Giro d'Italia 2023 Giro d'Italia, Stage 19: Longarone – Tre Cime di Lavaredo 183 km (Friday, May 26th)

[Samu Cuenca]

Contador on the moto while his team is on the race? That's a bit weird.

If nothing happens in the race, they should allow him to switch to a road bike to light things up.

 

[MrTea1976]

Go Gee!!

 

[Devil's Elbow]

This is a worthy battle for the final real breakaway of the race.

 

[Tim Cahill]

Took a slightly less paying job because it was WFH, didn't tell the family and friends obviously but in the back of my mind I also did it so I could watch tense opening exchanges in grand tours. Well worth, would recommend.

 

[Netserk]

 

[Barnacle Bill]

Hard start to a brutal stage, enjoyable viewing so far

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Three tired-looking riders up front and then there's Derek the Duracell Bunny, the only guy who was also there yesterday, looking fresh as a daisy.

 

[Netserk]

Cort has bridged across.

 

[Netserk]

Is that Swift controlling the front?

 

[Aimar16]

Gee is just preparing fans for what to expect from the Tour version of WvA

 

[Devil's Elbow]

AG2R trying to put the majority of their team in this break.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Love, love, love seeing Gee in the break again!

 

[Netserk]

Konrad bringing a quartet near the front group, another group behind them containing a dom from the three GC teams has just been caught again.

 

[noob]

If nothing happens in the race, they should allow him to switch to a road bike to light things up.

Imagine in 5-10 years it's G and Rogla on motos. (But my guess is then Rogla will be in another sport, always reinventing himself )

 

[HelloDolly]

Roglič and Almeida will probably try something but Thomas is the strongest and will likely win the stage after dropping the other two. I expect Arensman to be very strong today.

Yet yesterday Formolo came up to Thomas and said he thought Roglic didnt look good and they should work together to drop him

Maybe he was siding with the wrong horse

 

[HelloDolly]

When exactly has Bettiol helped Healy ???

 

[Lui98]

Imagine in 5-10 years it's G and Rogla on motos. (But my guess is then Rogla will be in another sport, always reinventing himself )

I would prefer to see Cancellara back on a motorbike reminiscing about the good old days

 

[Netserk]

Ineos closing down a big group with 3 riders from both Jumbo and UAE.

 

[HelloDolly]

They make hardly any effort in 2 weeks to get in breakaway yet on the last real breakaway day they all pile in

 

[Netserk]

The valley is about to end, only mountains left.

 

[carton]

Funny, I have the complete opposite take. With 30 sec between them, I imagine they're gonna be riding quite conservatively tomorrow precisely because of that MTT coming up. A MTT is still a TT. Which means you get to decide exactly when and where you're gonna exert yourself. It's almost a safe haven of sorts, amongst tough mountain stages where you're not in control of the rythm: you are forced to react to other teams upping the pace or attacking. In a TT you get to decide how to pace your ride the whole way. Yes, this is a MTT, but the top-3 are all great climbers as well as TT specialists so I think that's the stage they're gonna focus on.
Now if the gaps amongst the top-3 were a bit bigger, I'd imagine a more exciting stage, with the one(s) a bit behind going full-attack mode, but in the scenario as it is? I wouldn't get my hopes up too much for this stage. I'd love to be proven wrong of course.

On another note: I can't actually remember Thomas doing a MTT. He must have at some point I assume, I just can't remember it. He should be pretty good at it I reckon, but does anybody know about his previous results in a similar stage?

I guess my point was that the tension will be there regardless because no one knows what will happen later so no one knows where they stand.

But I also doubt Thomas and Roglic will want to leave it for tomorrow if they can make a difference today. That cumulative inbuilt uncertainty will heighten still the chance any situation on the road will be the opportunity to decide the Giro. Which will in and of itself will make the stage extra crispy. But YMMV.

 

[titan31]

Wish someone would shut Voigt up

 

[titan31]

The valley is about to end, only mountains left.

And now the peleton get boring

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Disappointing breakaway for a final mountain stage, especially after all that battling and with the climbing about to start in earnest.

 

[HelloDolly]

Disappointing breakaway for a final mountain stage, especially after all that battling and with the climbing about to start in earnest.

Dont think they will get far

Expect more attacking when breakaway is nearly caught