Giro d'Italia 2018 stage 15: Tolmezzo – Sappada 176 km

[Yingge]

I wonder what prediction will be forthcoming from the Chicken Man today.

 

[movingtarget]

Re:

I wonder what prediction will be forthcoming from the Chicken Man today.

It's all in the chicken bones.

 

[The Chicken]

I'm staying quiet - for now. You all tell me off whenever I speak anyway.

 

[Tonton]

Dumoulin to show up in his ITT rainbow, bike and helmet, he will ITT the stage. But Pinot attacks, atop the first climb he has a two-minute advantage. He drops his mask! It was Reichenbach! Kirby was right all along! And Tom decides to go solo. Pinot (dressed as Reichenbach) pulls his favorite fishing pole and hooks up TD's saddle. Pozzo reacts, weaves spaghetti and lassoes Pinot. The trio takes a massive lead. Unbeknownst to them, Lopez had carb loaded with the best frijoles he could get and rockets his way back. But Poels and Froome are riding a tandem and closing in fast! Betancur gets 5 bags at the feeding station, rolls down the climb in hot pursuit. Viviani has been sprinting for over 100 km and finally gives up. Carapaz goes from turtle to hare and he's fast: is it too little, too late? Bilbao is athletic but he's fading, but the real is no Madrid: Contador is nowhere to be seen. Yates is coming out of nowhere, just had a Gatorade. Yates+sugar=alcohol, Simon gets pulled over and charged with DUI. His Giro dreams are over. Pozzo hears through his ear-piece that the mafia had a bet on Aru to be the top Italian in the race: his family is being kept hostage...he slows down. It's Pinot vs. Dumoulin with 1.1 km to go. And Tom has to stop to relieve himself, uses the kite as toilet paper. Solo win for Tibopino!!!

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

It's funny though that nobody seems to be really confident

Yates keeps saying he still needs more time and now also fears Froome aside from Dumoulin
Dumoulin thinks he can't get enough time in the TT to have a safe margin
Froome is now improving but is realistic enough to figure 3 minutes might be too much

 

[Tonton]

Re:

It's funny though that nobody seems to be really confident

Yates keeps saying he still needs more time and now also fears Froome aside from Dumoulin
Dumoulin thinks he can't get enough time in the TT to have a safe margin
Froome is now improving but is realistic enough to figure 3 minutes might be too much

I don't know about Froome, who raised from the rubble like a Terminator today. In Trentino, he wasn't hurt, he got beat (bad grammar - slang - yo bro). Falls? maybe. But he looked very bad so far. He wasn't playing "rope a dope" (no pun intended) because it would be idiotic at this level. His attack today may have been overlooked, like desperate people doing desperate things. In the end, cold shower, like Ventoux and PSM, no less. If that's the Froome we get for another week, danger.

 

[ice&fire]

Re:

It's funny though that nobody seems to be really confident

Yates keeps saying he still needs more time and now also fears Froome aside from Dumoulin
Dumoulin thinks he can't get enough time in the TT to have a safe margin
Froome is now improving but is realistic enough to figure 3 minutes might be too much

It's funny because the 'dominant' rider so far is only making gains in small chunks of 20-30 secs + bonus, even when he has attacked from 3-4km like in Etna and Zoncolan. You could do that riding like Purito.

 

[Tonton]

Nobody really confident as you stated my friend. And we see less activity now than we could have expected after the Zoncolan stage. The prevailing feeling probably is: WTF?

 

[Gigs_98]

Re:

Paging Gigs to stay away from electronics that might display Giro d'Italia.

I'm currently completely drunk so I might as well sleep until tomorrow 5 pm. Who knows

 

[Tonton]

Re: Re:

Paging Gigs to stay away from electronics that might display Giro d'Italia.

I'm currently completely drunk so I might as well sleep until tomorrow 5 pm. Who knows

May I buy you a beer?

 

[Gigs_98]

Re: Re:

Paging Gigs to stay away from electronics that might display Giro d'Italia.

I'm currently completely drunk so I might as well sleep until tomorrow 5 pm. Who knows

May I buy you a beer?

I don't need another one

 

[Random Direction]

How are you typing so well?

Edit - i just opened a growler...

 

[Moviefan1203]

Froome and Yates to finish together in that order. Carapaz and Dennis lose significant time.

 

[yaco]

My guess is that this will be the second stage won by the breakaway - I suspect GC riders will be happy to take it easy today to save themselves for the last week.

 

[gregrowlerson]

Re:

God I love the Giro. Anything could happen.

Obvious Pozzovivo stage win is obvious.

 

[Jungle Cycle]

Pantano ftw

 

[Robert5091]

Wout Poels will win this cycle race ... or anyone who has something left in the tank after yesterday.

 

[The Barb]

Re:

Pantano ftw

That's a good pick. He took it easy yesterday (as much as one can on Zoncolan) finishing almost half an hour down, and his descending skills in bad weather (rain is forecast) are excellent.

I'd love to see him in the break, along with Ciccone and Formolo.

 

[Pantani_lives]

The optimist in me says the favorites will attack more than 16 km before the finish. They have a day off tomorrow and the final climb isn't hard enough, so it has to happen earlier.

The pessimist in me says the top 5 will stay together until the final climb, where they will sprint for seconds.

 

[gregrowlerson]

Re:

The optimist in me says the favorites will attack more than 16 km before the finish. They have a day off tomorrow and the final climb isn't hard enough, so it has to happen earlier.

The pessimist in me says the top 5 will stay together until the final climb, where they will sprint for seconds.

No reason for anyone other than Yates and Tom to wait if they have the legs. Not unless they are just riding for a podium.

 

[Ivan_Basso_77]

Yesterday must have taken a lot out of everyone. I really hope that Astana or another team will go berserk today. If someone from Lopez/Pinot/Pozzovivo feels well, he should attack on Sant'Antonio already. Especially if they have teammates in the break, they must do that. After all, they are the ones who need to gain significant time on Yates and Dumo.

 

[Robert5091]

Today could be epic ... brollys & wellies are the order of the day.
https://weather.com/weather/today/l/ITVE2162:1:IT

A few showers early then thundershowers this afternoon. Storms may produce some hail. High 58F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%.

The Dawg's problems might return.

 

[Pricey_sky]

Re:

My guess is that this will be the second stage won by the breakaway - I suspect GC riders will be happy to take it easy today to save themselves for the last week.

On the contrary, Yates said after the stage he will try again to take today, which he still needs to with the TT coming. Plus Portal almost said as much regarding Froome too, he has to try at every opportunity now if he has any chance of winning.

If it all kicks off on the Sant'Antonio I cant see the break making it.

 

[Ivan_Basso_77]

Re: Re:

My guess is that this will be the second stage won by the breakaway - I suspect GC riders will be happy to take it easy today to save themselves for the last week.

On the contrary, Yates said after the stage he will try again to take today, which he still needs to with the TT coming. Plus Portal almost said as much regarding Froome too, he has to try at every opportunity now if he has any chance of winning.

If it all kicks off on the Sant'Antonio I cant see the break making it.

I believe that the pure climbers should attack on Sant'Antonio. Tomorrow is a rest day, after all... And if the weather is really bad, someone will surely lose a lot of time.

 

[Pantani_lives]

Re:

It's funny though that nobody seems to be really confident

Yates keeps saying he still needs more time and now also fears Froome aside from Dumoulin
Dumoulin thinks he can't get enough time in the TT to have a safe margin
Froome is now improving but is realistic enough to figure 3 minutes might be too much

I don't think Yates has a lack of confidence. He just doesn't want to make the mistake of underestimating his opponents, and realizes that the final victory is still a long way off.