giro stage 10: Cuneo - Pinerolo

[BroDeal]

Dang. On the original course Di Luca would stand a good chance of winning this Giro. On the neutered course, not so much. I am pulling for him, though.

 

[Bala Verde]

another 29s lost to di luca (Basso and Leipy) and 19 to Menchov and Sastre. (excluding the bonus seconds). 10s lost by menchov and sastre to di luca... interesting developments

 

[Animal]

OK, that's enough work bandwidth stolen, I'm closing that window!

 

[Cobblestones]

Pellizotti in front of Basso. Hm. Also LL and Astana dropping gaps. Very interesting.

The final speedbump was nasty, in particular because it came after 250 km of fast riding.

 

[Zoncolan]

Kudos to Di Luca! Hope he can do a strong TT. If he can limit his losses to less than 3 minutes there, he might still be in with a chance of winning this Giro.
Sastre is really coming along nicely, Vesuvius should be fun to watch.

 

[jaylew]

Things looking a bit nicer for Di Luca going into the TT. Picked up an extra ~50 secs on Levi, Basso, and Rogers.

 

[lookkg386]

Things looking a bit nicer for Di Luca going into the TT. Picked up an extra ~50 secs on Levi, Basso, and Rogers.

That's the key now -all roads lead to that ITT.

 

[Delicato]

Menchov's descending skills are much better now...Basso's are the same, now I am considering him as an only second tier ITT favourite, behind Menchov(damn, he is strong, what kind of stuff is he on?), Leipy and of course Rogers, who can really be a surprise.

Sastre, on the other hand, really amazes me. The guy is really a super GT rider, not only because of results, but because of his patience, reaction and careful approach to the race. If he does an OK ITT (i.e. 1 or 1.5 minute loss to Menchov) I am sure he will be on podium, or even win.

Pellizotti will lose massive chunks of time Thursday-really, this is not the same like last year- CERA won't help him.

 

[benpounder]

ha what's up, Leipy blew up his engine, does not want to work to chase back to sastre and Menchov and Di luca

Actually, Levi lost it on the downhill, and had the misfortune of getting in with Garzelli (blown from 100km solo) Basso (with Pellizotti, wouldnt work) and Soler (cant TT).

Hats off to DiLuca who showed how to win, and Sastre, Menchov for hanging on. Rogers did well to get back onto Levi, of course he was with others who were willing to work!

 

[Escarabajo]

I don't know about you guys, but that was a beautiful stage. At the end everybody fighting for position. What about the dark horses Sastre and Menchov? Forget about being the dark horses, now they are the favorites. Levi needs his daddy to help him some more. OK enough said.
Thanks.

 

[benpounder]

Kudos to Di Luca! Hope he can do a strong TT. If he can limit his losses to less than 3 minutes there, he might still be in with a chance of winning this Giro.
Sastre is really coming along nicely, Vesuvius should be fun to watch.

Given the TT course layout, DiLuca could win the damn thing. Given how tight it is, and how shakey Leipheimer looked on todays downhill, advantage Denis.

 

[Delicato]

Oh and by the way...there are at least two stages which are tailor-made for Di Luca, next mountain stage and of course Blockhaus-only 20-25 (or so) riders will be battling for the win and he can obviously outsprint everyone. So-there can be like 40-60 sec to his advantage.

 

[DenisMenchov]

I think Denis is no1 favourite for this one we have 60km long ITT and he`ll send Di Luca to at least 1 and a half minute behind him. He`ll also do some damage to Sastre, maybe lose some time Levi and Rogers but they can`t do anything in 84km uphill stage, so my money on Menchov.

 

[jaylew]

Glad something happened near the end. Great descent by Di Luca. I figured there would be time gaps on this stage despite it being changed and was kinda wondering why everyone was looking at the TT for the next GC shakeup.

 

[Delicato]

I think Denis is no1 favourite for this one we have 60km long ITT and he`ll send Di Luca to at least 1 and a half minute behind him. He`ll also do some damage to Sastre, maybe lose some time Levi and Rogers but they can`t do anything in 84km uphill stage, so my money on Menchov.

Agreed. I read the interview with Menchov before Giro in Russian (at Romandie), he said that he had a blistering form-yet, not at the peak.

I am pretty sure he won't show anything like that on Tour- just another Top-10 place, nothing more.

 

[Mellow Velo]

If Leipheimer continues to decend like a cardboard box in a gale, he won't win the ITT and certainly DDL will limit his loses to a managable recoup.
61kms it might be, but their hardly a flat. It's tight, it's twisty and requires a road bike, rather than the usual.

Yes, Menchov and Sastre are shaping up to be the main threats.

Basso? Both his form and role within the team, remain an enigma.

 

[DenisMenchov]

I forgot to say that to me moment of the day was Arroyo when he vertook Levi from the outside and he left him like 10 sec in 2 corners.

 

[ingsve]

Lövkvist lost time today but at least he's still holding on better than lsat years tour where he at the 10th stagewhich also was a mountain stage lost 24 minutes...Hopefully he'll keep trying to stay up there without giving up.

 

[Escarabajo]

Just a question: Is it Sylvester Szmyd from Liquigas the rider that has been putting the high pace in most of the mountains in this Giro?
If it is him then kudos for a great job.

 

[ingsve]

Just a question: Is it Sylvester Szmyd from Liquigas the rider that has been putting the high pace in most of the mountains in this Giro?
If it is him then kudos for a great job.

Yes, he's been doing most of the damage when Liquigas gets going.

 

[Bala Verde]

Yes, he's been doing most of the damage when Liquigas gets going.

Is/was he not strong enough to (have) outgrown the role of first lieutenant, first of Cunego, and now of Basso? Shouldn't he have been given some more leeway in previous years to assert himself as a steady climber, perhaps with a couple of wins?

 

[Anonymous]

interesting how people where raving about liquigas a few days ago and slating the other teams for not helping them.. the handful that said perhaps they made a mistake perhaps are being proven correct..

lance seems to be improving steadily..

that aside, enjoyable stage, di luca is looking good, but its still early.. im not sure he can maintain this for another two weeks, when the likes of rabobank, and astana really havnt kicked into gear yet.. the TT is certainly gonna be interesting..

oh.. and levis descending today was pathetic.. i could have taken him on that downhill..

 

[Bala Verde]

... when the likes of rabobank, and astana really havnt kicked into gear yet..

Rabobank should not be overestimated as a team in this years Giro. Compared to previous years, the team is stronger, mainly because they usually sent their youngsters/less great riders, riding without any real goals, besides 'training'/'experience'/'fielding riders'.

When I saw their line up, in combination with the news that Menchov had indicated he would try to go for an overall win, I found the team composition far from reflecting his ambitions.

I just finished reading a piece in a dutch newspaper, and the DS even says that the MR would come too soon, if at all, after the TT. He publicly stated that he prefers Rogers or Leipheimer to take it. With Horillo out, van Emden (a youngster) caught up in a crash today or yesterday, and basically no support in the mountians besides Ten Dam, he finds it precarious to have the team control the race for the remaining 2 weeks.

I'd rather not see Menchov in MR either after the TT... with stinging attacks from a united Italy (LIQ,LPR,LAM,ISD,DIQ, AQU, but agressive riding from COL) it's a recipe for disaster and could destroy the team before they get to the neutered Blockhaus

 

[alexander.n.parker]

I'm thinking DiLuca is riding the Giro of his life. The combination of fitness and confidence looks a lot like LA at the peak of his TdF prowess - winning stages because he can. We'll see what the ITT brings - he's playing it down, but if he can turn in a good performance, he's gonna be hard to beat.

 

[Leopejo]

interesting how people where raving about liquigas a few days ago and slating the other teams for not helping them.. the handful that said perhaps they made a mistake perhaps are being proven correct..

How so...?