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

[sportzchick]

Its me getting angry in this whole 'wheelsucking' notion and why its only Cadel that does it apparantly

Its survial of the fittest our there and really every man for himself in the end.......you cant have joint winners of a stage/tour can you?

 

[RedheadDane]

Third Italian stagewin to an Italian in a row... well; they do have something to make up for!

Great win by Nibali But man his descending looked scary sometimes!

About Porte; well... I guess it could've been expected that he'd lose the jersey one of these days but 39 seconds isn't that bad... there was some talk on Eurosport DK about Porte maybe being a bit sick (something had hit the Saxo camp and given Chris Anker a rough time the other day, and, as they said; those things can circulate.) so if he feels better tomorrow he just needs to stick with Arroyo... and as Porte himself said in an interview; if he loses the jersey (which he did) he could reclaim it during the TT (didn't mention which one though...)

 

[BroDeal]

For the record, picking on HWSNBN is this forum's number one pass time. It's just a pity Retirement-Shack wasn't able to justify a Giro invite.

It would have been too fun watching Leecheimer and Armstrong get dropped by Evans and the Leaky Gas boys.

 

[zapata]

i said before the giro that i hoped nibali would win it, but doubted he could. after all the commotion so far, I don't really know what to think, but my position is more or less the same. anyone think he can actually do it?

 

[aarnold517]

i wonder if sastre is coming into form and just had a slightly off day and will respond better tomorrow or if he just doesn't have it this year...im leaning towards the latter but im hoping its the former because sastre in form on the zoncolan would be great to watch

 

[Eratosthenes]

thats fine - i will admit I do go over the top sometimes........no use denying it.

but to think there isnt double standards in some cases is silly

I know, it is easy to get emotional about things.
And double standards abound here (the second part of my post was directed at BroDeal (I am not a kiwi to use the word Bro, though I am married to one) and another dude for get his/er name.)

 

[HL2037]

Aw, did you see Chris Anker Sørensen pulling Richie Porte over the mountain and then all the way home. What a hero!

 

[auscyclefan94]

This board at one point posted a dedicated summary disproving the myth that Evans is a wheelsucker.

Sportzchick is getting a bit of stick because she's ignored the totally valid tactical reason that Basso was allowed to sit on, because Evans has had some stick for it in the past.

For the sake of simplicity, sportzchick:

Cycling is a team sport in many respects. Liquigas, because they have two GC candidates, were in the strongest position. If Nibali is attacking, Basso has no reason to work because he wants to help his teammate win (if he can't win). That means that, if Scarponi and Evans pulled Nibali back, Basso would then attack, and Nibali would follow the other two, because he'd be able to say "if I can't win (and my attack failed), then I want my team to win, so I won't chase Basso".

The reason Evans took a lot of stick for 'wheelsucking' in the past is that he never had the benefit of a strong teammate in a threatening position that other teams needed to chase. As a result, if he wasn't working, they wouldn't rationalise it as doing his job for his team. Either you're on the back because you're on the rivet (and sometimes he was) or you're not working because you simply don't want to (see the stick José Serpa Pérez ["sucka Serpa"] has got in April in the Coppi e Bartali and Giro del Trentino threads for evidence of somebody not called Evans getting stick for wheelsucking in this situation).

The other thing is, this forum has a lot of Evans fans who get quite exaggeratedly emotional about any criticism of their hero. Evans is a great rider, but a lot of the reason he hasn't yet got the palmarès that his abilities would merit has been as much down to him as anything else. Some people on this board can criticise Evans from rational points of view (and will praise him up when he does something good). But as long as you get so exaggeratedly upset by criticism of him, then you can expect to be goaded about it.

true, evans has sad that he s going to be very attacking in the mountains in the next week. libertine you can not deny that evans is a kicking boy. would conti ever get bagged on this forum? NO.

 

[sportzchick]

This board at one point posted a dedicated summary disproving the myth that Evans is a wheelsucker.

Sportzchick is getting a bit of stick because she's ignored the totally valid tactical reason that Basso was allowed to sit on, because Evans has had some stick for it in the past.

For the sake of simplicity, sportzchick:

Cycling is a team sport in many respects. Liquigas, because they have two GC candidates, were in the strongest position. If Nibali is attacking, Basso has no reason to work because he wants to help his teammate win (if he can't win). That means that, if Scarponi and Evans pulled Nibali back, Basso would then attack, and Nibali would follow the other two, because he'd be able to say "if I can't win (and my attack failed), then I want my team to win, so I won't chase Basso".

The reason Evans took a lot of stick for 'wheelsucking' in the past is that he never had the benefit of a strong teammate in a threatening position that other teams needed to chase. As a result, if he wasn't working, they wouldn't rationalise it as doing his job for his team. Either you're on the back because you're on the rivet (and sometimes he was) or you're not working because you simply don't want to (see the stick José Serpa Pérez ["sucka Serpa"] has got in April in the Coppi e Bartali and Giro del Trentino threads for evidence of somebody not called Evans getting stick for wheelsucking in this situation).

The other thing is, this forum has a lot of Evans fans who get quite exaggeratedly emotional about any criticism of their hero. Evans is a great rider, but a lot of the reason he hasn't yet got the palmarès that his abilities would merit has been as much down to him as anything else. Some people on this board can criticise Evans from rational points of view (and will praise him up when he does something good). But as long as you get so exaggeratedly upset by criticism of him, then you can expect to be goaded about it.

you mentioned about the whole team mate thing - he's pretty much fending for himself, no one outside his team will work for another rider so why should he be busting his gut for other people just so they are happy with him?

So does he do the hard work for someone else when theve got 3x the teammates that should be working and run the risk of having no energy left to with a starge/tour or does he put himself first and get slagged for it? Either way he cant win, never has - thats my beef!

Admit it - hes this forums whipping boy and nothing he will do will change that

 

[Sasquatch]

sportschick:

your suggestion about basso, and double standards today was totally ignorant of cycling tactics. Enough said.

Strewth. People had a go at Basso?

Well, Basso had no need to help. Why would he help them chase down his own team-mate and lose the stage? Why the hell would he do that? You don't chase down your own team-mate, that's silly.

 

[thrawn]

i said before the giro that i hoped nibali would win it, but doubted he could. after all the commotion so far, I don't really know what to think, but my position is more or less the same. anyone think he can actually do it?

i don't think so. i think basso is still the team leader. if basso cracks on a stage then nibali is a very good chance to win.

 

[Publicus]

true, evans has sad that he s going to be very attacking in the mountains in the next week. libertine you can not deny that evans is a kicking boy. would conti ever get bagged on this forum? NO.

Depends on what he was doing to get bagged on. He's universally scorned for his victory salute. Called tactically inept after Stage 3 at the Tour last year. He's considered a doper by many. And who could forget the "allergies."

I'd say, he's respected for his racing style, but certainly not above criticism. No one is.

 

[Potomac]

i said before the giro that i hoped nibali would win it, but doubted he could. after all the commotion so far, I don't really know what to think, but my position is more or less the same. anyone think he can actually do it?

He is still young and presumably still improving so how can anybody be confident is assessing his abilities? He's with a strong team, and Liqui showed today they will use the team to their advantage. Can the opponents really mark both Nibs and Basso?

Also, a MT time trial is a huge monkey wrench in the planning, any of the favorites could blow up.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Let's continue on talking a less dangerous subject, for instant Mollema



kidding, just kidding

 

[BroDeal]

true, evans has sad that he s going to be very attacking in the mountains in the next week. libertine you can not deny that evans is a kicking boy. would conti ever get bagged on this forum? NO.

Evans gets bashed because of the way he has ridden 90% of his road career. If he had always ridden the way he has during the last eight months then he would be vastly more popular amongst fans.

 

[Sasquatch]

you mentioned about the whole team mate thing - he's pretty much fending for himself, no one outside his team will work for another rider so why should he be busting his gut for other people just so they are happy with him?

So does he do the hard work for someone else when theve got 3x the teammates that should be working and run the risk of popping a stage around or does he put himself first and get slagged for it? Either way he cant win - thats my beef!

Perhaps that's Evans fault for not going to the right teams. I mean, he's not the sharpest tool in the shed. Out of all the teams he went to, he chose BMC, who could never support him. It's his own fault what is happening to him IMO. He may learn from his mistakes one day, but I highly doubt it.

 

[badboyberty]

Does anyone have the full top twenty on GC?

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

you mentioned about the whole team mate thing - he's pretty much fending for himself, no one outside his team will work for another rider so why should he be busting his gut for other people just so they are happy with him?

So does he do the hard work for someone else when theve got 3x the teammates that should be working and run the risk of popping a stage around or does he put himself first and get slagged for it? Either way he cant win - thats my beef!

not liquigas's fault that Evans has a weak team.

i said before the giro that i hoped nibali would win it, but doubted he could. after all the commotion so far, I don't really know what to think, but my position is more or less the same. anyone think he can actually do it?

I would really really love to see him win the giro, I said a month or two before the giro that I wish he'd prioritize the giro over the tour.
However I see Basso a bigger chance for the overall. He looks good imo. That being said, so does nibali... who knows.. Maybe satsre will even be better tomorrow. Doubt it though.

 

[sportzchick]

Perhaps that's Evans fault for not going to the right teams. I mean, he's not the sharpest tool in the shed. Out of all the teams he went to, he chose BMC, who could never support him. It's his own fault what is happening to him IMO. He may learn from his mistakes one day, but I highly doubt it.

at least they are trying to unlike lotto who just gave him a f-you

 

[BroDeal]

Strewth. People had a go at Basso?

Well, Basso had no need to help. Why would he help them chase down his own team-mate and lose the stage? Why the hell would he do that? You don't chase down your own team-mate, that's silly.

Basso could have always asked himself, "What would Vino do?," and then gone for it.

 

[zapata]

He is still young and presumably still improving so how can anybody be confident is assessing his abilities? He's with a strong team, and Liqui showed today they will use the team to their advantage. Can the opponents really mark both Nibs and Basso?

Also, a MT time trial is a huge monkey wrench in the planning, any of the favorites could blow up.

he's not THAT young, though. he'll be 26 this year, one year older than andy schleck. if he has it in in him to be a champion, i think this is the year he has to step up and prove it. fingers crossed..

 

[badboyberty]

Basso could have always asked himself, "What would Vino do?," and then gone for it.

Gold, now I'm seriously considering getting a WWVD tattoo.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Funny stuff. I hope Cuddles recovers well tonight. It's going to be a tough day at the office tomorrow. Oh and Vino is going to get shelled tomorrow.

Yes, I think Vino loses 2-3 minutes tomorrow on the Zoncolan.

I think Evans and Liquigas are in a prime position. Arroyo is a bit of a wild card.

Stage tomorrow will be interesting. I'm going with Scarponi for the win though.

 

[issoisso]

at least they are trying to unlike lotto who just gave him a f-you

Explain how BMC has shown they're "trying" and Lotto hasn't.

Given that there is no possible argument for that thesis, either your brain is going to explode, or you're finally going to see sense.
I'm betting on the former

 

[Sasquatch]

Basso could have always asked himself, "What would Vino do?," and then gone for it.

Haha!