Giro d'Italia 2018 STAGE 4: Catania – Caltagirone 198 km

[Tonton]

Re:

Tomorrow the weather should be good (but not too warm). But starting from Wednesday the weather should change and it could rain every day until Sunday.
Btw, who of the GC contenders of this Giro should handle rain pretty well? I know Aru and Froome not, the others no idea...

I loooove this forecast!

 

[gregrowlerson]

Re: Re:

They gotta take everything chance they can get. It would be stupid of them to not let Ulissi take his chance on a finish like this. The real question is whether Ulissi has the form, which I doubt.

When was the last time Ulissi didn't have the form during the Giro? 2012 maybe? Not saying it can't happen, but it would surprise me.

@Nirvana: it's not like having Ulissi pace you on a 1km wall can help you much. Aru needs to be close to the front while approaching the wall, and that's Marcato's job. From then on he'll be fine if he has the shape.

Aru is a rider that should be babysitted until the finish line, I would be surprised if they leave him alone with a km to go, and this probably isn't even the best stage for Ulissi with the final wall.
Anyway I'm not sure that Marcato could be with him until the last kilometer if the stage it's raced hard before.

If Ulissi has a chance to win the stage then I don't see it as worthwhile that he babysit Aru for the sake of 10-15 seconds.

 

[spiritualride]

Interesting street view on Maps at the location of the OP's photo, the ceramic steps of Caltagirone: https://goo.gl/maps/PmhA1BYz4ru

A street of steps in the very center of the town... wow. Must visit Italy some day...

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/ceramic-steps-of-caltagirone

 

[The Hegelian]

2016 Chaves would be a real chance to attack early'ish and take the win.

 

[Velolover2]

Re:

Interesting street view on Maps at the location of the OP's photo, the ceramic steps of Caltagirone: https://goo.gl/maps/PmhA1BYz4ru

A street of steps in the very center of the town... wow. Must visit Italy some day...

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/ceramic-steps-of-caltagirone

We could call the final climb: "The Babylon Hill"..

 

[Kwibus]

Re:

Interesting street view on Maps at the location of the OP's photo, the ceramic steps of Caltagirone: https://goo.gl/maps/PmhA1BYz4ru

A street of steps in the very center of the town... wow. Must visit Italy some day...

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/ceramic-steps-of-caltagirone

Italy is the most beautiful country in the world imo, specially if you like history and old cities.
Besides the nature, which is also great.

 

[SafeBet]

Re:

The detour they make in the finale tomorrow should make positioning more important than if they went straight to the finish.

The whole stage is very technical with lots of twists and turns, narrow roads, sometimes badly surfaced.
The final 10 km are no exception. Fast downhill until 8 km to go, then there's a 3 km stretch on a wide flat road. You need to be well positioned at the end of the stretch, which is roughly at the 5km mark, entering the tunnel.
After the right turn it's up and down for about 3 km, sometimes on very narrow roads inside the old town. There could be splits. Before the final wall there is almost one km on a pretty wide road outside the city centre.

It's not easy. Having a couple of teammates escorting you could be crucial.

 

[DFA123]

Really looking forward to the first GT murito of the season. I think the GC guys, or at least the climbers, will be dominant here. Not so much because of the last climb - which is definitely puncheur territory - but because of that 10km drag at 3-4% just before it. I'm guessing that will be raced hard and tire out all but the best climbers.

Will be interesting also to see who struggles after the rest day and travelling back from Israel. I think there could be some surprisingly big time gaps at the end.

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

Really looking forward to the first GT murito of the season. I think the GC guys, or at least the climbers, will be dominant here. Not so much because of the last climb - which is definitely puncheur territory - but because of that 10km drag at 3-4% just before it. I'm guessing that will be raced hard and tire out all but the best climbers.

Will be interesting also to see who struggles after the rest day and travelling back from Israel. I think there could be some surprisingly big time gaps at the end.

I want to see a profile of that drag. Do think there's enough recovery time for it to not matter too much, although I think it makes it super hard for a break to make it.

 

[search]

Re: Re:

Really looking forward to the first GT murito of the season. I think the GC guys, or at least the climbers, will be dominant here. Not so much because of the last climb - which is definitely puncheur territory - but because of that 10km drag at 3-4% just before it. I'm guessing that will be raced hard and tire out all but the best climbers.

Will be interesting also to see who struggles after the rest day and travelling back from Israel. I think there could be some surprisingly big time gaps at the end.

I want to see a profile of that drag. Do think there's enough recovery time for it to not matter too much, although I think it makes it super hard for a break to make it.

via la Flamme Rouge

 

[Eyeballs Out]

If Quickstep are going with Schachmann today I think they have a great chance of another win. I would have thought this is too steep for Stybar

 

[Hellyea]

Re:

If Quickstep are going with Schachmann today I think they have a great chance of another win. I would have thought this is too steep for Stybar

Stybar is great soldier, not a champion.

 

[DNP-Old]

 

[slosada]

Great way to start the Giro d'Italia.
I think Sky will put everyone in single line going up to San Bartolomeo, dropping sprinters, domestiques and other bad positioned. Then the key will be entering in the tunnel at 5km to go, because right after you get the first ramp where gaps might appear.
So a smaller peloton will take the twisty roads in the town before the final ramp.

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

If Quickstep are going with Schachmann today I think they have a great chance of another win. I would have thought this is too steep for Stybar

Stybar is great soldier, not a champion.

Are you sure about that? The guy has 14 pro wins on the road, including a classic, two national championships and a Tour de France stage. Plus he's a multi cyclocross world champion. You would have to have an incredibly narrow definition of what is a 'champion' to not include Stybar.

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

Really looking forward to the first GT murito of the season. I think the GC guys, or at least the climbers, will be dominant here. Not so much because of the last climb - which is definitely puncheur territory - but because of that 10km drag at 3-4% just before it. I'm guessing that will be raced hard and tire out all but the best climbers.

Will be interesting also to see who struggles after the rest day and travelling back from Israel. I think there could be some surprisingly big time gaps at the end.

I want to see a profile of that drag. Do think there's enough recovery time for it to not matter too much, although I think it makes it super hard for a break to make it.

I think the technical finish could make the GC guys, and anyone else interested in the stage, ride it pretty hard. From the top of the climb the fight for position for the final climb may start almost straight away.

 

[RedheadDane]

Wow... there are actually trees along the route. :surprised:
Everything is so lush and green.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Break of the day at 3m05s

 

[Squire]

With that break, the stage winner definitely sits in the peloton at the moment.

 

[Der Effe]

Emirates shaking things up baby!

 

[Salvarani]

Yes Aru

 

[LeChuck]

From 100km out? What could be the plan?

 

[Samamba]

Re:

From 100km out? What could be the plan?

It's the Giro, no plan needed.

 

[Der Effe]

I take back everything bad I said about Aru in the past, al least he always delivers firework in GT's.

 

[rune1107]

Aru is probably bored