Giro d'Italia Stage 15: Mestre - Monte Zoncolan (222km)

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General Classification

01.Arroyo
02.Porte 02:35
03.Basso 03:33
04.Sastre 04:21
05.Evans 04:43
06.Vinokourov 05:51
07.Nibali 06:08
08.Scarponi 06:25
09.Gerdemann 07:32
10.Cunego 09:19
11.Pinotti 09:53
12. Karpets 13:05
13. Mollema 14:31
14. Cataldo 14:51

no result of Tondo and Kisilovski yet, they could be somewhere in between

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Doing two GTs as a neo-pro is far too much anyway -- And it wont benefit his progress. Let alone the giro-tour double... and this giro has been extra brutal.

 

[hfer07]

he may not have a good tt at kronplatz because of the above. agree?

not necessarily-he'll be wormed up enough & have his own rhythm all the way to the top-this is against the clock-
my comment is about his behavior prior to a mountain top finish, where he's rarely seen in front of the group when the nasty accelerations star at the bottom.

 

[DamonAlbarn]

Good spot, he really has tactical issues to deal with

Great engine uphill and all that, but why sit at the back of the bunch when it goes off east and west?

 

[jens_attacks]

ivan the terrible killed them allllllllllllll!!!!!!!!he's so fuccing back
ivaaaaaaaaaaan!

 

[search]

porte wow. keeps missing opportunities to lose lots of time; still in the gc. where's the usual hype? ok, i'll start. is richie porte the next, next, next merckx?

result of 2008:

11 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC +01.55
13 Evgeny Petrov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems +02.17
14 Gustav Erik Larsson (Swe) Team CSC +2.18

so being a good timetrialist should help Porte to reach a good result at the Kronplatz on tuesday and to possibly achieve a top 10 result in the end of the giro.

 

[goggalor]

Around 40:45 for Basso up the Zoncolan.

I hope Evans wins, but Basso will be very hard to overcome. Sure, Basso was a bit fresher than the rest today because of Nibali's stunt yesterday, but I think having such a strong team will keep saving him energy compared to Evans & co. for the rest of the Giro.

And well done, Pinotti!

Huge prospect but not even Andy Schlecks rather successfull Giro made Bjarne Riis reconsider.
O'Grady is a doubt, but I reckon the Saxo's team will be:

Breschel
Cancellara
C.A. Sørensen
Nicki Sørensen
Voigt
A. Schleck
F. Schleck
G. Larsson / O'Grady
Fuglsang

Kind of amazing that Riis' may have 4 Danes on his Tour team. Only a few years ago he had none.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

I'm still hoping Porte will crack on the Mortirolo or something, no offense aussies

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

The classifications are up.
http://www.gazzetta.it/Speciali/Gir...ca_btn=tab_02&subclassifica_btn=ct_01&lang=it

 

[hfer07]

Great engine uphill and all that, but why sit at the back of the bunch when it goes off east and west?

at some point those riders accelerating in the front have to slow down the rhythm to recover & then pick up the pace again-because of the changing in pace-some blow-some will keep it high-Sastre's style is to ride the entire length of the climb at one fast pace all the way to top. Sometime it works -sometimes it doesn't but definitely is helpful to maintain your energy levels in check

 

[DamonAlbarn]

Basso was immense today.

As someone posted, no need to throw mud (danish expression) and suggest things aren't right, let's take it on the chin and admit Basso was a level above the lot.

Oh and as for the Saxo's they really have a good crop of local riders who are very good. Furthermore the last couple of years danish youngsters have really had a go at the major compo's, so there's definitely a lot of talent present in such a small county as Denmark.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

3 Rabo's in the top 20 of the stage, Ardila suddenly back and also in the top 20 GC. 2nd still in team classification
I think the name Rabobus should be banned

Tondo and Wiggins major losers of the day.

 

[DamonAlbarn]

Perhaps Tondo and Wiggins have bigger fish to fry?

Sorry wasn't able to watch as the family wanted my undivided attention (I know, I should get rid ), but did they try in the first place?
Cheers in advance

 

[stefrees]

3 Rabo's in the top 20 of the stage, Ardila suddenly back and also in the top 20 GC. 2nd still in team classification
I think the name Rabobus should be banned

Tondo and Wiggins major losers of the day.

Rabobank after the radioshack award?

Think today's the day wiggo switched off and went autobus

could be good for sastre tondo losing time- get him in break then help sastre on later climbs similar to what pauwels did last year on Vesuvius

 

[theyoungest]

Sorry wasn't able to watch as the family wanted my undivided attention (I know, I should get rid ), but did they try in the first place?
Cheers in advance

Tondo looked like he had trouble in the descent before the Zoncolan even started... and Wiggo, well he probably didn't try, but anything above 10% is too hard for him.

 

[Moondance]

The classifications are up.
http://www.gazzetta.it/Speciali/Gir...ca_btn=tab_02&subclassifica_btn=ct_01&lang=it

Nice... If it continues like this, Mollema is going to come very close to a Top-10... Which would be incredible, even more so since he missed the L'Aquila stage.

Also, Tondo finished 100th. 25m down. So much for that. Clearly lack of experience in GT is costing him

 

[djconnel]

Basso's VAM was 1773 m/hr by my calculation (timed over 10 km, neglecting possible altitude gained from 10.1 km to 10.0 km, which appeared flat on the screen).

In contrast, Simoni did an 1850 m/hr VAM in 2007.

So this is consistent with Basso being something less than super-human today. That high a VAM on L'Alpe would be exceptional. But the steeper the road, the less significant energy going into rolling resistance (proportional to distance) and wind resistance (which is proportional to the square of speed), so assuming a sufficiently high cadence, means higher VAMs.

 

[DamonAlbarn]

Cheers mate

Was only able to sneak in and watch the last 5 kilometers.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Nice... If it continues like this, Mollema is going to come very close to a Top-10... Which would be incredible, even more so since he missed the L'Aquila stage.

He still has to stay good though.

Today there were some moments where I thought he lost it, especially on the Doron

 

[DamonAlbarn]

Pardon my ignorance but how old is he?

What a tour he has had.

 

[Papparrazzi]

3 Rabo's in the top 20 of the stage, Ardila suddenly back and also in the top 20 GC. 2nd still in team classification
I think the name Rabobus should be banned

Tondo and Wiggins major losers of the day.

Wiggins said he would 'throttle back' in 3rd week.

No photos up yet, I'm interested in the gears used today

 

[Bala Verde]

TdF = Baby Giro?

What a race!

Basso was stronger than Evans today, but must stress that both of them rode a terrific stage.

IMO Evans tried to hang on for too long, whereas Mr Boots rode up Zoncolan at his own pace. Basso's tempo was just too high. Evans either underestimated the effort, or he tried to bluff Basso into believing they were equally strong. When Evans took over once or twice to set the pace, I believe he did it more to dictate his own pace to Basso, instead of riding at the same speed. Obviously, I don't have confirmation, because I had no view of his speedometer

Basso appeared to have timed his attack to perfection as well, attacking at +/- 3km (?), knowing he could max himself out at these gradients for such an amount of time/distance. Evans gradually lost time, but fortunately regained his composure, or never really cracked entirely, and limited his losses to 1:28.

I think it's telling that Mr. Boots finished only a little behind Evans.

Steady Evans is hard to beat, and I don't know if Basso will hold his form till the end. There is still much to come, and the two seem very much in competition with each other.

Sastre... what can you say. In a battle of atrition, he usually stands strong. If the weather improves, and it gets blistering hot, his injuries don't bother him and he continues to find his legs, I wouldn't count him out yet either. Lots of 'if' though!

Looking forward to Cadel and Ivan battling it out on the slopes to come.

What a race!

 

[RedheadDane]

What a tour he has had.

Naaah... it's the Giro!

Gotta say, impressive Basso; got ridden out of the top ten (because he, as Chris Anker put it "had to get his raincoat!") and is now right back in the top and a real possible winner!

 

[dolophonic]

What a stage.. great turnout at the top of an amazing climb..

A real treat for us fans.

Forza Basso !

 

[Moondance]

He still has to stay good though.

Today there were some moments where I thought he lost it, especially on the Doron

Yes, I agree... That's why I said "If it continues like this"