Giro d'Italia Giro d‘Italia 2024, Stage 5, Genova-Lucca, 178 km

[Libertine Seguros]

Ok, ah riddle!
But I fear I am lost.

I mean it's Menchov 2007 I guess, but I don't understand the connection. Or maybe I forgot Menchov regularly loosing time randomly in GTs.

Menchov was frequently the worst-placed GC rider in groups and miss splits or even just lose a few seconds due to time gaps at the finishing line. Even when he didn't lose time, he'd often be the one that got caught out in splits and have to expend domestiques to pull him back. Even in races like the 2010 Tour when other GC contenders were coming in between 15th and 30th in bunch finishes he was down in the 60s somewhere. He hated the fight for position early in his career when there was no pressure on GC position for him so would frequently hang out at the back of the bunch when the pace got up, and it was a real struggle for him to break that habit.

Fortunately for him, back in those days there were a lot more "sprint of the entire péloton" kind of days where the break would gain a huge amount of time then be reeled back so the pace wasn't high all day long, but if there were splits at the line where somebody let a second go between them and the rider in front, he was inevitably behind that split.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Congratulations to Benjamin Thomas for winning the stage.

Rarely a breakaway makes it in this day and age hence chepeau! Unfortunately crashes are staring to creep in ever so slightly.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

I consider him not being able to follow the first day also somewhat random. As in I don't see why a guy who can chew of 10 seconds from Pogacars lead the one day, looses time on the mentioned two other days out of 5 overall. It's a bit wild for inconsistency don't you think?
That's what I meant by random.

No i don't think that's wild, personally. When he first lost time it was a hard fought punchy final on the first day of a GT, plenty of guys have a hard time finding their groove the first day when they prepared for 3 weeks. That's not random at all.

 

[Lequack]

Lanterne rouge

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEAcPiB04Wo

 

[VeloMaster]

Benjamin Thomas takes his first WT win at 28, every dog has it's day

And a world-class trackie to boot!

 

[VeloMaster]

Really? He's seemed like a better rider than that but maybe I've just been watching him in coupe de France races...

Multiple world champ on the track.

 

[search]

going by the post race interviews, it sounds like it was Thomas who initiated the move, asking several riders to join him on the attack right after the intermediate sprint. He probably hoped for more than 3 to do so, but good job to still pull it off.

I just skipped through the coverage again, btw, and only on one occasion (with around 7k to go) I saw a tv moto in front of the breakaway.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

And a world-class trackie to boot!

four years and we'll have a Grand Tour out of him. He even has the name!

 

[Red Rick]

Yeah, I don't remember that either.

I have a better one:

What a coincidence. I totally forgot that one.

 

[pastronef]

four years and we'll have a Grand Tour out of him. He even has the name!

6 years. 6 years from now.
Thomas stopped with the track racing in 2012, won in 2018.
the only thing in common is the name.
luckily every rider is different and evolves differently

 

[PetPaima]

Pietrobon has been full suckwheeling for a while now

While both English commentators on Eurosport & Cyclingnews live feed missed it, Pietrobon free-wheeled without even a token pull for 20 kms at minimum. Probably clearly longer before I paid any attention. Chapeau to a trio for believing in themselves!!!

...as both of holding the peloton in bay AND beating Pietrobon anyway without his participation.

Paleni will be getting a favor from EF and/or Cofidis one of these days. Pietrobon won't.

 

[Tim Cahill]

While both English commentators on Eurosport & Cyclingnews live feed missed it, Pietrobon free-wheeled without even a token pull for 20 kms at minimum. Probably clearly longer before I paid any attention. Chapeau to a trio for believing in themselves!!!

...as both of holding the peloton in bay AND beating Pietrobon anyway without his participation.

Paleni will be getting a favor from EF and/or Cofidis one of these days. Pietrobon won't.

I love how it wasn't all the doping scandals, mass injuries and deaths that finally got you to post something after 11 years, but this pro-conti guy not pulling in a random Giro breakaway.

A real '**** you in-particular' moment

 

[KZD]

I am surprised that Paleni, Thomas and Valgren kept working even with Pietrobon freewheeling for several kilometers. Very important win for Cofidis.

 

[Netserk]

While both English commentators on Eurosport & Cyclingnews live feed missed it, Pietrobon free-wheeled without even a token pull for 20 kms at minimum. Probably clearly longer before I paid any attention. Chapeau to a trio for believing in themselves!!!

...as both of holding the peloton in bay AND beating Pietrobon anyway without his participation.

Paleni will be getting a favor from EF and/or Cofidis one of these days. Pietrobon won't.

His last pull shown was with 7 or 8 km to go.

 

[Red Rick]

four years and we'll have a Grand Tour out of him. He even has the name!

He has the wrong nationality tho

 

[Netserk]

I am surprised that Paleni, Thomas and Valgren kept working even with Pietrobon freewheeling for several kilometers. Very important win for Cofidis.

Unlike the late attack in stage 1, they realised that they would lose more by getting caught than by dragging him along.

 

[PetPaima]

I love how it wasn't all the doping scandals, mass injuries and deaths that finally got you to post something after 11 years, but this pro-conti guy not pulling in a random Giro breakaway.

A real '**** you in-particular' moment

I hadn't remembered these forums even existed for a longest time.

And tbh - it wasn't the irritation with Pietrobon which made me post after an eternity, but rather the frustration with the commentators who kept lauding the co-operation for ages after it was clear to every observant eye that Pietrobon wasn't pulling at all.

I am fine with his tactics. I am not fine of paid pundits being so totally absent of the real situation. Shame to whole studio of those idiots...

 

[pastronef]

I hadn't remembered these forums even existed for a longest time.

And tbh - it wasn't the irritation with Pietrobon which made me post after an eternity, but rather the frustration with the commentators who kept lauding the co-operation for ages after it was clear to every observant eye that Pietrobon wasn't pulling at all.

I am fine with his tactics. I am not fine of paid pundits being so totally absent of the real situation. Shame to whole studio of those idiots...

did you like them before today and their wrong take about the co-operation transformed them in idiots to your eyes?

 

[PetPaima]

By the way... I have commented here before. Did extensively on that Vuelta stage where Contador ambushed Froome and secured overall for Nairo in 2016. Apparently my earlier posting history has just been erased.

Or maybe I do have two accounts - one for both emails . Needed to seek for a new password for this one. Have to check whether there is another passive account for my other email - definitely dormant for whole of 2020's...

 

[Potomac]

The bored hate.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

6 years. 6 years from now.
Thomas stopped with the track racing in 2012, won in 2018.
the only thing in common is the name.
luckily every rider is different and evolves differently

It was more for the age that I said 4 years.

 

[PetPaima]

did you like them before today and their wrong take about the co-operation transformed them in idiots to your eyes?

Never liked them. At times they are passable, at times unbearable. Way too partisan in anglo-centricism even in their good days.

I would prefer commentary in Euskara but it is not available on my subscriptions. Best sports commentary is usually the one which relays the emotion but you don't understand what they say.

And I have a VERY high bar for tv commentators (any sport. any language). There might be about 2 or 3 who do an excellent job unerringly out of 1,000 clowns.

 

[PetPaima]

His last pull shown was with 7 or 8 km to go.

I noticed that one and even that was rather rolling through the lead than actually pulling. He was missing most turns already by the Cat-4 climb.

 

[YavorD]

His last pull shown was with 7 or 8 km to go.

Where? I was watching the last 15km and I didn't see him pull at all.
I even decided to play the stage again between 10 and 7 km to go and he did have any pull.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

And I have a VERY high bar for tv commentators (any sport. any language). There might be about 2 or 3 who do an excellent job unerringly out of 1,000 clowns.

Speaking of commenters being clowns, the Twitter beef breaking out between the whining Belgian cycling old guard and the Grift King himself Benji Naesen and his merry band of sycophants who follow him because if he can make it so can they stands a good chance of being more entertaining than tomorrow's stage.

It will be interesting to see who backs down because as far as I can see the problem is both of them have reason to believe they're in the right. Benji is right that the old guard pundits and commenters are a bunch of selfish gatekeeping dinosaurs with an obnoxiously smug and exclusionary attitude, and the old guard guys are right that Benji is a bandwagon-jumping hack who panders to a largely ignorant following and adds little or nothing of value to the discourse.