Giro d'Italia Stage 11: Lucera - L'Aquila (262km)

[offbyone]

Being Miserable Crybabies didn't want to ride, neither did Kazachstana...
LeakyGas thought they didn't have to because of Kiserlovski and Agnoli, but in the end they did ride

Exactly. It isn't the course or the weather that caused this, it is these teams not taking responsibility for controlling the race. If there is no leadership stepping up to control the race then, this is what happens.

 

[Barrus]

Being Miserable Crybabies didn't want to ride, neither did Kazachstana...
LeakyGas thought they didn't have to because of Kiserlovski and Agnoli, but in the end they did ride

Proabbaly because they realized nobody else would do it? Still don't realize why neither BMC nor Astana immediately went after them, even if they were only notified of the time difference after the break got 8 minutes, they first let the break get 10 more minutes before they went on the counter. Really if either Vino or Evans doesn't win this giro it is all due to their own, and their teams incompetence

But really Liqui is in a great position now, two young guys right up front in front of Sastre and Tondo, while Basso and Nibali are not too far behind from Sastre or Tondo (okay, every second is too far behind on Sastre on climbs, but you catch my drift) Although still if liqui doesn't win, or at least podium, this will later be regarded as a really stupid move

 

[9000ft]

Hey, here's an idea. Why not enjoy both the Giro and the TOC for what they are?

 

[Galic Ho]

basso, evans, nibali, vino, scarponi and garzelli v sastre and wiggins!

You forgot Cunego. They will all massacre Wigans. Not sure about Carlos, but he will lose chunks of time in the coming days. Will it be enough? Not sure, but this is just a minor setback. The first group of guys you listed are the strongest so far this race. 10 minutes isn't the 29' Oscar Perrerio gained in 2006.

 

[Mellow Velo]

Cadel is told ACF is "Devastated".

 

[issoisso]

Cadel is told ACF is "Devastated".

Soigneur: "Caddy, the little boy who never stopped believeing in you......stopped believing in you"

 

[Galic Ho]

Hmmmm IMHO Sastre is now 5 min behind of Kiserlovski and Arroyo

When was the last time you saw Kiserlovski dominate in the third week of a GT? Who the hell cares about him other than some of his countrymen? He won't do squat. When has Arroyo done anything other than hang on? I'll go through the list of top Spanish riders in descending order for you so you can get an idea on his overall strength as a rider.

1. Contador.
2. Valverde
3. Samuel Sanchez
4. Carlos Sastre
5. Joaquim Rodriguez
6. Luis Leon Sanchez
7. Igor Anton
8. Maybe David Arroyo.

Use your brain dude. Arroyo is nowhere near those 7 I listed in overall strength. There is a reason he was sent to the Giro and the others weren't (Sastre excluded). Are Cunego, Basso, Nibali, Vino, Evans and Scarponi stronger? Yes...they all fit in there amongst those 7 of Arroyo's countrymen. They are all going to take chunks of time out of Arroyo. Maybe they all won't finish in front of him but at least two of them will. Evans will clean him up. Look at the parcours and what has happened so far. GC guys who finish high up are strong over three weeks. Only Sastre and Wigans in the group today who got time have shown they can do this. Wigans is here for training. He will lose more time. Gerdemann is an outside shot at a podium spot because whilst he does lose time, he can still hold on. The rest other than Sastre had a nice breakaway but will go the way they always do in the final week; backwards. Whilst the guys who lost time today will do what they normally do; gain time by going forwards. This always happens, only the degree at which both occur is yet unknown. Regardless it will happen...only the degree is unknown.

I'll put it this way. If the main GC bunch up the pace at the end of each stage they will put a minute into most other riders, when you average the peloton out. 10 stages left, 10 minutes made up. Of course this is an average but what do you think the Zoncolan and ITT are going to do. People will lose far more than 1 minute. Richie Porte is going to be crapped out the back by the front runners in the big hills in the last 6 days. Only Sastre has a chance and he has fallen badly more than once. He is not a guarantee. If Evans is within 2 minutes of Carlos by the ITT, it is all over red rover.

Big name riders are paid the big bucks to perform. And perform they do. It is why they are the favourites. Has anyone wondered what will happen if the GC guys who lost out today get in front? They will massacre everyone else. Have you not thought this can happen in the last week? It is the most likely scenario to happen. Today only gave Sastre a chance at redemption and rewarded Porte for 1st week consistency. Nothing more other than to provide banter for forumists.

 

[jens_attacks]

Scene: Hotel Room, early morning, before stage starts. Basso, Evans, Vinokourov, Cunego, all sitting on chairs around a table pilled high with bags of marijuana, passing around a bong.

Vino: Dudes, I have crazy idea: we not ride hard today, throw race away. Fuk with organizers heads, big time.

Evans (coughing): Mate, that would be awesome!

Cunego: whoa--like, just like totally coast today? I am so up for it.

Basso: (giggles).

that could be a very rational explanation i guess)))

anyway,one of vino,evans,basso will win il giro.
richie porte is the new tommy voeckler.sastre has no form.
i'll cheer for kiserlovsky and vino of course.

 

[Eyjafjallajokull]

Cadel is told ACF is "Devastated".

It would be a hard man who does not feel sorry for him. Another GT chance up in smoke. He can be forgiven for crying about that.

 

[Galic Ho]

At the end of the race, will the final top 4 riders be changed in anyway by today's events?

People are posting like something revolutionary has taken place.

My guess it is only going to effect the also rans.

Agreed. Only the also rans. Sastre is excluded but his injuries are the biggest unknown.

 

[Walkman]

Only just saw what happened. Can I say retards? Sastre is now ahead of everyone. Dumb. dumb, dumb. Gerdemann, Efimkin and Arroyo also got time. So did Porte. How stupid are these people? Someone will lose out big time over this.

Agreed!
I guess we can quote Cav on this one: "If you ride like juniors, you get the results of juniors" and that was exactly what happend today!

 

[RedheadDane]

Based on the race so far, my prediction for Thursday is that neo pro Jack Bobridge will take a solo flier at the gun and finish two hours and twenty four minutes ahead, taking the stage and pink jersey for Australia. People will question afterward whether he was right to accelerate when the whole peloton was stopped by a cattle drive, and then a Peta protest because the riders said mean things to the cattle.

That won't really happen (probably) but whatever does will be just as interesting and unexpected.

That just made my day! I can just imagine them all going...
"He's no threat! He's last in the GC! Let him go, let him shine for a bit..." Then
"He's got how much of a lead? MORE THANTWO HOURS?? We gotta go!!"

 

[Galic Ho]

apparently, as someone mentioned, bmc and astana had no team mates to bring the chase back after heavy rain and disorganization allowed this break to get 10 minutes.

pays to have a strong team

Yes it does. How strong are Cervelo? How strong are Caisse? Now they can get the focus. Caisse will crack with their lineup. They will last the best bit of a day or two. Saxo will also blow apart. Caisse and Saxo left the big boys at home or sent them to California. What happens to Porte and Arroyo when their teams crack? They crack. Apply pressure. Enter Vino and Evans. Liquigas, Lampre and Acqua & Sapone can join the fray also. This will be a blood bath.

Give it 6 days and this will all be reversed.

 

[khardung la]

When was the last time you saw Kiserlovski dominate in the third week of a GT? Who the hell cares about him other than some of his countrymen? He won't do squat. When has Arroyo done anything other than hang on? I'll go through the list of top Spanish riders in descending order for you so you can get an idea on his overall strength as a rider.

1. Contador.
2. Valverde
3. Samuel Sanchez
4. Carlos Sastre
5. Joaquim Rodriguez
6. Luis Leon Sanchez
7. Igor Anton
8. Maybe David Arroyo.

If it is about climbing hard mountains in a 3rd week (which is basicaly what is left in the Giro) then Arroyo is much more up in that list. He is a trully good climber, light and with experience in GTs. High grades suit him better than other contenders except probably Sastre. His team is pretty strong also...The others have to make massive efforts to attack, he pretty much have to defend the position, and probably his team will ally with Cervelo...I would say he has a real chance, unlike Vinokourov or Basso. I am not sure about Evans, he seems really strong...but the challenge is huge. Let's see.

People say Sastre is not in form....well, it is not that he was in the sofa all the winter. He counted with getting in shape the first 2 weeks, and surely he is doing that. At the end a GT is more about recovering well than having performed well in the weeks before the GT in my opinion.

 

[Galic Ho]

Agreed!
I guess we can quote Cav on this one: "If you ride like juniors, you get the results of juniors" and that was exactly what happend today!

Vino will be fired up. Give Cadel some time to get over the shock and back into his new "Killer Instinct" and this will be awesome. Add Basso, Nibali, Scarponi and Cunego and the guys who won out today will be very sore. It is just one day. Get some sleep, relax and come back refreshed is what the big guys need to do. They are the favourites for a reason. ACF94, you will get to see a Spaniard crack. There are still 10 days of racing left. We are only just past halfway.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

You forgot Cunego. They will all massacre Wigans. Not sure about Carlos, but he will lose chunks of time in the coming days. Will it be enough? Not sure, but this is just a minor setback. The first group of guys you listed are the strongest so far this race. 10 minutes isn't the 29' Oscar Perrerio gained in 2006.

I’ve probably posted this 20 times. I have to wonder if the people that repeat this over and over even watched the 2006 Tour?

Oscar Periero did NOT gain some 29 minutes in one stage that Floyd and others slowly chipped away at, as implied in statements like that. He lost some 28 minutes on one stage, and gained on a stage 29 soon after, putting him some 1:40 up on Landis midway through the race.

Five minutes going into the mountains can be a HUGE advantage, especially to a Tour winning climber like Sastre as they head into the mountains. He was 4th after all last year, a mere 3:46 back . Arroyo was 11th, 12 minutes back, and will be highly motivated with his 8+ minute lead over Vinokourov.

We as fans should boycott the Giro for making it into such a random farce where riders can work their butts off to find themselves 10 minutes down.

This may well have ruined Evans career.

Lets unite together and only watch the ToC.

You are a complete and total nunbskull. You make one post saying this, then another saying it's good for the fans, but the riders must hate it. What is your purpose of being here?

Does anyone take this guy Eyjafjallajokull seriously?

 

[Eyjafjallajokull]

You are a complete and total nunbskull. You make one post saying this, then another saying it's good for the fans, but the riders must hate it.

Sorry I missed your post attacking BroDeal for mocking Evans' failure today.

Actually there is no inconsistency in that post. The fans can enjoy a spectacle but also use their brains to understand the nature of that spectacle is not good for the future of the tour.

Do you think the likes of Evans will bother showing up next year?

But yes, I overegged the point a bit for effect. You must have seen the endless banter about the ToC being complete crap compared to the Giro.

It's all part of following sport. No need to panic.

 

[High Cotton]

I’ve probably posted this 20 times. I have to wonder if the people that repeat this over and over even watched the 2006 Tour?

Oscar Periero did NOT gain some 29 minutes in one stage that Floyd and others slowly chipped away at, as implied in statements like that. He lost some 28 minutes on one stage, and gained on a stage 29 soon after, putting him some 1:40 up on Landis midway through the race.

Five minutes going into the mountains can be a HUGE advantage, especially to a Tour winning climber like Sastre as they head into the mountains. He was 4th after all last year, a mere 3:46 back . Arroyo was 11th, 12 minutes back, and will be highly motivated with his 8+ minute lead over Vinokourov.



You are a complete and total nunbskull. You make one post saying this, then another saying it's good for the fans, but the riders must hate it. What is your purpose of being here?

Does anyone take this guy Eyjafjallajokull seriously?

Are you really a moderator?

 

[BroDeal]

You are a complete and total nunbskull. You make one post saying this, then another saying it's good for the fans, but the riders must hate it. What is your purpose of being here?

Does anyone take this guy Eyjafjallajokull seriously?

BPC has gone off his meds. He is trolling hard today as evidenced by his ever wilder and ever stupider posts in multiple threads. Some just defy belief they are so idiotic.

 

[tgsgirl]

Does anyone take this Eyjafjallajokull seriously?

I bet a lot of holidaymakers do.

(sorry, couldn't resist)

 

[Walkman]

Vino will be fired up. Give Cadel some time to get over the shock and back into his new "Killer Instinct" and this will be awesome. Add Basso, Nibali, Scarponi and Cunego and the guys who won out today will be very sore. It is just one day. Get some sleep, relax and come back refreshed is what the big guys need to do. They are the favourites for a reason. ACF94, you will get to see a Spaniard crack. There are still 10 days of racing left. We are only just past halfway.

There will definitely be some great racing in the days to come!! Since BMC and Astana have lost some rider, I was thinking, do you think that they will cooperate during the tougher stages? Maybe even Liquigas?

 

[Eyjafjallajokull]

I said it before. Evans is not smart enough to win a GT.

He's like the aussie Tommy D. Every time you start thinking about throwing your support behind him, he screws the pooch.

This sort of trolling of Evans fans is okay, of course.

Really intelligent remarks there, BroDeal.

I mean, I don't mind it, but the hypocrisy of the way you then cry to teacher about me....

 

[woodburn]

I'm not denying it's exciting to see a race decided on crashes and terrible weather conditions causing an unprecedented 50 man break.

But the riders don't like it, which will be a real problem for it in the foward - the notorious dangerous finishes have already seen many people dodge it - and it's also nice to see the best rider win a race.

Evans is probably the best rider in that tour, but the dangerous first stages left him down a minute and a half, and now he just lost another ten minutes.

Wiggins also had an impressive prologue performance but then imediately lost 3 minutes in a series of crashes in the tight roads selected by the organisers. Luck has seen him put in a better position, but it's not satifactory.

Imagine what you'd all be saying if this was the tour and AC had to put up with this?

Because crashes and breakaways don't happen during the Tour. I guess you have a short memory.

 

[Eyjafjallajokull]

Because crashes and breakaways don't happen during the Tour. I guess you have a short memory.

There are always crashes. You don't often see the GC guys effected so much though.

 

[taiwan]

Brodeal likes Tommy D.