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

[search]

Re: Re:

'To stay in front' and 'the mountain points' were the reasons they sprinted according to Froome. Which are both lame, because there were no points anymore.

Very odd.

Points were handed out for the Top 8, as usual on a category 1 climb, and it could have made the difference if Ciccone had won the stage.

But sure, even if he didn't know he hadn't, finishing behind Poels doesn't make too much sense then. Personally I thought they were sprinting for a potential Top 10 in GC for Poels

 

[More Strides than Rides]

Re:

I'm actually very happy nobody higher up in GC crashed out.
We saw a proper 3 weeks of racing.
What a great race this is. Love the Giro.
Great fans. Great passion for the sport.

This needs to be appreciated more.

We had a proper race. And that is oh-so rare.

 

[oldcrank]

Why is it classless?? Are u guys just mad?

Classless is Nibali attacking when Froome had a mechanical.
Classless is when everyone attacked Dumoulin during 'poo gate' last year.

You'd call outsprinting your main rival who's been selflessly working for a teammate, for no reason other than to shove your dominance in his face, a classy move?

It's insignificant compared to other events. Not even in the same league. It made no difference to the result.

Indeed, it made no difference, and that's why it's classless.

It appears as though Chris gained 6 seconds on Tom so it
did make a difference, and I guess that makes it classy.
And I suppose very smart, too.

 

[Pantani_lives]

So we've had a Giro full of surprises resulting into a very predictable top 3.

 

[Sestriere]

Rohan Dennis in the Grupetto today. He held on for a while, but I think he should not pursue the GC stuff any further.

 

[jaylew]

Re:

Rohan Dennis in the Grupetto today. He held on for a while, but I think he should not pursue the GC stuff any further.

I'm sure he will. He keeps stressing how it's a 4 year plan and this is only year 2. He'll likely see being in striking distance of the top 10 before the last mountain stage of a tough Giro as a good sign and will continue the experiment.

 

[Sartorius]

Well, this Giro was for me the best GT I have ever seen. I watch cycling for entertainment and it was very emotional for me even though none of my favourite riders were present...

 

[Jancouver]

Re: Re:

I'm not watching and I don't care about this race anymore. Puff Daddy just ruined my favorite GT.

I think I'm just about done with cycling until guys like Froome and Valverde are around ...

So you mean that the rest of us won't have to put up with your incessant whining anymore?

I don't see how this race has been ruined, it's been the best Giro in years..

Best ever

Best ever? Assuming you are being sarcastic.

Just give it a few weeks and Froome will be stripped of this title ... therefore his participation ruined this Giro and the dynamics of this race.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Re:

So we've had a Giro full of surprises resulting into a very predictable top 3.

Yeah, that's actually pretty funny. But no GC riders caught any real bad luck, so for once we got to see what we always hope for: Who's the best, no questions, no excuses. I guess that's tthe reason why the final podium ended up like many predicted.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Saw a tweet from a journo, says he is descending Cervinia and saw an ambulance with some FDJ cars racing past. French colleagues tell him Pinot is transported to hospital with symptoms of exhaustion.

 

[Stella0596]

Re:

Saw a tweet from a journo, says he is descending Cervinia and saw an ambulance with some FDJ cars racing past. French colleagues tell him Pinot is transported to hospital with symptoms of exhaustion.

Oh no, that's terrible. He should've abandoned, but maybe FDJ wanted him to complete the race.

 

[Hayabusa]

Hopefully Pinot is okay and makes a full recovery. Not a fan of his but what happened to him today was heartbreaking.

 

[Tank Engine]

Re:

Pello Bilbao 6th, like, what the ****.

Every time the stage finished on an uphill, he was between 9th and 20th and pretty much always about the 10th "GC rider" to finish on a mountain stage (highest finishes 9th on the Zoncolan and the day after).

A couple of guys above him in the GC collapse on the final weekend and he climbs to 6th.

Haimar would be proud.

 

[Escarabajo]

Re: Re:

Pello Bilbao 6th, like, what the ****.

Every time the stage finished on an uphill, he was between 9th and 20th and pretty much always about the 10th "GC rider" to finish on a mountain stage (highest finishes 9th on the Zoncolan and the day after).

A couple of guys above him in the GC collapse on the final weekend and he climbs to 6th.

Haimar would be proud.

The key for him was that he finished well positioned after week one.

 

[Tank Engine]

Re: Re:

Saw a tweet from a journo, says he is descending Cervinia and saw an ambulance with some FDJ cars racing past. French colleagues tell him Pinot is transported to hospital with symptoms of exhaustion.

Oh no, that's terrible. He should've abandoned, but maybe FDJ wanted him to complete the race.

Hope everything turns out well.

This Giro has been very tough, the lanterne rouge lost almost 6hrs, the leader coming into the last 2 mountain stages lost an hour. After yesterday's crazy stage, it's unsurprising that the tempo was not high, but there was still a very high rate of attrition.

 

[Forever The Best]

Re:

Saw a tweet from a journo, says he is descending Cervinia and saw an ambulance with some FDJ cars racing past. French colleagues tell him Pinot is transported to hospital with symptoms of exhaustion.

Where is that bot who was very happy with Pinot blowing up like this just because he is a rival of Froome?

 

[TMP402]

Re: Re:

'To stay in front' and 'the mountain points' were the reasons they sprinted according to Froome. Which are both lame, because there were no points anymore.

Very odd.

Did you see the look on his face as he was saying it? Pretty sure he realized that didn't make any sense as it was coming out of his mouth.

Yes, absolutely.

 

[search]

Re: Re:

Pello Bilbao 6th, like, what the ****.

Every time the stage finished on an uphill, he was between 9th and 20th and pretty much always about the 10th "GC rider" to finish on a mountain stage (highest finishes 9th on the Zoncolan and the day after).

A couple of guys above him in the GC collapse on the final weekend and he climbs to 6th.

Haimar would be proud.

The key for him was that he finished well positioned after week one.

yes, and especially with Lopez quite a bit behind. Hirt said that Bilbao got the okay to stay up there in gc to get a better position for the Astana car in the convoy. Well, and when Lopez finally overtook him on stage 14, there were just a couple of days left anyway.

 

[Robert5091]

Chapeau Nieve! Poor Pinot - hope he's ok. TommyD tried, but Dawg did what he had to.

We'll see how long/if Froome's Giro win stands ...

 

[Hayabusa]

Re: Re:

Saw a tweet from a journo, says he is descending Cervinia and saw an ambulance with some FDJ cars racing past. French colleagues tell him Pinot is transported to hospital with symptoms of exhaustion.

Where is that bot who was very happy with Pinot blowing up like this just because he is a rival of Froome?

This comment is just ridiculous. Yes, Bot. Sky Bot was happy Pinot dropped in a sporting sense but there is no way in hell that he would have been happy if he knew this was going to happen. Your comment trying to make that out is disgraceful.

 

[Andy262]

Panned out as expected today. Think Tom D still had a chance yesterday but holding back on the descent of Finistre cost him badly. But if he'd held the lead by say, 10s this morning, still think Froome would have taken that back today.

Very likeable performance all round from Tom D though. And glad Nieve won a stage.

I was hard on Pinot in commenting yesterday and based on today's outcome that wasn't fair.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

I'm actually very happy nobody higher up in GC crashed out.
We saw a proper 3 weeks of racing.
What a great race this is. Love the Giro.
Great fans. Great passion for the sport.

Thats a good point. It was been a very 'pure' Giro in that aspect where raw strength, endurance and recovery really has been important and we have had no bad luck and 'what if' scenarios.

No crashes, but still a bunch of the podium contenders completely cracking on a good course which was ridden hard: Pinot, Aru, Chaves and Yates. Throw Dennis into that mix, but that was to be expected. Thats how it should be!

 

[deValtos]

Re: Re:

I'm actually very happy nobody higher up in GC crashed out.
We saw a proper 3 weeks of racing.
What a great race this is. Love the Giro.
Great fans. Great passion for the sport.

Thats a good point. It was been a very 'pure' Giro in that aspect where raw strength, endurance and recovery really has been important and we have had no bad luck and 'what if' scenarios.

No crashes, but still a bunch of the podium contenders completely cracking on a good course which was ridden hard: Pinot, Aru, Chaves and Yates. Throw Dennis into that mix, but that was to be expected. Thats how it should be!

Actually come to think of it ... seems like it's been a while since a GT has been this un-crash-affected? Usually at least 2-3 GC riders get knocked out and a few other big name sprinters/classics men.

All of Froome, Dumo and Lopez admittedly did come off but they all carried on!

 

[tobydawq]

Re: Re:

I'm actually very happy nobody higher up in GC crashed out.
We saw a proper 3 weeks of racing.
What a great race this is. Love the Giro.
Great fans. Great passion for the sport.

Thats a good point. It was been a very 'pure' Giro in that aspect where raw strength, endurance and recovery really has been important and we have had no bad luck and 'what if' scenarios.

No crashes, but still a bunch of the podium contenders completely cracking on a good course which was ridden hard: Pinot, Aru, Chaves and Yates. Throw Dennis into that mix, but that was to be expected. Thats how it should be!

Actually come to think of it ... seems like it's been a while since a GT has been this un-crash-affected? Usually at least 2-3 GC riders get knocked out and a few other big name sprinters/classics men.

All of Froome, Dumo and Lopez admittedly did come off but they all carried on!

Yeah, it has been very devoid of crashes. Only 26 riders will not finish.

Perhaps this is due to a weak sprinters' field which has made the sprint finishes less likely.

Or, perhaps, it really has helped on security to cut one rider from each team. I didn't think it would matter at all but maybe it did.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Re: Re:

I'm not watching and I don't care about this race anymore. Puff Daddy just ruined my favorite GT.

I think I'm just about done with cycling until guys like Froome and Valverde are around ...

So you mean that the rest of us won't have to put up with your incessant whining anymore?

I don't see how this race has been ruined, it's been the best Giro in years..

Best ever

Best ever? Assuming you are being sarcastic.

Just give it a few weeks and Froome will be stripped of this title ... therefore his participation ruined this Giro and the dynamics of this race.

Notwithstanding that, but 2010 is in recent memory.