Off season. We need some Giro 2011 discussion.

[Parrulo]

it means he's afraid and those that are afraid I would often call a coward.

afraid of what? rujano? lawl

have you ever thought that saxo as team is in a dangerous position. the sponsor has been wanting to leave for a long time and riis will prolly need a new one for the next season. if contador wins the giro is all good for us but it wont appear in the newspapers as much. if he then goes to win the tour awesome but if he fails he won't get much exposure and will rather be seen as the guy who couldn't revalidate his tour tittle for the average july fan of cycling. and that won't be good for riis who wants to get a new sponsor. now if contador doesn't ride the giro and goes to win the tour its great publicity and riis most likely won't have much trouble getting a new sponsor and some new fresh money to start rebuilding his team.

so calling him a coward for doing what is best for his team/mates(cus if riis doesn't get a new sponsor they will lose their job and will have to look for another team) is rather stupid.

still i hope he races the giro but i understand if he doesn't

p.s. i thought contador was making more then 5 mil per year tbh. i dunno were i got this number but i thought it was around 7 or 8. lulz

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

afraid of what? rujano? lawl

have you ever thought that saxo as team is in a dangerous position. the sponsor has been wanting to leave for a long time and riis will prolly need a new one for the next season. if contador wins the giro is all good for us but it wont appear in the newspapers as much. if he then goes to win the tour awesome but if he fails he won't get much exposure and will rather be seen as the guy who couldn't revalidate his tour tittle for the average july fan of cycling. and that won't be good for riis who wants to get a new sponsor. now if contador doesn't ride the giro and goes to win the tour its great publicity and riis most likely won't have much trouble getting a new sponsor and some new fresh money to start rebuilding his team.

so calling him a coward for doing what is best for his team/mates(cus if riis doesn't get a new sponsor they will lose their job and will have to look for another team) is rather stupid.

still i hope he races the giro but i understand if he doesn't

p.s. i thought contador was making more then 5 mil per year tbh. i dunno were i got this number but i thought it was around 7 or 8. lulz

no afraid thet he can't do the double and loose the tour.

 

[El Pistolero]

no afraid thet he can't do the double and loose the tour.

Bjarne is afraid of that, Contador not so much.

 

[Parrulo]

Bjarne is afraid of that, Contador not so much.

ya i agree withs. honestly if alberto does the double this year he would be officially the best stage racer of cycling's modern era.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Bjarne is afraid of that, Contador not so much.

so that would mean contador is afraid of riis. even worse possibly

 

[Parrulo]

so that would mean contador is afraid of riis. even worse possibly

wait wut?

it doesn't mean contador is affraid if riis. it means that riis is afraid of having no sponsor for next year and contador being riis rider riding for riis team respects/understands his fears. contador believes he can do it(the double) and riis prolly also does but its afraid of risking it.

simple as that. where the hell did you got the "contador is afraid of riis" idea? lol

p.s. prolly riis would prefer to get the tour this year to secure a sponsor for a couple more seasons and next year with a garanteed sponsor he wouldn't mind taking the risk. thats how i see this situation

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

contador fears riis, contador had a big loud mouth last year, saying he would do the double or triple and now chickens out for whatever reason it's an act of fear. ever since last year him almost licking andy schleck up the tourmalet he lost all my respect

 

[Angliru]

contador fears riis, contador had a big loud mouth last year, saying he would do the double or triple and now chickens out for whatever reason it's an act of fear. ever since last year him almost licking andy schleck up the tourmalet he lost all my respect

Anyone who believes a rider who speaks of successfully doing the grand tour triple is deserving of any disappointment that comes when said rider backs out of this seemingly impossible venture. In this day and age it is hard enough to win back-to-back grand tours, winning all three in the same calender year? There is a reason that it has yet to be done after decades of cycling.

 

[Angliru]

anton( if he doesn't crashs's), michele and nibali(seems stronger in the climbs this year and he knows how to cut his losses when needed) should be up there aswell, and ofc we can't forget menchov and purito.

then there are some second tier guys who can surprise us, please allow me to be biased and say tiago machado may be a surprise tho i think his climbing hasn't looked that great lately.

this will be a great giro. lets hope all of this guys get there in top shape and with no health problems ( mostly rujano cus iirc i heard you say that he gets sick too easily)

Purito I understand is suffering from some type of knee issues as a result of a dodgy fitting of his cleats. This explains his lack of performance at T-A. I'm hoping he gets it corrected and recovers to be on form for the Giro. Unfortunately he's already a bit behind fitness wise as a result.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Yeah I hope Rujano does well.

How about Pozzovivo? Remember someone saying he was one of the best climbers in the world, though I haven't seen any performances like that.

2010:
He was up near the front in the hilly stages of Coppi e Bartali, but lost time in a split in the péloton in a flat stage. In the Giro del Trentino he was 5th in the uphill sprint to San Martino di Castrozza, before this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4euz0FcNqx4
That's a big, mean, steep mountaintop, and that's Domenico Pozzovivo getting on the front and dropping Basso, Vino, Rujano, Scarponi, Pardilla and Niemiec before finally finishing off Riccò. Before you say "yes, but apart from Pardilla and Niemiec those guys were just preparing for the Giro", that's just what Pozzovivo was doing too. He followed that with a spectacular performance in the Giro dell'Apennino, dropping everybody on the Passo della Bochetta; unfortunately for him Kiserlovski was in the break, and the Croat won the two-up sprint.

In the Giro he crashed and lost a lot of time in the Netherlands, eventually succumbing to his injuries before the mountains so we never really got to see what he had to offer. He had been in the break and picked up some mountain points en route to L'Aquila too. He bounced back from this by annihilating the field in Brixia, taking a minute on both MTFs. He had some pretty good results in one-day races like the Tre Valle Varesine, the Giro dell'Emilia and the Giro della Romagna too.

And in the infamous CSF-Navigare Giro, attention paid to his more ludicrous colleague Sella meant Pozzovivo's ride, mostly from within the péloton unlike Sella, Baliani or Pérez Cuapio, went somewhat unnoticed; he outclimbed di Luca, Piepoli and Contador to Alpe di Pampeago (he likes that place), and then came 2nd in the Passo Fedaia stage after attacking the heads of state in Sottoguda; it's true that they weren't that fussed about him as he wasn't much of a GC threat, but he still climbed solo and outclimbed Riccò, Contador, Menchov and di Luca that day. He outclimbed di Luca and Menchov en route to 8th on Kronplatz too, and was with the heads of state to Monte Pora and Tirano over Gavia, Mortirolo and Aprica.

At 28, he should be at something close to his peak now. He's a real featherweight climber, and can be trusted to throw a spanner in the works. I wouldn't call him a candidate to win the Giro though.

 

[Parrulo]

2010:
He was up near the front in the hilly stages of Coppi e Bartali, but lost time in a split in the péloton in a flat stage. In the Giro del Trentino he was 5th in the uphill sprint to San Martino di Castrozza, before this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4euz0FcNqx4
That's a big, mean, steep mountaintop, and that's Domenico Pozzovivo getting on the front and dropping Basso, Vino, Rujano, Scarponi, Pardilla and Niemiec before finally finishing off Riccò. Before you say "yes, but apart from Pardilla and Niemiec those guys were just preparing for the Giro", that's just what Pozzovivo was doing too. He followed that with a spectacular performance in the Giro dell'Apennino, dropping everybody on the Passo della Bochetta; unfortunately for him Kiserlovski was in the break, and the Croat won the two-up sprint.

In the Giro he crashed and lost a lot of time in the Netherlands, eventually succumbing to his injuries before the mountains so we never really got to see what he had to offer. He had been in the break and picked up some mountain points en route to L'Aquila too. He bounced back from this by annihilating the field in Brixia, taking a minute on both MTFs. He had some pretty good results in one-day races like the Tre Valle Varesine, the Giro dell'Emilia and the Giro della Romagna too.

And in the infamous CSF-Navigare Giro, attention paid to his more ludicrous colleague Sella meant Pozzovivo's ride, mostly from within the péloton unlike Sella, Baliani or Pérez Cuapio, went somewhat unnoticed; he outclimbed di Luca, Piepoli and Contador to Alpe di Pampeago (he likes that place), and then came 2nd in the Passo Fedaia stage after attacking the heads of state in Sottoguda; it's true that they weren't that fussed about him as he wasn't much of a GC threat, but he still climbed solo and outclimbed Riccò, Contador, Menchov and di Luca that day. He outclimbed di Luca and Menchov en route to 8th on Kronplatz too, and was with the heads of state to Monte Pora and Tirano over Gavia, Mortirolo and Aprica.

At 28, he should be at something close to his peak now. He's a real featherweight climber, and can be trusted to throw a spanner in the works. I wouldn't call him a candidate to win the Giro though.

thats some great info libertine (like always)

i didn't know pozzovivo was this good. very impressive indeed

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

2010:
He was up near the front in the hilly stages of Coppi e Bartali, but lost time in a split in the péloton in a flat stage. In the Giro del Trentino he was 5th in the uphill sprint to San Martino di Castrozza, before this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4euz0FcNqx4
That's a big, mean, steep mountaintop, and that's Domenico Pozzovivo getting on the front and dropping Basso, Vino, Rujano, Scarponi, Pardilla and Niemiec before finally finishing off Riccò. Before you say "yes, but apart from Pardilla and Niemiec those guys were just preparing for the Giro", that's just what Pozzovivo was doing too. He followed that with a spectacular performance in the Giro dell'Apennino, dropping everybody on the Passo della Bochetta; unfortunately for him Kiserlovski was in the break, and the Croat won the two-up sprint.

In the Giro he crashed and lost a lot of time in the Netherlands, eventually succumbing to his injuries before the mountains so we never really got to see what he had to offer. He had been in the break and picked up some mountain points en route to L'Aquila too. He bounced back from this by annihilating the field in Brixia, taking a minute on both MTFs. He had some pretty good results in one-day races like the Tre Valle Varesine, the Giro dell'Emilia and the Giro della Romagna too.

And in the infamous CSF-Navigare Giro, attention paid to his more ludicrous colleague Sella meant Pozzovivo's ride, mostly from within the péloton unlike Sella, Baliani or Pérez Cuapio, went somewhat unnoticed; he outclimbed di Luca, Piepoli and Contador to Alpe di Pampeago (he likes that place), and then came 2nd in the Passo Fedaia stage after attacking the heads of state in Sottoguda; it's true that they weren't that fussed about him as he wasn't much of a GC threat, but he still climbed solo and outclimbed Riccò, Contador, Menchov and di Luca that day. He outclimbed di Luca and Menchov en route to 8th on Kronplatz too, and was with the heads of state to Monte Pora and Tirano over Gavia, Mortirolo and Aprica.

At 28, he should be at something close to his peak now. He's a real featherweight climber, and can be trusted to throw a spanner in the works. I wouldn't call him a candidate to win the Giro though.

he's bit like rujano in that they share their weaknesses (and strenghts, excep itt) because they are small are vulnerable for cold, sickness,wind and rain, let's hope for heaty may, both aren't exactly good downhillers either.

 

[Ryaguas]

let's not forget that lampre and androni have the strongest climbing teams in this giro

Well Geox should have a mention too... Menchov, Sastre, Duarte, Ardila, Valls, De la Fuente... ufff... that is a great team for teh mountains...

also anto has beaten contador before. purito did it in last year's tour. just examples.

Anton beat Contador after Alberto covered like 3 or 4 attacks...
Purito beat Contador in a sprint...

btw i highly doubt rujano became "multi millionaire"

In Venezuela yes... but not Multi-millionaire like Bill Gates...

and shows again the coward that he is

Wow wow... easy there... I dont want to argue with you Ryo... I like you but that comment was over the line...

i wouldn't call him coward. but i would say he had become another tour obcessed f*g

I dont think so... He has said several times that He is not a Tour obsessed and He will, some year, skip Le Tour to focus in Il Giro and La Vuelta...

afraid of what? rujano? lawl

have you ever thought that saxo as team is in a dangerous position. the sponsor has been wanting to leave for a long time and riis will prolly need a new one for the next season.

> Snip <

p.s. i thought contador was making more then 5 mil per year tbh. i dunno were i got this number but i thought it was around 7 or 8. lulz

Wasn't that sponsor Specialized?
and yep,,, is like 7M a year...

no afraid thet he can't do the double and loose the tour.

Nah I dont think so... He clearly knows that He is beatable... but if He wants to do the double He wants to do it well... with a good team backing him up... not a suicidal attack to the double but something well organized...

 

[jaylew]

it's not about contador having to worrie about rujano, it's about who has more of a chance of beating contador. menchov has never beaten him or even come close, neither have nibali or anyone else, only guy who stands a chance imo is rujano and perhaps scarponi for his unorthodox and aggresive way of racing.

This actually makes sense. I don't really see Rujano beating AC, but I certainly don't see any of the usual suspects doing it. At least Rujano is a wildcard. And it's not as if the guy is a scrub - he came 46" from winning the Giro at what, 22? Theoretically he should be much stronger now. Of course, he has as much chance of finishing outside the top 50 as finishing in the top 10.

 

[Angliru]

This actually makes sense. I don't really see Rujano beating AC, but I certainly don't see any of the usual suspects doing it. At least Rujano is a wildcard. And it's not as if the guy is a scrub - he came 46" from winning the Giro at what, 22? Theoretically he should be much stronger now. Of course, he has as much chance of finishing outside the top 50 as finishing in the top 10.

This might be a stereotype but I'm going to run with it anyway--the South Americans seem to follow different approach to racing in the mountains. Their contenders don't seem to follow the wait-til-the-final-mountain/climb-to- initiate-aggressions strategy that the Pro Tour teams have adopted over the past decade or more. This plan of action hasn't exactly been successful in causing any concern among the regular grand tour contenders' teams. Their approach will in the least shake up the status quo and at most cause some real drama to unfold. I welcome it with great anticipation. Just looking at the finish of the most recent Tour of Catalonia stage there were 5 Columbions in the top 30 of that MTF and likely one more would've been there had he not been in an all day break that he held up to the base of the final climb. To me that is impressive and bodes well for them, for the sport and for us as fans.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

what makes it better is the more of these riders in the peloton the less organized it will be. imagine 9 colombians in the attack on mountain 1 in the giro, it will be mayhem.

 

[The Hitch]

imagine 9 colombians in the attack on mountain 1 in the giro, it will be mayhem.

Hands up who when reading this post is picturing 9 Colombians splattered on the floor next to eachother under the "climb begins" sign.

 

[Ferminal]

Rujano FTW on the Etna stage... 60-70km of just steady climbing.

Hoping that Androni can make things crazy on the Crostis so we have damaged goods arriving at Ovaro.

Btw, has the route for Stage 11 changed at all?

Maybe I'm imagining it, but I thought there were a lot more uncategorised bumps in the 2nd half.

 

[roundabout]

Looks the same to me.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Rujano FTW on the Etna stage... 60-70km of just steady climbing.

Hoping that Androni can make things crazy on the Crostis so we have damaged goods arriving at Ovaro.

Btw, has the route for Stage 11 changed at all?

Maybe I'm imagining it, but I thought there were a lot more uncategorised bumps in the 2nd half.

is this the dirt stage??

 

[roundabout]

No, the one to Orvieto is the dirt stage

 

[Eshnar]

Hi guys...
I'm new here, so I'll introduce myself first of all.
(almost) 23 years old, italian.
Have been following cycling since 2003 (mostly the classics and above all the Giro), and I don't have any favourite rider (though I'm obviously biased for the italians).
Nice to meet you

As you maybe have already noticed, there have been several changes in the giro route... the new profiles are available here.
You'll find them by clicking "elenco delle tappe", then the stage you want and finally "altimetria". The english version seems messed up

basically the changes are:

stage 5: Monte Nibbio as been deleted, and substituted by two more stretches of sterrato (good for us), ending 15 km to the finishing line (total of 30 km of strade bianche I think)

stage 6: small change at the end

stage 7: Monte Taburno substituted by another climb, shorter but steeper (especially the first part)

stage 11: Now is 142 km long (instead of 160), but there are more categorized climbs (the final part is the same)

stage 13: The ending won't be in Kasereck, but more uphill, at about 2100 m

stage 17: After Aprica there's another small climb

PS Being italian, I'll be mostly in this thread

 

[Ferminal]

Thanks for that, great info!

I didn't know there was a 2011 site and had just been looking at the "2010" one. I was hoping that they had the final km profiles up too, but I guess we will have to wait a bit longer.

The new profiles haven't been made into the nice RCS side on view, so the flat ones will have to do for now.

Stage 5

I'm happy with this change, the Monte Nibbio wasn't very steep and on sealed roads so wouldn't have forced a selection... Instead we get more downhill dirt roads

Stage 6 - No real change, the sprinters are still a good chance, but someone brave could stay away on final 10km or so of "false flat".

Stage 7 - Again this isn't a big change, will be the same group sprint on Montevergine.

Stage 11 - Shouldn't change the outcome

Stage 13 - I would have preferred they finish at Kasereck where it's steeper. The extra climbing obviously makes it a bit harder, I just hope they don't all hang on until the last 5km

Stage 17 - Instead of a small bump 5-10km from the end there's a bigger one 20km from the end.

Also, the new profiles show the plateau at the top of the Crostis as a dirt road? Just when you thought that stage couldn't get any crazier.

 

[Eshnar]

the top of Crostis is dirt since the beginning strange you didn't notice before...
To tell the truth, the entire climb was on sterrato until last year, when RCS paid about 250000 euros to asphalt it (I guess it was in really poor condition, otherwise Zomegnan would have been more than happy racing on the dirt)

 

[Ferminal]

Yeh, the first profile doesn't have the top "white"

On the new one it does