8 stage Giro

[Zoncolan]

Pop quiz:

How many bonus seconds does Di Luca have to take to make up for time lost in the big TT?

 

[ingsve]

180 seconds?

 

[Bala Verde]

And that's even without the final TT in Roma... he'll need 1:30 there as well.

Great stage! Good aggressive riding from COL and AST, as well as Cunego, Pellizotti , Garzelli and later Di Luca...

 

[mr. tibbs]

And that's even without the final TT in Roma... he'll need 1:30 there as well.

Yeah I don't think he has a chance with all those TTs. Too bad. He's really doing the pink jersey proud.

 

[Cobblestones]

Did you guys see how casually EBH jumped to the front, always watching whether Rogers or the killer was next in line? I think if Rogers had been in front, EBH would have stepped on his breaks. In the end he decided it might be more prudent to take 2nd place. This guy is insanely strong.

 

[Zoncolan]

180 seconds?

Maybe even more. Trouble is, not enough on offer.
It's kinda funny. I remember a few years back (2005 I think), Savoldelli was losing time in the climbs to Gibo, and I was saying to a friend he can take it back on the downhill. My friends reply was: not unless he hires some miners to dig 20 km down to extend the downhill

 

[Zoncolan]

And that's even without the final TT in Roma... he'll need 1:30 there as well.

Great stage! Good aggressive riding from COL and AST, as well as Cunego, Pellizotti , Garzelli and later Di Luca...

Surprisingly so. Especially Astana and Levi. I thought he would just sit in the bunch 'till the TT.

 

[kjetilraknerud]

I think EBH has a fairly good chance of winning the points jersey to be honest. I don't really think there are too many bunch sprints left in this Giro. It depends on what Di Luca does in the stages where EBH will be dropped.

 

[Zoncolan]

I think EBH has a fairly good chance of winning the points jersey to be honest. I don't really think there are too many bunch sprints left in this Giro. It depends on what Di Luca does in the stages where EBH will be dropped.

I would like to see him have free reign in a bunch sprint to see just how fast he is. Too bad tomorrow he'll have to lead Cav out.
It did look so easy for him today and yesterday.

 

[jaylew]

Are the Columbia boys ALL wearing black socks? Oh dear, oh dear...

Love the black socks

 

[Mellow Velo]

Is it just me, or are Columbia starting to look a tiny bit suspect?
Thinking less along the lines of black socks, more "Men in Black".

 

[Merckx]

Enjoy it for what it is. If anything comes of it then we can worry

 

[palmerq]

Was cavendish wearing black shorts in the prologue or maybe not, but i'm sure when they were on the podium he had black shorts on and the rest had the white shorts on...

wait a minute this has nothing to do with stage 8, Lpr are riding hard so far I think this is going to catch up with them, today I thought i saw pettachi helping out too, I think he'll be too tired for tomorrow now.

 

[Bala Verde]

Official news from the Rabosite on the condition of Horillo

1 broken upper leg
1 broken knee cap
2 broken vertebrae
several broken ribs which caused a perforated lung

He's being kept in an 'artificial' coma for 24 hrs and the doctors are worried about his lungs/capcity to breathe. The brain scan was positive (ie nothing seemed to be wrong). It's not life threatening, but the sistuation is critical.

After his crash he had disappeared off the radar for 15m, and a helicopter was used to localise him. According to the reconstruction, he was in a free fall for several meters, after which he landed on rocks. He then slid further downwards on a steep section..

 

[Bala Verde]

1) He didn't gain anything
2) He used a cartouche
3) it seems that he is nervous/not confident enough to take it in the TT alone or to defend it in the mountains

To quote myself cool when I talked about LL...

On the RAB website they are saying the following (I am not forgetting the mind games and promo talk, but still worth mentioning):

LL's attacked was frowned upon. 'We (RAB) weren't nervous' says DS van Houwelingen. 'We are actually even a little excited. We could rather appreciate Levi's attack. A big gun who wastes his energy like that in a transition stage, I think, isn't too confident about his chances to win the overall, and that opinion is shared amongst other teams'. Menchov agreed with his DS. 'Denis intentionally stayed in the pack. It was over 20k, and the other favourites weren't really isolated at all'

Menchov even observed that on the last small climb to the finish, LL didn't leave a good impression. 'He (LL) was struggling to hang in there' is what the Russian told his DS...

so we'll see if LL is paying for his attack, or that he was actually really strong and let the legs do the talking...

 

[Mellow Velo]

Sounds like they ought to give Chris Horner the support, instead of sending him on a wild goose chase.......

 

[Cobblestones]

'Denis intentionally stayed in the pack. It was over 20k, and the other favourites weren't really isolated at all'

Of course they would say that, no matter whether it's true or whether Denis was sleeping.

Anyway, I agree, LL looked bad and he wasted energy. Rogers on the other hand looked like he wanted to stay away, but without support from team Hogstrong, Columbia wasn't too eager to work.

 

[Anonymous]

as a side note, who came in today in the main lead group, next to lance armstrong...

yup.. you guessed it.. that man brad wiggins..

 

[indurain666]

Official news from the Rabosite on the condition of Horillo

1 broken upper leg
1 broken knee cap
2 broken vertebrae
several broken ribs which caused a perforated lung

He's being kept in an 'artificial' coma for 24 hrs and the doctors are worried about his lungs/capcity to breathe. The brain scan was positive (ie nothing seemed to be wrong). It's not life threatening, but the sistuation is critical.

After his crash he had disappeared off the radar for 15m, and a helicopter was used to localise him. According to the reconstruction, he was in a free fall for several meters, after which he landed on rocks. He then slid further downwards on a steep section..

This is horrible, I hope he survives/recovers

 

[benpounder]

Anyway, I agree, LL looked bad and he wasted energy.

So he should have let Rogers, Pellizotti, and Arroyo just go up the road.

Rogers on the other hand looked like he wanted to stay away,

They all wanted to stay away. You are not afforded that wishful luxury in the pro-peloton.

but without support from team Hogstrong, Columbia wasn't too eager to work.

and yet there were quite a few shots of Horner-Leipheimer; B.Hagen-Rogers doing the TTT at the front. I've no doubt that Columbia, thinking they have a chance to put time on all others would not work with one guy a number of seconds behind.

Interesting how one of the main criticisms of Levi is he is just too boring. Yet when he attacks, he gets mocked for his tactical stupidity!

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

This is horrible, I hope he survives/recovers

Thoughts and prayers with him. After Impey's horrific crash at the hands of Bos, then the nasty crash with McEwen Boonen and others, now this. Very mean season so far.

Interesting how one of the main criticisms of Levi is he is just too boring. Yet when he attacks, he gets mocked for his tactical stupidity!

The funny thing (funny?) is that if he wins the Giro, just about all of it will be forgotten, except maybe by a few forumites here and there. Take a look at Mig. Never once in five Tour wins did he attack in the mountains. And he never won a single mountain stage. Not one! But it's only brought up in comparisons here and there, some sort of anomaly. He's instead known for winning the Tour five times by 95% of cycling fans.

 

[karlboss]

Loving the racing this year.

I don't think there were any tactical mistakes made. Pushed a little up the last climb to se what would happen. Got a break, pushed it a little to see what would happen. Nothing came of it. Remember Sunday is flat,(but tough crit) and monday is a rest. I don't think LL killed himself.

Columbia, what a giro and thats just the first week. EBH can't wait to see more from this guy.

 

[ingsve]

Interesting how one of the main criticisms of Levi is he is just too boring. Yet when he attacks, he gets mocked for his tactical stupidity!

That's because you have to look at who is saying what. I'm sure it's not the same people saying he's boring that is vritizising his attack.

I don't think he's that boring and I did think his attack was stupid.

I realise that not everyone is built the same so the same tactics don't apply to everyone. This is especially true in climbs. There are 2 very distinctly diffrent types of GC riders, the climbers like Simoni, Sastre, Di Luca, and the TTing lokomotives like LL, Menchov, Rogers, Lövkvist. Of course you'er not going to see all of them riding the same style in the climbs.

People that want LL or Evans to attack more just don't see the beauty in the fight between these two types of riders.

 

[craig1985]

Official news from the Rabosite on the condition of Horillo

1 broken upper leg
1 broken knee cap
2 broken vertebrae
several broken ribs which caused a perforated lung

He's being kept in an 'artificial' coma for 24 hrs and the doctors are worried about his lungs/capcity to breathe. The brain scan was positive (ie nothing seemed to be wrong). It's not life threatening, but the sistuation is critical.

After his crash he had disappeared off the radar for 15m, and a helicopter was used to localise him. According to the reconstruction, he was in a free fall for several meters, after which he landed on rocks. He then slid further downwards on a steep section..

I hope when Horillo comes out of a coma, CN can come up with a way for fans to pass on support to him. Apparently he is fluent in English as well.

 

[Mellow Velo]

So he should have let Rogers, Pellizotti, and Arroyo just go up the road. They all wanted to stay away.

Why not? It didn't seem to bother Basso, Menchov or Di Luca.
They were easily brought back by the main group.

However, having said that....

Interesting how one of the main criticisms of Levi is he is just too boring. Yet when he attacks, he gets mocked for his tactical stupidity!

......I was shocked and pleasantly surprised that Astana threw the tactic book out of the window and tried something different.
Had the climb been a couple of kms longer, then He, Horner and Rogers might have gone to the finish.

In hindsight, it was speculative at best, but it made for entertaining viewing.