Giro d'Italia Giro d'Italia 2021 stage 11: Perugia – Montalcino 162 km

Page 15 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.

???

  • Poll?

    Votes: 11 12.6%
  • No

    Votes: 12 13.8%
  • Yes

    Votes: 10 11.5%
  • Maybe

    Votes: 12 13.8%
  • Bag?

    Votes: 22 25.3%
  • Rain?

    Votes: 14 16.1%
  • Button?

    Votes: 8 9.2%
  • Ban poll

    Votes: 14 16.1%
  • Delete OP

    Votes: 21 24.1%
  • Vin(cenz)o

    Votes: 24 27.6%

  • Total voters
    87
I was waiting for those three races to be mentioned. Which pure climbers has won these the last 10 years? Lombardy, Chaves in 2016 , San Sebastian A.Yates (and that's a stretch to call him pure) and Liege Wout Poels. That's it, the rest is proven classic riders or GT men with the odd Zaugg/Iglinskiy. These races are not skewed towards pure climbers, but are actually the races with the best balance considering which riders can win.

And I agree that GT's currently is skewed in favor of the climbers, where do I claim the opposite? But personally I think that it's okay. You name Gaudu as an example, and we actually don't have many pure climbers (most climbers are excellent in hills as well). How far do you think he'd have gone in this years giro? I would say borderline top10, definitely not a podium candidate. Please provide a name of a pure climber that won a GT that's not La Vuelta recently. I think in general the grand tours must be pretty well balanced to get all those all-round winners after all.
Just because they aren't winning, doesn't mean the races aren't skewed. Maybe it's time to expect more from those riders? Why are climbers who actually win GT's and classics not called climbers anymore? As soon as a climber actually starts winning frequently, he's no longer a climber, but an all-rounder, because in order to win a race, you will need other skills than ONLY climbing. Du-uh? It's as "climber" is an synonym for "loser". And we need to feel pity for the less fortunate, so we need to throw them a bone. It's simple, if they aren't better riders, then there is no reason for them to win a GT or a classic. If a sprinter can only win sprints on panflat stages and gets dropped as soon as there is a bump in the road, do we feel sorry for them and expect every GT or race to cater to them as well? Cycling is more than sprinting, more than climbing, more than cobbles, and in order to win a GT, i think it's only normal that you need to be good at more than only climbing, just like being good at only sprinting, won't win you a GT either.
 
Feb 1, 2011
9,403
2,275
20,680
Not sure what people were expecting at this stage?

A harder fight for the breakaway to exhaust the GC group before they even reach the sterrato would have been nice.

edit: and keeping the gap closer to encourage GC action later on.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Keram
Mar 20, 2010
13,132
3,335
28,180
It's not particularly unusual for GT riders to win or be in contention for the win at classics like LBL or Lombardia.

Yeah that's why Nibali is the first rider to win all 3 GTS and 2 different monuments since Hinault! It's Not Easy!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sandisfan
May 22, 2014
3,986
3,728
19,180
A harder fight for the breakaway to exhaust the GC group before they even reach the sterrato would have been nice.

edit: and keeping the gap closer to encourage GC action later on.

It's never going to exhaust anyone. Flat drag for 40k with no wind?

Still plenty of potential later. I'll save my moaning until then :D
 
Feb 1, 2011
9,403
2,275
20,680
It's never going to exhaust anyone. Flat drag for 40k with no wind?

Still plenty of potential later

More than this anyway if they have to chase attacks, stay attentive, break formation etc.

But yes, the potential can still materialise into something interesting.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sandisfan
Feb 24, 2014
15,228
3,122
28,180
Though it looks the major concern is staying safe, Bernal showed in March he can race on gravel.
I'm not claiming he'll detonate the bunch, just that when it comes to nitty-gritty he can be there to turn the screw.
And there we can have action.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sandisfan
May 3, 2015
4,833
4,404
21,180
Not sure what people were expecting at this stage?
I at least expected a harder fight to make it into the break. Now Gavazzi is kind of the favourite and that is certainly an indicator that the win today was possible for much more riders.
 
Sep 2, 2011
17,534
13,757
28,180
Covi talked with Davide Cassani yesterday and told him he didn't feel very good at the beginning of the Giro but he's now improving.
Apparently he has some CX background and did fairly good in a sterrato stage at the Baby Giro a few years ago.

Last year he was scheduled to ride the Vuelta but got Covid (yeah, I know) days before the race started. This year he has struggled with an Achilles injury since the end of February.