious tho just how boring and monotous such stages are now that stages are broadcasted almost in its entirety in the Giro and especially the Tour - that could be a plus in the long run as such stages will be reduced.