Giro d'Italia 2021 Giro d'Italia, Stage 4: Piacenza - Sestola 186 km

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Never mess with Lefevere. We all knew Remco would be preferred but still a *** move. In the end Remco also lost 10' so karma I guess.

Clearly you don't understand what happened. Almeida was done. When you get dropped that early in the climb and in the first week, chances are you're not going to bounce back, regardless of whatever teammate waits for you.

They chose to bet on Remco at this point. They were not trying to drop or distance Almeida further, they were trying to keep a steady pace up, which suits Remco more. If the pace dropped, that would mean there would have been attacks left and right with plenty of accelerations. This would be in favor of guys like Landa, Yates, Carthy, but not of Evenepoel who is a tempoclimber, and on top of that, is still looking for his best form. So Karma? Hardly, Remco lost a whole lot less time because they decided to ride like that, not the other way around.

 

[Northerner]

Highlights on Quest (UK) are showing stage 1?

 

[RedheadDane]

So, errr... one question. Did those of us who voted 'yes' get it right?

 

[IndurainsTdF1994]

So, errr... one question. Did those of us who voted 'yes' get it right?

The questions was whether there is a poll. Yes is blatantly correct.

 

[Bonimenier]

So, errr... one question. Did those of us who voted 'yes' get it right?

I'm afraid not, better luck next time.

 

[RedheadDane]

The questions was whether there is a poll. Yes is blatantly correct.

I'm afraid not, better luck next time.

That answered that question...

 

[will-10]

Almeida the big surprise, perhaps easy to downplay how hard today was with the weather.

 

[the delgados]

I must admit he looked like a vision of suppless when he made that attack, just beautiful on the bike.

I must admit he looked like a vision of suppless when he made that attack, just beautiful on the bike.

I'm sorry to interrupt, but kudos for using the word suppless. Makes me think of my man Carlton Kirby.
Carry on.

 

[Rollthedice]

No nice words for Romain Bardet? I think we'll see some interesting things from Bardet in the following weeks.

 

[tobydawq]

2020 was the only 2020 year in the last decade tho

Yeah, but the statement still rings true to me. Especially because of the rain, some riders may have performed worse today than their level would enable them to another day.

I think Almeida and Bennett are the only ones we can discard now (at least from the batch of contenders in my head).

And what are we thinking about Ciccone? Why did he attack today? There was no tangible trophy in sight for him. Is he secretly mounting an assult on the GC? Yesterday's attack was surely for a stage win but today's seemed like something more.

 

[Skalman]

Was something wrong with Almeida or had QS decided beforehand that Almeida was second so he dropped intentionally? that performance was very baffling, almost forced vacation kind of baffling?

 

[Bonimenier]

Was something wrong with Almeida or had QS decided beforehand that Almeida was second so he dropped intentionally? that performance was very baffling, almost forced vacation kind of baffling?

He just had a bad day. I can't think of any tactical reason why he would drop.

 

[Skalman]

He just had a bad day. I can't think of any tactical reason why he would drop.

Ok strange, says he is in his form of his life and drops on a climb he would normally have no problem with.
Guess the weather might have affected him, still strange though

 

[kingjr]

Ok strange, says he is in his form of his life and drops on a climb he would normally have no problem with.
Guess the weather might have affected him, still strange though

Where did he say that? He said before the stage the goal was not to lose any time, the two statements don't seem to fit together.

 

[Skalman]

Where did he say that? He said before the stage the goal was not to lose any time, the two statements don't seem to fit together.

I saw something about that, some days ago, it might have been before the Giro or after the TT, could have been a mistranslation also.

 

[Luthor]

Clearly you don't understand what happened. Almeida was done. When you get dropped that early in the climb and in the first week, chances are you're not going to bounce back, regardless of whatever teammate waits for you.

They chose to bet on Remco at this point. They were not trying to drop or distance Almeida further, they were trying to keep a steady pace up, which suits Remco more. If the pace dropped, that would mean there would have been attacks left and right with plenty of accelerations. This would be in favor of guys like Landa, Yates, Carthy, but not of Evenepoel who is a tempoclimber, and on top of that, is still looking for his best form. So Karma? Hardly, Remco lost a whole lot less time because they decided to ride like that, not the other way around.

DQS paced a lot today and they knew even from Tirreno Almeida doesn't like rainy conditions. They went with "Almeida is the leader" to ease off Remco's pressure. The pace set by Bahrain was really high at the end and they dropped Almeida by a bit.

DQS didn't send any rider at the back to give him a hand and when Ciccone attacked, DQS went to impose a high steady pace which made sure Almeida would never have a chance. They thought the same as you "He is done". We saw a lot of bounces back in the Giro, last year had plenty. They could've tried to limit the losses but they chose not to.

If the roles would be reversed do you think DQS would've let Remco alone and say "He is done" or they would've drop someone to give him some help? Would've they maintain a high pace afterwards and make Remco a dom for Almeida?

Almeida didn't got the "GC treatment" from DQS even though he might have been done anyway as you say. The gap is probably also higher because the guy kinda gave up. But I think for everything he has done at DQS he deserved at least a bit of support. If he wouldn't have left I think they would but now, they obviously would rather want him as a domestique for Remco until the end.

The attacks from GC weren't substantial today, the only guys that lost contact were the ones having a bad day( Almeida, Bennett). Attacks left and right? Doubtful, most of them were miserable and Bahrain still had a good team there. The only certain attack was Landa. It was more like a test to see is actually in good form and can't be let go. Remco wouldn't have lost a lot of time anyway imo, he still had good enough legs that he was the one following the others.

 

[OldCranky]

Big thanks to Quest UK for showing the stage 1 time trial again in what was supposed to be tonight's stage 4 highlights show, proper amateur hour stuff this

 

[topcat]

Clearly you don't understand what happened. Almeida was done. When you get dropped that early in the climb and in the first week, chances are you're not going to bounce back, regardless of whatever teammate waits for you.

They chose to bet on Remco at this point. They were not trying to drop or distance Almeida further, they were trying to keep a steady pace up, which suits Remco more. If the pace dropped, that would mean there would have been attacks left and right with plenty of accelerations. This would be in favor of guys like Landa, Yates, Carthy, but not of Evenepoel who is a tempoclimber, and on top of that, is still looking for his best form. So Karma? Hardly, Remco lost a whole lot less time because they decided to ride like that, not the other way around.

Yes, this was blatantly obvious. Leadership crisis over.

 

[Red Rick]

Yeah, but the statement still rings true to me. Especially because of the rain, some riders may have performed worse today than their level would enable them to another day.

I think Almeida and Bennett are the only ones we can discard now (at least from the batch of contenders in my head).

And what are we thinking about Ciccone? Why did he attack today? There was no tangible trophy in sight for him. Is he secretly mounting an assult on the GC? Yesterday's attack was surely for a stage win but today's seemed like something more.

I think Ciccone is a possible top 5 finisher and he just wanted to make most of a stage/circumstances that suited him, and it probably fit with team tactics/had the OK from Nibali.

Didn't consider Bennett a contender myself. Wasn't expecting Almeida to top 5 either, but him dropping out of contention immediately is quite a surprise to me.

 

[Red Rick]

Leadership crisis over.

Never has a Belgian entity resolved a leadership dispute this quickly

 

[Skalman]

um...carthy was stronger than vlasov.

Aaaand.. Carthy of course missed him somehow.

 

[kingjr]

I saw something about that, some days ago, it might have been before the Giro or after the TT, could have been a mistranslation also.

Could have been his comment about his weight, 60.5kg, which he said was "sharper than ever"

 

[Luthor]

I think Ciccone is a possible top 5 finisher and he just wanted to make most of a stage/circumstances that suited him, and it probably fit with team tactics/had the OK from Nibali.

Didn't consider Bennett a contender myself. Wasn't expecting Almeida to top 5 either, but him dropping out of contention immediately is quite a surprise to me.

Ciccone is kinda wasting a lot of effort in these early stages, it's gonna be interesting how he is gonna perform in 3rd week. I'm glad he does race offensively so early tho, makes the stages much better.

 

[tobydawq]

I think Ciccone is a possible top 5 finisher and he just wanted to make most of a stage/circumstances that suited him, and it probably fit with team tactics/had the OK from Nibali.

Didn't consider Bennett a contender myself. Wasn't expecting Almeida to top 5 either, but him dropping out of contention immediately is quite a surprise to me.

My batch of favourites was quite broad, admittedly, (more than 15 guys) but given the fact that Bennett has never really had the chance to go for it himself in a GT after having resolved his side stitch issue, I would give him the benefit of the doubt. And maybe, just maybe, the rain could explain his loss today? It was still so big, though, that it currently seems insurmountable.

 

[gunara]

I always think that Giro and Vuelta 1st GC stage tend to tells less than the Tour one. At the Tour sometimes even how the GC favorites deals with and position themselves in early sprinters' stage indicate something. So won't read too much into most - not all - happennings today. Trek's leadership is still not as obvious as DQS. Will anyone stop Bernal if his back hold up? Who's better between Vlasov and Carthy. Which Yates we saw today. Can Landa do better than that. How long De Marchi or Dombro will hang on to what they occupy. Why Moscon and Bettiol were even up there etc..