Giro d'Italia Stage 14: Ferrara - Asolo (205km)

[Sasquatch]

Will be interesting to see if the Cervelo duo stay on wheels or if one of them launches a move. If the GC guys don't look like attacking each other, they can do it today. If they don't attack each other, they can let them destroy themselves and attack and win the race tomorrow.

 

[Poppert]

It's up to Liquigas

I think IF we see any real action today it will be up to Liquigas.

Evans and Vino - too alone on this type of stage.
Sastre - too early to make a move (even if he can).

The only ones with both interest and capacity to try something would be Nibali and Basso.

 

[movingtarget]

Stage 14

Considering what has already happened in this race. I expect something decisive to happen. If one of the pre-race favourites shows signs of struggling, I don't think they will wait for tomorrow's stage. It's been an aggressive race so far and I can't see that changing with so many good riders still grouped together and so many favourites needing to make up time. These are the dangerous stages for GC contenders where riders lose time on descents and by not concentrating and being caught in the wrong position when an attack goes.

 

[saganftw]

i think todays stage will go to breakway rider,tomorrow is zoncolan none of the favourites will want to give it all today and crack tomorrow...couple of attacks here and there by the top guys but nothing serious...there has been stages like that in TdF and usually it was boring because the top of mountain is too far from finish

 

[Sasquatch]

Final thought is the break will take this.

Simoni or Moncoutie. Maybe Serpa.

 

[Mellow Velo]

Of the last 7kms, 6km average 10%. Given what we have seen so far in this race, if the inclination is to blow the race apart, it will blow apart.
If teams can't control the race on 3rd cats, they aren't going to cope here.
40kms off the top to the finish, for an elite group and no proper peloton to give chase?
Seems conceivable to me.

Bet it's more exciting than Big Bore Lake.

 

[python]

this is an awesome stage i'll be able to watch again

looking forward to take a break from the doping news negativity.

i think the contenders will ride up monte grappa in a tight group of 10-15 riders and then split. on paper it should be a stage when sastre, vino evans and the lg boys should make some time on the current gc leaders.

imo, sastre's overall gc win will have crystallized today.

 

[benpounder]

If teams can't control the race on 3rd cats, they aren't going to cope here.
40kms off the top to the finish, for an elite group and no proper peloton to give chase?
Seems conceivable to me.

Unless a break is really out of touch, any group will be able to catch renegades coming off of Monte Grappa. Gaining seconds on the climb is folly given what follows.

 

[ttrider]

i think the long descent will rule out anything smaller than 4 0r 5 riders,
of the top 25 I think the following will drop:
Porte, he was a way back on the climbs yesterday i cant see him staying
Kiserlovski (not sure), Agnoli, Efimkin, Gerdeman, Didier, wiggins (not sure) Bakelands, Mayoz,
Karpets (used to much yesterday and is not impressive on steep stuff)
Pinotti, De Greef, Cataldo and Petrov
Mollema, not sure if he stays he really will have confirmed his talent

Therefore i predict a group of 10 really but up to three others may fail, notably Arroyo, Tondo and Cunego

I believe Basso is looking very strong but an attack from him should be ruled out as hes not gona stay away on the descent but he will surely be in the final selection

Only one i see winning on his own is Nibali simply because he is unbelievable on descents

 

[davidw]

Live chat, "tweets" from Asolo

Hi guys,

Seeing as how it's been popular, I've set up the live chat here, with tweet feeds from "procyclinglive", "_Gavia_", and myself, "bikechatter"

http://bikechatter.com/chat

"Unfortunately", I won't be on it myself, as this is the 'local' stage for me, and I'm leaving right now for Asolo, to watch things from there - they go through the town, then over the "hill", and finish back in town. It should be an excellent stage - the weather is beautiful, and the guys who want to claw back some time are going to have to hit that climb like a ton of bricks to inflict maximal time losses on whoever doesn't have good climbing legs.

I'll try and send in a few tweets/pics from the finishing area, but we'll see, I get kind of carried away watching races, and fiddling with a cell phone can be distracting

If anyone else is in Asolo, give me a ring (it's on my CV) and say hi.

 

[taiwan]

The gazzetta ticker is showing a 6 man break containing Eibegger, Bonnet, Cummings, Pozzato, Bisolti (Colnago), and Monier (Cofidis). Advantage 7:35 at km 55.

[edit] showing 8:05 now. Click on any entry on the gazzetta page for a graphical ticker thing, which will give the riders in the break if you zoom in.

 

[Jamsque]

I think it's a testament to how this Giro has gone that everyone has a different idea of how this climb will play out. I really do think that anything could happen.

 

[ak-zaaf]

I think it's a testament to how this Giro has gone that everyone has a different idea of how this climb will play out. I really do think that anything could happen.

Hehe, I just explained my wife in that way why I'm staying inside on the first sunny day of the year. Nothing will happen probably, but with this Giro you just don't know

 

[trompe le monde]

First hour of racing covered at an average of 51.1 kph. No soft pedalling so far.

 

[anth73]

Anyone from Australia manage to get onto a live videa stream anywhere? I've tried steephill.tv but no luck with the links posted there.

Thanks and.....GO CADEL!!!!!!!!

 

[python]

i think the long descent will rule out anything smaller than 4 0r 5 riders,
of the top 25 I think the following will drop:
Porte, he was a way back on the climbs yesterday i cant see him staying
Kiserlovski (not sure), Agnoli, Efimkin, Gerdeman, Didier, wiggins (not sure) Bakelands, Mayoz,
Karpets (used to much yesterday and is not impressive on steep stuff)
Pinotti, De Greef, Cataldo and Petrov
Mollema, not sure if he stays he really will have confirmed his talent

Therefore i predict a group of 10 really but up to three others may fail, notably Arroyo, Tondo and Cunego

I believe Basso is looking very strong but an attack from him should be ruled out as hes not gona stay away on the descent but he will surely be in the final selection

Only one i see winning on his own is Nibali simply because he is unbelievable on descents

agree on the first hilite, not sure on the second. basso is not an explosive attacker but the steep slopes do offer him and nibali a 1-2 tactical punch where basso fits the first bullet better.

 

[ak-zaaf]

Anyone from Australia manage to get onto a live videa stream anywhere? I've tried steephill.tv but no luck with the links posted there.

Thanks and.....GO CADEL!!!!!!!!

Live broadcast hasn't started yet.

 

[Publicus]

I think it's a testament to how this Giro has gone that everyone has a different idea of how this climb will play out. I really do think that anything could happen.

I stopped trying to predict what would happen after stage 4. Everyday (seemingly) has brought something new and unexpected.

 

[auscyclefan94]

The second half seems pretty tough, apart from a k of flat stuff.

There will be attacks off the top, for sure. The descent is long enough, only 15km of flat, straight racing at the bottom, not enough for a bigger group to claw back a gap on 1-5 riders.

Garzelli, Scarponi and Cuddles the main candidates for attack/win - if they don't attack here they have no hope for the GC.

A shame that the finish doesn't continue around to the little bump in Asolo.

Totally disagree. There are many more stages to get time back and then lose it all again. Evans talks about the week ahead...

"Were racing as if we haven't looked at the profile of the last week," Evans said. "We're always flat out and so it's inevitable that we're tired. If Vinokourov wasn't tired he would have raced differently at L'Aquila."

"My GC position isn't great but my days have arrived and that makes me optimistic. It'll be crazy on the Grappa climb but I'm especially looking to the mountain top finishes. Did you see what happened at Montalcino? If I've got the legs, I'm going to attack. If my legs are good, every occasion is good to pull back time."

Evans only has four BMC teammates to help in the final week and his rivals know it. But he knows it too and is ready to take on any attacks the other favourites might be planning.

"I'm ready for anything and everything. Near Porto Recanati the other day, the sprinters' teams worked all day and then didn't close the gap. That seemed foolish to me. Scarponi and Vinokourov played games too. They said 'Lets go steady' then attacked.."

Asked about perhaps forming an alliance with another team, Evans said: "Have you not realised we're all racing against each other?"

 

[Frosty]

Dont really recognise any of the lead group as being climbers? If so, maybe the real climbers are saving their legs for tomorrow?

 

[auscyclefan94]

A snippet of JFQ's apparaisal of todays stage

"As the Giro can never seem to avoid adding its regular contribution to the history of doping, the name Lance Armstrong's controversial doctor/coach Michele Ferrari might be whispered in the starting town of Ferrara. It's here that Ferrari has welcomed many cyclists for a consulttation and taken a percentageof their income in the past 20 years."



Some of the italians apparisals of the climb today.

The Italian favourites at the Giro all expected some early attacks on the Monte Grappa climb.

"Waiting for the final kilometres doesn't make sense. We've got to blow open the race in the first five kilometres of the climb," Stefano Garzelli (Acqua & Sapone) told Gazzetta dello Sport.

Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Doimo) is not worried that some riders might get back on after the Grappa climb, during the flat finale to Asolo, or that he could get dropped. Asolo is 41km from the summit of Monte Grappa but 24km is a technical descent, Basso least favourite terrain.

"It's all about what you've got in your legs. We've got to try," he said.

"It's one thing going down the Poggio after a short climb, and something after a hard race and a 20km climb. I'm not afraid."

Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Doimo) is a great on descents but predicted that the race will explode on the climb.

"Someone will go on the descent but first there will be a battle on the climb. We've got to make as hard as possible, force a selection and then see who has anything left."

 

[Mellow Velo]

Lets hope, for once, this race follows the script........

 

[craig1985]

Have there been any DNS's today?

 

[auscyclefan94]

Lets hope, for once, this race follows the script........

Why...?

 

[taiwan]

Dont really recognise any of the lead group as being climbers? If so, maybe the real climbers are saving their legs for tomorrow?

I'm suspecting Cummings and Monier are there to help their captains later, but maybe it's just a token breakaway attempt. Why Pozzato and Bonnet are there, who knows.

[edit] Looks like Bisolti can climb: 20th and 18th in the Giro del Trentino and the Settimana Lombarda respectively. Presumably he's in the break for himself, Pozzovivo having reired.