Final Week GC Thread

[ludwig]

Time for another attempt at a Giro GC thread

General classification after stage 15
1 David Arroyo Duran (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 67:48:42
2 Richie Porte (Aus) Team Saxo Bank 0:02:35
3 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo 0:03:33
4 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Cervelo Test Team 0:04:21
5 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:04:43
6 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana 0:05:51
7 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo 0:06:08
8 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli 0:06:34

-Basso put 1:19 into Evans today, and now leads him by 1:10. 1:10 will not be alot at the Corones MTT or the 2 final mountain stages.

-The big question is whether Basso's form will continue to improve while Evans and Vino may or may not be tiring. Evans and Vino entered the Giro on the heels of major Classics victories while Basso claimed he was under-raced and below optimal form at the Giro start.

-Sastre is close enough and can't be counted out. He may reach his best form of the Giro on the Mortirolo.

-Arroyo will have to climb better than on the Zonoclan to hang onto pink or a podium place....it doesn't look good unless he can find better legs in the final week.

 

[The Reverend]

The winner is . . ......

Maybe in the TT after the rest day we see a change as riders adjust from the day off but by mid-week it will be back to how they felt prior to the Zonk. Hence look at the form on the Zonk and see Basso, Evans, Cunego etc still doing it, with Porte, Arroya etc struggling to minimise damage.
On that, Basso has to be better every time it goes uphill as he has enough good guys still upright and firing to look after him on the flat and the easier climbs. Evans and Vino have nobody (BTW, what has happened to Brent Bookwalter, the climber ). If Cunego wasn't so far out of it you might give a chance for him, as he is looking pretty solid to me but it's hard to take time off Basso and Evans at the best of times, so I can't see him making it happen. Arroya will fight hard but hard to see him finishing in the top 5 in Verona IMHO.
So, Basso for me (unfortunately, as an Australian Cuddles supporter), with Evans looking familiar in another bridesmaids dress!

 

[Vonn Brinkman]

If Basso gets a top three placing tomorrow without more than 20 sec to numbers 1 and 2, he will win the Giro. He has the strongest team and they will eliminate anyone over the next stages, leaving Basso in a comfortable position to either follow or strike again at his rivals.
My final GC:
1. Basso
2. Cuddles
3. Sastre
4. Arroyo
5. Scarponi
6. Nibali
7. Vino

Porte to keep White jersey

 

[jhamlin38]

Basso is looking pretty good, and he has the best team, by far. How is it that evans isn't fully supported in the best opportunity BMC has for a GT win? I know George loves the TOC, but for the good of the teams' best possible result, he shoulda supported cuddles in Italia. Too bad.
I never doubt sastre.
1. Basso
2. Sastre
3. Evans
4. Cunego
5. Nibali

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

1 Basso
2 Evans
3 Sastre
4 Vinokourob
5 Scarponi
6 Nibali
7 Cunego
8 Arroyo
9 Pinotti
10 Mollema
11 Porte

 

[BroDeal]

1. Evans
2. Basso
3. Vino

I think the rest day will help Evans and Vino more than the rest. Those two burned a lot of extra energy.

 

[ttrider]

tomorow will tell us if basso beats evans by any amount and sastre by a minute i highly doubt he ll lose im thinking final order:

Basso
Sastre
Evans

but arroyo could get on the podium im just not sure about him
if sastre beats Basso tommorrow i think he ll win it because he is definitely on the up and that would prove it, that being said Basso rekkons that there are better people than him over a 12 km effort than him ie he needs lots of mountains to soften others, roughly the same applies to Sastre

Pellizotti was the opposite, no coincidence he won blockhaus and cronplatz the year before, Arroyo suffered on this so same applies, i can see this being Evans major chance to overtake sastre and close right in on basso, he probably can take 15" in the final time trial so he needs to beat basso by a minute Sastre by 30" ish

 

[BeachBum]

Evans
Basso
Sastre

Going more by heart than brains with this selection. Not that I am a huge Evans fan, but I like the way he has upheld the WRC jersey. When was the last time the WC was this high up on GC going in to the last week of a GT?

 

[ak-zaaf]

Another insane week:

1. Vino
2. Buikje the Great
3. Uran


Thank you Zomegnan.

 

[santacruz]

I need to view the profiles of the remaining stages... if it's all uphill I think Basso will win this one!!!!

ok just scanned over the profiles, Basso has this one in the bag, or we see something really exciting on the final TT and Cadel takes it on the final day. Carlos drops off the top 10... muahahaha

 

[Mellow Velo]

Just to mention that there are only another 750kms left of this Giro.
Oh and 16,610 vertical metres of climbing!

 

[Cervelo77]

I liked the way Basso climbed the Zoncolan. He had the fierce Basso face of old.

1. Basso - keeps climbing well.
2. Sastre - I still like his odds with all the climbing to come.
3. Evans - He looked to be hurting on the Zoncolan. Heroics only go so far.

 

[ludwig]

After the MTT I'm losing faith in Sastre. There's still time for him to turn it around by I'll be surprised if he gets the podium now.

Evans steps it up in the MTT--if he can get time on Basso there then why not in the upcoming stages? Answer....his team. Still, Evans will make it interesting.

Vino will attack, but right now I see him competing with Scarponi, Nibali Arroyo and Sastre for the podium.

 

[icefire]

Just watched the times of last ITT in the Vuelta 2009. Evans took 53" on Basso over 27.5 km of hilly terrain.

If Basso keeps the 42" he has on Evans before the 15km ITT, it's to him to lose the Giro.

 

[WLVStudios]

Giro Highlights

The Giro intensifies every stage. The fight for the pink jersey is getting tighter between Arroyo, Evans, and Basso. Catch highlights, photos, broadcasts, recaps and more at the link below!

Giro Central: http://www.universalsports.com/cycling/event/giro-d-italia.html