94th Giro d'Italia May 7 - 29

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Marc De Maar out of the Giro

The moment he is back in Europe again his horrid luck from before returns...
Stupid infection

The only season he has been completely healthy was in the US...

 

[El Pistolero]

The moment he is back in Europe again his horrid luck from before returns...
Stupid infection

The only season he has been completely healthy was in the US...

It's that clean air in the US

He rides for Quickstep right? Fits right in with the other injured dudes then.

 

[Mellow Velo]

The competiton to see who can send the most rubbish team to the Giro is really hotting up.
LEOTARD looked to have it in the bag, dumping Brice Feillu into their mish mash, but then BMC played the suspension card on two of their three best riders.
Now Rabo, having lost Tom Leezer, add Graeme "dodgem" Brown for Theo Bos. They are coming up on the rails, nicely.

 

[Sparta]

I actually really like the look of rabo's team - young with loads of solid domestiques - it just needs a leader. Hopefully Kruswijk can step up to the plate however improving on last year will be very tough given the strength of competition. Slagte's obviously talented and I would have said too early for him to do anything spectacular but you never know.

 

[The Hitch]

The competiton to see who can send the most rubbish team to the Giro is really hotting up.
LEOTARD looked to have it in the bag, dumping Brice Feillu into their mish mash, but then BMC played the suspension card on two of their three best riders.
Now Rabo, having lost Tom Leezer, add Graeme "dodgem" Brown for Theo Bos. They are coming up on the rails, nicely.

Time for Zomegnans next move in plan "killing in the name of" (telling the uci - **** you I wont do what you tell me).

Anyteam that does not get at least a day in a jersey, a podium on a stage or a gc top 10, doesnt get invited to next years Giro, no matter how much they pay for their pt licence.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

well they said the same about rabo's team last year, but Mollema was 12th in the GC (and was probably 9th or 10th strongest rider if we disregard stupid l'aquila). And they had Ardila and Kruijswijk in the top 10 as well and Weening as 24th. Plus animated loads of stages....
So, don't think their team is all that crap tbh

 

[taiwan]

Hm, I don't think there's much "stepping up to the plate" going to go on in this race. For most teams there's little point in even thinking about the GC. They'll just be manning the breaks day after day. Mollema would have been a credible leader...

When you start thinking critically, a lot of teams start to look weak. Like most teams could be coming away without a GC top ten, sprint win or minor jersey, they'll need to just get in the breaks.

 

[theyoungest]

Now Rabo, having lost Tom Leezer, add Graeme "dodgem" Brown for Theo Bos. They are coming up on the rails, nicely.

There wasn't much to be expected from them in the sprints anyway, Brown or Bos, it doesn't matter much. It was always going to be about their kid climbers.

 

[Michielveedeebee]

Time for Zomegnans next move in plan "killing in the name of" (telling the uci - **** you I wont do what you tell me).
Anyteam that does not get at least a day in a jersey, a podium on a stage or a gc top 10, doesnt get invited to next years Giro, no matter how much they pay for their pt licence.

Hitchie knows his classics =D And thank God for Zomegnan not giving a rat's a$$ about what Rat McQuaid says

 

[c&cfan]

Time for Zomegnans next move in plan "killing in the name of" (telling the uci - **** you I wont do what you tell me).

Anyteam that does not get at least a day in a jersey, a podium on a stage or a gc top 10, doesnt get invited to next years Giro, no matter how much they pay for their pt licence.

damn..

you sure have rage against the uci's machine.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Kennaugh has shown he has added use being part of the successful leadout train in Castilla y Leon, and is far more useful in a TTT than Pauwels.

meh looking at thier team, I'm not sure they ware going to win the ttt. And they don't really have a crediable leader... lovkist wont get top 10 imo.
not enough to justify a spot. But then again, the others haven't been any better, and giving youth a nod I have no issues with.
good for him.

Vasc. have an average team also.
Hopefully they perform. Go Hoogie

 

[meandmygitane]

meh looking at thier team, I'm not sure they ware going to win the ttt. And they don't really have a crediable leader... lovkist wont get top 10 imo.
not enough to justify a spot. But then again, the others haven't been any better, and giving youth a nod I have no issues with.
good for him.

Vasc. have an average team also.
Hopefully they perform. Go Hoogie

I think there is a possibility of Löfkvist getting top 10 since he got 17th in Tour de France last year, of course he was 8 minutes out of the top 10 - but since he was a domestique of Wiggins I think some time might have been shaven off if that weren't the case.

If he can combine the stability of TdF 2010 with the great performances of the first 10 stages in Il Giro 2009 (since DiLuca doped he had virtually maglia rosa from stage 4 to stage 10 if I remember correctly before he cracked big time):
then: yes, top 10 is within reach.

However it is far from a certainty, I would be a worse fanboy than I really am by pretending to think so

 

[hatcher]

meh looking at thier team, I'm not sure they ware going to win the ttt. And they don't really have a crediable leader... lovkist wont get top 10 imo.
not enough to justify a spot. But then again, the others haven't been any better, and giving youth a nod I have no issues with.
good for him.

Vasc. have an average team also.
Hopefully they perform. Go Hoogie

Oh they've got a very average team for the TTT. If they finish top 10 they'll have done well.

Neither Kennaugh nor Pauwels are going to make or break the team, I just think Kennaugh provides more on more stages. He'll be useful on those (few) tougher sprint stages that Appollonio and Downing will want to contend on. That said, it may all prove too much for him as a 21 year old.

Having re-watched the Tirreno I'm feeling quite confident about Lofkvist.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Oh they've got a very average team for the TTT. If they finish top 10 they'll have done well.

Neither Kennaugh nor Pauwels are going to make or break the team, I just think Kennaugh provides more on more stages. He'll be useful on those (few) tougher sprint stages that Appollonio and Downing will want to contend on. That said, it may all prove too much for him as a 21 year old.

Having re-watched the Tirreno I'm feeling quite confident about Lofkvist.

problem is TA is not same, only stage 11 really resembles something we saw at TA. Here we tackle real mountains, IMO there are roughly a dozen guys better on this terrain.

 

[Ferminal]

Lofkvist could finish anywhere from about 9th. I'd say 13-20.

 

[hatcher]

problem is TA is not same, only stage 11 really resembles something we saw at TA. Here we tackle real mountains, IMO there are roughly a dozen guys better on this terrain.

There may be a dozen better guys on their day, but a dozen guys who can maintain it day after day for 3 weeks? I'm not so sure.

Obviously Contador, Anton, Menchov, Rodriguez, Scarponi, Nibali are all proven better 3 week big tour racers.

After that there are people like Sella and Pozzovivo who are clearly better on their day, but (I think) neither has finished a GT since 2008.

Kreuziger more than likely. Arroyo? Probably.

Sastre, Di Luca probably won't be riding for themselves, so big losses on particular days shouldn't be a shock.

Then there's the likes of Zaugg, Duarte, Pinotti, Rujano, Kiserlovski, Machado, Serpa, etc who could all top 10, or who could all fail.

So by reckoning there are 7 or 8 guys who more than likely will finish ahead of Lofkvist, and then a bunch of question marks.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

There may be a dozen better guys on their day, but a dozen guys who can maintain it day after day for 3 weeks? I'm not so sure.

Obviously Contador, Anton, Menchov, Rodriguez, Scarponi, Nibali are all proven better 3 week big tour racers.

After that there are people like Sella and Pozzovivo who are clearly better on their day, but (I think) neither has finished a GT since 2008.

Kreuziger more than likely. Arroyo? Probably.

Sastre, Di Luca probably won't be riding for themselves, so big losses on particular days shouldn't be a shock.

Then there's the likes of Zaugg, Duarte, Pinotti, Rujano, Kiserlovski, Machado, Serpa, etc who could all top 10, or who could all fail.

So by reckoning there are 7 or 8 guys who more than likely will finish ahead of Lofkvist, and then a bunch of question marks.

AC, Anton, Nibali, Jrod, Scarponi, Menchov, Kreuziger, Rujano, Pozzovivo (only reason he hasn't finished a GT, is because his team hasn't been invited), Arroyo (3 times in top 10 @ giro in last 3 attempts), Sella are all proven, better climbers. Machado has been more promising in the mountains. There are other debatable ones also (i.e. le mevel, duarte, sastre etc)

Lovkist, I rate on rolling hills, in the mountains I am very unconvinced. This race is mountainious. I dislike his chances for a top 10 in this field.

 

[seaby71]

What stages do you people think sastre would be going for?

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

What stages do you people think sastre would be going for?

Not sure he will. Apparently he will work for menchov, but I would suggest the longer climbs, tougher stages would probably suit him more.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

I think there is a possibility of Löfkvist getting top 10 since he got 17th in Tour de France last year, of course he was 8 minutes out of the top 10 - but since he was a domestique of Wiggins I think some time might have been shaven off if that weren't the case.

If he can combine the stability of TdF 2010 with the great performances of the first 10 stages in Il Giro 2009 (since DiLuca doped he had virtually maglia rosa from stage 4 to stage 10 if I remember correctly before he cracked big time):
then: yes, top 10 is within reach.

However it is far from a certainty, I would be a worse fanboy than I really am by pretending to think so

lovkvist has bad recuperation for a gt rider, and the tour last year had a way waker field than the giro this year, especially when many guys lost time or dropped out completely cuz of the dutch stages like pozzovivo

 

[bicing]

Not sure he will. Apparently he will work for menchov, but I would suggest the longer climbs, tougher stages would probably suit him more.

IMHO: News of Sastre working for Menchov is a lie, Sastre doesn't work for anyone (e.g. Tondo, Schlecks). He'll aim for a stage (13 or 15) and as high a position he can get.

 

[search]

There wasn't much to be expected from them in the sprints anyway, Brown or Bos, it doesn't matter much. It was always going to be about their kid climbers.

we'll at least have something to discuss about if Brown is in there

even if he has become a lot calmer in recent years

 

[Sparta]

There may be a dozen better guys on their day, but a dozen guys who can maintain it day after day for 3 weeks? I'm not so sure.

Obviously Contador, Anton, Menchov, Rodriguez, Scarponi, Nibali are all proven better 3 week big tour racers.

After that there are people like Sella and Pozzovivo who are clearly better on their day, but (I think) neither has finished a GT since 2008.

Kreuziger more than likely. Arroyo? Probably.

Sastre, Di Luca probably won't be riding for themselves, so big losses on particular days shouldn't be a shock.

Then there's the likes of Zaugg, Duarte, Pinotti, Rujano, Kiserlovski, Machado, Serpa, etc who could all top 10, or who could all fail.

So by reckoning there are 7 or 8 guys who more than likely will finish ahead of Lofkvist, and then a bunch of question marks.

+1
I agree. It will be hard to crack the top 10 but he is capable of it . Will finish around 10th in my opinion. He is worthy of being a team leader.

 

[Eshnar]

This is really something

 

[Eshnar]