2021 Giro d'Italia, Stage 19: Abbiategrasso - Alpe di Mera 166 km

[Forever The Best]

Not just that. I'm just mad at the lack of suspense especially with Bernal being dropped like a stone in the third week.

Stage 20 could have been very exciting if Yates had Bernal's team.

 

[trevim]

I don’t put past Yates to win the whole thing tomorrow. If Bernal fades then Caruso won’t hold him back

 

[Rackham]

On the plus side for a potential long range Yates attack tomorrow, Vlasov is over 3 minutes behind. So he doesn't face "immediate" threats to his podium position.

Podium battles have a history of nullifying threats to the overall GC leader in these final mountain stages. Also, Bernal is fading, that's pretty much clear now. Even the TT could become an issue "if" it gets worse & he doesn't manage his effort well.

TT's at the end of a grand tour are more about form & less about TT abilities tbh.

 

[Gigs_98]

Well he was fine pulling off a solo to Sappada in 2018. But we will never find out cause Ineos will probably get Ganna over the San Bernadino ffs.

Agree about Ganna. Sappada wasn't a long solo though. He attacked on a short climb with something like 18km to go, and a big part of the remaining stage was downhill. Also he profited a lot from the guys behind not working well together cause people kinda thought he was out of reach anyway. Don't think that stage tells us much about how he can sustain efforts

 

[Red Rick]

Sappada was also shorter, rather steep climbs at lower altitude before the final uphill drag to Sappada.

Yates is perfectly fine at 40+ minute climbs as well, and it wasn't like he won that Sappada stage by a small gap. He was the only one with Bernal on Iseran too, even if from the breakaway.

It's also not like Bernal is a great legendary solo artist, and his only significant long range attacked got turned into an unipuerto finish.

 

[movingtarget]

The TT for the GC riders might be better than expected if Bernal loses more time tomorrow.

 

[CyclistAbi]

They basically just pedal all day long. And make the bike go ahead.

Boring!

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Random result of the day: Stefano Oldani finished 21st, in front of Nibali, Ulissi and Pello Bilbao.

Appropriate that he beat some old a***oles

Hirt and Sepúlveda also did well to finish in the top 15, but a lot of riders did take it rather easy in the end.

 

[jaylew]

Bernal seemed to manage a bit but then he still ran into his limit with 500m to go. Martinez gave his all. So I don't think Yates "wasted" more energy today.

I really don't think he ran into his limit or cracked at the end at all. He just kept the same pace rather than do the traditional hard effort to the finish. He looked completely different than yesterday at the finish and was in no way giving it his all at the end for a few extra seconds. At this point he's trying not to do any extreme efforts. He and the team did exactly what he said they were going to do yesterday

 

[limak_]

I think that tomorrow's climbs are perfect for Ineos tu pull him safely all the way long to the finish.

 

[luckyboy]

Wiggins said this just now

"I wouldn't be surprised if he's thinking he could potentially win this race. I don't think he's someone that will settle for the podium."

He's talking about Caruso... ??

 

[IndianCyclist]

But why? Of course, it was unlikely to gain lots of time on Bernal, but it was the only chance to gain a huge amount of time in case he would crack.
I don't understand how fans always want riders to ride for first place instead of second, but if they obviously do, then they are criticized for attacking too early.

If Yates would have attacked at 3 km to go and gained 30 seconds, then everyone would be like "why didn't he attack earlier?".

I thought today was the day to put him in difficulty. He would not recover by tommorrow and then turn on the screws tommorrow causing him to crack

 

[Breezy1985]

I feel like you are watching this stage by stage: EB was the strongest until the rest day, and now he's still very close. Also remember that even though his team is strong, he has to be strong enough to hang on to them.

In fairness I know I'm just being dramatic.

What kills me is not that Ineos have 1 really strong rider with 1 amazing domestique it's that no matter who they send they have the best 2. Even when it's looking good for other teams the likes of Rowe and Dennis become the best doms ever.

Landa, Porte, Froome, Martinez, Kwiato when will it end and we get to see real 1 on 1 racing

 

[jmdirt]

well he is lucky with dani martinez. yates doesn't have such a guy to help him out. Imagine Bernal having to ride solo this whole climb, he would have lost 1.30 minutes.

or 30 seconds?

 

[Salvarani]

You are still not making sense. Why would his legs not respond any more? This is the question I am seeking the answer to?

1. He is young
2. He isn't overcooked
3. He has the strongest team - that means stronger than Yates or Caruso
4. He won't be overawed since he has won the TdF.

Ineos can make the race hard too. Of course Bernal isn't unbeatable. But I think he is less beatable than Yates or Caruso.

As for break, well Ineos have the strongest lineup so I doubt they will just look and not put anyone else in that break or on Yates's wheel. If Yates wants to do a long range attack that is his only chance a la Schleck 2011 TdF. But Yates is no Froome.

No you are missing the complete point because I have only said ”if” and speculated based on his performance 2 stages ago. What the others should do to try and gain more time.

Before the stage today.

 

[broppo]

or 30 seconds?

no dont think so, it is also mentally really hard to ride the whole climb up with 3 guys in your wheel

 

[Pinot's goat]

Can someone tell me why George Bennett was out ahead of Fosse for the whole climb

he is 10 minutes behind Fosse on GC and was never going to win that stage ???

Bennett finished behind Foss, he was attacking for the stage win.

 

[woodburn]

Caruso was probably never more than 10s behind or so though

He also lost 17 seconds to Almeida in that span. Definitely looked spent. It won't matter, though.

 

[railxmig]

Very liked the last climb. You had a nice combo of nerves, tacticts, mano-a-mano from the bottom and it provides suspence to last two stages. Also happy for Foss. Hope he'll develop more in the future and maybe even become a new Evans with hopefully much better luck.

 

[luckyboy]

Great win by Simon Yates. But his job is almost impossible now with the disparity of team strength.

BikeExchange left Hamilton, Chaves and Howson at home for some reason. What are they saving them for lol

 

[limak_]

Bennett finished behind Foss, he was attacking for the stage win.

Ending up 1:20 behind Foss. Ridiculous how much overconfident he was when followed Yates attack

 

[Pricey_sky]

In fairness I know I'm just being dramatic.

What kills me is not that Ineos have 1 really strong rider with 1 amazing domestique it's that no matter who they send they have the best 2. Even when it's looking good for other teams the likes of Rowe and Dennis become the best doms ever.

Landa, Porte, Froome, Martinez, Kwiato when will it end and we get to see real 1 on 1 racing

We will probably see the same from Jumbo in the Tour, like last year.
Though the obviously didn’t count on Pogacer crushing the last TT.

 

[Breezy1985]

Very liked the last climb. You had a nice combo of nerves, tacticts, mano-a-mano from the bottom and it provides suspence to last two stages. Also happy for Foss. Hope he'll develop more in the future and maybe even become a new Evans with hopefully much better luck.

You mean mano-a-teamo

 

[movingtarget]

In fairness I know I'm just being dramatic.

What kills me is not that Ineos have 1 really strong rider with 1 amazing domestique it's that no matter who they send they have the best 2. Even when it's looking good for other teams the likes of Rowe and Dennis become the best doms ever.

Landa, Porte, Froome, Martinez, Kwiato when will it end and we get to see real 1 on 1 racing

Hopefully Thomas can stay upright otherwise its all wasted. Maybe Carapaz should be joint leader. Jumbo will have a strong team and Pogacar's team is a little underrated.

 

[Breezy1985]

We will probably see the same from Jumbo in the Tour, like last year.
Though the obviously didn’t count on Pogacer crushing the last TT.

Completely missed my point. Jumbo have a great team Ineos seem to have about 4 great teams