Giro d'Italia 2013, stage 18: Oderzo - Val Di Zoldo 161 km

[Red Rick]

Meh...an 8.

Is that the patented Tonton 8-8 range where 8 is the lowest possible grade and where 8 is the highest possible grade?

 

[CyclistAbi]

Congratulations to Filippo Zana for winning the stage.

Zana was a key dom on some stages and nice to see him now winning a stage. Although a bit unsettling seeing Pinot missing out a stage win again. All in all it was a nice stage to watch. Each day getting more and more intense. Roglič with the help of Kuss distancing Almeida and moving up in GC again. Vine being invaluable for Almeida at limiting the losses. Thomas not showing any signs of weakness but on the other hand was isolated rather early on. Ineos doing some strong pulls before that shows that Thomas isn't afraid of racing hard.

 

[Oldermanish]

Congratulations to Filippo Zana for winning the stage.

Zana was a key dom on some stages and nice to see him now winning a stage. Although a bit unsettling seeing Pinot missing out a stage win again. All in all it was a nice stage to watch. Each day getting more and more intense. Roglič with the help of Kuss distancing Almeida and moving up in GC again. Vine being invaluable for Almeida at limiting the losses. Thomas not showing any signs of weakness but on the other hand was isolated rather early on. Ineos doing some strong pulls before that shows that Thomas isn't afraid of racing hard.

Geraint has no choice but to race hard. Ineos helped JV distance Almeida and tomorrow may show him out of the picture. He can't compete with Thomas and Roglic in the final TT unless they destroy themselves tomorrow. The stage looks cruel as a one day ride, let alone the last killer stage of a GT.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

I think most are overestimating it

Do you expect bigger or smaller differences than the PdBF TT in the 2020 TDF?

 

[Krzysztof_O]

I think most are overestimating it

MTTs have some history of big, game-changing differences, especially close to the end of the race. Way bigger than normal stages in those races. PDBF TT (we know it well), Alpe'04 (where Armstrong and Basso were inseparable earlier), Abantos'03 (Vuelta, where Heras put into Nozal way more time than in previous stages). I do think that even between closely matched rivals a gap can occur: form fluctuates every day and normally a small gap of form between riders can be hidden by tactics (too late attacks, short time of an all out effort) and by riding on a wheel. Here there's no hiding, you push maximum all the time. And 29 seconds is really not a lot on such a monstrous TT, even if Thomas is only somewhat weaker than Roglic a gap like that can happen.