Pierre Rolland

[roundabout]

Brave riding,but Quintana put him in his place today. Not sure if he can move further up on GC.

Will be interesting to see how he goes on the Zoncolan

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Brave riding,but Quintana put him in his place today. Not sure if he can move further up on GC.

Will be interesting to see how he goes on the Zoncolan

Doubt he will go well. Too steep.

But lets not forget Rolland has made the race over 3-4 stages.
Today was the first time Quintana made a move and it was partly prompted by yet another initiative by Rolland.

Take Rolland out of this race and we would be looking at the dullest version of a GT since TdF '12.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

I think Rolland will move down in the GC the coming stages.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

I think Rolland will move down in the GC the coming stages.

Yep, think your right.
Running out of steam.

 

[CyclingEnthusiast]

I think he deserves a podium the way he's ridden, the way he's clawed his way back considering his poor time trial performances and always looking to attack the bunch rather than sit happy

He has made the race somewhat more exciting in my view.

 

[Eclipse]

I think Rolland will move down in the GC the coming stages.

Probably =(

He's been involved in almost everything exciting though so he's gone up quite a bit in my estimation.

Would love to see his aggression rewarded.

 

[ZolaNS]

Piere looked stronger than Hesjedal in the middle of the climb and I thought he'd make the summit along with Nairo and of course take the stage win but suddenly was dropped while Hesjedal found the way to survive.

 

[Poursuivant]

He is brilliant.

Is it true he wants to go the Tour too? Wouldn't it be best if he swerved it and went the Vuelta?

 

[Nastyy]

By his own words it seems like he bonked a bit because he didn't eat and drink well during the stage. Shame 'cause otherwise I think he could've followed Quintana and finished with Ryder.

But he'll get his podium alright, second to only Quintana in this race and the TT shouldn't hurt him now that it is uphill.

 

[Michele]

Brave riding,but Quintana put him in his place today. Not sure if he can move further up on GC.

Will be interesting to see how he goes on the Zoncolan

We shouldnt compare him to Quintana cause the colombian is 1 step ahead of him when he's fine.

According to cyclingnews article he admitted to have barely eaten and drink during the stage and that's pretty weird in a stage where you spend a lot of calories just for the low temperatures and that's why he cracked yesterday near the top while at bottom he looked pretty fine.

So far he has been one of the most solid riders of all this Giro, I donno why he shouldnt keep this position on GC or even improve.

 

[veji11]

Doubt he will go well. Too steep.

But lets not forget Rolland has made the race over 3-4 stages.
Today was the first time Quintana made a move and it was partly prompted by yet another initiative by Rolland.

Take Rolland out of this race and we would be looking at the dullest version of a GT since TdF '12.

Rolland will have a hard time getting the podium, although he utterly deserves it. I even fear him dropping out of the top5 which would be a shame. there are 3 decisive stages left :
- Thursday and the ascent to the Panarotta refuge. This is the stage best tailored for him with a long hard climb with constant 8/9% gradients. For him to make the podium he would have to be able to put some distance with his rivals on that climb.
- Friday the Cronoscalata will hurt him a bit : he is just bad at itt and will lose some time on the first 7 flat ks. The rest of the climb should be ok, but there is a psychological element in ITT that doesn't sit well with him anyway, it's like he needs to know that there are riders behind him to give his best. Still he should be solid, no disaster looming, but I could see most of the other podium contenders putting him 30 seconds behind or more.
- Saturday the Zoncolan is unfortunately too steep for him. he is a big guy, who likes to push big big gears, not pedal real fast. He isn't fat by any means, but those horrible gradients are where the smaller Arus and Pozzos should hurt him.

My hope is that out of the 8 guys fighting for the podium a couple really fade (Evans, hopefully one or two more) and he can hang on to a top 5 finish. It would be a well deserved prize for all he has done for the race. But if you asked me today what is his most likely final rank, I would say 6/7th, which is a shame.

It is really too bad he was 200 meters short yesterday, had he managed to stay past that steep part with Quintana and Hesjedal, he would have had 2,5ks of wheel sucking on some flat and would have lost 30 seconds instead of 1mn10. And those 40 seconds might be the difference in the end between finishing 3rd and finishing 6th.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

That MTT has a 7km flat section over 27km total.

Will riders switch bikes? If not, will Rolland really get hurt on the flat part compared to other GC contenders?

In any case since we have so little action (without trains etc.) on climbs these days, I must say I look forward to this test in general.

I really hope Rolland can perform well here.

 

[greenedge]

I think he can definetely improve, he just needs to ride more conservatively and try take time on Uran- if he does this he could take 2nd (other contenders/ fatigue levels might impact that).

 

[veji11]

I think he can definetely improve, he just needs to ride more conservatively and try take time on Uran- if he does this he could take 2nd (other contenders/ fatigue levels might impact that).

In terms of fatigue, we are getting to the point where it is hard to know who will collapse. Normally Rolland is known for his capacity to last the whole 3 weeks, but he has been the most active riders of all those competing for the podium, attacking almost every stage so... it is also very possible he just gets very tired and ends up 7th or 8th a good 3 minutes away from the podium.

I hope it doesn't happen that way, but it is a possibility. I would much rather he finished 3rd, for the spirit of the race it would be a lot fairer than just having someone who spent 3 weeks sucking wheels on the podium. I really want him or Hesjedal up there on the box, one of them deserves it.

 

[Kokoso]

Rolland says he saw no red flag on the descent... http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/rolland-i-didnt-notice-any-red-flag-on-stelvio-descent
but http://velolive.com/uploads/posts/2014-05/1401215228_jeredgruber.jpg

Is that possible or is he lying?

 

[cineteq]

Rolland says he saw no red flag on the descent... http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/rolland-i-didnt-notice-any-red-flag-on-stelvio-descent
but http://velolive.com/uploads/posts/2014-05/1401215228_jeredgruber.jpg

Is that possible or is he lying?

It doesn't matter if he saw it or not. RCS (mis)communicated the descent was NOT neutralized.

 

[damian13ster]

I dont know. Is it possible to be professional cyclist if you are blind?

 

[Kokoso]

It doesn't matter if he saw it or not. RCS (mis)communicated the descent was NOT neutralized.

It does matter if my question is if he lies or not. I'm not asking about what RCS should or shouldn't do.

 

[veji11]

I dont know. Is it possible to be professional cyclist if you are blind?

This is ridiculous, have you seen the snow/rain they were cycling in ? they have motorbikes around them all the time, to me it is very possible they didn't see it as a different motorbike or that they thought it was to signal dangerous turns at the beginning, nothing more.

 

[damian13ster]

They PASSED the motorcycle. There is no way they didnt see it. I am sure that if you are going at high speeds, downhill you can tell whether the object next to you is stationary or moving?

 

[Jspear]

It does matter if my question is if he lies or not. I'm not asking about what RCS should or shouldn't do.

There is so much disagreement with this issue. I'm hearing multiple different stories from different rides. Pozzovivo for example- he lost time- but he is stating that he went down the descent as fast as he could. I personally think with all the cold, slippery roads, and snow, that Rolland could be telling the truth. Of course I don't know for certain, but things seems so jacked up that he could be telling the truth.

 

[Afrank]

They PASSED the motorcycle. There is no way they didnt see it. I am sure that if you are going at high speeds, downhill you can tell whether the object next to you is stationary or moving?

But where did they pass the moto? And did he have the flag held up at the time of the passing?

We'll likely never know, but if the moto had to put the flag down at any time to put both hands on the bars and if a pass occurred at one of these times then they wouldn't have seen it.

 

[SafeBet]

But where did they pass the moto? And did he have the flag held up at the time of the passing?

So you're implying Marco Velo, a race official, is going to the press and talk BS?
Why would he do that? Personal dislike for Quintana, Hesjedal and Rolland?

 

[damian13ster]

If the driver of a motorcycle is not lying they were signalling for him to speed up multiple times. I am pretty sure one of those times flag was up since it was safe for riders to take their hand off the wheel, it was the same for motorcycle which has better stability on the road. And then after he didnt they passed. Unless you claim that he is lying (what possible motivation would he have to do that, especially compared to riders who gained unfair advantage thanks to that and are trying to save their face) the facts are pretty obvious here.

 

[Afrank]

So you're implying Marco Velo, a race official, is going to the press and talk BS?
Why would he do that? Personal dislike for Quintana, Hesjedal and Rolland?

What did Marco Velo say? Don't think I saw it.

I don't think I'm implying anyone is talking BS. I'm saying that there could be the chance the flag have had to be put down at some points in the road, and if so the riders may not have been able to see it.