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Giro d'Italia 2020, stage 14: Conegliano – Valdobbiadene 34.1 km ITT

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Point finger at teammates?

He actually points fingers at the weather services quite a lot. Like after Thursday's rainy stage:

"The weather forecasts down here are totally unreliable. We have been fooled time and time again. We checked four different forecasts, and there was only a 10 percent risk of rain today.

The same thing with the TT where there was supposed to be tailwind. But there was headwind. And the mountain stage to Roccaraso had three percent risk of rain - and it was pouring.

The Italians say Domenico Pozzovivo always knows what the weather will be like. 'Just ask him', they say. He said it wouldn't rain. But I tell you - that was wrong. We need a new weather solution."

I looove Fuglsang's blog! :)
 
He actually points fingers at the weather services quite a lot. Like after Thursday's rainy stage:

"The weather forecasts down here are totally unreliable. We have been fooled time and time again. We checked four different forecasts, and there was only a 10 percent risk of rain today.

The same thing with the TT where there was supposed to be tailwind. But there was headwind. And the mountain stage to Roccaraso had three percent risk of rain - and it was pouring.

The Italians say Domenico Pozzovivo always knows what the weather will be like. 'Just ask him', they say. He said it wouldn't rain. But I tell you - that was wrong. We need a new weather solution."

I looove Fuglsang's blog! :)
Honestly I think they are not really checking the weather forecast at all. Everybody knew the wind would decrease during the ITT and most predicted rain for Thursday.

Yes, Italian weather forecasts are unreliable and weather this time of the year is generally unpredictable but if random posters on a forum know more than a professional cycling team then there's a problem.
 
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I don't expect extremely big differences between GT guys. All of them will be inside 1:30. Even the TT stars like Majka, Fulgsang and Pozzovivo can limit their losses. There's no Froome/Pog/BigTom/Thomas in GT to get a huge gap to rest of the field.
 
Honestly I think they are not really checking the weather forecast at all. Everybody knew the wind would decrease during the ITT and most predicted rain for Thursday.

Yes, Italian weather forecasts are unreliable and weather this time of the year is generally unpredictable but if random posters on a forum know more than a professional cycling team than there's a problem.

Who are you calling random?

Nobody knows the Giro like Red Rick.
 
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He actually points fingers at the weather services quite a lot. Like after Thursday's rainy stage:

"The weather forecasts down here are totally unreliable. We have been fooled time and time again. We checked four different forecasts, and there was only a 10 percent risk of rain today.

The same thing with the TT where there was supposed to be tailwind. But there was headwind. And the mountain stage to Roccaraso had three percent risk of rain - and it was pouring.

The Italians say Domenico Pozzovivo always knows what the weather will be like. 'Just ask him', they say. He said it wouldn't rain. But I tell you - that was wrong. We need a new weather solution."

I looove Fuglsang's blog! :)

So now we have Vincenzo Nibali's Trophy Cabinet, Alexander Vinokourov's Liquor Cabinet, and Jacob Fuglsang's Blog. Anything else?

Dominico Pozzovivo's Three Gear Bike?
 
Honestly, my first thought when I read that was basically; "Hmm... if I was an evil person, and a professional bike rider, I might tell my rivals that it wouldn't rain, and then when they're all shivering at the back of the peloton; BOOM! Attack."

Yes, I thought so too initially, but I don't imagine Dom-Dom being an evil person. His attack the other day could be seen coming from 100 kms away for instance.
 
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So, by his own admission Almeida never did an ITT so long yet he is somehow a favorite among GC contenders. Pozzo is historically bad at this discipline yet he has some outstanding performances. Wilco can TT yet hasn't done a good one since 2017. Pello is Spanish ITT champ yet he has the Tour in his legs. Nibali is a good TTer in GTs when in shape yet he hasn't done one single notable performance with Trek. Birdsong is usually mediocre yet sometimes he can produce a good ITT. The only constant seems to be Majka, always below average.
 
So, by his own admission Almeida never did an ITT so long yet he is somehow a favorite among GC contenders. Pozzo is historically bad at this discipline yet he has some outstanding performances. Wilco can TT yet hasn't done a good one since 2017. Pello is Spanish ITT champ yet he has the Tour in his legs. Nibali is a good TTer in GTs when in shape yet he hasn't done one single notable performance with Trek. Birdsong is usually mediocre yet sometimes he can produce a good ITT. The only constant seems to be Majka, always below average.

How do you reckon Hindley and Konrad will go? They've been pretty. ninja like for two weeks and I haven't seen them put their nose in the wind.
 
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Both should save some legs for Sunday, they have captains to take care of.

I expect Konrad, Hindley and Masnada to give it their best today to stay in contention. It's not the longest ITT, and if something happens to their captains (crash/accident/mechanical/puncture/cracking) either today or tomorrow, it could prove a mistake not to have them as far up in the GC as possible.
 
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I think the TT guys will be on top of the stage since they have been saving their legs for this stage. In the GC Kelderman and Almeida should gain some time over the opponents. I see Pozzo and Nibali losing some time here. Btw, when Almeida finished 2nd in the u23 Giro 2 years ago the ITT was in this same course and he was 2nd ahead of Bjerg and losing time only to Robert Stannard.
 
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Btw, when Almeida finished 2nd in the u23 Giro 2 years ago the ITT was in this same course and he was 2nd ahead of Bjerg and losing time only to Robert Stannard.

It wasn't the exact same route though. It was shorter and hillier with the finish being at the top of the "fake" Poggio climb.
I do expect Almeida to get a really good time today, but I think Bjerg will beat him this time.

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So, by his own admission Almeida never did an ITT so long yet he is somehow a favorite among GC contenders. Pozzo is historically bad at this discipline yet he has some outstanding performances. Wilco can TT yet hasn't done a good one since 2017. Pello is Spanish ITT champ yet he has the Tour in his legs. Nibali is a good TTer in GTs when in shape yet he hasn't done one single notable performance with Trek. Birdsong is usually mediocre yet sometimes he can produce a good ITT. The only constant seems to be Majka, always below average.
:) He was 6, 14 and 15 in Giro '19 TTs
I think Majka will gain time on Tao, Pozzo, Hindlay, Masnada and Konrad today.
 

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