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

[titan31]

Damn weather meaning no pictures so far.

Back now thankfully, and gone

 

[spalco]

I somewhat understand the technical problems, helicopters and satellite transmissions and stuff, but how weird is it, that it's always the Giro with the picture breakups, I don't recall that ever happening in the Tour or Vuelta.

 

[Red Rick]

I don't even ride my bike 20 minutes to work on a day like this.

I don't even do indoor training on a day like this

 

[Devil's Elbow]

I somewhat understand the technical problems, helicopters and satellite transmissions and stuff, but how weird is it, that it's always the Giro with the picture breakups, I don't recall that ever happening in the Tour or Vuelta.

In the Giro's defence, it usually gets the worst weather out of the GTs.

 

[Orbit501]

I really like the way Victor Campenearts seems to be re inventing himself this season. With the TT contenders evolving all the time, Victor seems to have decided on being an all out attacking rider from now on. Always up for going in the break now it seems.

Great to see!

 

[BlueRoads]

Foss for the win!
Or a Basque.

 

[ice&fire]

I somewhat understand the technical problems, helicopters and satellite transmissions and stuff, but how weird is it, that it's always the Giro with the picture breakups, I don't recall that ever happening in the Tour or Vuelta.

We all missed a hailstorm in the Vuelta stage at Andorra two years ago

 

[Taxus4a]

The official page say 1800 metres today, but is actually 2600 or more. Not too much, anyway.

 

[Red Rick]

Actually the main favorites will win today, just because the first greatly anticipated crazy stage with an insane breakaway battle gets an extremely lame break 90% of GTs

 

[spalco]

Actually the main favorites will win today, just because the first greatly anticipated crazy stage with an insane breakaway battle gets an extremely lame break 90% of GTs

Yeah, the more the peloton fights against the breakaway the less likely it is for a competent break to get formed.

Even just the front duo would still have a (small) chance though if the peloton lets off.

 

[Skalman]

Actually the main favorites will win today, just because the first greatly anticipated crazy stage with an insane breakaway battle gets an extremely lame break 90% of GTs

So no Taco today then?

 

[SafeBet]

Group of 8 riders now trying to bridge.

 

[spalco]

They should have a circus troupe performing at the finish line or something if we're going to see that all day.

 

[Faserr]

It looks like chaos now

 

[spalco]

Ineos look like they want to turn off the chasing, not sure if everyone else is happy quite yet.

 

[DJ Sprtsch]

Are we going to have a break of twenty riders?

 

[hayneplane]

This is starting to feel like the end of the beginning of the Giro and the start of the substantive action

 

[Taxus4a]

Climb looks like Civiglio. I know he is not going for GC, but Mollema must be tempted.

Nobody talk about Mollema, but he is one of the favourites not just for today, but for all the GC.

 

[BlueRoads]

Who needs Carlton Kirby? German Eurosport talking passionately about cheese and asparagus with peaches while we see raindrops dripping. Okay, I guess that's the very clear signal I should get back to work...

 

[Eclipse]

Filippo Zana sounds like the name of a low budget remake

 

[Carols]

Nothing like getting up at 5:45AM to watch a race and there are no pictures....well every once in a while we see cyclists.

Wow a group of 20+ are off the front. Anyone who can win the Giro?

 

[Red Rick]

Ineos look like they want to turn off the chasing, not sure if everyone else is happy quite yet.

What year is this?

Oh wait, every year

 

[Libertine Seguros]

To be fair, this is the section through the Po floodplain. It's never the most visually arresting even when we do have pictures. Hopefully it clears up when we start to get into the Apennines, because this is genuinely a really well-designed and nice-looking medium-mountain stage of the type that we don't get often enough. The Vuelta uses this kind of finishing climb a lot, I know, but typically designed in such a way that nothing else could possibly be decisive. This stage chains together those last three climbs (including the uncategorised one) really nicely in a way better than we're used to from Settimana Coppi e Bartali, the main smaller race that uses this area, and although the last climb is the hardest, there's no real respite for the legs beforehand so if teams approach this hard, domestiques could be hard to come by as soon as we arrive at the bottom of it, while it's not out of the realms of possibility for a climbing-adept baroudeur to inject themselves into the GC mix or to make it from a break by attacking before the Cà Frati road.

 

[Orbit501]

Nice big break up the road now with some good riders in it. Perhaps a bit too big though for cooperation purposes.
With the climb to the finish, I quite like the look of Edet from this lot.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Every big team but Bora, Ineos and Astana has a guy in the breakaway, bringing them back won't be easy.