Giro d'Italia Stage 19: Brescia - Aprica (195km)

[Dekker_Tifosi]

In all fairness, Rabobank wins as much as the "Rode Duivels" (belgian national football team)

They might as well have been belgians

 

[UlleGigo]

Ah, that explains why Contador rides for a Kazaks team, Schleck for a danish, Sastre for a Swiss(?), Menchov for a Belgian

By foreigner I am mainly referring to a non-European. As in a non-relevant market (ie Australia) for the sponser of the team. A European team has no motive to hire an Australian when their product isn't necessarily available in Australia.

Also, I'm assuming when you reference Kazak, Danish, and Belgian (I thought Dutch?) sponsered teams you are only referring to the nationality of their main naming rights sponser and not the litany of mainland European secondary sponsers involved with every top pro team?

I do however think your right as well that Evans' reputation plays a part.

 

[richo36]

As an Evans fan I am was again disappointed. Always cracks when the race is his for the taking. I would love to see evans in a team who could actually support him like other GC riders get. Evans had to do alot of work early in this giro cos he simply didnt have the support he deserves as a GC rider. Prime example of this was stage 3 when team sky forgot how to take corners and crashed. Evans then has to chase to get back onto the main group, any other main GC contender would of had support there to get them back into the main group. Evans had noone, remembering this was a stage with a max climb of 8 metres, that is very bad. Wasting valuble energy at the start of the tour. In saying this if Cadel really wants to win a GT he has to be able to stick with it wen the going gets tough like today. Yes he has alot of excuses but at the end of the day he has been in this position so many times that he surely by now should have succeeded at least once. Ive only been following cycling for a few years and ive seen him throw away 2 TDF, and now this giro. Im starting to think Evans isnt good enough to be a real GC contender. Its a shame as he is my hero, and i wont nothing more than to see him win as a clean rider (note i would hate him if i found out he doped). I think this giro has confirmed this, without a team cadel cannot stand a chance of winning a GT, and even then i still not sure if he had a team it would make a difference.

 

[UlleGigo]

wow, you're really hitting the nail on the head aren't you
how's your thumb?

Save you the trouble since it must be a pain to pull your head out of your own a$$ every time you are forced to type one of your ever so witty 10char responses.

 

[tgsgirl]

In all fairness, Rabobank wins as much as the "Rode Duivels" (belgian national football team)
They might as well have been belgians

Hey! We won our first game after the Dutchie dropped us for the money

 

[High Cotton]

I would love to see evans in a team who could actually support him like other GC riders get.

Sorry mate. That's completely my fault. I knew I shouldn't have had my gun to his head, forcing him to choose a team that I knew wouldn't be able to support him in the mountains.

Again, my fault. I apologize.

 

[alberto.legstrong]

Haven't you been watching the past hour and a half? you like having the riders back which has made this sport so corrupt and full of lies?

To the clinic, kiddies, what's good for the goose....

 

[Wallace]

As an Evans fan I am was again disappointed. Always cracks when the race is his for the taking. I would love to see evans in a team who could actually support him like other GC riders get. Evans had to do alot of work early in this giro cos he simply didnt have the support he deserves as a GC rider. Prime example of this was stage 3 when team sky forgot how to take corners and crashed. Evans then has to chase to get back onto the main group, any other main GC contender would of had support there to get them back into the main group. Evans had noone, remembering this was a stage with a max climb of 8 metres, that is very bad. Wasting valuble energy at the start of the tour. In saying this if Cadel really wants to win a GT he has to be able to stick with it wen the going gets tough like today. Yes he has alot of excuses but at the end of the day he has been in this position so many times that he surely by now should have succeeded at least once. Ive only been following cycling for a few years and ive seen him throw away 2 TDF, and now this giro. Im starting to think Evans isnt good enough to be a real GC contender. Its a shame as he is my hero, and i wont nothing more than to see him win as a clean rider (note i would hate him if i found out he doped). I think this giro has confirmed this, without a team cadel cannot stand a chance of winning a GT, and even then i still not sure if he had a team it would make a difference.

Don't give up on Cadel yet--when was the last time you can think of someone winning a GT without a great team to support them? Greg LeMond in 1989 maybe? Basso wouldn't be where he is without his team and Nibbles. BMC will get stronger. In the next year or two Cuddles will win the Vuelta or the Giro. I still have faith.

 

[alberto.legstrong]

Meanwhile, Leipheimer will fall into the small crack between two cobbles and become lodged there for weeks until he is found by a search party.

His body will fall in but his head will prevent him from falling completely into a crevasse. He'll never need to strap a board across his @ss....

 

[ScottyMuser]

Sorry mate. That's completely my fault. I knew I shouldn't have had my gun to his head, forcing him to choose a team that I knew wouldn't be able to support him in the mountains.

Again, my fault. I apologize.

Oh, was it you who made Cadel change teams and ditch Lotto for a vastly inferior team? Good work

 

[alberto.legstrong]

lol. Typical race thread, this one. They all devolve into the same thing right at the end of the stage.

How else are we to know the stage is over?

 

[The Sheep]

Don't give up on Cadel yet--when was the last time you can think of someone winning a GT without a great team to support them? Greg LeMond in 1989 maybe? Basso wouldn't be where he is without his team and Nibbles. BMC will get stronger. In the next year or two Cuddles will win the Vuelta or the Giro. I still have faith.

Well he is not getting any younger, in 2 years he will be 35. He needs a strong team now not when he's over his top.

 

[hfer07]

He gained loads of time on Contador... Just not quite enough.

On the other hand he did nearly lose it to Leipheimer though... So I guess that balances out.

you need to double check that Tour, because the only time Evans ever gained seconds on Contador was on both ITT-he never got even close to AC in the mountains.....

 

[High Cotton]

when was the last time you can think of someone winning a GT without a great team to support them?

When was the last time that someone left a team that wasn't able to support him properly to move to a team that was even less capable of providing the necessary support?

Cadel made his bed. I really wish people would stop acting like this isn't his fault.

 

[taiwan]

BMC: so Ballan's unsuspended. Pretty poor timing for a short suspension, from Evans' point of view. With or without form, an experienced classics rider who can climb (some) would have been a help in many of these stages.

 

[alberto.legstrong]

So is anything being done against davis_123? Or how long will he be allowed to post his rubbish here?

G-damit, i am so sick of you guys whining about trolls, they won't say siht if some of you idiots stopped responding. They are WHY there is an ignore function. sheesh.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

What a great day of racing, brilliant ride by liquigas, and they fully deserve to be in the position they are in.

But really what a performance by everyone. Arroyo can hold his head up high.
Evans just didn't have it. Like many thought would happened, he has probably had a too full on season to stay competitive. But he showed heart today, none the less.

It is very unfortunate that some people here, take away from Basso's form, and hard work and make doping claims. Really disgraceful imo, and straight out disrespectful to the winners.
ACF, amongst others, you are just a sore loser.
Your posts in this thread took you to a new low, congrats.

Mollema is supposed to be our next Gesink, but I'm actually more impressed by Kruijswijk... 22 years old, still so strong in the final weekend, and he hasn't exactly been saving himself like Mollema has.

Agreed, what a epic ride.
Hats off to mollema to though.

why are people complaining about basso "wheel sucking" ? you should learn more about bike racing if you think it is a crime. not all riders are alberto contadors where we can attack and ride away. basso is being smart by playing it this way. Congrats to him even though I think he is back on the program.

Basso didn't wheel suck, he worked his a$s off today.

ACF94, Evans always cracks in mountains, it's nothing new. Could you maybe get it in your head that he is SIMPLY NOT GOOD ENOUGH. Instead of accusing everyone who beats him of doping

I hate the excuses. It is always something or someone else, other then "Evans simply wasn't good enough".
Very disrespectful to the riders.

Been a great day to watch cycling for anyone who loves the sport. Absolutely amazed to see that folk on this forum have to finish it off with petty squabbles in well trodden arenas.

And thoroughly sick and tired off folk throwing "doper" accusations at the end of every high profile stage here their guy loses out. I guess I am just weird to be a cycling fan who is glad to see all these riders here, and who has thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle on offer. We'll know in time if they all cycled within the stated range. I assume they all were, those that have returned I almost trust more now, in a warped way. But until I get proof otherwise, they all are fighting on level footing now.

Most riders here did fantastic, everyone had to give it their all at one point or anothere, known weaknesses showed, and almost everyone truly shined at differents parts of the finale. Wow.

+1
excellent stage.

 

[jens_attacks]

wow another awesome stage!
the italian trio was on fire.all three great champs.
vino-he looked very good on mortirolo,such a pleasure to see him attacking.thank god he's back.
evans-love him more and more.he didn't look good but still managed to be among the best.
sastre-he's always there.
arroyo-doing kamikaze descents in not enough.

tomorrow gavia...you all should enjoy it and talk less about doping bull****.

i love il giro!

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

wow another awesome stage!
the italian trio was on fire.all three great champs.
vino-he looked very good on mortirolo,such a pleasure to see him attacking.thank god he's back.
evans-love him more and more.he didn't look good but still managed to be among the best.
sastre-he's always there.
arroyo-doing kamikaze descents in not enough.

tomorrow gavia...you all should enjoy it and talk less about doping bull****.

i love il giro!

agree with all of your post.
they were all legends today. It was a yoyo climb with the guys behind. Really entertaining.
I have enjoyed watching Evan's determination also. great ride.

 

[spanky wanderlust]

crap. was out at the dmv all morning. and i come back to read the forum and i can't even read it because of one dumba$$ poster.

can someone please ban davis123, delete all of his posts, and all of the ones responding to him--including this one-- so that people can read this thread.

 

[tgsgirl]

Froome kicked out of the Giro for holding on to a motorbike, or so my twitter feed informs me.

 

[Moondance]

you need to double check that Tour, because the only time Evans ever gained seconds on Contador was on both ITT-he never got even close to AC in the mountains.....

Yes.... Look at what I was quoting:

"Lost time in the last few mountain stages then took nothing back in the final TT."

 

[spanky wanderlust]

to all of those saying cadel is not good enough: that's silly. cadel is plenty good enough. he just needs a team, 30-50 more flat tt kms and to stop losing time on bullshyte stages and situations.

cadel will always lose this amount of time on a stage like this to guys like basso and nibali in the third week. he just needs tt kms to make it up and stay in contention.

and why oh why did they let that break go and take so much time? real head scratcher.

anyway, cadel has lost a giro he should have won. and if he was ever going to win a gt, this was his shot. too bad for him. still... he put on a terrific show and his result will be pretty good.

otoh, frickin' bomb ride from basso. really great giro win from him. assuming he doesn't bonk or crash. i've really enjoyed this stage and giro in general.

 

[Eyeballs Out]

According to the cyclingnews report "Scarponi gifted stage win by Liquigas leader duo".

Really ?? I'm not disputing there may well have been an agreement that Liqugas wouldn't contest the stage win if Scarponi worked with them but to say it was gifted suggests that he wouldn't have won a straight sprint - in which case I was watching a different race

 

[tgsgirl]

but to say it was gifted suggests that he wouldn't have won a straight sprint

No it doesn't. To say it was gifted means there was an agreement, regardless of the sprinting ability of any of the riders involved. If they agree beforehand that rider X gets the win then the stage is gifted, even if rider X is hypothetically faster than riders Y and Z.

Not that Scarponi didn't deserve it, mind you.