Giro stage 15: Forlì - Faenza, 161 km

[rhubroma]

I gotta give props to Basso simply for trying that. That is what I love about the Giro. It is more about individuals going for it than teams escorting their GC man to the final few kilometers.

Yes, and the Italians seem to like it that way. But at times to a foreign rider's or riders' advantage, which is fine of course. DiLuca would rather see Menchov win than Basso. And Basso would rather see Lance (er, um , I meant Leipheimer) win than DiLuca, etc., etc. In the end, the Italian teams thus establish a strategy of garegare contro ("to race against" the other Italian squadre), in order to neutralize the attacks of another national GC rider. The foreign teams with their GC conteders, consequently, get to sit back and enjoy (and profit from) this comedia all'Italiana. And this, as you point out, if anything, makes for an unpredictable (and less organized in the "all for one and one for all" sense) style of racing at the Giro. As if Italian cyling were still in the Middle Ages when it wasn't LPR against Liquigas but the Guelfs against the Ghibellines.

In any case, whether or not Basso truly road well yesterday, only today's stage will provide the conclusive verdict. Was there just lots of smoke but little meat on the barbie? Or will his fans be treated to a real feast today?

Tough one to call...

 

[ingsve]

Big thumbs down to Grivko for stealing the non-existent KOM points from Garzelli on the last climb. You just don't do that, especially to a veteran and former winner. Uncool.

What? He's been in breaks and collected points for 2 days now and is trying to challenge Garzelli for the jersey so why shouldn't he try and take points.

 

[ingsve]

I gotta give props to Basso simply for trying that. That is what I love about the Giro. It is more about individuals going for it than teams escorting their GC man to the final few kilometers.

I would actually qualify it as high level team tactics rather than a rider just going for it. It's just not the typical kind of JB team tactics.

not convinced basso played the right move today, but time will tell, not completely sure what he was up to...

If you look at Basso as an individual rider then it makes less sence than if you look at Liquigas as a team. Thoughout the Giro Liquigas has ridden as a team with the high pacing leading into the mountains etc so I'm sure most of what they are doing is tactical in nature rather than just going for it.

 

[Leopejo]

What? He's been in breaks and collected points for 2 days now and is trying to challenge Garzelli for the jersey so why shouldn't he try and take points.

I was convinced too that there were only two riders ahead of them (Bertagnolli and the poor Cervelo guy) and Grivko would go for the third place in the KOM, worth 1 point.

Instead, there still were many riders between the leaders and the Basso group, making the KOM sprint pointless - literally.

 

[rhubroma]

Yes, and the Italians seem to like it that way. But at times to a foreign rider's or riders' advantage, which is fine of course. DiLuca would rather see Menchov win than Basso. And Basso would rather see Lance (er, um , I meant Leipheimer) win than DiLuca, etc., etc. In the end, the Italian teams thus establish a strategy of gareggiare contro ("to race against" the other Italian squadre), in order to neutralize the attacks of another national GC rider. The foreign teams with their GC conteders, consequently, get to sit back and enjoy (and profit from) this commedia all'Italiana. And this, as you point out, if anything, makes for an unpredictable (and less organized in the "all for one and one for all" sense) style of racing at the Giro. As if Italian cyling were still in the Middle Ages when it wasn't LPR against Liquigas but the Guelfs against the Ghibellines.

Of course I was simplifying a bit here...and it goes without saying that a DiLuca or a Basso would prefer to win themselves. Yet there is a spirit, at least, of gareggiare contro among the Italian teams which makes an impact on the style of racing at the Giro and its GC evolution which foreign teams are "excluded" from. This is also because, unlike in the recent Tour history, no French riders and teams have been going for the win, whereas the Italians have always had multiple frontrunners at the Giro. But it also seems cultural.

That the Italians are, as a society, generally provincial in outlook (Florence against Siena, Milan against Venice, everybody against Rome, etc.,) is a well known national characteristic. And this can be broken down even further, when one talks about one identifying one's primary alliances with one's neighborhood within the city (as at Siena's famous Palio equestrian race); or still more microscopically when one speaks about campanalissmo - the ultimate form of provincialism - that is being most devoted to those who live with you near the piazza of the parish church within the neighborhood and therefore under the shadow, in a manner of speaking, of the church's belltower (campana).

Given such provinciallism, is it any wonder how the Giro becomes a grand arena on which the melodrama of real or perceived alliances, to be honored or broken, become the order of the day? To say nothing of the now counterproductive, now antagonistic atmosphere it has at times created in la squadra azzura at the Worlds.

Just thinking about the stage today and how it will be interpreted, makes me want to get out on my bike early. So, I'm off...Cheers

 

[kjetilraknerud]

umm.. what am i missing?.. who's the second in this? Pellizotti?

4. Franco Pellizotti, 2.00
6. Ivan Basso, 3.03

Which makes Basso the second. He went up the road, so Pellizotti didn't have to work in the group behind.