Giro d'Italia 2018 stage 9: Pesco Sannita–Gran Sasso 225 km

[Durden93]

Re:

Yates isn't losing more than 2 minutes in the ITT and I'd put the over/under at like 1'20" right now.

Those are fighting words. Avatar bet?

 

[Climber123]

Re: Giro d'Italia 2018 stage 9: Pesco Sannita–Gran Sasso 225

If Dumoulin survives Zoncolan he wins this. At least 2 minutes on the climbers.
You are welcome.

 

[armchairclimber]

Yates could be called the winner way down the Mountain. He looked so easy compared with everyone else. Dancing almost Contactor style (not trolling Flo, honest).

 

[Climber123]

Re:

Yates could be called the winner way down the Mountain. He looked so easy compared with everyone else. Dancing almost Contactor style (not trolling Flo, honest).

Just no. There is no comparison.

 

[Koronin]

Agreed that M-S haven't decided which one is the leader and are still going with them as co-leaders. Although they could have put more time into Dumoulin today I can understand not wanting to risk one over the other one yet. Pinot also continues to look good. I'm impressed that Carapaz is still hanging in.

 

[Poursuivant]

Re: Re:

Why is Yates talking like Steve mclaren

I've said this before. He's speaking like Steve Hawking now. Absolutely odd. Like he can only say four words in a quick burst in an odd accent.

It’s the Ozzie influence

 

[staubsauger]

Steve McClaren?

"Gran Sasso? Tough climb. Big test for the team. We need to be careful. Dumoulin ? Sharp guy. Strong opponent. Brilliant time trial. It's gonna be difficult for us. You need to attack to win. It's not over yet. We need to prove or strength."

One of the biggest phrasemongerers in history! (McClaren)

 

[webvan]

Re:

Yates could be called the winner way down the Mountain. He looked so easy compared with everyone else. Dancing almost Contactor style (not trolling Flo, honest).

Also reminded me of Riis on Hautacam when he was dropping back to check out the opposition before attacking...someone else did that more recently but I can't remember who for now.

 

[SlickMongoose]

Re: Re:

Yates could be called the winner way down the Mountain. He looked so easy compared with everyone else. Dancing almost Contactor style (not trolling Flo, honest).

Also reminded me of Riis on Hautacam when he was dropping back to check out the opposition before attacking...someone else did that more recently but I can't remember who for now.

WTF? It was nothing like that.

 

[May0maniac]

Re:

Formolo has been great both yesterday and today. Perhaps the crash really affected him on Etna, because his shape seems excellent.

He said that he couldn't pedal properly on Etna.
A shame, his form seems to be nice, i expect to see an attack from him to win a stage or crawl back some time on the gc.
Aru always sucks when it's cold or the weather is bad, but at least he rode at his pace and didn't crack durning the final km. I still don't get why UAE send his best mountain domestique (it's him or Atapuma) Polanc in the breakaway yesterday when the final climb didn't really suit him as much and their tactics seem to be a bit strange, but in the end Aru is just not a guy for bad/cold weather and not at his best when it's a hard stage and a war of attrition.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

Formolo has been great both yesterday and today. Perhaps the crash really affected him on Etna, because his shape seems excellent.

He said that he couldn't pedal properly on Etna.
A shame, his form seems to be nice, i expect to see an attack from him to win a stage or crawl back some time on the gc.
Aru always sucks when it's cold or the weather is bad, but at least he rode at his pace and didn't crack durning the final km. I still don't get why UAE send his best mountain domestique (it's him or Atapuma) Polanc in the breakaway yesterday when the final climb didn't really suit him as much and their tactics seem to be a bit strange, but in the end Aru is just not a guy for bad/cold weather and not at his best when it's a hard stage and a war of attrition.

Then what are Aru's best circumstances?

 

[May0maniac]

Re: Re:

Formolo has been great both yesterday and today. Perhaps the crash really affected him on Etna, because his shape seems excellent.

He said that he couldn't pedal properly on Etna.
A shame, his form seems to be nice, i expect to see an attack from him to win a stage or crawl back some time on the gc.
Aru always sucks when it's cold or the weather is bad, but at least he rode at his pace and didn't crack durning the final km. I still don't get why UAE send his best mountain domestique (it's him or Atapuma) Polanc in the breakaway yesterday when the final climb didn't really suit him as much and their tactics seem to be a bit strange, but in the end Aru is just not a guy for bad/cold weather and not at his best when it's a hard stage and a war of attrition.

Then what are Aru's best circumstances?

Easy stage with a big MTF at the end and warm weather, usually Etna should have been great for him.
The competition at the Tour is usually harder, but usually those kind of mountain stages suit him more than the really hard giro stages.

 

[ColonelKidneyBeans]

Re: Re:

Formolo has been great both yesterday and today. Perhaps the crash really affected him on Etna, because his shape seems excellent.

He said that he couldn't pedal properly on Etna.
A shame, his form seems to be nice, i expect to see an attack from him to win a stage or crawl back some time on the gc.
Aru always sucks when it's cold or the weather is bad, but at least he rode at his pace and didn't crack durning the final km. I still don't get why UAE send his best mountain domestique (it's him or Atapuma) Polanc in the breakaway yesterday when the final climb didn't really suit him as much and their tactics seem to be a bit strange, but in the end Aru is just not a guy for bad/cold weather and not at his best when it's a hard stage and a war of attrition.

Aru is just very inconsistent, but he can be good on hard stages, stage 19 and 20 of the 2015 giro weren't a walk in the park and he was the best apart from Landa on the super hard Andorra stage of the Vuelta, but yeah nowadays he seems to suffer more during hard, cold days.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Its obvious that Betancur needed 1 month more after his crash last year. He did okay again, but he really shouldn't be a rider fighting for the top 10-15 positions and being invisible in the process..

Decent stage, I dont think we realistically could have expected more from this first week. Whats disappointing is we gotta wait until Zoncolan, altho Osimo also might prove interesting.

 

[Rollthedice]

Re: Re:

Formolo has been great both yesterday and today. Perhaps the crash really affected him on Etna, because his shape seems excellent.

He said that he couldn't pedal properly on Etna.
A shame, his form seems to be nice, i expect to see an attack from him to win a stage or crawl back some time on the gc.
Aru always sucks when it's cold or the weather is bad, but at least he rode at his pace and didn't crack durning the final km. I still don't get why UAE send his best mountain domestique (it's him or Atapuma) Polanc in the breakaway yesterday when the final climb didn't really suit him as much and their tactics seem to be a bit strange, but in the end Aru is just not a guy for bad/cold weather and not at his best when it's a hard stage and a war of attrition.

Then what are Aru's best circumstances?

Easy stage with a big MTF at the end and warm weather, usually Etna should have been great for him.
The competition at the Tour is usually harder, but usually those kind of mountain stages suit him more than the really hard giro stages.

Aru did a big mistake leaving Astana. Money is good but I don't see him winning another GT.

 

[More Strides than Rides]

I'm real happy with this first week of racing. Maybe I set by bar lower than others, but this is great set-up for the next tow weeks.

Taking the route as it stands, I like the narrative of Viviani vs. the field, and that the field brought a fight. I think the deeper the Giro goes, Viviani will soften more than others (mostly that grit it takes to hold his leadout's wheels rather than top speed), although that is just speculation.

The GC contenders who have disappointed are also those with the biggest disadvantages in the first week. Froome could come rocketing back in week three, Domoulin could really dent the standings with the TT. The surprise of Yates also comes with uncertainty about his third week. Aru has disappointed other fans, but I never had high expectations of him to begin with.

I think the race is in a good position coming out of the first week.

 

[Robert5091]

Re: Giro d'Italia 2018 stage 9: Pesco Sannita–Gran Sasso 225

Chapeau MS! - now it's MS versus TommyD plus Pinot.

Arrivederci Dawg!

 

[Escarabajo]

Re: Re:

Formolo has been great both yesterday and today. Perhaps the crash really affected him on Etna, because his shape seems excellent.

He said that he couldn't pedal properly on Etna.
A shame, his form seems to be nice, i expect to see an attack from him to win a stage or crawl back some time on the gc.
Aru always sucks when it's cold or the weather is bad, but at least he rode at his pace and didn't crack durning the final km. I still don't get why UAE send his best mountain domestique (it's him or Atapuma) Polanc in the breakaway yesterday when the final climb didn't really suit him as much and their tactics seem to be a bit strange, but in the end Aru is just not a guy for bad/cold weather and not at his best when it's a hard stage and a war of attrition.

Then what are Aru's best circumstances?

Easy stage with a big MTF at the end and warm weather, usually Etna should have been great for him.
The competition at the Tour is usually harder, but usually those kind of mountain stages suit him more than the really hard giro stages.

I think he is just not good here. It is more than weather IMHO. Hope he recovers.

 

[Escarabajo]

Re: Re:

Yeah Dumo is doing alright, but this year there are a lot more rough stages and climbs... not easy.

Looks too mountainous. I count at least 5 stages for Yates to gain time and only 1 for Dumoulin (the TT).

Downright impossible. Plus it might sound weird, but it doesn't exactly suit him that it stays together for so long as today and on Etna. That way the climbers can use an explosive attack and 1/2km to the top and gain time. While if it blows apart earlier, he can TT back on. Now there is no time to TT back on. You see he barely caught the group with Lopez at the end.

That’s fair. But the question is how will Yates do in the TT? In the 2016 Vuelta, Yates lost 4 minutes in a TT which was similiar in length to the upcoming one. In last year’s Tour Yates lost 1:30 in 22km, or aprox 4 seconds per km. Obviously there’s no apples to apples comparison. It’ll depend on the form of both riders, but Dumoulin is a better TTer than Froome and he should put in a bigger gap.i don’t think it’s out of the question for Dumoulin to pull back 3 minutes, but we’ll see.

It will be hard to gauge his TT in this Giro if we compare this Yates to previous years. Because this Yates is clearly a notch up compared to previous years.

 

[Escarabajo]

Re:

Well if Yates builds up a lead of 1-2 minutes to Dumoulin on the Zoncolan and loses around 2 - 3 minutes in the TT , he's still forced to go for a long-range attack in last week's mountain stages. Which is actually good for us, as it looks like he's got the shape to do so and he can't wait until the Finestre stage to give it a go!

If this scenario happens I don't think Yates needs a long range attack in the last week. Those climbs are nothing like the ones we have seen so far.

 

[Escarabajo]

Re:

It's literally an uphill battle for Tom at this Dumoulin at this point. He needs to be sharper come Zoncolan or he can say arrivederci to the trofeo senza fine

Okey!
I know what you meant!

 

[Dumpoulin]

Re:

GC

So to 13th before a repeated nationality. This has to be a first, no?

 

[spiritualride]

Stage 11 is not unlike fleche wallone... Should be GC time gaps.
Dumoulin ... His climbing consistency gives him the edge right now if I had to pick a favorite. He's so hard to crack on the queen stages coming up. Four really tough mountain stages soon

 

[Escarabajo]

Re:

Its obvious that Betancur needed 1 month more after his crash last year. He did okay again, but he really shouldn't be a rider fighting for the top 10-15 positions and being invisible in the process..

Decent stage, I dont think we realistically could have expected more from this first week. Whats disappointing is we gotta wait until Zoncolan, altho Osimo also might prove interesting.

He has been OK if we consider that he has been off the top performance for 3 years now.

 

[movingtarget]

Re: Re:

Why is Yates talking like Steve mclaren

I've said this before. He's speaking like Steve Hawking now. Absolutely odd. Like he can only say four words in a quick burst in an odd accent.

It’s the Ozzie influence

I remember Weening's accent turned into some sort of weird hybrid after riding for Orica for a few years. He even started using "mate !"