Off season. We need some Giro 2011 discussion.

[Ryaguas]

It is quite some time ago, but I believe Evans was annoyed that Lampre did not chase hard enough or that Evans wanted to be in the front and the Lampre guy did not give him any space. I believe both of them received fines for that incident

I'll look for that notice... I want to know what happened... or the speculations at least =D

 

[Ryaguas]

Cadel Evans is a nervy bike racer. The best stage racers are tranquilo to the point of somnolence. They aren’t much bothered by anything. It’s a waste of energy anyway. But tranquilo is beyond the reach of Evans. Seeing the break go up the road without him, well, this proved too much for the fragile calm of Evans. He went to the front and got down to chasing, determined to keep the ex-bigs from gaining any time on him. It was all a bit surreal, really, as if everyone had forgotten that they were all sitting well out of the race lead. You have to fight for it, anyway.

Lampre and Liquigas, with riders in the break, decided they didn’t want the chase to work too well. Both teams began to interfere with the chase, by infiltrating the line-up at the front. Interfering with the chase is a always a delicate art. Some riders do it well, some don’t. In the smooth version, a rider joins the chase line-up without crossing wheels or punching anyone in the face. Then when it’s his turn on the front, he pulls more slowly than the average speed. Wash, rinse, repeat. The more aggressive version involves swerving, bumping elbows, and outright blocking. Frequently, this tactic leads to angry words and flying fists.

Just ask Daniele Righi. Righi wanted to protect the lead of Cunego, and in the main, he didn’t do too badly with his efforts to infiltrate the chase. His mistake was to get in the way of World Champion Cadel Evans in a moment when Evans had that not-so-tranquilo feeling. As the road curved, Righi slowed, momentarily blocking Evans. Evans, he was angry. Coming up next to Righi, the Australian grabbed the Lampre rider’s jersey. Then, Evans started pummeling Righi with his fists. Hopefully, the bike racing continues to work out for Evans, because he would never make it as a prize fighter. And seriously, you do not want Evans as your side-kick in a bar fight. Total doom. So the field is rolling along quite quickly, and Evans is pounding on Righi. Evans brah, you’re losing your ****.Giro d'Italia Evans fight Tranquilo, tranquilo. Even from the heli shot, Righi’s responding gesture required no translation. Vaffanculo! Finally, Evans seemed to realize he was in the middle of a bike race, and really, if he wanted to chase down the break, he needed to stop fighting with Righi and get on with it. Which he did. (To see the whole sorry saga, click the picy ---> )

At the finish, the break held some paltry amount of seconds over the main field. Oh Cadel, you lost your **** over 10 seconds? When you’re 10 minutes out of the race lead? Aye carrumba. Filippo Pozzato won the sprint from the gruppo ristretto. Ristretto is one of my favorite words, because it makes me think of espresso. Mmm, espresso. Right, anyway, Pozzato won the stage and gave the Italians their very first stage win of this Giro. Phew, that was getting worrisome. Pozzato said it was a dream come true to win a Giro stage in the Tricolore, the jersey of the Italian National Champion. As for Evans and Righi, they both received fines for their bout of fisticuffs. Bike racers, they really should stick to pedaling. Davide Cassani commented after the stage that Evans could have been disqualified from the race, but it hardly seems likely that the Italians would wish to throw the World Champion out of their race, especially after his hardman’s win at Montalcino. Friday, Evans and Righi shook hands on camera. Evans had the last word: Not bad for a rider who never attacks, eh?

They explain that in PodiumCafe

 

[The Hitch]

Awesome. So after looking for the vid since October we finally officially found it while it was there all the time since October!

Dont short yourself. YOU found it.

And believe me, i dedicated a lot of hours to looking for it.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

[

They explain that in PodiumCafe

that is the biggest link i've ever seen

ahhh the giro 10'. what a race.

 

[Ryaguas]

that is the biggest link i've ever seen

ahhh the giro 10'. what a race.

ye I was thinking the same when I posted it =D

 

[jens_attacks]

edit:
I think I found it again: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlZbsmRzMqA&feature=related

Note I didn't see the 2011 presentation so I'm not sure this is THE 2010 highlights vid they showed at the 2011 presentation.

hero of the day:Kwibus

damn what a race

 

[hfer07]

Contador is cleared by REFC & ready to take on the Giro

 

[moi123]

Contador is cleared by REFC & ready to take on the Giro

It's called the RFEC! But apart from that, do you think he will be going full out to win, if he does decide to ride the Giro?

 

[jaylew]

Of course. It's AC. He wouldn't go if he wasn't trying to win.

 

[Parrulo]

this is what i love about contador. he clearly isn't afraid of losing the tour. he could go for a much more conservative tour-vuelta double but instead he is going for the hard one. and tbh i like his chances. so far he always delivers never has a bad day and his ability to stay strong over 3 weeks is amazing. i reckon only a few riders are as good as him on that department(shleck, sanchez, basso, menchov and nibali(i would say his recovery over 3 weeks was what got him his vuelta since he was able to follow eze on the bola but he got dropped in andorra) are the ones i can think of)

anyway why did he only ride the tour for the past 2 years? sponsers forcing him to be 100% at the tour? hilarious cus this year he was nowhere near 100% since he overcooked himself in smaller stage races and the classics xD

 

[Kvinto]

Giro doesn't need Contador... at least the Giro that I love...

 

[Havetts]

Any race for that matter.. But thats just me.

 

[The Hitch]

Giro doesn't need Contador... at least the Giro that I love...

Of course it doesnt. But it could be so much better with him. What would be his tactic? Go on all climbs? Try to match people on the climbs and save for tt? Stay with people on all climbs then steal ahead for bonus seconds?

He will be marked as well. And he doesnt have such a good team to back him.

I hope hes not on 100% for it, and i hope he finds it difficult on the Zoncolan.

But if he does win it, and goes for the Tour that would make the TOur so so special. With the dislike for Andrew so many on here will be cheering him on for it.

 

[hrotha]

Haha, Contador not afraid of losing the Tour? Of course he is. More specifically, he's afraid of being banned before the Tour, or of being vetoed. That's why he's planning to do the Giro.

 

[Parrulo]

Haha, Contador not afraid of losing the Tour? Of course he is. More specifically, he's afraid of being banned before the Tour, or of being vetoed. That's why he's planning to do the Giro.

if he gets banned right before the tour he will lose all his results prior to the tour like valverde did. so only reason for him to ride the giro is to prove every1 he can win no matter what happened. even tho he knows he will lose his results.

i doubt ASO will refuse to invite him. with the uci supporting shleck like they have been doing and taking into account the dislike aso has for uci i think aso will actually want contador there so the "uci supported" rider, if we can say such thing, doesn't win,

anyway contador has been talking about doing the giro even before this clen stuff started so . . .

 

[Ryaguas]

Alberto will suffer a lot... but A LOT!

1st He doesnt have a good team backing him up, I cant see any rider staying with him in La Colle de la Finestre or in Zoncolan, maybe Dani but ufff I dont think so.
2nd Il Giro will count with almost the top of the top of the pure climbers in cycling
3rd He will be soooo marked
4th There will be attacks after attacks after attacks and if He doesnt choose well which attacks responds He will be dropped big time

This Giro will be a hell for him... but It'll be exciting! ufffff

 

[jens_attacks]

like most of you,i'll welcome contador decision to fight for il giro.but i won't cheer for him to win,i have other favourites here.even he'll be the favourite no.1,i hope that someone can drop him on those terrible climbs.

to win giro-tour in the same year it's possible but just if you have a giro with a 2004 peloton-like which nowadays it's different.if he does win il giro(and it's a big if),alberto will be dead in le tour.

 

[jaylew]

If he does decide to shoot for both, it will be tough considering the difficulty of the Giro. I suppose he'd be the only one who might be able to pull it off, though. We probably wouldn't see him contesting as many stage races as usual.

I'm a bit torn. It would be fun to see him at the Giro, but I'd like to see another Schleck-Contador battle at the Tour rather than AS running away with it (I'm assuming the two of them wouldn't be as chummy this time around).

 

[hfer07]

I hope hes not on 100% for it, and i hope he finds it difficult on the Zoncolan.

Hitch: it don't matter if you're the best climber around the world......everyone suffers riding the Zoncolan

BTW you have raised some good points to consider though...The brutality of the Giro might hold AC back a bit in the mountains to have some reserve in the ITT. ala 08, but yet he can have a nasty bad day like the one in the tour.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

I'm with the rest of you. IF he's allowed to ride, AC would sure be fun to watch there, though I won't be cheering for him. If they ride the Finestra that could be the decider. The stage to Fassa looks very rough. Some of the mountain stages aren't overly brutal, but when you stack them up one after another, with a whopping 8 MTF's...I can see why people would wish, and expect Contador to perform there.

Shawn Yates called the route "savage", and I think because the brutal ride to Fassa comes with many more tough stages after it, we could see some wild swings on GC. A rider could do what Arroyo did last year and catch the right breaks, maybe even to overall victory if timed right.

As to the vote, I picked Nibbles.

 

[Mellow Velo]

I dunno.
Riis doesn't seem to rate the Giro as any sort of priority, given the weak teams he sends.
He has only ever sent a junior Schleck Junior. Richie Porte was a bit of a fluke.
The Tour or nothing as far as he is concerned and I don't think Contador will take much persuading.

 

[plooton]

Now, as the things stand: No 1. favorite Contador, and I think he will almost certainly win, No 2. Nibali, and 3hird. there are 2 on the same line: Kreuziger (Roman go on !!! )) with Menchov.

 

[Ryaguas]

Now, as the things stand: No 1. favorite Contador, and I think he will almost certainly win, No 2. Nibali, and 3hird. there are 2 on the same line: Kreuziger (Roman go on !!! )) with Menchov.

Kreuziger 3rd?? wow... That's quite optimistic =D

 

[roundabout]

I dunno.
Riis doesn't seem to rate the Giro as any sort of priority, given the weak teams he sends.
He has only ever sent a junior Schleck Junior. Richie Porte was a bit of a fluke.
The Tour or nothing as far as he is concerned and I don't think Contador will take much persuading.

Uhm, 2006?

 

[theyoungest]

Uhm, 2006?

Maybe it was different when he had the best Italian stage racer on his team.