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Alberto Bettiol is the new classics contender thread

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tobydawq

tobydawq

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Anderis said:
Do you remember just two months ago how he was dropped in MSR even before sprinters?

Huge task to recover from such a low in just two months but he's managed it. Happy for him and the team (other riders like Guerreiro were also in great form) that they're not leaving the Giro empty-handed.
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Yeah, he had been sick and never managed to find his form in time for the classics.

I thought it was a bit lame that both he and Guerreiro had to ride for Carthy on the Montalcino stage, especially because they were both as good as they were so one gregario de lujo should have been sufficient. That was a missed opportunity but very deserved that he won today. It's not often I have the feeling that the best rider of the peloton won a stage contested by an early break but I think that was the case today.
 
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Rollthedice

Rollthedice

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tobydawq said:
Yeah, he had been sick and never managed to find his form in time for the classics.

I thought it was a bit lame that both he and Guerreiro had to ride for Carthy on the Montalcino stage, especially because they were both as good as they were so one gregario de lujo should have been sufficient. That was a missed opportunity but very deserved that he won today. It's not often I have the feeling that the best rider of the peloton won a stage contested by an early break but I think that was the case today.
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He arrived in the Montalcino stage with Ciccone who looked more dead than alive while Bettiol, fresh as a daisy, was trying to comfort him.
 
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Anderis

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tobydawq said:
I thought it was a bit lame that both he and Guerreiro had to ride for Carthy on the Montalcino stage, especially because they were both as good as they were so one gregario de lujo should have been sufficient. That was a missed opportunity but very deserved that he won today.
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Both Bettiol and Guerreiro tried to get into breakaways early in the race but had little luck. Bettiol even hunted the pink in the first week. Cycling is such a sport that breakaways are a bit of lottery. You can't blame the team for making Bettiol and Guerreiro work for Carthy, he was a legit podium contender and they had their chances to go for stage wins on other days too.

Also the problem with the Montalcino stage was that if Bettiol had got into the breakaway, he would have been such an overwhelming favourite that others might have refused to co-operate with him in the group.
 
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tobydawq

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Anderis said:
Both Bettiol and Guerreiro tried to get into breakaways early in the race but had little luck. Bettiol even hunted the pink in the first week. Cycling is such a sport that breakaways are a bit of lottery. You can't blame the team for making Bettiol and Guerreiro work for Carthy, he was a legit podium contender and they had their chances to go for stage wins on other days too.

Also the problem with the Montalcino stage was that if Bettiol had got into the breakaway, he would have been such an overwhelming favourite that others might have refused to co-operate with him in the group.
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But as soon as they hit the gravel he could have just ridden away. Especially from the lot that ended up deciding that stage. That was just tragic to watch.

But when Danish TV talked to Matti Breschel he didn't believe in Bettiol's chances on the stage because he thought it was too mountainous...
 
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Anderis

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tobydawq said:
But as soon as they hit the gravel he could have just ridden away. Especially from the lot that ended up deciding that stage. That was just tragic to watch.
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I think it would be just problematic to make the move stick when the other guys realise they're with a rider who can just easily ride away from them. There's a reason why those weaker breakaways won a few stages. Why weren't some stronger guys there for almost a guaranteed stage win? Forming a breakaway is much more complicated than "I just decided that I will go into the break today". You're a DS who wants to send someone into a break today and you see someone like Bettiol there, you know there's no chance to beat him once the move sticks so you tell your rider to stop working and tell the other riders to bring the move back and try to create another move without Bettiol. Or make your rider from within a break attack, hoping some other guys will follow but Bettiol won't. And after all those attempts of closing down, Bettiol has to give up at some point.
 
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tobydawq

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Anderis said:
I think it would be just problematic to make the move stick when the other guys realise they're with a rider who can just easily ride away from them. There's a reason why those weaker breakaways won a few stages. Why weren't some stronger guys there for almost a guaranteed stage win? Forming a breakaway is much more complicated than "I just decided that I will go into the break today". You're a DS who wants to send someone into a break today and you see someone like Bettiol there, you know there's no chance to beat him once the move sticks so you tell your rider to stop working and tell the other riders to bring the move back and try to create another move without Bettiol. Or make your rider from within a break attack, hoping some other guys will follow but Bettiol won't. And after all those attempts of closing down, Bettiol has to give up at some point.
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Perhaps, but on that particular stage it was the very first move that stuck. They didn't even try. And I agree that if Bettiol had been the sole addition to that particular group he would have been a wolf among sheep, but if more riders had had ambitions, a break like yesterday's could have ended up materialising. But okay, it didn't, and he did end up with almost as nice a stage win in the end.
 
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triley36 said:
That is disappointing. I hope he can put this behind him for good. His form during the Giro was probably the best of his career. If he can get back to that for the classics next spring, he is not far off being on equal footing with Wout and Van Der Poel.
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Unfortunately his health issue (ulcerative colitis) is auto immune and chronic, so it'll need to be managed his whole career. There might be good and bad periods but this will definitely impact his results going forward.
 
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Mayomaniac

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Was it really hot yesterday? I'm asking because he has a history of getting cramps in the heat.
Among the Italian pros he actually has a rep for being a bit lazy/not training as hard as others (people say the same about Covi). Apparently he usually doesn't start his training rides before 11 am (not that that's meaningful as long as he does the same training session, the whole mentality that you have to get up super early to train to show how bad you want it and to develop mental toughness is imo just outdate folklore)
 
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