Giro d'Italia 2015 Stage 20: Saint-Vincent – Sestriere 199km

[Tigerion]

Astana are not going to pull back 5 minutes on Contador so will ride to protect podium places
Expect a reduced bunch sprint finish for the win, might even go to the breakaway if they are strong enough

 

[Queens Boulevard]

Re:

Astana are not going to pull back 5 minutes on Contador so will ride to protect podium places
Expect a reduced bunch sprint finish for the win, might even go to the breakaway if they are strong enough

Amador is almost 4 minutes back on Aru in GC. Which is around the same difference Contador is ahead of Aru. Not taking anything away from Amador (he's ridden well this Giro) I think it's nearly impossible for him to pull back 4 minutes on this stage. Amador's only 3 min. back of Landa but I don't think anyone on this board would suggest he has any kind of shot at taking that back.

Astana has the strongest team in this race and there's no reason to believe they can't win another stage. I expect another hard driven stage with Aru and Landa both attacking Contador on Finestre to see if either of them will be allowed free.

I also think Hesjedal has to try something, he's clearly stronger than Konig and Trofimov at this point and a top 5 is well within his grasp. If he or Astana can force selection early on we might get a nice race out of tomorrow.

No matter what happens I think what we've learned so for this Giro is to never underestimate it. I don't think I've been disappointed in a stage yet.

 

[Iker_Baqueiro]

Re: Re:

Astana are not going to pull back 5 minutes on Contador so will ride to protect podium places
Expect a reduced bunch sprint finish for the win, might even go to the breakaway if they are strong enough

Amador is almost 4 minutes back on Aru in GC. Which is around the same difference Contador is ahead of Aru. Not taking anything away from Amador (he's ridden well this Giro) I think it's nearly impossible for him to pull back 4 minutes on this stage. Amador's only 3 min. back of Landa but I don't think anyone on this board would suggest he has any kind of shot at taking that back.

Astana has the strongest team in this race and there's no reason to believe they can't win another stage. I expect another hard driven stage with Aru and Landa both attacking Contador on Finestre to see if either of them will be allowed free.

I also think Hesjedal has to try something, he's clearly stronger than Konig and Trofimov at this point and a top 5 is well within his grasp. If he or Astana can force selection early on we might get a nice race out of tomorrow.

No matter what happens I think what we've learned so for this Giro is to never underestimate it. I don't think I've been disappointed in a stage yet.

Exactly dude! For the past 5 years the Giro and the Vuelta have far exceeded the Tour. The Tour has been so boring since 2009. Hope that changes this year.

 

[phanatic]

Re:

What was it in Sam's post that so many people disagree with. Seems like a sensible one to me.

I think it's clear to all and sundry that Contador was targeting the ITT, and likely had targeted it - from the beginning - as the stage on which he wanted to first don the rosa, and from thence hold it - as was his wont - for the remainder of the Giro.

 

[movingtarget]

I would like to see Hesjedal grab a stage win. I think it's all about how Contador feels and whether he really wants the stage or not otherwise he might just watch Landa grab some seconds back, with July in mind. Contador wants two GTs, Stage wins are secondary for him and he has a good buffer.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

What was it in Sam's post that so many people disagree with. Seems like a sensible one to me.

It's not so much the content but rather the way he puts it which is obviously to stir trouble and provoke people to reply (iow bait). SeriousSam is very good at this. Semi-sensible posts of which you cannot be sure if it is a serious post or a troll post.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Re: Re:

Iseran in May is always a risky call, so it's not surprising they wouldn't go for something like that after the weather so heavily affected the 2013 and 2014 races.

What I'm really waiting for is a stage which does Finestre then Pramartino with the descent right into Pinerolo. Moncenisio-Finestre-Pramartino could be gold.

Isn't the descent to Pramartino after Fenestrelle too much of a false flat and not an actual descent?

If my numbers were correct the distance from fenestrelle to villar perosa is about 24 km´s and fenestrelle is located 665 meters higher than villa perosa. That means the descent would only be 2.6 % steep or said differently: false flat.
I don't know if this combination would really work. These false descents appear often and they don't always kill a route but 24 km is quite a big distance.

We managed to get good racing on the 2009 Giro stage and 2011 Tour stages that used that same descent off of a much easier climb, so with Finestre being as hard as it is, that descent will likely see a bucketload of riders racing like hell to get back on, meaning Pramartino will explode the race because, like with Aprica, the sheer pain of going uphill again after the Mortirolo (and with the descent being false flat and many riders having had to go hard to chase back on, they won't have had the rest phase for their legs that they get after Mortirolo) tends to open gaps even when the climb itself isn't that tough.

 

[Kwibus]

Re: Re:

What was it in Sam's post that so many people disagree with. Seems like a sensible one to me.

It's not so much the content but rather the way he puts it which is obviously to stir trouble and provoke people to reply (iow bait). SeriousSam is very good at this. Semi-sensible posts of which you cannot be sure if it is a serious post or a troll post.

Well by now it's very obvious he is just trolling.

Still people reply.

 

[SeriousSam]

I'm not trolling though. I'm just sometimes injecting a bit of exceedingly mild banter into posts that really are my opinions, which is something most people around here do. But I suppose when the targets of such posts are diminutive Spaniards with strong TT skills, I need to be even more careful not to offend anyone's sensibilities than I usually am

 

[Singer01]

anybody know what time they are due to hit the bottom of the finestre?

 

[sulgpallur]

Around 15:30
http://static2.gazzettaobjects.it/Giroditalia/2015/it/tappa/20/info-tecniche/cronotabella/Tabella20.htm

 

[The Hitch]

Re: Re:

What was it in Sam's post that so many people disagree with. Seems like a sensible one to me.

With the long flat time trial, however, they were ultimately without a chance against a strong time trialler such as Contador, who can also cope with the mountains pretty well.

They were never going to get back 4 or 5 minutes from Miguel Contador who is solid if unspectacular in the mountains.

Sensible?

What a worthless response. How does that tell me what was wrong with Sam's post?

WTF is wrong in those 2 sentences?

He has been unspectacular in the mountains. What is wrong with that? Its true. He's done what he has to and nothing more, following wheels and letting rivals take stages while limiting his losses.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Re: Giro d'Italia 2015 Stage 20: Saint-Vincent – Sestriere 1

I think tomorrow will a hatrick for Landa. If Aru is as strong as today and his team still riding good tempo w/o destroying him, this dynamic duo will present another headache for AC to deal with. The last climb isn't that hard, so if AC is still gunning for a stage win, he has to attack the dynamic duo on Finestre and hope one of them will fall of the wagon. The rest of the stage he can deal mano a mano with whoever from the dynamic duo comes along with him. But of course that's easier said than done

Shouldn't be a problem dropping Aru. The main obstacle for a stage win is Mikel Landa.

 

[Sasquatch]

Re: Giro d'Italia 2015 Stage 20: Saint-Vincent – Sestriere 1

Astana want to protect 2nd and 3rd. 10 bucks says they put Rosa, Cataldo, Tiralongo or Sanchez in the break. Logical thing for them to do. Try and give them a stage win for their work over the last few weeks and if it's brought back, then one of them will be there for Landa when he attacks.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Re:

This was one of my favorite stages in 2005 when Salvodelli rode brilliantly to salvage his Giro after being put into difficulty on the Finestre.
His descent that day was magnificent. What a stage that was. Hopefully we'll see a proper battle tomorrow as well.

lol what? he took back a massive 10 seconds not to mention he couldn't even drop ardila and van huffel in the descent

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Tonight I dreamed that Amador finished outside the time limit today

 

[Eshnar]

Re: Re:

This was one of my favorite stages in 2005 when Salvodelli rode brilliantly to salvage his Giro after being put into difficulty on the Finestre.
His descent that day was magnificent. What a stage that was. Hopefully we'll see a proper battle tomorrow as well.

lol what? he took back a massive 10 seconds not to mention he couldn't even drop ardila and van huffel in the descent

well he didn't want to drop them, he needed them for Sestriere. But yes, that descent has been definitely overrated.

 

[Jalgratas95]

Today Contador will get his stage win.

 

[Jalgratas95]

Re: Giro d'Italia 2015 Stage 20: Saint-Vincent – Sestriere 1

Astana want to protect 2nd and 3rd. 10 bucks says they put Rosa, Cataldo, Tiralongo or Sanchez in the break. Logical thing for them to do. Try and give them a stage win for their work over the last few weeks and if it's brought back, then one of them will be there for Landa when he attacks.

So that Contador can counter attack and destroy Landa.

 

[Taxus4a]

Today is a mythical stage and Contador want to win, that is his main willing, but the second option that make him happy as well would be to avoid Landa the stage and the second place... we will see if he get one of them.

The second interesting thing of the stage is to see if Hesjedal can get the 5th place in GC.

 

[Sasquatch]

Re: Giro d'Italia 2015 Stage 20: Saint-Vincent – Sestriere 1

Astana want to protect 2nd and 3rd. 10 bucks says they put Rosa, Cataldo, Tiralongo or Sanchez in the break. Logical thing for them to do. Try and give them a stage win for their work over the last few weeks and if it's brought back, then one of them will be there for Landa when he attacks.

So that Contador can counter attack and destroy Landa.

Doesn't have to worry about that because the early break will get a good advantage and an Astana not named Landa and Aru will win the stage.

 

[Jalgratas95]

Re: Giro d'Italia 2015 Stage 20: Saint-Vincent – Sestriere 1

Astana want to protect 2nd and 3rd. 10 bucks says they put Rosa, Cataldo, Tiralongo or Sanchez in the break. Logical thing for them to do. Try and give them a stage win for their work over the last few weeks and if it's brought back, then one of them will be there for Landa when he attacks.

So that Contador can counter attack and destroy Landa.

Doesn't have to worry about that because the early break will get a good advantage and an Astana not named Landa and Aru will win the stage.

I don't think this will happen. I expect lotto to work (Kruijswijk. Depending who's in break) or tinkoff saxo to set very high pace and race as hard as possible into mountain.
But that's my prediction.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Re:

Today is a mythical stage and Contador want to win, that is his main willing, but the second option that make him happy as well would be to avoid Landa the stage and the second place... we will see if he get one of them.

The second interesting thing of the stage is to see if Hesjedal can get the 5th place in GC.

Frankly for your otherwise humorous theory, I don't think Contador is holding any grudge against Landa. He just wants to win the race

 

[trevim]

Re: Re:

Today is a mythical stage and Contador want to win, that is his main willing, but the second option that make him happy as well would be to avoid Landa the stage and the second place... we will see if he get one of them.

The second interesting thing of the stage is to see if Hesjedal can get the 5th place in GC.

Frankly for your otherwise humorous theory, I don't think Contador is holding any grudge against Landa. He just wants to win the race

Really I don't think Contador cares more about Landa than any other good climber 5 min back; he's not the belly full of anger type.

 

[Bushman]

Landa should attack early on Finestre with Contador and keep a tough pace. That way he can win the stage and take back his second place, which he deserves.