Giro d'Italia 2017 STAGE 20: Pordenone – Asiago 190 km

[klintE]

How to crack Big Mouth Tom? It's very simple. Don't give a single km of a free ride.
Movistar should go full gas from the start, put pressure on him. He has to know what is coming
No breakaway due such strong pulls from Movistar
Montegrappa ridden egzactly like Stelvio, very fast. That should be enough but if not then repeat it on the Foza. Game Over.
If that shall come Nairito even doesn't have to attack and may ride TT on road bike

 

[Jagartrott]

Movistar and Bahrein will definitely want to put people in the break, but of course, so will a lot of teams. The race will be hard from the beginning regardless of Movistar pulling.

 

[Valv.Piti]

I think the break will make it again as especially Movistar would look to put people up the road in order to help pulling on the remaining 15 kilometres for Quintana, Amador could be a good rider there. Very tricky stage with Grappa and that false flat after Foza, lots of scenarios. Is Grappa hard enough? Teams should at least try to gas Dumoulin there.

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

I think the break will make it again as especially Movistar would look to put people up the road in order to help pulling on the remaining 15 kilometres for Quintana, Amador could be a good rider there. Very tricky stage with Grappa and that false flat after Foza, lots of scenarios. Is Grappa hard enough? Teams should at least try to gas Dumoulin there.

All the relevant GC riders will want a load of dom's in the break. Most desired breakaway of the decade it seems.

 

[klintE]

Re:

The race will be hard from the beginning regardless of Movistar pulling.

Probably. But I'm saying about making it harder than hard

 

[Scoondle]

The Giro has been a great race so far. It always is the most entertaining Grand Tour for the armchair fan.
I still think Dumoulin will win. But I don't want him to win. Quintana and Nibali don't seem to have the top form to attack. I have found myself in the A.O.B.T. (anyone but Tom) group.
Highly entertaining. What next ?

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Re:

I have found myself in the A.O.B.T. (anyone but Tom) group.

Why? He doesn't really have the style to attack in the mountains the way Quintana and Nibali do. But he tried to do so yesterday anyway, which is good enough for me to say chapeau if he does pull it off.

 

[Scoondle]

Re: Re:

I have found myself in the A.O.B.T. (anyone but Tom) group.

Why? He doesn't really have the style to attack in the mountains the way Quintana and Nibali do. But he tried to do so yesterday anyway, which is good enough for me to say chapeau if he does pull it off.

Because of his strops. He should just let his legs do the talking not his mouth. I prefer to watch the cyclists on the road not their talk to the media.

 

[Scoondle]

Re: Re:

I have found myself in the A.O.B.T. (anyone but Tom) group.

Why? He doesn't really have the style to attack in the mountains the way Quintana and Nibali do. But he tried to do so yesterday anyway, which is good enough for me to say chapeau if he does pull it off.

And yesterday he tried but was angry that Quintana and Nibali followed his wheel to protect their G.C. places. Why should he be angry at riders just defending their place on G.C.. Quintana and Nibali had nothing left to shorten their overall gaps on Dumoulin, so they were just defending their overall time gaps. So Dumoulin says he hopes that they will not be on the podium in Milan. That's why I don't like Dumoulin. He's a drama queen.

 

[deValtos]

Dumo apologised for him comments and most importantly he maintains fair play on the bike, a lot more-so than Quintana and Nibali. :lol:

Also it's nice to have people in the sport with opinions once in a while.

 

[Roku]

Re: Re:

I think thats harsh on CCC, they haven't exactly nursed Hirt. Their selection is 100% justified based on what Hirt has done in the last week. Gazprom, on the other hand, completely gone. Where is Androni?

Schinto can't be happy either and don't get me started on Bardiani, what a travesty.

But yeah, basically one rider from those team have anything to be proud of.

Fair point about Hirt. It's just you expect pro-conti teams to be entertaining. To be at the sharp end of breaks every day. Hirt is doing a great personal ride, but I'm not sure a rider unspectacularly battling for position with Polanc, Cataldo and Monfort is what the organisers had in mind when inviting the pro conti teams.

Yeah, it's crazy Androni weren't invitied. Probably don't have the same influence behind the scenes as Gazprom and CCC. I reckon Bernal would have had a decent chance of a stage win here, or at least a few top 5s.

That is unfair for Hirt. The first week he lost plenty of time. He was caught out in echelons, had a bad day in Etna but slowly began to improve as days went by. He is a kind of Kangert / Kruijswijk, a rider which recovers very well and excels on really hard parcours. He was quite anonymous on the first two weeks, until he did a good performance in Oropa, and then he joined the breakaway of the two queen stages, not doing an anonymous move just to gain some time, but to try and win the stage (he was the second best of the breakaway riders in the Stelvio stage and the third one in the Ortisei stage)

He has done much more than ride for 12º/13º/14º. In my opinion, he has done a better race than Yates, Formolo or Mollema which haven't tried a single thing but to hold the wheels of the GC guys for three weeks and cannot be compared to the likes of Dupont, Konrad or Monfort.

 

[Scoondle]

It seems the Tifosi are neutral.
In 1987 they were spitting wine at Stephen Roche after his "attack" on Visentini. Ah, great days.
The Giro is always different.

 

[mavmav]

Re: Re:

I have found myself in the A.O.B.T. (anyone but Tom) group.

Why? He doesn't really have the style to attack in the mountains the way Quintana and Nibali do. But he tried to do so yesterday anyway, which is good enough for me to say chapeau if he does pull it off.

Because of his strops. He should just let his legs do the talking not his mouth. I prefer to watch the cyclists on the road not their talk to the media.

So saying something in the heat of the moment is unforgivable, but a rider that holds on to team cars and is a proven cheat is a worthy winner...

 

[woodburn]

Cannondale to get five in the break tomorrow.

 

[Anderis]

Re:

Cannondale to get five in the break tomorrow.

Probably just Rolland.

 

[Scoondle]

Re: Re:

I have found myself in the A.O.B.T. (anyone but Tom) group.

Why? He doesn't really have the style to attack in the mountains the way Quintana and Nibali do. But he tried to do so yesterday anyway, which is good enough for me to say chapeau if he does pull it off.

Because of his strops. He should just let his legs do the talking not his mouth. I prefer to watch the cyclists on the road not their talk to the media.

So saying something in the heat of the moment is unforgivable, but a rider that holds on to team cars and is a proven cheat is a worthy winner...

Well if that rider is Italian, and the commisares say it is legal, then why not. If he is a cheat, he should not ne allowed in the race. Maybe we are going off topic here.
I want Pierre Roland to win.

 

[Random Direction]

Re:

Cannondale to get five in the break tomorrow.

JV could earn some good coin by renting out his climbers as mountain domestiques for other teams. He's got Vilella, Dombrowski, Rolland and Woods to use as trading cards. Most likely partner would be who? FDJ? Not Movi, Katusha, Bahrein.

Realistically this stage will be pretty well full gas from a little way in.

 

[classicomano]

Talking about Cannondale, when will Big Hugh finally step up? Hes been as invisible as he was in last years Vuelta. Disappointing.

 

[BullsFan22]

Re: Re:

I have found myself in the A.O.B.T. (anyone but Tom) group.

Why? He doesn't really have the style to attack in the mountains the way Quintana and Nibali do. But he tried to do so yesterday anyway, which is good enough for me to say chapeau if he does pull it off.

Because of his strops. He should just let his legs do the talking not his mouth. I prefer to watch the cyclists on the road not their talk to the media.

So saying something in the heat of the moment is unforgivable, but a rider that holds on to team cars and is a proven cheat is a worthy winner...

This.

 

[Tank Engine]

Re:

Really weird why they even include the last flat part in the stage instead of just ending at the top of the climb.

Nibali to go bananas on the descent from Grappa.

I actually like the flat section after the final climb. It's the final mountain stage, so there will be gaps. Everyone still needs to get time on Tom D and the dynamics will change after the top of the final climb. The GC contenders with the best climbing legs will have to attack on the climb, Tom D will try and limit his losses and recoup them on the plateau (it's not a bad climb for him, but fatigue should be a larger factor in his case).
Otherwise, there will be attacks and counter-attacks.

Nibali might try an ambush at the top of the Grappa, and so teams getting into the breakaway will be very important.

Often on the final mountain stage, I would expect the breakaway to be caught and the strongest rider to impose themself in the finale. This time round, it's difficult to state who is the strongest. There is one rider though who could both win from a break or match the GC contenders and, if he plays his cards right, take advantage of the GC rivalry between the few riders in the running at the top of the climb. The man in blue (no, not from Gazprom).

As for what happens on GC, I'm tending towards Nibali moving into the best position before the time trial (not necessarily in pink, but close enough to Nairo and far enough ahead of Tom D), but hope that Tom D is on a better day tomorrow. On the other hand, the fatigue and opportunities for temporary alliances mean that lots could and should happen. Any of the top 5 still has a chance of winning the race and I'm probably less convinced by the chances of the pink jersey holder than by the chances of the other 4. You would think it has to be a great GC showdown (although possibly in slow motion).

 

[deValtos]

If this were not the final mountain stage then that the final flat bit would probably be a bad idea as it would neutralise a lot of the action. But since we know it will be 100% raced I think it's pretty cool and I'm looking forward to it.

 

[Orbit501]

Re:

If this were not the final mountain stage then that the final flat bit would probably be a bad idea as it would neutralise a lot of the action. But since we know it will be 100% raced I think it's pretty cool and I'm looking forward to it.

This^

It could end up being a multi TTT v the ITT'er on that final 15km rolling finish. Sets things up a treat I reckon.

 

[SlickMongoose]

How flat is "the final flat bit"? It doesn't look all that flat.

 

[Punter]

Re: Re:

I have found myself in the A.O.B.T. (anyone but Tom) group.

Why? He doesn't really have the style to attack in the mountains the way Quintana and Nibali do. But he tried to do so yesterday anyway, which is good enough for me to say chapeau if he does pull it off.

Not to mention that he has got this far despite having by far the weakest team of the contenders - I am pulling for him!

 

[lenric]

Re:

How flat is "the final flat bit"? It doesn't look all that flat.

Only got this: