Giro d'Italia 2020, stage 18: Pinzolo - Laghi di Cancano 207 km

[42x16ss]

Neither were. Or Kelderman wouldn't be in pink.

That's it. And if Hindley stayed back with Kelderman, Hart would be leading the Giro and have another stage win

 

[roundabout]

The steep part near the start. Probably not in the first meter, but if TGH isn't going all out you can't wait that long either.

I missed the whole descent, valley and the very early part of the last climb because of work stuff, but would I be right that TGH didn't do any work before then and it was all Dennis on the front (except the sprint)?

I think even not going all out there is some benefit from letting another rider actually work.

 

[42x16ss]

Exactly. Which was why I think he went full out for it. But...his opponent had a 50k leadout

Hindley rode it correctly, while Hart rode the final climb as easily as he could get away with

 

[42x16ss]

I do think that Hindley should have at least tried an attack near the end of the last climb

Consider it revenge for Piancovallo

 

[YavorD]

I don't get all the people questioning Sunweb's tactic.
I mean, they have 2 riders, one of them is younger and staying with the team, the other is older and leaving. Of course they will back Hindley. Let alone that, if they let Tao go on his own and Hindley waited for Wilco, they could've end up with similar gap anyway (assuming Hart wasn't going 100% with Jai on his back) but burning Hindley's chances.
I think that was amazing stage and bodes really well for Saturday. Less disappointing that Agnello is off because with the current gaps we wouldn't see much anyway.

 

[savornin]

Kelderman was ambushed in the Gap of Rohan...

 

[Red Rick]

Kelderman was ambushed in the Gap of Rohan...

@Eclipse I think your LOTR stuff didn't help Lo Squalo but did summon One Rider Of Rohan

 

[Escarabajo]

To be honest, even in hindsight I think there's no way to tell whether it was the right call.

After the time trial I'll let you know if it was the right strategy!

 

[luckyboy]

I don't get all the people questioning Sunweb's tactic.
I mean, they have 2 riders, one of them is younger and staying with the team, the other is older and leaving. Of course they will back Hindley.

I mean this is Sunweb we're talking about. It's not the time to pick favourites when you can just win a Grand Tour.

In any case, Hindley will probably break his contract next year after they randomly leave him out of every GT for no reason.

 

[Broccolidwarf]

I think Sunweb made the right move today, as I view Hindley as the better prospect for the overall win, as he is arguably a better TTer than both Kelderman and Hart, based on both current form and the TT of similar length that opened the race.

As such it was important Hindley stay on par with Hart, instead of having to make up time on the TT, as Sunweb might otherwise be handing the win to Ineos.

I think Kelderman gets 3rd, unless he can do something spectacular Saturday.

Time gaps on the TT, which is flat and short, will probably be no greater than 30-40 seconds between the top 3, while Bilbao may make up a little more.

 

[YavorD]

I mean this is Sunweb we're talking about. It's not the time to pick favourites when you can just win a Grand Tour.

Well, who's to say that Hindley won't win the Giro or Sunweb won't even get 1-2?
Again, they just decided to play with 2 cards which is the right decision IMO, whatever the outcome is in Sunday.
Plus, imagine the forum reaction had Hindley waited for Kelderman only for him to lose 2.10. I mean, whatever they've done, they'd get the slam from the forum, but what many people sees to forget is that Sunweb is one of the very top teams, I dare to say after, the Covid-19 break.

 

[HelloDolly]

Sunweb called it correctly today and the proof is they have 2 riders in first and 2nd place.

Kelderman was ridden off the wheel on the Stelvio . Who is to say bringing Hindley back would mean that Kelderman would not crack and then sunweb would be no where and with nothing

Luke Roberts Sunweb DS said they as a team discussed each scenario before the stage including the scenario that actually happened and they agreed what would happen and Kelderman knew the score . This sounds like Sunweb they cross every t and dot every i

If Kelderman is good enough to win the Giro as the Dutch think then he is in a very good position to do so...He is in pink , has an easier climbing stage to come and a TT of which he is the best of the 4 top GC guys

Maybe stop moaning and get on with it

Tell me again why he is leaving Sunweb as they have helped him to here

 

[IndianCyclist]

Only place they went horribly wrong was their jackets. They need a new jacket supplier. Other than that the tactics were ok.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

I think Sunweb made the right move today, as I view Hindley as the better prospect for the overall win, as he is arguably a better TTer than both Kelderman and Hart, based on both current form and the TT of similar length that opened the race.

Hindley had better conditions during the first time trial than Kelderman did. Hindley may well win the Giro, but I can't see him beat Kelderman on the ITT without accidents for the latter.

 

[Broccolidwarf]

Hindley had better conditions during the first time trial than Kelderman did. Hindley may well win the Giro, but I can't see him beat Kelderman on the ITT without accidents for the latter.

Fair enough, I forgot to account for the shifting weather that day.

 

[Broccolidwarf]

Only place they went horribly wrong was their jackets. They need a new jacket supplier. Other than that the tactics were ok.

It's not the jacket that is the problem, it's the fatigue... any dummy can put on a jacket under normal circumstances

 

[Leinster]

I see now that Hindley/TGH did the final climb over a minute slower than Bilbao? Yeah Sunweb would be so much worse off if Hindley had waited.

All that tells us is that if Kelderman had sat up on the Stelvio descent, and waited for Bilbao and Fuglsang (who actually seemed to be working well together until Bilbao took off), he might have finished within a minute of TGH and now have a comfortable lead in pink.

That might actually have had the double effect of forcing Tao to push harder on the final climb, which then would have opened up the opportunity for Hindley to attack at about 4-5km to go.

But at the same time, you can completely understand why Kelderman didn't just sit up. Second-guessing all these tactics is very easy from behind these screens.

 

[Broccolidwarf]

Sunweb called it correctly today and the proof is they have 2 riders in first and 2nd place.

Kelderman was ridden off the wheel on the Stelvio . Who is to say bringing Hindley back would mean that Kelderman would not crack and then sunweb would be no where and with nothing

Luke Roberts Sunweb DS said they as a team discussed each scenario before the stage including the scenario that actually happened and they agreed what would happen and Kelderman knew the score . This sounds like Sunweb they cross every t and dot every i

If Kelderman is good enough to win the Giro as the Dutch think then he is in a very good position to do so...He is in pink , has an easier climbing stage to come and a TT of which he is the best of the 4 top GC guys

Maybe stop moaning and get on with it

Tell me again why he is leaving Sunweb as they have helped him to here

I wonder how many of the people moaning about Sunwebs tactics, that used to think it was wrong for Froome to be ordered to wait for Wiggins that year in the Tour?

 

[Gigs_98]

So just for the record I want to say that I did watch most of this stage, it's just that I watched it on my phone while I had other stuff to do on my pc. I only want to make sure this is not a proof of a curse or anything of the sort.

On another note, what a f*cking stage. My god cycling is great.

 

[42x16ss]

It's not the jacket that is the problem, it's the fatigue... any dummy can put on a jacket under normal circumstances

Hindley waited too long to put it on and the wind was blowing it off his shoulder. Dennis and Hart were smart enough to do it before they crested the Stelvio

 

[DanielSong39]

I wonder how many of the people moaning about Sunwebs tactics, that used to think it was wrong for Froome to be ordered to wait for Wiggins that year in the Tour?

Well that was just a silly decision. The only thing that accomplished was to keep Nibali in the race.

 

[savornin]

I'm Dutch and rooting for Kelderman and I can understand why Hindley didn't wait.
In retrospect, Kelderman should heve waited for Bilbao and Fuglsang. And I wonder if Kelderman gave up for a while after being left behind by the team car. We'll never know. Very hard day for Kelderman, but he didn't crack completely. Pity he's been fading over three weeks but that's GT's for you.

 

[Sandisfan]

The Brian Smith drinking game. Drink every time he suggests Tao should attack or Hindley drop back to help Kelderman

Reading this thread late in the evening after watching both The Giro and Vuelta on full replays from streams... If I was here when you wrote and was watching it live I would have said "What you want someone to die of Alcohol Poisoning?"

 

[fuiers]

what a wheelsucker win, awful

Didn't Tao win basically the same way couple days back? Certain Hindley pulling him all the way up the hill.

 

[Armchair cyclist]

So just for the record I want to say that I did watch most of this stage, it's just that I watched it on my phone while I had other stuff to do on my pc. I only want to make sure this is not a proof of a curse or anything of the sort.

On another note, what a f*cking stage. My god cycling is great.

Glad that you were able to enjoy it. On the other hand, if it is now established that it is not you watching, but rather your participation in discussion here that condemns a race to tedious neutralising tactics, I hereby call for a ban, during racing hours at least.