yeah Bilbao was excellent. I'd have loved to have seen De La Cruz here as well, that turn he did at Meribel was amazing to watch.
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And Roglic doing Giro has no relevance as he was never on Piancavallo in a similar form as TdF, wasn't it?Well, if one mentions Pogacar. Roglic and Bernal only one of them has done the Giro (iirc), so that was the only pickable option, wasn't it.
true, then let's resume the discussion whenever one of the aforementioned riders manage to break a Pantani record...And Roglic doing Giro has no relevance as he was never on Piancavallo in a similar form as TdF, wasn't it?
Plus Bilbao was working for Landa at the Tour.I think 'anyone in the top-15' is a bit of a reference to Bilbao who finished 16th in the Tour being 5th on GC.
Obviously things are a bit more complex than that and at a glance Bilbao's relative climbing level in this Giro is not that much different to the level he showed in the Alps in the Tour.
He looked the strongest on Glieres and dropped everyone with the little dig he made iirc.yes, him. To me he still looked much worse than at the beginning. Regardless, he still followed wheels the whole time so we'll never know I guess.
I'm really rooting for him now after today. Mostly because the lads on Eurosport would not shut up about him cracking or about to crack for the whole climb but if that had been a UK rider he would be cleverly pacing himself.I'm in awe of that ride from Almeida today, was certain he'd lost the jersey when he got dropped but he put in such a ballsy ride to fight for it, left everything on the road.
If TGH loses a spot on the podium by the few seconds he wasted by celebrating 5 seconds early today I suspect he will regret it. What's with all the excessive premature showboating going on this year!?
it feels like anyone from top 15 tour would have smashed the giro
Except today was a choo choo that was even stronger than the Tour.Or Remco Evenepoel, who would lead the race in Merckxian fashion of 1968. With a squad of Almeida, Knox, Masnada and Honore.
But to be honest, I don't care if weak field or not. It's still a very entertaining race without any goddamn trains. The stage Sagan won, was alone far more entertaining than any TdF mountain stage in the last years.
Stelvio will make huge gaps, I guess. Last time they did it from the Prato side Ivan Basso cracked. In 1994 Indurain got a hunger flat and Berzin was in deep trouble as well. Not on Stelvio, but later on Mortirolo (Still the best designed mountain stage of all time). In 1980 Jean-René Bernaudeau and Bernard Hinault put four and a half minutes into everyone. Prepare for an epic battle and I think quite a few riders might crack here.
By a lot of these “Weak Field” definitions, the 2007 Tour was won against a weak field. It had 1 former and 3 future Tour winners. (G finished 140th/141!)this entire WEAK FIELD stuff is silly when the three strongest riders had issues or abandoned early. of course a field is going to lose strength when multiple favorites abandon!
like imagine Roglic/Jumbo, Pogacar and Ineos abandoning the Tour and suddenly everyone is all "ha ha ha Richie Porte won and Enric Mas on the podium, weak field"
It's different when it actually does damage, rather than the Tour where it kept everyone together but at a high enough tempo that nobody could attack.Except today was a choo choo that was even stronger than the Tour.
He might actually have to attackNot sure Kelderman can find 15 seconds on Almeida, there are only shallow finishing climbs left. And the final short ITT should again suit Almeida more.
In before Hindley carries him all the way over the final week. ( And don't forget Hamilton and Oomen )He might actually have to attack
I can't think of anything more underwhelming.In before Hindley carries him all the way over the final week. ( And don't forget Hamilton and Oomen )