Giro d'Italia Stage 9: Frosinone - Cava de' Tirreni (187km)

[Kender]

Apart from the guy from Bross, it looks like Columbia have sent their B team to the Giro.

they did. they sent gripeall here and cav to ToC

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Never a dull day in this Giro. So unpredictable.
Vino is probably already planning his next ambush of Cuddles, seeing his team are completely useless.

But who needs a team when you have a face like that:

 

[Mellow Velo]

Cadel Evans is wasting way too much energy. He seems to be trying hard to copy Valverde...

and poor Sastre. His bad luck in this giro never ends.

Were it the Cadel model, up to autumn 2009, I'd say that is a pretty fair observation. He is riding like a man possessed. The "old" Cadel would definitely blow up at some point, during week 3.
I'm still shaking my head in amazement at the "new" Cadel.
Once again, he was riding away from the peloton when chasing Vino. Next thing you know, he's contesting the sprint.

 

[Kender]

Wait, Cuddles has a team? I swore I saw him do all the work himself to bridge to Vino's group, again.

he had a team mate do some of the work, then he did some, then liquigas did the rest

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

We won't hear the end of it for months now the Aussies won their 3rd stage

 

[blackcat]

We won't hear the end of it for months now the Aussies won their 3rd stage

they still are not as good as Cav

 

[El Imbatido]

Aus domination of the Giro continues!

 

[tgsgirl]

he had a team mate do some of the work, then he did some, then liquigas did the rest

He shouldn't have to do any work at all, and he did way more than Santambrogio, the only teammate he had at his side.

 

[hamperium]

no greipel again

whats wrong with greipel, the gorilla
Goss wins this time
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hamperium_espana/4591544404/

vino still the leader
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hamperium_espana/4590940819/

 

[Rocksteady]

Did anyone see if Farrar got back the Red jersey?

 

[The Sheep]

Did anyone see if Farrar got back the Red jersey?

Saw him on stage for it.

 

[VeloCity]

Aus domination of the Giro continues!

Wiggins, Farrar, Lloyd, Evans, Goss - 5 of the first 9 stages have been won by 5 different "English-speaking" riders. That's got to be a first for a GT.

And where are the Italians? Just one stage win, and that was the TTT, and Nibali in pink for a few stages, but otherwise the Italian riders have been pretty quiet.

 

[Publicus]

Were it the Cadel model, up to autumn 2009, I'd say that is a pretty fair observation. He is riding like a man possessed. The "old" Cadel would definitely blow up at some point, during week 3.
I'm still shaking my head in amazement at the "new" Cadel.
Once again, he was riding away from the peloton when chasing Vino. Next thing you know, he's contesting the sprint.

I'm starting to think there is something to your implication, but I'm going to reserve judgment. It's all about the stripes right now.

 

[Roland Rat]

I'm starting to think there is something to your implication, but I'm going to reserve judgment. It's all about the stripes right now.

The Stripes have certainly given him an injection of urgency.

 

[theyoungest]

Were it the Cadel model, up to autumn 2009, I'd say that is a pretty fair observation. He is riding like a man possessed. The "old" Cadel would definitely blow up at some point, during week 3.
I'm still shaking my head in amazement at the "new" Cadel.
Once again, he was riding away from the peloton when chasing Vino. Next thing you know, he's contesting the sprint.

His sense of focus reminds me a bit of Menchov last year, sprinting for bonus seconds against Di Luca. Towards the end, he was slipping away a bit (in the final TT quite literally, of course) and the rest of the year, he was nowhere. Let's hope Cadel can take some of that focus into the Tour.

 

[Cobblestones]

His sense of focus reminds me a bit of Menchov last year, sprinting for bonus seconds against Di Luca. Towards the end, he was slipping away a bit (in the final TT quite literally, of course) and the rest of the year, he was nowhere. Let's hope Cadel can take some of that focus into the Tour.

The way he rides the Giro he won't have anything left in the tank for the Tour. Might as well skip it. (as you said: see Menchov). That way he might recover for the Vuelta.

 

[Publicus]

The way he rides the Giro he won't have anything left in the tank for the Tour. Might as well skip it. (as you said: see Menchov). That way he might recover for the Vuelta.

That would be incredibly smart to do, but unfortunately BMC got one of the coveted wildcard slots for the Tour, so I can't see how BMC allows him to sit this one out. He's going to get absolutely shellacked at the Tour.

But I think winning his first GT (if he's fortunate) will be worth it.

 

[BroDeal]

Wiggins, Farrar, Lloyd, Evans, Goss - 5 of the first 9 stages have been won by 5 different "English-speaking" riders. That's got to be a first for a GT.

And where are the Italians? Just one stage win, and that was the TTT, and Nibali in pink for a few stages, but otherwise the Italian riders have been pretty quiet.

This is a good thing. One of the knocks against the Giro is that it is too provincial. Having lots of foreign stage winners and non-Italians contending for and winning the overall will increase the importance of the race relative to the boring Tour de France.

Compare this year's race to the 2004 Giro. What a joke that one was. The Pro Tour has been very beneficial to the Giro.

 

[BroDeal]

The way he rides the Giro he won't have anything left in the tank for the Tour. Might as well skip it. (as you said: see Menchov). That way he might recover for the Vuelta.

The Tour will be like a lazy vacation compared to the Giro.

Remember when everyone would diss the Giro by saying that it was too easy? The group just rode piano until the last hour? Not anymore.

 

[Eyjafjallajokull]

Take away the weather and today's stage was fairly easy apart from the finish. If it was in the TOC everyone would have remarked how boring the majority of today's stage was.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

What about the great Bauke Mollema, 13th for the second stage in a row, a though mountain stage and now a completely flat stage. This guy is the new Eddy Merckx /copying EBH-fans mode

 

[Mellow Velo]

Take away the weather and today's stage was fairly easy apart from the finish. If it was in the TOC everyone would have remarked how boring the majority of today's stage was.

You almost have a point. I expected today to be as dull as yesterday's California stage.
As it turns out, the weather, great speed and explosive last 25kms due to attacking riding, made it another little cracker.
No flat stage will be exciting for the majority of it's duration.

I don't think Carlos Sastre thought today was "easy".

 

[Publicus]

Take away the weather and today's stage was fairly easy apart from the finish. If it was in the TOC everyone would have remarked how boring the majority of today's stage was.

 

[theyoungest]

What about the great Bauke Mollema, 13th for the second stage in a row, a though mountain stage and now a completely flat stage. This guy is the new Eddy Merckx /copying EBH-fans mode

At one point I thought he was really going to try and sprint for the win, but alas, he left it to the field's top sprinters Evans and Vino.

 

[Polish]

jumping the shark

The giro continues to Jump The Shark.....

lastyear.....pay lance to show up.
this year....riding carbon bikes/wheels on crappy 1940 era roads
next year....pay alberto and design the course with him in mind

fewer and fewer riders will be choosing the Giro for TdF prep.

It is becoming a commercial extravaganza for the bored fans, sure,
but the riders are smarter than that.