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Giro d'Italia 2017 STAGE 21: Monza – Milano 29.3 km ITT

Ladies and Gentlemen, remember when I said that it was time.

I lied

The time is now

Eshnar said:
STAGE 21: Monza – Milano 29.3 km ITT

START TIME: TBD

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Technical Overview:
The final stage is not a flat parade this time, for the first time since the 2012 edition. In fact, this is quite an important stage: a 30 km, pan-flat ITT, absolutely perfect for specialists, apart from the fact that it comes after a full, grueling three weeks of a GT. Beginning from the start line of the famous Autodromo di Monza, the second most ancient permanent race track in the world, each rider will perform a full lap of the track, before entering the paddocks through the pit-lane and leaving the complex and heading towards Milan. The route traverses mostly wide roads featuring long straights, that will be hell for lightweights, all the way to the center of Milan. The finale is the only slightly tricky section, featuring a few dangerous turns and some very easy cobbled surface. The finishing line is in Piazza Duomo, as usual the last times the Giro finished here.

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What to expect:
The final battle for the GC, if it is still open. For everyone, the last ~35' of the 100th Giro. Gaps might be consistent.

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Story Time:
The issue of Friday, August 7th 1908, of Gazzetta dello Sport, a Milanese newspaper that years earlier had already founded the Milano-Sanremo and Giro di Lombardia, carried the announcement that a Giro d'Italia would be created, the first edition planned to start in less than a year, on Thursday, May 13th 1909.
The first route of the Giro included only 8 stages, to be held in non-consecutive days, in order to let the riders rest after stages that were on average 300 kms long.

1 May 13th Milano > Bologna 397 km
2 May 16th Bologna > Chieti 378.5 km
3 May 18th Chieti > Napoli 242.8 km
4 May 20th Napoli > Roma 228.1 km
5 May 23rd Roma > Firenze 346.5 km
6 May 25th Firenze > Genova 294.1 km
7 May 27th Genova > Torino 354.9 km
8 May 30th Torino > Milano 206 km

The format was quite different to what we're used to. The GC was placements-based, with no time gaps at all: simply, the rider with the lowest aggregated position in all stages would win the GC.
Only 128 riders showed up in Milano for the first stage. The start took place at 2.53 AM (yes, AM), in front of a pretty impressive crowd, considering the circumstances.
The first Giro proceeded, full of punctures, crashes, mechanicals and all sort of weird and sometimes funny stuff, like riders taking the train for a part of a stage, and being busted by the jury with a surprise checkpoint in the middle of it... with crowds becoming bigger and bigger, to the point that at the start of stage 7, in Genova, the organisers were afraid to let the race start in the city center with all the fans around, so they decided to let the riders parade until just outside the city, where they would give the actual start. It was the first neutralized start in history, something that will quickly become standard, even today.
At the finish of the final stage, in Milano, the crowd is massive, and the finishing straight is "secured" by the army, with lancers charging at the sides of the peloton. Apparently, one of the horses panics and causes a crash in the sprint, and the two that are least affected are Dario Beni, who wins, and Carlo Galetti. Luigi Ganna, the gc leader, arrives third, and even if he's not aware of his position due to the mess, he wins the Giro with a total of 25 points, against Galetti's 27 and Giovanni Rossignoli's 40. He will celebrate the triumph with a huge, delighted crowd, parading the city center. The Giro d'Italia was history already.

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Apr 10, 2011
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Pinot's first TT was awful, but he seems to haver superior form to Nairo and Nibali who seem to be struggling. Will be interesting
 
Mar 21, 2013
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After 3 weeks of racing, their ITT abilities still matter a lot, but recovery plays a big role tomorrow.

They all have to do the ITT of their lifes.

@Safebet - Lucky man, take some early pics and keep us posted!
 
Too many time trial kilometres in this race considering there are so few all-round GC riders that exist any more. Every guy can make a race in the mountains but then the most boring aspect of cycling makes the decisive difference.

Dumoulin will easily win.
 
I don't understand why so many people think that Nairo will lose his podium spot. It's possible but he only lost 46 seconds to Nibali and 11 seconds to Pinot in the first TT which was 10 kilometers longer.
Dumoulin should be pretty safe, he can only lose it if he has a really bad day. The rest should be incredibly thrilling though
 
Gigs_98 said:
I don't understand why so many people think that Nairo will lose his podium spot. It's possible but he only lost 46 seconds to Nibali and 11 seconds to Pinot in the first TT which was 10 kilometers longer.
Dumoulin should be pretty safe, he can only lose it if he has a really bad day. The rest should be incredibly thrilling though
Because he's looked shot for the last three days
 
Re: Re:

Velolover2 said:
RattaKuningas said:
My predictions:
Quintana (with 1s)
Dumoulin
Nibali.
Impossible for Quintana not to lose a minute on Dumoulin unless he crashes.

I think that this TT course suits Quintana more than the first one because it is easier, shorter and goes downhill. I think that off the GC favourites Dumoulin will win but not by big enough margin and just misses out with 1s. But my prediciton is half serious and half wish.
 
Aug 16, 2013
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Re: Re:

Netserk said:
Arredondo said:
Netserk said:
Predictions for the final GC top-5?

Tom
Pinot
Zaka
Nairo
Nibs

^^The Ortisei prophecy

You think Nibs will ride such a poor TT?
He will get 30'' on Nairo, but it won't be enough. Zaka is flying atm and will overhaul both. No restday, so Pinot will deliver a proper TT. Tom will kill them.

Yeah forgot about the 39 seconds advantage for Nairo on Vincenzo. I agree with you Zaka will overtake him.
 
Re: Re:

Netserk said:
Arredondo said:
Netserk said:
Predictions for the final GC top-5?

Tom
Pinot
Zaka
Nairo
Nibs

^^The Ortisei prophecy

You think Nibs will ride such a poor TT?
He will get 30'' on Nairo, but it won't be enough. Zaka is flying atm and will overhaul both. No restday, so Pinot will deliver a proper TT. Tom will kill them.
Zakarin has put in approximately one very good time trial in since Romandie 2015
 

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