Giro d'Italia 2020

[SafeBet]

Has Ineos confirmed Thomas will ride the Giro?

 

[Climbing]

Has Ineos confirmed Thomas will ride the Giro?

Yes, Thomas at Giro, Froome at Vuelta.
Actually the route is perfect for Thomas, but that is beyond the point I guess.

 

[Krokro]

Actually that is great for the show regarding the weak field, all the injuries and the fact that we don't really know how GC contender will behave with that weird season/preparation to GT's.

 

[topcat]

I'm not a cycling database but I'm sure he has won it in 2016 in such drama (but this edition was awesome). Also pretty sure he has already won it before 2016? Edit: yes in 2013.

I meant the 2020 edition

 

[Krokro]

I meant the 2020 edition

Sorry then, I guess I did not understand your original post..

I sincerely hope for a great Nibali but it's not gonna be an easy one. I don't know if I'm mistaken but he did not really impressed me since the restart of the season. He has been consistent but not a GT winning shape. Hope I'm wrong on that one!

 

[Red Rick]

Sorry then, I guess I did not understand your original post..

I sincerely hope for a great Nibali but it's not gonna be an easy one. I don't know if I'm mistaken but he did not really impressed me since the restart of the season. He has been consistent but not a GT winning shape. Hope I'm wrong on that one!

Nibali is usually really bad really early in the season, so I'm not all that worried about him right now.

 

[Gigs_98]

Thomas hasn't exactly looked super threatening since the restart but I guess if he finds his form he's a dangerous contender. Idk, I just feel like that's a big if though.
Kruijswijk getting his redemption for 2016 would be kinda cool.
Genuinely intrigued about whether riders will try Tour-Giro like some suggested. 6 weeks of racing in an 8 week period just seems a bit too much to me.

 

[Breezy1985]

Thomas hasn't exactly looked super threatening since the restart but I guess if he finds his form he's a dangerous contender. Idk, I just feel like that's a big if though.
Kruijswijk getting his redemption for 2016 would be kinda cool.
Genuinely intrigued about whether riders will try Tour-Giro like some suggested. 6 weeks of racing in an 8 week period just seems a bit too much to me.

Thomas isn't Froome and has no chance at a GT without the Ineos A team with him. The Giro tends to be a more man on man affair and he won't have a chance in the mountains alone

 

[Gigs_98]

I never really understood where this perception comes from that a rider from a strong team, who is out and out the best climber of a race, would suddenly become bang average if you remove his team.
Like, no, that's not how things work.
Whether people like it or not, Thomas wasn't carried to a tour win by strong domestiques. He won the tour because he was the strongest individual athlete. You can complain about the how and why Thomas became a top climber but it's nonsensical to just dismiss the fact that it happened

 

[JosephK]

I never really understood where this perception comes from that a rider from a strong team, who is out and out the best climber of a race, would suddenly become bang average if you remove his team.
Like, no, that's not how things work.
Whether people like it or not, Thomas wasn't carried to a tour win by strong domestiques. He won the tour because he was the strongest individual athlete. You can complain about the how and why Thomas became a top climber but it's nonsensical to just dismiss the fact that it happened

Yes, Thomas was clearly the strongest rider in the 2018 TDF. He also looked very strong in the prep races.

 

[masking_agent]

Thomas isn't Froome and has no chance at a GT without the Ineos A team with him. The Giro tends to be a more man on man affair and he won't have a chance in the mountains alone

yep. I agree. He may go the route of a Ryder Hesjedal type of "gifted" win as riders around him may implode

 

[Climbing]

Kruijswijk confirmed at Giro d'Italia, as expected.

 

[Rollthedice]

Kruijswijk confirmed at Giro d'Italia, as expected.

It's getting crowded.

 

[Red Rick]

I never really understood where this perception comes from that a rider from a strong team, who is out and out the best climber of a race, would suddenly become bang average if you remove his team.
Like, no, that's not how things work.
Whether people like it or not, Thomas wasn't carried to a tour win by strong domestiques. He won the tour because he was the strongest individual athlete. You can complain about the how and why Thomas became a top climber but it's nonsensical to just dismiss the fact that it happened

2018 Thomas, true.

2018 Giro Froome, nah.

For Thomas the obvious issue is simply form/motivation. He doesn't have a 10 year history of being on point every GT when it matters, and even when on form he has a history of crashing and bottling. Last point for Thomas is apart from La Rosiere he basically rode like Purito so I still feel like I have no clue how good he was, but I also feel like if he had been confident he could've won solo on AdH he would've done so. Similarly, he took 5s out of Roglic/Dumoulin in the final 300(?)m of Col de Portet, which isn't a particularly huge gap if you've been sitting in the wheels all climb. Uphill sprint gaps are usually bigger if you're significantly fresher than the others.

 

[Laplaz]

Kruijswijk confirmed at Giro d'Italia, as expected.

Agnello descent again

 

[Gigs_98]

Agnello descent again

He has to make it past the snow banks on the Stelvio first though

 

[Lequack]

Really crap that we won't have Remco, I think he would kind of break the monotomy of regular GT racing where everything happens in the last few kms.

 

[Sciatic]

He has to make it past the snow banks on the Stelvio first though

Unless there’s some very early-season snowstorms, the snowbanks won’t be there this time!

 

[Kaptain Kool]

Really crap that we won't have Remco, I think he would kind of break the monotomy of regular GT racing where everything happens in the last few kms.

That's the Tour (due legally enforced dullness) and Vuelta (due to the extreme uphill finishes), but the Giro usually still delivers stages with pre-finale action. Even last year's below-average Giro delivered a couple of good stages. 2016 and 2018 were very good once the early flat stages were out of the way. In recent years only 2017 was Tour dull.

 

[Red Rick]

That's the Tour (due legally enforced dullness) and Vuelta (due to the extreme uphill finishes), but the Giro usually still delivers stages with pre-finale action. Even last year's below-average Giro delivered a couple of good stages. 2016 and 2018 were very good once the early flat stages were out of the way. In recent years only 2017 was Tour dull.

Last Vuelta was great.

The 2020 one I don't expect too much cause it's all down to a mid length ITT and like 5/6 big MTFs.

 

[topcat]

Last Vuelta was great.

The 2020 one I don't expect too much cause it's all down to a mid length ITT and like 5/6 big MTFs.

Every gt should have at least 2 brutally tough multi mountain stages and a few hilly bandito stages.

 

[Red Rick]

Every gt should have at least 2 brutally tough multi mountain stages and a few hilly bandito stages.

Pretty much. The Vuelta has a bit of a geographical issue in that they don't have that many huge climbs that can be used as a mountain pass and they're also not that well connected. Still, they use the options they do have pretty poorly. The big thing I love what the Vuelta does is they're putting their queen stage pretty early in the race, so when they do have easier mountain stages later, the favorites aren't afraid to just blast off.

 

[rghysens]

Every gt should have at least 2 brutally tough multi mountain stages and a few hilly bandito stages.

Well, the 2020 giro has.
multi-mountain stages: 17, 18, 20
hilly bandito stages: 10, 12 and don't underestimate some other stages.

 

[topcat]

Well, the 2020 giro has.
multi-mountain stages: 17, 18, 20
hilly bandito stages: 10, 12 and don't underestimate some other stages.

Yes, the giro is always a real gt, the vuelta is for lightweights

 

[Kaptain Kool]

I don't think the Vuelta is dull. I think it is usually good. The finales are usually entertaining.
It's just that the most of the action comes on the final climbs while the Giro typically has multiple stages with earlier action.