First week behind us and the gaps are already pretty big.
1) Nairo Quintana: I thought he'd peak in the third week, but boy what a performance on Blockhaus. He'll likely lose the jersey on Tuesday. Still the hardest stages are to come and he's clearly the best climber here.
2) Thibaut Pinot @ 28": finally riding the Giro, the guy must have some italian blood in him. His team is strong and dedicated, plus there is no pressure on him. I expect fireworks from him in the third week. Is he mentally strong enough?
3) Tom Dumoulin @ 30": climbing better than ever, with almost 70 km of TT ahead of us where he gain minutes on the other contenders. His team is surely better than in the 2015 Vuelta. My only concern: those multi mountain stages.
4) Bauke Mollema @ 51": as in last year Tour, very high level. Sounded pretty confident in the interviews after Blockhaus, he can't wait to ride the ITT. What about the third week though?
5) Vincenzo Nibali @ 1'10": too much pride trying to follow Nairo on Blockhaus, but his level seems better than last year at this point. If he's in striking distance by the beginning of the third week, everything is possible. TT will tell us more.
6) Domenico Pozzovivo @ 1'28": finally back to his old self after the horrible crash in Giro 2015 and two mediocre seasons. Hard to see him fight for the overall win though.
7) Ilnur Zakarin @ 2'28": possibly the most disappointing performance on Blockhaus. I expected him to be at least on Nibali's level in the first week. Did he suffer the heat? Gap is already pretty big. Hopefully this means he'll attack relentlessly from now on.
8) Davide Formolo @ 2'45": ok, probably a 0,00001% of winning the whole thing but I had to include him being 8th in GC. He said he didn't feel particularly good on Blockhaus.
9) Steven Kruijswijk @ 3'06" (currently in 10th position, but I can't see Amador being a contender unless Quintana crashes or falls sick): I think his performance on Blockhaus was not bad at all. He'll peak for the third week as always, and unleash hell on the Stelvio. Be afraid.
1) Nairo Quintana: I thought he'd peak in the third week, but boy what a performance on Blockhaus. He'll likely lose the jersey on Tuesday. Still the hardest stages are to come and he's clearly the best climber here.
2) Thibaut Pinot @ 28": finally riding the Giro, the guy must have some italian blood in him. His team is strong and dedicated, plus there is no pressure on him. I expect fireworks from him in the third week. Is he mentally strong enough?
3) Tom Dumoulin @ 30": climbing better than ever, with almost 70 km of TT ahead of us where he gain minutes on the other contenders. His team is surely better than in the 2015 Vuelta. My only concern: those multi mountain stages.
4) Bauke Mollema @ 51": as in last year Tour, very high level. Sounded pretty confident in the interviews after Blockhaus, he can't wait to ride the ITT. What about the third week though?
5) Vincenzo Nibali @ 1'10": too much pride trying to follow Nairo on Blockhaus, but his level seems better than last year at this point. If he's in striking distance by the beginning of the third week, everything is possible. TT will tell us more.
6) Domenico Pozzovivo @ 1'28": finally back to his old self after the horrible crash in Giro 2015 and two mediocre seasons. Hard to see him fight for the overall win though.
7) Ilnur Zakarin @ 2'28": possibly the most disappointing performance on Blockhaus. I expected him to be at least on Nibali's level in the first week. Did he suffer the heat? Gap is already pretty big. Hopefully this means he'll attack relentlessly from now on.
8) Davide Formolo @ 2'45": ok, probably a 0,00001% of winning the whole thing but I had to include him being 8th in GC. He said he didn't feel particularly good on Blockhaus.
9) Steven Kruijswijk @ 3'06" (currently in 10th position, but I can't see Amador being a contender unless Quintana crashes or falls sick): I think his performance on Blockhaus was not bad at all. He'll peak for the third week as always, and unleash hell on the Stelvio. Be afraid.