Giro d'Italia 2011: Stage 14 Lienz to Monte Zoncolan

[Barrus]

I feel your pain.. GF just allowed me to watch a stage with her by my side for the first time (guess I've been a good boy or something )
good thing is my little bro and mom love cycling

Did she really have to pick out one of the most boring days of the giro for this? Perhaps if she watched tomorrow or saturday she would get excited as well, not really the case with the stage of today

 

[Izzy eviel]

Epic thread Hitch!

Sadly I have a feeling the thread will be better then the stage


Let's hope i'm wrong.

 

[Publicus]

Didn't Rujano lose most of his time on the strade bianchi? I know it's largely flat, but couldn't that be a problem for him?

EDIT: And I would be remiss if I did not say kudos to Hitch for the fantastic introduction. My legs were hurting just reading it.

 

[etymology]

arrrrrrrrrrrrrgh! my legs exploded 1.5km into the crostis descent, which forced me to abandon reading. i hope to recover overnight, then resume first thing in the morning.

with luck, i won't have to wait long for assistance from a neutral reader on the ascent of zoncolan.

whew! that there is suuuuummmmm kinda' writin', hitch. i will be sure to have extra water bottles and energy drinks stacked beside me *before* i start watching saturday morning.

thank you for a superbly descriptive stage preview!!

 

[etymology]

i'm thinking of going to a nice cycling bar to watch this...

any recommendations on how to stay somewhat sober so i can walk home without getting lost?

staying somewhat sober so you can walk home without getting lost is best handled with proper preperation *before* leaving home:

bread crumbs and flourescent duct tape.

ideally, the walk home is uphill: should you stumble and fall, you pretty much stop where you fell - none of that messy rolling and rolling and rolling that happens when falling downhill.

not that *i* personally know of such things, of course.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

i'm thinking of going to a nice cycling bar to watch this...

any recommendations on how to stay somewhat sober so i can walk home without getting lost?

there are cycling bars?? lol

 

[The Hitch]

Weather bad today from what i hear. Looking like it could rain tomorow.

This is very bad news.

 

[CatsNK]

there are cycling bars?? lol

Is that sort of like a "biker bar"?

 

[Tuarts]

Weather bad today from what i hear. Looking like it could rain tomorow.

This is very bad news.

It wouldn't be a Giro without a rider boycott

 

[Anonymous]

on todays evidence contador would blow them away, if he wants to.

 

[Chef_Vodnik]

on todays evidence contador would blow them away, if he wants to.

Probably.

I'm still putting money on a wide shot: Contador to do his signature style attacks on Zoncolan, but having judged the somewhat brutal nature of the slopes there, he blows up.

One can still hope, eh?

 

[will10]

Contador to win by over a minute. He'll want this one, everyone remembers who wins on the Zoncolan. No gifts tomorrow.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Yeah I expect AC to cream the field.

will be a great stage, cannot wait.

 

[roundabout]

Zzzzzziro d'Italia. Enjoy the race if you can.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Tomorrow it will be pretty exciting to see who finishes 3rd. Probably Gadret.

 

[Ferminal]

Savio needs to get some men in the break, make sure they make it to Crostis, and have them park their bikes at the top, waiting for the little man.

 

[roundabout]

Rujano needs ballast more than a rider or two to guide him down.

 

[luckyboy]

So will the main guys stay together up Crostis? Or will Rujano + AC be off the front already?

 

[Ferminal]

Rujano needs ballast more than a rider or two to guide him down.

Madison slings?

 

[roundabout]

Madison slings?

Lead jersey.

 

[luckyboy]

Hoping it doesn't rain for Rujano's sake.

 

[Winterfold]

This stage is just too hard - even for elite of the elite - either they will ride cpnservatively and save their legs - or the time gaps will be measured in geological terms.

Just completing the stage within the cutoff will be an extraordinary effort. Respect to any rider who finishes.

 

[rzombie1988]

I can't wait to see what kind of whoopin' Contador will lay tommorow. Only Rujano could hang with him at 6%. I can't wait to see what the rest will do when it's double that.

 

[Havetts]

Somebody wants to bet what the difference will be between Contador / Rujano to the rest on the Zoncolan + descent?

Personally I'll go for 3+ minutes and like 5 if Contador goes on the Crostis.

 

[US Patent Exploding Cyclist]

Hitch, fantastic Stage Intro.

After today's stage, I have no idea what will happen tomorrow. I can't tell if the contenders were taking it easy today to save energy, or if they just gave up. I'm hoping one of them straps on a pair and takes a chance at something big. Obviously this is easier said than done, but someone will have to risk losing a lot of time in order to win this Giro.