Giro d'Italia 2018: Stage 20: Susa - Cervinia, 214 KM

[HelloDolly]

Some spectacular falls from grace in this race

1. Aru -what the hell happened to him. 5th in the Tour last year and GT winner ...coudn't even stay in the grupetto

2. Chaves ...looks shattered , trained for this race but has ened in the grupetto every day since after first rest day ...Last year Tour and Vuelta were also poor

3. Micahel Woods ....after a great showing in the Vuelta ....nada ...not even a peak..was touted for the podium

4. Mentjes ....Used to be top 10 rider ...now lost in the ether

5. Attapuma, Pantano, Betencur, ......usually top climbers in some stages (well Betencur did start well but fell away) but even without Aru riding where is Attapuma...and Pantano on the descents ..where ?

6. Brambilla ...no where in a race he targetted

7. Hermans...targeted breaks but maybe unlucky...still what was the strategy ??

8. De La Cruz and Heano....I know hey are riding for Froome but not really there on the climbs as you would expect ...Esp DLC ..poor for them....Poles & Ellisonde have however been very good when they need to be

9.Gesink ...is that it now....leadign the peloton into the bottom of climbs where it seemed MS should have been racing ...no more chances at stages ?

10 Team EF Education Drapec ...lots of climbers in the ranks but nothing to show for it

 

[Jagartrott]

Re:

I think the likelihood of Froome cracking tomorrow is far higher than Dumo.

Have you seen how fresh Froome looked yesterday after the stage? Like he just came back from a South African training ride.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

Meh my enthousiasm for Lopez has dropped. He is too much of a one trick pony. Follow the wheels and attack late on a mountain, and then he doesnt even gain much or get passed enough. Just an average version of Purito but bad at short steep walls. Yates did his trick better

Of course it has dropped since he didn't help Dumouli on a couple of stages. Thats obvious. So has it for the rest of the Dutch mafia, probably, along with Carapaz. But it isn't their fault or their responsibility, solely Tom and his team.

Of course he hasn't been great yes by any means. For some reason he hasn't got the legs of the 2nd week of La Vuelta, it happens, but still a decent showing for what it is. Its a process and he is young

 

[Laplaz]

Reminder that the stage will already start at 10:20 CET because they will reach the finish line earlier today (around 16:30 CET).

 

[The Barb]

Re:

Some spectacular falls from grace in this race

1. Aru -what the hell happened to him. 5th in the Tour last year and GT winner ...coudn't even stay in the grupetto

2. Chaves ...looks shattered , trained for this race but has ened in the grupetto every day since after first rest day ...Last year Tour and Vuelta were also poor

3. Micahel Woods ....after a great showing in the Vuelta ....nada ...not even a peak..was touted for the podium

4. Mentjes ....Used to be top 10 rider ...now lost in the ether

5. Attapuma, Pantano, Betencur, ......usually top climbers in some stages (well Betencur did start well but fell away) but even without Aru riding where is Attapuma...and Pantano on the descents ..where ?

6. Brambilla ...no where in a race he targetted

7. Hermans...targeted breaks but maybe unlucky...still what was the strategy ??

8. De La Cruz and Heano....I know hey are riding for Froome but not really there on the climbs as you would expect ...Esp DLC ..poor for them....Poles & Ellisonde have however been very good when they need to be

9.Gesink ...is that it now....leadign the peloton into the bottom of climbs where it seemed MS should have been racing ...no more chances at stages ?

10 Team EF Education Drapec ...lots of climbers in the ranks but nothing to show for it

Hard to disagree with any of this except maybe:

1. I'd forgive the breakaway type riders (Atapuma, Pantano etc). They've had no chance the way it's been ridden.

2. I thought De La Cruz was actually pretty great in Finestre yesterday.

 

[Nirvana]

I'm curious to see if Dumoulin has progressed again, in the 2015 Vuelta he cracked in the last stage, last year only faded (maybe helped by very subpar Quintana), if he'll survive today with no fading after the big effort of yesterday i think next year he'll go all out on the Tour.

 

[Matteo.]

Re: Re:

I think the likelihood of Froome cracking tomorrow is far higher than Dumo.

That sounds like the wish being father to the thought.

How so? Froome cracked after Zoncolan. Froome lost time earlier in the race it was obvious he isn't at his peak for whatever reason(s). Today's stage would have expended far, far more energy than he did to Zoncolan. I think he was a little underdone coming into this race so is more likely to pay for his extreme effort today than Dumuloun who has measured his efforts. I think Froome will be vulnerable tomorrow. No wish, just facts and logic.

Measure the efforts? Except for the little help given by Reichenbach, he always pulled the group. On the climbs, on the plains, on the descents. Finally in the last 300m he went deep in red. i think that Tom too has very little in the tank now

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

I think the likelihood of Froome cracking tomorrow is far higher than Dumo.

Have you seen how fresh Froome looked yesterday after the stage? Like he just came back from a South African training ride.

Yeah. And people keep referencing the post-Zoncolan stage, but what he did yesterday was miles ahead of what he did on Zoncolan performance wise, so it seems a bit odd to expect him to crack in similar fashion when he's obviously a lot stronger.

 

[Salvarani]

Praying that Tom pulls off something great

Current GC standings would be horrible

 

[Salvarani]

Re:

I think the likelihood of Froome cracking tomorrow is far higher than Dumo.

I really hope you are right about this

 

[Climbing]

Re: Re:

I think the likelihood of Froome cracking tomorrow is far higher than Dumo.

I really hope you are right about this

:lol:

 

[Cookster15]

Re: Re:

I think the likelihood of Froome cracking tomorrow is far higher than Dumo.

Have you seen how fresh Froome looked yesterday after the stage? Like he just came back from a South African training ride.

Yeah. And people keep referencing the post-Zoncolan stage, but what he did yesterday was miles ahead of what he did on Zoncolan performance wise, so it seems a bit odd to expect him to crack in similar fashion when he's obviously a lot stronger.

But nobody gets that much stronger in a few days. That's not how human physiology works. If he was weak by his standards in the first two weeks then suddenly performing like today suggests that was an absolutely enormous effort which he should pay for.

Plus we are talking about not just strength but the ability to recover from enormous efforts. Zoncolan suggests he isn't in absolutely top form to recover well from yesterday. This takes weeks and months to develop from sustained training. Unless Froome was ill and has recovered then I think he could be in trouble.

Now I might be wrong but I am just applying some logic and reason here.

 

[Pricey_sky]

Re: Re:

I think the likelihood of Froome cracking tomorrow is far higher than Dumo.

Have you seen how fresh Froome looked yesterday after the stage? Like he just came back from a South African training ride.

Yeah. And people keep referencing the post-Zoncolan stage, but what he did yesterday was miles ahead of what he did on Zoncolan performance wise, so it seems a bit odd to expect him to crack in similar fashion when he's obviously a lot stronger.

But nobody gets that much stronger in a few days. That's not how human physiology works. If he was weak by his standards in the first two weeks then suddenly performing like today suggests that was an absolutely enormous effort which he should pay for. Now I might be wrong but I am just applying some logic and reason here.

Nibali didn’t get weaker on stage 20 in 2016 after being dropped on several occasions then blasting back to form on stage 19, so it’s not a given. But yes there is a chance he could pay for that today, as could anyone, they were all at the limit.

 

[Jagartrott]

Well, apparently the trick is to feed regularly (courtesy of Sir Brailsford, cycling genius). I hope Dumoulin remembers.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Re: Re:

I think the likelihood of Froome cracking tomorrow is far higher than Dumo.

Have you seen how fresh Froome looked yesterday after the stage? Like he just came back from a South African training ride.

Yeah. And people keep referencing the post-Zoncolan stage, but what he did yesterday was miles ahead of what he did on Zoncolan performance wise, so it seems a bit odd to expect him to crack in similar fashion when he's obviously a lot stronger.

But nobody gets that much stronger in a few days. That's not how human physiology works. If he was weak by his standards in the first two weeks then suddenly performing like today suggests that was an absolutely enormous effort which he should pay for. Now I might be wrong but I am just applying some logic and reason here.

Nibali didn’t get weaker on stage 20 in 2016 after being dropped on several occasions then blasting back to form on stage 19, so it’s not a given. But yes there is a chance he could pay for that today, as could anyone, they were all at the limit.

That's true, but Nibali also didn't spend 80km's alone on the stage to Risoul.

 

[MartinGT]

Froome to win on a unicycle, let's get this circus finished and wrapped up

 

[Gigs_98]

Re: Re:

I think the likelihood of Froome cracking tomorrow is far higher than Dumo.

Have you seen how fresh Froome looked yesterday after the stage? Like he just came back from a South African training ride.

Yeah. And people keep referencing the post-Zoncolan stage, but what he did yesterday was miles ahead of what he did on Zoncolan performance wise, so it seems a bit odd to expect him to crack in similar fashion when he's obviously a lot stronger.

But nobody gets that much stronger in a few days. That's not how human physiology works. If he was weak by his standards in the first two weeks then suddenly performing like today suggests that was an absolutely enormous effort which he should pay for. Now I might be wrong but I am just applying some logic and reason here.

Nibali didn’t get weaker on stage 20 in 2016 after being dropped on several occasions then blasting back to form on stage 19, so it’s not a given. But yes there is a chance he could pay for that today, as could anyone, they were all at the limit.

Stamin has always been known as Nibali's biggest weapon, while Froome was always know as a guy who is best on one climb stages. But most importantly Nibali didn't have to ride one single kilometer of the valley in the wind and the agnello was way closer to the finish than the finestre yesterday. Still, Chaves who had to ride about in the wind as Nibali and is not known for his great stamina did indeed crack the following day.
Anyway I also don't think Froome will crack but I also don't think it's impossible. This giro has been full of almost unrealistically good performances made a lot more realistic by how the rider's shape developed afterwards.

 

[DNP-Old]

Montaguti, Ballerini, Visconti, Viviani e Mosca

 

[dfromdub]

I just listened to the "emergency" podcast that Lance Armstrong did in reaction to yesterdays stage.
Lance seems to think that there's a good chance Froome is not going to be in good shape and will ride on defence today, thus Sunweb and Dumoulin have the ball in their had to try and do something to win.

 

[Hayabusa]

One thing is for sure - whichever rider ends up in Pink after today's stage deserves the win. It's been a fantastic race.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Re:

I just listened to the "emergency" podcast that Lance Armstrong did in reaction to yesterdays stage.
Lance seems to think that there's a good chance Froome is not going to be in good shape and will ride on defence today, thus Sunweb and Dumoulin have the ball in their had to try and do something to win.

I don't know about Froome's form. It seems great. But he might suffer from yesterday's efforts. But so will Dumoulin. One thing is for sure though, Froome won't do anything but follow the wheel of Dumoulin or Poels. Anything else wouldn't make any sense and he has his eyes set on the Tour now.

 

[DNP-Old]

A group with Kreuziger, Nieve, Brambilla, Neilands, Woods and Gesink is approaching.

 

[Netserk]

Gavazzi, Frapporti, Ciccone, Barbin, Grossschartner, Schwarzmann, Morabito, Neilands, Kreuziger, Nieve, Woods, Martin, Bouwman, Gesink, Brambilla, Laengen

 

[DNP-Old]

0 Astana's in there.

 

[Laplaz]

And 0 Sunweb