2024 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1: Venaria Reale - Torino, 140 km (Saturday, May 4)

[yaco]

Pozzovivo crashes takes nearly a minute to get going and miracolously make it back to the peleton a few kms later in the final. Really!

 

[Samu Cuenca]

The field of this race is really week. I bet roglic, Vingegaard or Roglic would win easily today.

Merckx would have won by 5 minutes, and Pogi would have lost the sprint for second to De Vlaeminck,

 

[Bolder]

I didn't see anything today to suggest that anyone will come within 5' of Pog. Yeah, he didn't win, but Narvaez and Schachmann are not GC riders, not in a grand tour, at least.

 

[AmRacer]

What about GC Ganna? He finished with Thomas just 10 seconds down. Can he do a Tom Dumouilin?

Take a dump mid race?

 

[samhocking]

I personally found this a lot more entertaining than one of those stages where the péloton sits at +1'30" for four hours and then the last 5km are good except for a big pile-up at 800m to go that takes out half the field.

But YMMV.

Call me old fashioned, I like my 3 week GC battle to not start with minutes of gaps between GC riders on day 1.

 

[samhocking]

It's still complete nonsense driven by favouritism, though.

Maybe if they hadn't just won lol! Sure, but you are not a general fan of all teams and riders like most fans, you are a fan of specific teams / riders, so his neutrality to celebrate everyone winning is seen as favouritism.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Call me old fashioned, I like my 3 week GC battle to not start with minutes of gaps between GC riders on day 1.

There aren't "minutes of gaps between GC riders" though. 42 riders are inside a minute. Of those who are outside a minute, who there is realistically a "GC rider" at this point in time? Apart from Arensman who, out of those who lost over a minute, would we be considering GC threats? 2024-level Rafał Majka? Jefferson Cepeda? Pelayo Sánchez Mayo?

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Maybe if they hadn't just won lol! Sure, but you are not a general fan of all teams and riders like most fans, you are a fan of specific teams / riders, so his neutrality to celebrate everyone winning is seen as favouritism.

Do you believe he would have yelled "Max Schachmann AND DANI MARTÍNEZ have done it!" if Schachmann had won the sprint?

I don't think "most fans" are "a general fan of all teams and riders" by a long stretch, and I certainly don't think that label applies to you. I just think you think British Eurosport coverage is neutral in the same way as Boston Bruins fans think Jack Edwards isn't biased.

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

Reckon he can Bugno it?

Well, not quite, but only by 1 less day.

 

[zlev11]

Call me old fashioned, I like my 3 week GC battle to not start with minutes of gaps between GC riders on day 1.

horrific take

any GC battle on a weekend stage is to be cherished no matter where it falls in the race

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

Why! This was great

And tomorrow it will be over. This season has been absolute sh!t, in terms of interesting races.

 

[samhocking]

Do you believe he would have yelled "Max Schachmann AND DANI MARTÍNEZ have done it!" if Schachmann had won the sprint?

I don't think "most fans" are "a general fan of all teams and riders" by a long stretch, and I certainly don't think that label applies to you. I just think you think British Eurosport coverage is neutral in the same way as Boston Bruins fans think Jack Edwards isn't biased.

Against UAE & Pogacar when they are not GC favourites like Ineos, i'm sure he would, why wouldn't he? He seems purely a fan of bike racing, not specific teams or riders to me?

 

[Izzyeviel]

Call me old fashioned, I like my 3 week GC battle to not start with minutes of gaps between GC riders on day 1.

you'd have hated last years tour & Giro. Although we did all end up hating the Giro...

 

[gregrowlerson]

Seemingly Ineos are working for Narvaez

Good call.

 

[samhocking]

horrific take

any GC battle on a weekend stage is to be cherished no matter where it falls in the race

Not really horrific, there's been plenty of great GT battles where easing into first week has been a common way GT organisers keep the suspense to the mountains. I'm not saying riders like Bardet can no longer have a battle, but the battle is simplified more now.

 

[Nick2413]

Very nice surprise start to the Giro

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Against UAE & Pogacar when they are not GC favourites like Ineos, i'm sure he would, why wouldn't he? He seems purely a fan of bike racing, not specific teams or riders to me?

You don't think Dani Martínez is a GC rider? He's been top 5 of the Giro before. I'm sure you'll have noticed that, he did it in an Ineos jersey.

Again, I think you think the British coverage is neutral like New England hockey fans think NESN is neutral.

I'm not going to say that coverage on the continent is any less biased, just that Thomas getting over-praised as though he was equally important to Narváez himself in Narváez' victory is nonsense and the fact that it's a rider who the expected audience is assumed will largely like and cheer for is why he was brought up completely unnecessarily and irrelevantly there.

While I have zero respect for Thomas the GC rider, I think the guy himself is a pretty personable, approachable guy and he would probably cringe at that kind of characterisation himself. He's not a Lizzie Deignan who would absolutely jump at the chance to give herself all the credit for it.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Call me old fashioned, I like my 3 week GC battle to not start with minutes of gaps between GC riders on day 1.

Where do you see minutes? And what the hell are you on about?

 

[Tim Cahill]

Ganna is dropping the lot, every one of these jokers on the Stelvio I'm telling you.

 

[Monte Serra]

Wow, makes no sense unless his form is really not where it is supposed to. This year it would make a lot more sense to have him a protected rider since the podium is wide open after Pogacar.

It indeed makes little sense. Arensman's dad was posting all kind of *** on Wielerflits, when Thymen was part of DSM. Most of which reflected poorly on DSM, some of which reflected poorly on Thymen, but all of which reflected quite poorly on Arensman Sr. If I was a pro I wouldn't like to have my dad posting all around the interwebs like a drunk Lefevere with no filter.

 

[AnotherArmChair]

Today was a nice stage and glad Pog didn't win ...nice to see him challenged and beaten sometimes

He wont be so bushy tailed tomorrow and who knows many a GT rider is revealed in a GT tour who we hadn't a clue could do it

Also GT can be won not in the mountains

At the very least he has a few teams to content with , esp since his own team is not the strongest or the brightest

As we say at home ...there is many a slip between cup and lip and maybe we will have a race after all for this Giro

 

[Squire]

And tomorrow it will be over. This season has been absolute sh!t, in terms of interesting races.

Would it be a more interesting race if Pogacar took hold of the race on stage 7 instead of stage 2? What difference does it make?

 

[Tim Cahill]

It indeed makes little sense. Arensman's dad was posting all kind of *** on Wielerflits, when Thymen was part of DSM. Most of which reflected poorly on DSM, some of which reflected poorly on Thymen, but all of which reflected quite poorly on Arensman Sr. If I was a pro I wouldn't like to have my dad posting all around the interwebs like a drunk Lefevere with no filter.

Yeah you weren't wrong

https://twitter.com/x/status/1786767893956350034

 

[Hugo Koblet]

sauce?

They mentioned it in the Lanterne Rouge Giro preview episode.

 

[TrekCyclist]

Cost-Benefit wise, this stage was not very convincing by UAE. Yes, Pogi took 10" from some riders. But I have my doubt UAE can race like this for 3 weeks.