Giro d'Italia Stage 15: Conegliano - Gardeccia-Val di Fassa 229km

[Siriuscat]

AC looks pensive on the podium - not smiling!

I though he looked wiped out, Scarponi took a huge amount out of him in the last 2k

 

[hrotha]

To be fair, Euskaltel did say they were coming here for stage victories first, and GC second. They've now got two stage wins - and two incredibly memorable ones. This one today in one of the most epic Grand Tour stages we've seen in a long time (I'm actually tempted to rate it higher than all bar maybe Mortirolo last year, but I'll wait until some time has passed before making a judgment like that) - it's a shame Antón dropped so much time, but then again he wasn't exactly expecting a high GC, just hoping to do something with it if it arose.

I think today's stage is exactly why they weren't officially aiming for the GC. Antón had never been in a situation to contend such a monster stage before. Seven hours and a half, three big climbs in a row. They don't have that stuff in the Vuelta.

 

[Greenflame]

Awesome stage! Great rides by Nieve, Garzelli, Scarponi, Contador, Kruiswijk.. Well, most of the peloton actually. The battle for second is still very exciting, despite Contador's supremacy a very entertaining Giro

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

great ride by the motorbike drivers too... keeping them upright on the slow sections

 

[LukeSchmid]

To be fair, Euskaltel did say they were coming here for stage victories first, and GC second. They've now got two stage wins - and two incredibly memorable ones. This one today in one of the most epic Grand Tour stages we've seen in a long time (I'm actually tempted to rate it higher than all bar maybe Mortirolo last year, but I'll wait until some time has passed before making a judgment like that) - it's a shame Antón dropped so much time, but then again he wasn't exactly expecting a high GC, just hoping to do something with it if it arose.

That is all true, it was just some people where saying that Anton had done well to limit his loses based on the GC order error, so I was just saying it was not true. Two great results in the last 2 days.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

best day of racing for the year anyway.

Pushes Alto del Acebo from Asturias down to 2nd.

At least among bike races. There's a couple of XC/biathlon events this year I rate extremely highly. But today just set a new standard.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

This stage was fantastic with all the changing scenes. Nibali did quite awesomely given how dead he looked at the penultimate climb. Chapeau to him.

But it doesn't look good for his podium spot if he has another one of those days in the last week

 

[Siriuscat]

Agree. Who knows what might happen if they attacked contador, instead of helping him

Problem is Contador attacks them first, sod all they can do about it.

 

[goggalor]

Nibali and Contador can't be good friends after today. Nibali attacking when Contador was taking off his jacket, and Contador sprinting after him was a great moment. Finally some tension between the GC candidates.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Luís Pasamontes just crossed the line. 15'18 down, he is 28th on the stage.

It's a massacre out there, guys.

 

[YoRUsh]

great ride by the motorbike drivers too... keeping them upright on the slow sections

Well, they seemed to be trying to give Garzelli the win, and they failed in that one..

 

[Publicus]

Luís Pasamontes just crossed the line. 15'18 down, he is 28th on the stage.

It's a massacre out there, guys.

wow....

 

[Kwibus]

Awesome awesome..

Oh and Contador looked fine at the finish again. I'm sure he just took it easy again. Savign energy for the TdF...

And again awesome awesome. What an epic stage... The attacks didn't start on the last climb... No, it all started on the climb when there will still 2 climbs to go! omg...

 

[The Hitch]

I think veo7 - Spanish channel will be recapping the previous 15 stages during the rest day tomorow.

 

[Ferminal]

We got our first big group!

Five at 15'36"

 

[LukeSchmid]

I think all of Neive, Garzelli, Bakelandts, Sella, Seeldrayers, Weening, Deignan etc from the break did excellently as they would have all been riding on their own for large amounts of the stage. No one to share the work with at all.

 

[Mshengu]

What an incredible stage. Today Contador was clearly very strategic and made a wise decision very fast. Gapping Nibali in the penultimate climb was clever knowing that he will expend his energy chasing in the descent. There was clearly no weakness for Contador who doesn't even need to attack at all. All his opponent are quite desperate as a matter of fact.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

I will go out on a limb... at least today, Giro > Tour

 

[whittashau]

This stage was fantastic with all the changing scenes. Nibali did quite awesomely given how dead he looked at the penultimate climb. Chapeau to him.

But it doesn't look good for his podium spot if he has another one of those days in the last week

I think he paid for his efforts yesterday somewhat but her certainly limited his losses a whole lot better than Anton.

Are there any more stages where Nibali might be able to gain some time through his descending and perhaps stay away?

 

[Ferminal]

Could be a big shake up of the teams today, Androni has the best top 2 but who knows when the next one comes in. Astana are ok with Kreuz and Petrov, but Movistar are the only ones with three across the line. Edit: Tiralongo came across at 19'10". Astana take the best time then.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

22 Dupont +10'52"
23 Petrov +st
24 de Greef +13'30"
25 Tschopp +st
26 Codol +13'49"
27 Seeldraeyers +14'16"
28 Pasamontes +15'18"
29 Popovych +15'26"
30 Rovny +15'30"
31 Stetina +15'36"
32 Kozontchuk +st
33 Pinotti +st
34 Lewis +st
35 Lövkvist +15'47"
36 Gretsch +16'05"
37 Machado +16'14"
38 Wyss +16'31"
39 Niemiec +16'38"
40 di Luca +16'56"

 

[Rechtschreibfehler]

Gretsch comes in at an incredible 36th place. Looks like we'll have to watch for him in the final TT.

 

[Mshengu]

Awesome awesome..

Oh and Contador looked fine at the finish again. I'm sure he just took it easy again. Savign energy for the TdF...

And again awesome awesome. What an epic stage... The attacks didn't start on the last climb... No, it all started on the climb when there will still 2 climbs to go! omg...

+1 Contador is a rider of class.

 

[Havetts]

Insaneeeeeee time differences, really cool that Kruijswijk did so great .

 

[KassyC]

Becoming a fan of Team Gadret!

Brilliant race by all today! Awesome!