Giro d'Italia 2021 Race Thread - Enthusiastic Laymen Edition

[BlueRoads]

This is the general Giro race thread for 2021. I thought it was about time, although more specific threads will surely come. However, you can just join in here with any information or comments.

Giro d'Italia 2023 | Official site

Visit the official website of Giro d'Italia 2023 and discover all the latest updates and info on the route, stages, teams plus the latest news

www.giroditalia.it

This is the current startlist:

Startlist for Giro d'Italia 2021

Competing teams and riders for Giro d'Italia 2021. Top competitors are Peter Sagan, Vincenzo Nibali and Bauke Mollema.

www.procyclingstats.com

 

[Gigs_98]

Doing god's work. And with god I mean @Eshnar obvsly

 

[BlueRoads]

In my eyes these are the biggest guns for the win:

5 stars: Simon Yates
4 stars: Egan Bernal, Daniel Felipe Martínez
3 stars: Mikel Landa, Pello Bilbao, Aleksandr Vlasov
2 stars: Romain Bardet, Jai Hindley, Dan Martin, Emanuel Buchmann
1 star: Pavel Sivakov, Vincenzo Nibali, Joao Almeida, Hugh Carthy
Outsiders: Remco Evenepoel, Marc Soler, Domenico Pozzovivo, Giulio Ciccone, George Bennett, J.A. Cepeda

 

[Potomac]

Tejay Van Garderen for the win!

You heard it hear first.

 

[Eshnar]

although more specific threads will surely come.

 

[BlueRoads]

Doing god's work. And with god I mean @Eshnar obvsly

He can still make a way more knowledgeable thread with stage details and descriptions! This is more the "enthusiastic waiting thread for lay(wo)men".

 

[Froome]

Indley for the win.

 

[Escarabajo]

In my eyes these are the biggest guns for the win:

5 stars: Simon Yates
4 stars: Egan Bernal, Daniel Felipe Martínez
3 stars: Mikel Landa, Pello Bilbao, Aleksandr Vlasov
2 stars: Romain Bardet, Jai Hindley, Dan Martin, Emanuel Buchmann
1 star: Pavel Sivakov, Vincenzo Nibali, Joao Almeida, Hugh Carthy
Outsiders: Remco Evenepoel, Marc Soler, Domenico Pozzovivo, Giulio Ciccone, George Bennett, J.A. Cepeda

If by outsiders you mean entertainers, then you are fine.

 

[BigCoward]

Indley for the win.

Depends if he needs to put a rain jacket on at any point.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Doing god's work. And with god I mean @Eshnar obvsly

In true "Faithless" fashion: "God is a... lazy bum". Peew puw pi du peew puw pi...

 

[Escarabajo]

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Pink moon tonight
apparently guys

The Super Pink Moon of 2021 rises tonight, but it won't look pink

Pink supermoon is the first and one of only two supermoons of 2021.

www.space.com

 

[Mayomaniac]

I just found out that Giada Borgato will be on commentary alongside Pancani on RAI, so finally a good commentary duo on Italian TV after the last 2 years!
I'm still waiting for Eshnar's big preview, but some of the stages in the first (and the 2nd) week are no joke and harder than I thought.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

In my eyes these are the biggest guns for the win:

5 stars: Simon Yates
4 stars: Egan Bernal, Daniel Felipe Martínez
3 stars: Mikel Landa, Pello Bilbao, Aleksandr Vlasov
2 stars: Romain Bardet, Jai Hindley, Dan Martin, Emanuel Buchmann
1 star: Pavel Sivakov, Vincenzo Nibali, Joao Almeida, Hugh Carthy
Outsiders: Remco Evenepoel, Marc Soler, Domenico Pozzovivo, Giulio Ciccone, George Bennett, J.A. Cepeda

To be fair, some of the names on that list have less of a chance winning the Giro, than Evenepoel with pneumonia, on one leg, with a broken hip, ran over twice by a truck.

I'm only slightly kidney.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Bookies have three clear contenders: Bernal (avg. 9/4) with some advantage over Yates and Evenepoel (both about 7/2). The rest are way behind (10+).

https://www.oddschecker.com/cycling/giro-ditalia/giro-d-italia/winner

 

[RedheadDane]

I'm only slightly kidney.

Aren't we all?

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Aren't we all?

I had a funny Simpsons reply for this, but on review, it wasn't really that funny.

 

[topcat]

This is the general Giro race thread for 2021. I thought it was about time, although more specific threads will surely come. However, you can just join in here with any information or comments.

Giro d'Italia 2023 | Official site

Visit the official website of Giro d'Italia 2023 and discover all the latest updates and info on the route, stages, teams plus the latest news

www.giroditalia.it

This is the current startlist:

Startlist for Giro d'Italia 2021

Competing teams and riders for Giro d'Italia 2021. Top competitors are Peter Sagan, Vincenzo Nibali and Bauke Mollema.

www.procyclingstats.com

I get it. You don't want to appear too eager, and that is a good thing. I can't wait for the real thread to start also.

 

[Escarabajo]

Bookies have three clear contenders: Bernal (avg. 9/4) with some advantage over Yates and Evenepoel (both about 7/2). The rest are way behind (10+).

https://www.oddschecker.com/cycling/giro-ditalia/giro-d-italia/winner

There is no respect for Landa at all.

The odds most of the time come close, but every now and then the make some goofy mistakes. I think this year they are making one.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

There is no respect for Landa at all.

The odds most of the time come close, but every now and then the make some goofy mistakes. I think this year they are making one.

Evenepoel is an unknown but it's about winning the race. Even an in-form Landa isn't a good bet for victory (but maybe for top3-top5) and OTOH if Remco gets anywhere close to his best form his chances are really good.

 

[Escarabajo]

Evenepoel is an unknown but it's about winning the race. Even an in-form Landa isn't a good bet for victory (but maybe for top3-top5) and OTOH if Remco gets anywhere close to his best form his chances are really good.

I really hope that Remco recuperates and gets up to speed very quickly because I want to see him challenging the Slovenians in the near future. And that seems to be like a very good rivalry. But what people are expecting from him here at the Giro is really crazy.

 

[BlueRoads]

Well, DQS at least don't bring a sprinter , instead a very decent GC support team... whether for Almeida or Evenepoel I don't know, but it might depend on the contract situation. If Almeida is supposed to stay it wouldn't be good to damage his chances from the start to support Evenepoel who nobody knows where he's at. But if Almeida is sure to leave it would make sense to go all in for Evenepoel, whatever comes from it. Usually I think it's not clever to take such a stance, better to accept that the rider is now a part of the team. But in this case it could be different, since Evenepoel has the potential to be such a super-star, while Almeida is a possible future great in his own rights.

I am really excited about Buchmann here and hope for the best. Apparently he doesn't need warm up races. His last tt was not too bad and the tt-competition here among the GC guys isn't that strong, so that should not be a big problem. However he will just lack the punch against someone like Yates, so even if he's in good form I don't see a way for him to win, unfortunately. That they bring Sagan plus support does not exactly scream confidence in Buchmann's chances.

Bahrain bring a very strong team, maybe the strongest after Ineos.

Ineos' team is insane and without the Slovenians they might have a chance. However I'm not sure of their chances, neither of the single riders nor whether they will get their tactics with numbers right. Although I really dislike Ineos I like Bernal and Martínez personally and would like to see them win.

Interesting to see what Androni do with their short-term invitation... Cepeda seemed in very good form, but of course I don't see him as a serious contender for the win... but a high placing's maybe possible.

I would like to see a great George Bennett, but I don't think he has a chance against this field and his support is below average.

There's also a good sprinter's bunch here, with the likes of Ewan, Sagan, Nizzolo, (Gaviria) and yes, Groenewegen.

 

[Skalman]

Bernal will win this comfortably, Yates will try but don't have the team to support him. QS have strong team but have no real contender (im not counting Evenepoel as its simply not realistic).
I was hoping Chaves would race this but i don't see any of the races he has planned unfortunately

 

[tobydawq]

Evenepoel will win and we all know it.

 

[johnymax]

I really hope that Remco recuperates and gets up to speed very quickly because I want to see him challenging the Slovenians in the near future. And that seems to be like a very good rivalry. But what people are expecting from him here at the Giro is really crazy.

We are living in crazy times. So for Remco to win the Giro would be only fitting.

Personally I can't wait to see him race finally. I'm not making predictions because I wouldn't be surprised if he wins nor if he rides every stage in a grupetto.