Giro d'Italia Giro d'Italia 2025 Stage 10: Lucca – Pisa (Time Trial)

[Rackham]

Ayuso lost 35-40 seconds againts Roglic in other time trials in GT.

Ayuso lost 16 seconds against Roglic in Albania in 13 km. Today, he lost 19 seconds in 28 km.
Only 3 seconds more in 15km

Each of them had different conditions, but I think Ayuso's were worse.
The fact that he lost only 3 seconds more than he did in Albania in 15km more is significant.

Ayuso was said to be the best prepared he's ever been to win a GT.

There's absolutely nothing significant about the difference between Rog and Ayuso today compared to prior years, or that stage 2 ITT last week either which was short, punchy, technical with a climb in the middle.

 

[topcat]

Del Toro will smoke both Rog and Ayuso. So this debate is pointless.

 

[Cycling111]

Del Toro will smoke both Rog and Ayuso. So this debate is pointless.

Yates brothers.

 

[AmRacer]

I disagree.
If you go to X, almost everyone says that Ayuso and those who start with him had worse conditions.

In any case, for Roglic's sake, I hope it's because he didn't want to take risks and that this doesn't reflect the physical difference between them and a tendency, because the difference in Albania was higher.
In Albania, Ayuso seemed weaker than Roglic; in the stage he won, he seemed somewhat superior to Roglic, and today, he achieved his best result against Roglic in a time trial like this.

X 😅
Ayuso had better conditions.

 

[Red Rick]

Judging by the T1 time it's pretty likely Tarling went off on the assumption he had normal fresh legs and he paid for it badly.

Honestly, with the quality of the rest of the field and the incoming weather, it's a pretty bad mistake to go and blow yourself up.

 

[Bolder]

So ayuso completely blew up last part of the tt. The weather can not be the only explanation for that. Since tiberi had similar conditions. He lost like 30 secs in 8 km to roglic

It looked like he was riding like a pig on ice, as we say. If he goes down at best he loses those 30 seconds; at worst he gets injured. I would not read too much into it. Only he knows his comfort level in those conditions.

 

[Heston]

X 😅
Ayuso had better conditions.

Ayuso rode the last couple of km in heavy rain. Lots of corners on a slippery surface. Roglic had much better conditions.

 

[Rackham]

I mean, to the people going on about minimizing the time gaps Rog made versus the rest (Ayuso in particular), where were you in the 2020 Vuelta? That stage 13 33km ITT was really tight until the final murito. So tight that Hugh Carthy was pretty close until the very end.

So like I'm tempted to post that meme here aka "first tume huh?" with the guy with a noose around his neck, i.e. this is a Rogla GT. This is what it's all about. The battles, the time loss, the time gain, the form question marks. It's what Rog fans... enjoy.

 

[Cycling111]

X 😅
Ayuso had better conditions.

X or a forum is similar, they are people's opinions
I said that because it's a majority opinion. Saying Roglic had worse conditions is also an opinion.

In any case, you can think Roglic had worse conditions, but not by much. Ayuso's result today, compared to Albania ITT and other results against Roglic, is very positive to Ayuso.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

I mean, to the people going on about minimizing the time gaps Rog made versus the rest (Ayuso in particular), where were you in the 2020 Vuelta? That stage 13 33km ITT was really tight until the final murito. So tight that Hugh Carthy was pretty close until the very end.

So like I'm tempted to post that meme here aka "first tume huh?" with the guy with a noose around his neck, i.e. this is a Rogla GT. This is what it's all about. The battles, the time loss, the time gain, the form question marks. It's what Rog fans... enjoy.

Now he should build some suspence: long range defence (maybe some small time loss) until Finestre and then...a monster stomp!

 

[AmRacer]

X or a forum is similar, they are people's opinions
I said that because it's a majority opinion. Saying Roglic had worse conditions is also an opinion.

In any case, you can think Roglic had worse conditions, but not by much. Ayuso's result today, compared to Albania ITT and other results against Roglic, is very positive to Ayuso.

X is hardly a majority

 

[HashRouge]

Judging by the T1 time it's pretty likely Tarling went off on the assumption he had normal fresh legs and he paid for it badly.

Honestly, with the quality of the rest of the field and the incoming weather, it's a pretty bad mistake to go and blow yourself up.

I think that's a reasonable assumption. It's worth us all remembering that Tarling is only 21 - he's actually younger than del Toro and only riding his second grand tour. It seems fairly normal to me that he won't get it totally right every time. Still a good ride from him today.

 

[Unchained]

Del Toro will smoke both Rog and Ayuso. So this debate is pointless.

I love the optimism, don't know that it's widely shared. Del Toro had a solid performance, but sort of revealing about how much time he gave back to rivals.
He is going to make the most of it, Ayuso is still a marked man, UAE with the four will not be allowed to do anything easy, so any of them taking 30 seconds to minute and a half will really have to work for it. Del Toro can just ride next to them. Roglic really impressive. The rain was of great benefit to Del Toro.

 

[Keldergoat]

Very little time between McNulty, A. Yates, Carapaz, Ciccone and Arensman though.

Only 38 seconds between the number 6 and 13. Quite some could be domestiques in the 3rd week in there though. Curious to see how the cards will be played between the UAE guys but also within Ineos and Bahrain.

 

[Wyndbrook]

Personally unless a rider hurt themselves today, how they performed in the TT is now pretty irrelevant, it's tomorrow onwards that counts.

 

[Cycling111]

Ayuso was said to be the best prepared he's ever been to win a GT.

There's absolutely nothing significant about the difference between Rog and Ayuso today compared to prior years, or that stage 2 ITT last week either which was short, punchy, technical with a climb in the middle.

That has nothing to do with what I've said.

In other comments, I've said that, for me, Ayuso isn't a bigger favorite than Roglic, that Ayuso is inferior to Roglic in a head-to-head , and that's why it's better for Ayuso to have Del Toro there because he's inferior in a one-on-one confrontatoin.

I simply said that in this time trial, Ayuso's difference with Roglic is smaller than in others, and that in Albania, Ayuso seemed weaker, but now no.
I hope this isn't a symptom of a tendency , and that today's situation was due to Roglic has decided not to risk.

Ayuso may have improved; not everyone has the ability to close the gap from one year to the next. We're talking about a rider who turns 23 this year. Not everyone is like Pogacar, having won two Tours at that age.
The problem is that Ayuso thought he was, and that his expectations are excessive.
But if we forget the comparisons with Pogacar, and if Ayuso didn't set such high expectations for himself, he´d be valued more as a 23-year-old rider who improves year after year. In this Giro, he's certainly stronger than he was in the Vuelta, where the gap to Roglic was so large that he wasn't even his rival.

Saying this is not to say that he is better than Roglic and that he has closed the gap.

In this Giro, I'm seeing that Ayuso is improving, and today Roglic beat him by less time than in other time trials. That doesn't mean anything else; it's simply an assessment.

 

[Rechtschreibfehler]

Ethan Hayter with a legendary stage podium

Hatewatchers in shambles

Hatewatchers in shambles while Haytewatchers celebrate.
Do both exist?

 

[jmdirt]

X or a forum is similar, they are people's opinions
I said that because it's a majority opinion. Saying Roglic had worse conditions is also an opinion.

In any case, you can think Roglic had worse conditions, but not by much. Ayuso's result today, compared to Albania ITT and other results against Roglic, is very positive to Ayuso.

how is the weather an opinion?

 

[Rechtschreibfehler]

one of Gee's support riders Nick Schultz bombed stage 7 and came in 7.30 down. He was so bad that he wasn't even offered arrosticini sticks by the fans. However, he threw his water bottle and scored a goal-back of the net- in the water bottle collector. He received a massive ovation and said "it's some consolation for the way the stage has gone".

This is the truly relevant information!

 

[Rackham]

That has nothing to do with what I've said.

In other comments, I've said that, for me, Ayuso isn't a bigger favorite than Roglic, that Ayuso is inferior to Roglic in a head-to-head , and that's why it's better for Ayuso to have Del Toro there because he's inferior in a one-on-one confrontatoin.

I simply said that in this time trial, Ayuso's difference with Roglic is smaller than in others, and that in Albania, Ayuso seemed weaker, but now no.
I hope this isn't a symptom of a tendency , and that today's situation was due to Roglic has decided not to risk.

Ayuso may have improved; not everyone has the ability to close the gap from one year to the next. We're talking about a rider who turns 23 this year. Not everyone is like Pogacar, having won two Tours at that age.
The problem is that Ayuso thought he was, and that his expectations are excessive.
But if we forget the comparisons with Pogacar, and if Ayuso didn't set such high expectations for himself, he´d be valued more as a 23-year-old rider who improves year after year. In this Giro, he's certainly stronger than he was in the Vuelta, where the gap to Roglic was so large that he wasn't even his rival.

Saying this is not to say that he is better than Roglic and that he has closed the gap.

In this Giro, I'm seeing that Ayuso is improving, and today Roglic beat him by less time than in other time trials. That doesn't mean anything else; it's simply an assessment.

Well, each to their own assessment and I appreciate the long post because hey, I find this stuff enjoyable anyway. It's why I watch bike racing, aka the most exciting sport in the world where every miniscule detail does warrant a page full of posts dissecting everything.

But frankly I'd say the ITT's were where I expected Ayuso to be the most dangerous in this Giro considering his improvements in in the discipline & Rog's "hit or miss" history. I'll also say that very first ITT on stage 2 in Albania could have been slightly impacted by Ayuso's crash the day before whilst today's result might have been impacted by the crashes of both Rog and Ayuso on Sunday.

See the point I'm making? Extrapolating anything is difficult except for the fact Rog gained time and in this race, it matters. It could have gone the other way at one point so all-in-all it's a good day for Rog. And no, it doesn't really reflect what will happen on the hardest climbs later in this Giro.

 

[staubsauger]

Ayuso lost 2 years of progress and development. Due to his injury and late season start in 2023 and his wrong season planning in 2024.

 

[Rackham]

Ayuso lost 2 years of progress and development. Due to his injury and late season start in 2023 and his wrong season planning in 2024.

I'd be curious to know how many riders in this sport have a perfect career trajectory season after season without illness/injury or preparation mistakes impeding them to various degrees.

 

[Oldman]

Ayuso lost 2 years of progress and development. Due to his injury and late season start in 2023 and his wrong season planning in 2024.

Almost every GT contender could claim the exact qualifications. It's salient information but it doesn't change current strengths and all of those risks are out there to sidetrack a career.

 

[red_flanders]

how is the weather an opinion?

My take–the weather is the weather, but it's an opinion how much it affected each rider. It's hard to say who was affected more/less, how that played out in each split, etc. Hard to quantify, therefore, opinion.

 

[Cookster15]

Ayuso improved massively versus Roglic compared to the stage 2 TT.

• Stage 2 - 13.7km Ayuso lost 17 seconds
• Stage 10 - 28.6km (over twice) Ayuso lost just 3 seconds more (20').

Roglic won the Olympics worlds TT in Japan.