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

[zapata]

simoni, by the way, was one of the first to be dropped today. still trying to convince myself that he's saving himself for zoncolan..

 

[BroDeal]

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

There was that movie "Yes Man" with Jim Carrey. There should be a sequel named "What Would Vino Do?"

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

simoni, by the way, was one of the first to be dropped today. still trying to convince myself that he's saving himself for zoncolan..

Hopefully.
Come on Gibo, do the triple !

 

[sportzchick]

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

at this point im probally going to do both

 

[Sasquatch]

simoni, by the way, was one of the first to be dropped today. still trying to convince myself that he's saving himself for zoncolan..

Yep - you could be right. Could he try the break and win it that way?

Speaking of riders, Moncoutie has been quiet. If he's really going for the KOM he needs to go in the break tomorrow.

 

[DenisMenchov]

Mollema looked pretty good today. Also Wiggins is still there, maybe he can do something in mountin TT and last ITT in Verona.

 

[taiwan]

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?

Yep, he's got the strongest team by far, he rode a good TT at Plan de Corones two years ago, and noone's going to be taking big time out of him on the Zoncolan (Sastre isn't there yet and Evans rode hard in the first week/has been ill). Maybe he'll have difficulty in the later mountain stages, but again, he'll have the best support.

[edit] Scarponi's +12', but showed well today. his team should be there in the next mountains too.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Mollema looked pretty good today. Also Wiggins is still there, maybe he can do something in mountin TT and last ITT in Verona.

They aren't really ITT for specialists though.
The mountain ITT will benefit a stronger climber, and the last ITT will depend on form more then anything.
I expect him to lose a fair bit of time tomorrow.

 

[issoisso]

They aren't really ITT for specialists though.
The mountain ITT will benefit a stronger climber, and the last ITT will depend on form more then anything.
I expect him to lose a fair bit of time tomorrow.

He can win the final TT if he rides in with the autobus and saves himself. He can be much fresher than the GC guys.

 

[DenisMenchov]

They aren't really ITT for specialists though.
The mountain ITT will benefit a stronger climber, and the last ITT will depend on form more then anything.
I expect him to lose a fair bit of time tomorrow.

I think Wiggins was among TOP10 in last years` Giro mountain ITT, so can do well if can hang on tomorrow.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

He can win the final TT if he rides in with the autobus and saves himself. He can be much fresher than the GC guys.

indeed. He won last year didn't he?

He is still going pretty hard at the giro though. I wonder if he is wasting a little too much energy to be good at the tour.

I think Wiggins was among TOP10 in last years` Giro mountain ITT, so can do well if can hang on tomorrow.

this ITT is just a straight out climb, and I don't see him getting time out of his main rivals on this course.

 

[DenisMenchov]

indeed. He won last year didn't he?

He is still going pretty hard at the giro though. I wonder if he is wasting a little too much energy to be good at the tour.

My thoughts exactly. Konovalovas won it , but I think he was 2nd.

 

[ttrider]

nibali 0
vino @ 23
evans @ 35
basso @ 52
scarponi @ 2 09

 

[taiwan]

I think Wiggins was among TOP10 in last years` Giro mountain ITT, so can do well if can hang on tomorrow.

Wasn't an uphill TT, it just wasn't flat (6th, checked). On the Blockhaus stage (short, one climb, MTF) he was inthe 12' group.

 

[ttrider]

i think we have to look at nibali basso evans arroyo sastre and vino as the favorites now with scarponi also quite close, arroyos looking ok tho we ll have to see how much he loses tomorow, i feel it will be the crucial day for sure

 

[Frosty]

Porte group at 4:46 - good rides in there by Voeckler and Froome among others.

Garzelli at 18.50!!!! Has he given up on GC and decided to rest for tomorrow??

 

[The Sheep]

Rabobank is second in the team classification haha

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Rabobank is second in the team classification haha

Mollema, Kruijswijck, Ardila and Weening, 1 good (I daresay top 10) and 4 semi-good (places 20 to 40) climbers

 

[theyoungest]

Mollema, Kruijswijck, Ardila and Weening, 1 good (I daresay top 10) and 4 semi-good (places 20 to 40) climbers

Weening counts for two, I agree

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Oops. Well the way he turns the 53x11 on 10% colls should count for 2

 

[The Sheep]

Mollema, Kruijswijck, Ardila and Weening, 1 good (I daresay top 10) and 4 semi-good (places 20 to 40) climbers

It's not only the climbers, since they're second in the overall

 

[Francois the Postman]

Excellent, I thought Liquigas would put up a bit of a display today, but someone else would be able to piggy bag over the hills and would steal the win once they got down the hill. They come 1st and 2nd. I will go home quietly now

 

[Libertine Seguros]

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?

Because if he doesn't bust a gut for them, Nibali will gain more time, and then it would just be Nibali vs. Scarponi with Nibali having a headstart.

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!

He's not doing the hard work for Basso. Basso is taking advantage of the hard work Cadel has to do to stop Nibali. And Basso, because he has a teammate up there, isn't going to try to stop his own teammate. Why should he?

That's why Basso gets no bagging. Cadel has been given a bagging - sometimes unjustly - for wheelsucking in the past, because he'd get to a group of five or six and then expect everybody else to work but not do his bit. Now, if Cadel had ever been in a strong team, he could have sent a strong teammate up the road (say if 2009 Popovych had been the same rider as 2008 Popovych), and then nobody would complain about Evans wheelsucking, because why would he sabotage his own teammate's chances (ok, some might, but only to be facetious and get a rise out of overly-sensitive Evans fans).

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

Obviously you've never visited any of the threads about Valverde. At least the Evans attacking seems to be mostly in jest, because of the defensiveness of the likes of ACF. I get the impression ACF knows about it and will have a laugh about it (except when the stage is going on, when he'll get too emotionally invested). Most of the attacks on Valverde seem vitriolic and aggressive, and at least I know why Evans is a figure of fun (rather than a hate figure, as Valverde is). I think the singling out of Valverde is rather arbitrary (considering how many Vino fans we have on the boards), but the singling out of Evans comes down to some people not liking him, and some people winding his fans up, because they seem much more defensive of their favourite than many others.

 

[taiwan]

Thought Gerdemann limited his losses pretty well today.
I thought he'd lose a lot of time, TBH.

 

[peloton]

Thought Gerdemann limited his losses pretty well today.
I thought he'd lose a lot of time, TBH.

He will tomorrow I'm afraid..