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Giro d'Italia Giro d'Italia 2024 Stage 2: San Francesco al Campo – Santuario di Oropa (Biella), 161.0 km

Page 14 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
Great performance from Pogačar, not super strong but still giving the circumstances would be difficult to do better.

Lipowitz is such a gem, Bora are quietly building a team to rival UAE and Visma. Martinez, Thomas and Fortunato also really good.

Tiberi a big disappointment today and O'Connor got a bit too excited and paid for it.
Tiberi had a mechanical/puncture at the start of the climb, Giada Borgato reported it live from one of the Rai motos.
 
Apart from Nico Roche they don't really have any analysts who were riders of that type though, it's all sprinters analysing climbers.

Unfortunately, Wiggins was godawful, and all the other Anglophone riders who could fulfil the role of being the voice of analysis for GC riders are either still riding, don't seem to be all that interested in the role, or are extremely tainted (most of the US riders of that generation, Ryder Hesjedal, Mick Rogers)
Wiggins is just an awful person, too. Thomas will probably end up as pundit, and he seems to be quite on it so would likely be one of the better ones.
 
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Apart from Nico Roche they don't really have any analysts who were riders of that type though, it's all sprinters analysing climbers.

Unfortunately, Wiggins was godawful, and all the other Anglophone riders who could fulfil the role of being the voice of analysis for GC riders are either still riding, don't seem to be all that interested in the role, or are extremely tainted (most of the US riders of that generation, Ryder Hesjedal, Mick Rogers)
steph.jpg
 
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Wiggins is just an awful person, too. Thomas will probably end up as pundit, and he seems to be quite on it so would likely be one of the better ones.
Thomas will be fine I think, but as I've said before I dread him ending up on the Breakaway because the others will be so fawning and sycophantic it will be absolutely cringeworthy.
It's very clear that they're trying to move toward pundits with more recent frames of reference, I'm afraid, so the days of Stephen Roche on the couch are likely limited now.
 
Martinez and his positioning!!! He loses so much energy fighting for position, no matter if it is flat or a mountain. He is lucky this is a hard mountain and he could get back. Usually on flat stages his energy gets zapped fighting for position all the time.
 
Not sure why all the hate on Geraint Thomas. he is 38 years old and riding smart to his strength.....not his fault there is no competition for Pog

Blame the riders who are over a minute down and who should be there
He's a very boring rider on the bike (off the bike he seems like a nice enough guy), he represents a team and style of racing which was unpopular during its dominance, the international coverage being in English with very biased commentators who fawn all over him irritates some parts of the viewer base, and then there's the many other things about his career path and form cycles which would need to be taken to another part of the forum to discuss.
 
Its more important how he goes in the sprints - He's under pressure because he got Mezgec in at the last minute.

Will be hard with Merlier en Kooij here, but there's a lot of chances and if he can go easy over the little hills that are in the finals often he might be able to get a win. And that's what he needs to get the confidence. Like he showed last year in the Tour, his speed isn't gone. I don't believe that, last year his speed wasn't the reason why he was so bad imo.
 
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