Giro Stage 12: ITT

[Pimich]

What do you think about this ITT?

 

["flahute"]

Its technical

 

[Pimich]

This is the best ITT riders in this Giro:

1 Category (the greate)

-Armstrong
-Menchov
-Rogers
-Leipheimer
-Bruseghin
-Cancellara (but it is not his profile)
-Basso
-Lövkvist
-Zabriskie

2 Category

-Pellizotti
-Popovych
-Wiggins
-Di Luca
-Cunego
-Scarponi
-Pinotti
-Hagen
-Brajkovic


Who is????

 

[180mmCrank]

I am hoping the guy the motorbike gets his day of glory ...

... I have been watching every day so far and he is always up the front animating the race and chasing down the breaks - sometimes he even has another guy with a camera on the back - and yet every day just prior to the finish when it looks like he has it in the bag some guy with a flag steps into the road and waves him off to the side...

It must be very frustrating And the same thing seems to happen to his team mates!


ps Although his frequent rapid accelerations make me think he must be on something!

 

[Escarabajo]

This course is too technical and too long. I am not sure if I want to give all the advantage to the time trialers (Levi, Rogers, Menchov, and Armstrong). I think the riders that are in top condition will have the chance to defend themselves (Sastre, Di Luca, Pellizotti, and Basso).

Bottom line. The time trial will not prove as definitive as I previously thought it would be.

Thanks.

 

[mr. tibbs]

I am hoping the guy the motorbike gets his day of glory ...

... I have been watching every day so far and he is always up the front animating the race - sometimes he even has another guy with a camera on the back - and yet every day just prior to the finish when it looks like he has it in the bag some guy with a flag steps into the road and waves him off to the side...

It must be very frustrating


ps Although his frequent rapid accelerations make me think he must be on something!

WINRAR!!!!

I lol'd at this. Good work, 180!

My top three:

1. Menchov
2. Leipheimer
3. Basso
...
6. Armstrong
...
13. Di Luca

GET!

 

[Mellow Velo]

This course is too technical and too long. I am not sure if I want to give all the advantage to the time trialers (Levi, Rogers, Menchov, and Armstrong). I think the riders that are in top condition will have the chance to defend themselves (Sastre, Di Luca, Pellizotti, and Basso).

Bottom line. The time trial will not prove as definitive as I previously thought it would be.

Thanks.

+1 Saves me the time.

 

[Blakeslee]

If anyone has a link or could post start times for tomorrow's time trial it would be greatly appreciated! Hoping to watch some of the live coverage tomorrow.

I think Menchov and Leipheimer will end up fighting it out for the victory, but I wouldn't be surprised to see DiLuca finish stronger than expected. Should be an exciting stage!

 

[Zoncolan]

This course is too technical and too long. I am not sure if I want to give all the advantage to the time trialers (Levi, Rogers, Menchov, and Armstrong). I think the riders that are in top condition will have the chance to defend themselves (Sastre, Di Luca, Pellizotti, and Basso).

Bottom line. The time trial will not prove as definitive as I previously thought it would be.

Thanks.

I tend to agree.
Initially, I was of the opinion that it was gonna decide the race, in that it would eliminate guys like Di Luca or Sastre from the GC battle, but now, I'm not so sure.
LL's monster descending the yesterday may have played a part.

Rogers to take the TT

 

[rhubroma]

This time trial was fathomed up to showcase one of the two most beautiful Mediterranean coastal regions: the Ligurian Italian Riviera (the other being the Amalfi Coast, which will be showcased on the Vesuvio stage). It's Italy showing itself off. And Sastre even commented that just the scenery alone will make this an epic stage.

I don't like so much about this Giro route, the Dolomites light version and the Alpes light version in particular, however, this time trial intrigues me. It's sheer madness and probably should never have been incorporated in it's actual format. But, hey, gli italiani are nuts! They live for the drama. And, if anything, this stage will be dramatic.

As I've predictied before: 1. Menchov, 2. Leipheimer, 3. Basso

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

I spent the last little while studying the course, mostly on Google Earth. It looks to me like there are some false flats, and reasonably straight forward stretches, including a long push to the finish, and the course isn't 90% descending and sharp hairpin turns. It's going to make it really hard to predict. I get a feeling we'll get past about the first 160 riders and get a better idea how the top riders will go.

I still think Menchov and Levi stand the best chance to make-up time here, and they have to. I don't see Di Luca, Basso, or Sastre losing that much time in the last week. Stage 16 looks like it is built for Di Luca and Sastre, and not for Levi or Menchov. Basso says it's his kind of stage, but I'm starting to think he needs climbs like Motirolo, Izoard, Pordoi, etc. to really shine. And there's nothing like that in this race.

It almost comes down to how well DiLuca rides tomorrow. If he can finish within 2 minutes of Levi/Menchov, or even with them...

 

[180mmCrank]

I know the course is a bit weird (technical?! and long) but I am not convinced it's going to make that much difference to the actual rank order of finishers - the usual suspects will appear in the top 10.

For me it will be more about motivation -

How pumped will Di Luca be for this (Very!!) so this will push him higher up than we might otherwise expect. Not enough to win it or be in the top 5.

We know that Levi, Menchov, Basso, Bruseghin, Rogers are going to be going for it and they'll all be in the mix

But what about Armstrong? He's one of the wild cards for me. And the other that is hard to place is Sastre.

It'll be a good one to watch

And this isn't the strangest ITT we have had - didn't the Giro have a full on mountain descent ITT a few years back - I am sure i remember reading about it somewhere - maybe it wasn't the Giro i am sure it was in Italy though and part of a stage race. Anybody else remember?

 

[quadsRme]

If the last few days of mountain top finishes ended up differently i would say this ITT could possibly decide the winner. But since Danilo placed his stamp on the few stages he has a large enough lead to fend off the Levi and Menchov and the others when it comes to being in the lead after the ITT. i had initially picked Levi but not so sure now.

 

[Cobblestones]

My hunch is that Menchov might win this.

 

[Kazistuta]

I know many say there aint gonna be big time differences today, but remember it's almost 61 km's by your self (around 1½ hour)....

I admit the GC contenders who usually doesn't shine in TT's have better chances today, but I'm also pretty sure there'll be rather big gaps.

My picks are Levi and Menchov, while I think that this TT might be a good one for Voigt (he's in fact SaxoBanks best bid today with Spartacus gone). He's a good time trialer, a more than decent climber, has great technique and really lives for these distances, so we might see him try to get a result today. Not a winner, though, but a top5-10 potential as I see it.

 

[RhodriM]

Is there a list of start times up anywhere?

 

[marshan]

Is there a list of start times up anywhere?

starting times @ http://www.cyclingfans.com/node/358

 

[ingsve]

Seems a bit odd that they only have 1 minute start differences for all but the last 20 on such a long course. It won't affect the main riders but before that there will be alot of riders passing each other which is normally something you try to avoid.

Even on shorter time trials there is most often at least 2 minutes start time difference. The race commissioners will have a busy time I'd say. I guess it might be a deliberate way of getting a bigger spread on the fair play competition.

 

[Leopejo]

Seems a bit odd that they only have 1 minute start differences for all but the last 20 on such a long course. It won't affect the main riders but before that there will be alot of riders passing each other which is normally something you try to avoid.

Even on shorter time trials there is most often at least 2 minutes start time difference. The race commissioners will have a busy time I'd say. I guess it might be a deliberate way of getting a bigger spread on the fair play competition.

Isn't that the norm?

If you started them 2 minutes apart, the first would have to start at about (.. moment ... ) before 9.30 am, with six and a half hours of starts and 8 hours of racing in those 60 km. That would mean more logistical problems, more possibility of wind or weather changes, and practically no possibility for GT riders to preride the course.

EDIT: and anyway, the stage only matters for GT hopefuls (who are all in those 20 last starters) and possible stage winners. Given the profile, most probably the stage contenders will start in those 20 too. Cancellara, Wiggins, Quinziato the outsiders?

 

[screaming fist]

Cancellara is out of the race, btw

I see Leipheimer in the top 5 but not as the winner - I think, he'll lose time while descending.

My top 3 candidates are Menchov, Bruseghin, Rogers.


But honestly, my prediction are wrong all of the time, so actually, Leipheimer will win

 

[Kazistuta]

Read this preview of the course including scenic pictures from the early fall:

http://pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=7034

Looks very interesting!

 

[rghysens]

And this isn't the strangest ITT we have had - didn't the Giro have a full on mountain descent ITT a few years back - I am sure i remember reading about it somewhere - maybe it wasn't the Giro i am sure it was in Italy though and part of a stage race. Anybody else remember?

In 1987 the giro had a downhill itt: from the top of the Poggio to San Remo,
the madness!!

btw, my top 5 in no particular order: armstrong, leipheimer, menchov, rogers, basso

 

[ingsve]

Isn't that the norm?

If you started them 2 minutes apart, the first would have to start at about (.. moment ... ) before 9.30 am, with six and a half hours of starts and 8 hours of racing in those 60 km. That would mean more logistical problems, more possibility of wind or weather changes, and practically no possibility for GT riders to preride the course.

EDIT: and anyway, the stage only matters for GT hopefuls (who are all in those 20 last starters) and possible stage winners. Given the profile, most probably the stage contenders will start in those 20 too. Cancellara, Wiggins, Quinziato the outsiders?

Well, in the Tour for example it's usually always 2 minutes from the first start and 3 minutes in the end and the first starters do start at like 10 AM. I don't think the problem is huge today because it's such a though course that pure TT specialists probably won't be in the top 10 anyway but if the course had been a flat 61K race the likes of Cancellara, Voigt, Millar etc could get a slight advantage if their competitors were only 1 minute ahead of them and they might pass 3-5 of them during the race.

 

[Leopejo]

But honestly, my prediction are wrong all of the time, so actually, Leipheimer will win

So, your prediction is that Leipheimer will win, which means that he won't win?

 

[Jasper]

Everybody's forgetting Pellizotti. Great climber, rather good downhill and he's shown in the past that he's a top contender for these types of hilly TT's (see 2007 - santuario di oropa - and 2008 - plan de corones - Giro TT's). I'm not saying he's going to win this one, but I believe he's more capable of doing a good job in the GC than, let's say, Sastre, Lövkvist and Simoni.