Rujano can win this Giro, believes Savio

[greenedge]

2nd the Contador's suspension gives him the title.

 

[jens_attacks]

Quando l'anno scorso il simpaticissimo scalatore affermò di essere secondo in salita solo a Contador e a Rodríguez, molti infatti storsero il naso. Purtroppo Rujano non potè dimostare nella scorsa stagione quanto fosse vero il suo assioma. Vinti il Táchira e il Langkawi, non prese parte al Giro per la questione inviti. Quest'anno finalmente Rujano può dimostrare che la sua affermazione non era affatto un'eresia. E oggi è andata in scena la prima lezione. «Avevo detto questa cosa l'anno scorso e oggi la ripeto - ha detto Rujano dopo l'arrivo - anche perché sono sicuro che se fossi stato al 100% della condizione sarei potuto rimanere con Alberto. Penso che però andrà sempre meglio da qui in avanti e spero di poter vincere una o due tappe». La classifica generale per José è infatti compromessa, non però quella dei GPM, e chissà che questo piccolo dettaglio possa mettere un po' di pepe a un Giro che dopo una settimana sembra ammazzato dal Pistolero spagnolo che non sbaglia mai un colpo.

he says again that he meant it when he used "the 3rd greatest climber of the world" phrase.and that if he would have been at 100%,he would stayed with alberto no problem.next target-one or two stages,he's getting better and better.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

this foto is pure gold _O_

 

[Kwibus]

Ryo, The fanboyism in you is of epic proportions.

It's entertaining

I support you, because I've always had a weak spot for South American climbers, allthough you are a the one and only true fanboy!

 

[Angliru]

that's what I;m hoping too because contador isn;t known to losing abnd already he seems to hate rujano. this will be fun

"Hates Rujano"?? Let's not create drama where there isn't any unless you have some quotes that support that statement.

 

[Angliru]

todays stage. he was physically annoyed when rujano wouldn't want to take over and just kept attacking him after that

That doesn't translate to "hate" dude. "Hate" is a pretty strong word. "Annoyed" is likely the more accurate description. Understandable but he solved that problem by winning the stage and gaining time on his opponents which was his objective. I would think that he was also impressed with Rujano's determination and heart if anything.

 

[Angliru]

I dont think he will. Cos he got over 5 mins on Rujano and knows he will take a handfull of minutes on the final flat TT he wont be covering Rujano as he was coverering Andy in last year's Tour. Also at some point he will start to think about conserving a little energy as he also needs to be able to do the Tour.

However, the other favorites need to worry a bit more about Rujano if he can keep up his good form. Also I dont think Rujano would be able to blow Contador up anyhow, but he could blow up the likes of Scarponi and Nibali.



That happens in a lot of breakaways, but that doesnt mean that half of the peloton hate eachother

Rujano isn't Contador's problem until he gains back enough time to become a threat. As you state he's everyone else's problem and it will be up to the other contenders' teams to keep him in check should he continue to put time into them and eat away at their advantages. The way I see it Rujano aggression in the mountains would be more advantageous to Contador/Saxo Bank than the rest of the contenders. They would have to use their domestiques/teams to avoid a threat to their position in the gc from advancing further.

 

[Angliru]

Honestly, where's this gifting nonsense coming from? If it's day 18 and Contador already has 10 minutes on everyone else, maybe. But on the Etna and with a chance to take pink, with time bonuses on the line, why the hell should Contador "gift" the stage win to a guy he doesn't seem to know very well, and who's possible contender (even if he's a longshot) on top of that no less?

These folks really don't understand the time bonus system or maybe they simply don't know that it is in effect in this year's Giro.

 

[Angliru]

Cause it's Contador and he does this all the time. He was going to gift stage 14 of VaE 2008 to Valverde for example, but he cracked. Then Contador decided to be a ****** against Mosquera

Please get a grip. He and Valverde are friends, having shared time on the Spanish gold-medal winning Olympic team. In all honesty none of us know exactly what Contador would've done had Rujano decided to work with him. We can only speculate which is what forums are about. Now given that scenario I'm can only assume that in the mindset that Contador was in- feeling good-that he would not have hesitated to attack Rujano eventually and dropped alot earlier than he did. That wind would not have been Rujano's friend up there.

 

[Angliru]

also contador absolutely great and respect for his attack but after that he triest to drop rujano twice and when he sees he can't drop him gets frustrated and asks him to take over and rujano refuses and he gets angry from it. what do you expect?! when your opponent is trying to drop you then of course you aren;'t going to assist him in taking over so he can jump away from behind your back. contador shouldn't be such a crybaby

I must have missed the quotes where he was complaining about Rujano not willing to work. His motioning/asking Rujano to take a turn is part of ensuring that the break succeeds. You have a strange approach to the sport. If you're racing and a rider chooses to benefit from your hard work without contributing in anyway, I think one has a right to ask that they take a turn and not doing so, the rider asking has every right to drop that other ride like a bad habit.

 

[Angliru]

He wasn't angry, he didn't look back after he asked that. Think Contador took a good look at his face and saw he was at his limit.

How is Contador a crybaby? He attacked from 7km out, caught Rujano easily, dropped Scarponi, asked Rujano once to work together on a not so steep part, saw his face and dropped him in the last 2km.

It's how Contador always climbs when in top shape. Accelerate fast to drop everyone to open op a big gap quickly and then climbs at more or less the same pace as his chasers. It's what makes him so good on the steep parts. Once you open up a small gap there, it's usually game over.

But Contador definitely would have gifted the stage away if Rujano worked together or did all the work. They could have taken more time then so 8 bonus seconds don't matter.

But the thing is, Rujano couldn't.

You must have some inside knowledge that most of us aren't privvy to since you keep using the word "definitely".

 

[Angliru]

Please list exactly. I still don't think he gifted the Tourmalet stage to Andy btw. Imo gifting stages is absurd and not even very respectful except in very specific circumstances, like when you do it to a teammate, or maybe to someone who has no ambitions for the GC and helped you gain more time.

It's pure speculation, but it's restday so whatever, but I strongly don't think Contador would have "gifted" the stage to Rujano regardless of what he could've done and I think he should not have.

If you look at the Tourmalet stage, you'll notice that Contador didn't even contest the sprint with Andy. He just coasted in, sitting in the saddle. Keep in mind his motivation in giving the stage to Andy was the supposed guilt from "Chaingate" and Andy getting all angry in his little belly about Contador not waiting for him while he put his chain back on, but that's another can of worms that I'm not going to revisit in depth.

 

[Escarabajo]

this foto is pure gold _O_

LOL. Who is that kid at the end of the table.

 

[Bag_O_Wallet]

Imo he clearly giften the Tourmalet stage to Andy, but I totally agree that he wouldnt have giftet Etna to Rujano, even if the latter had shared the work. Bertie simply wanted to win yesterday.

I suspect this too. In the 2008 Giro, he didn't get a stage win. Now he has one, and the bonus seconds aren't anything to sneeze at either... at this point at least.

 

[The Hitch]

LOL. Who is that kid at the end of the table.

There's someone at the end of the table

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Androni and their squad of behemoths are reminding me of 2008, when Roberto Reverberi (I think, might have been Bruno) was talking to RAI in the midst of the Dolomite stages where his CSF-Navigare squad was going absolutely ballistic, and Mario Cipollini called him "Snow White" throughout the interview, "because his team consists of seven dwarves".

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

haha yes I remember that. also cipo really hated sella and kept bashing him on tv after every stage he won and sella would enter the broadcast booth, made also fun of his teeth

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

http://translate.google.com/transla....com/2011/05/16/rujano-exige-a-contador.shtml

Google Translate is funny. Rujano requires accountant
And appearently, this accountant even accelerated away from Rujano

 

[Michielveedeebee]

haha yes I remember that. also cipo really hated sella and kept bashing him on tv after every stage he won and sella would enter the broadcast booth, made also fun of his teeth

Damn straight he did, Go Cipo!

 

[Libertine Seguros]

haha yes I remember that. also cipo really hated sella and kept bashing him on tv after every stage he won and sella would enter the broadcast booth, made also fun of his teeth

To be fair, Lelle's teeth are pretty bad

Those races were fun, though CSF-Navigare really took the p*ss.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

it said steepest it was the steepest in that vuelta but not the hardest. they have alto de letras that is 18 km long and takes over more than 3000 metres in height

well zoncolan isn't that long but is crazy steep. Much harder then the profile you posted. So that really doesn't give us an indication.
Apparently tho, they should handle altitude climbing pretty well.

the competition in real climbing is in colombia tougher than europe. in everything else it's tougher in europe

I realize Colombia (I know who is Venezuelan) have lots of natural climbers, but don't you think if European riders also soft peddled on the flats and then hit the mountains, stages would also turn out different? Common sense. Agree that the races aren't comparable.

I already knew Rujano was a great climber, but unlike you I hold this to the 05' Giro. You say VaC 09' form blah blah, but that doesn't convince me, Races in Europe are indeed raced completely different. Until he proves it on the big stage I can't really agree with this hype. Don't get me wrong, I know he is a great rider, and has lots of potential, but I can't take the VaC form out of this world comments seriously. Sure he was great there, but I don't consider domination there the same as being successful in Europe.

I do agree tho, the guys here (Kreuziger, Nibbles Menchov, Scaponi, Anton etc) are all proven losers when up against AC, and at least Rujano is a bit of an unknown compared to AC, and thus we have hope. Being minutes down could still work in his favor, and I too hope he can make it interesting. Time will tell....

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

in colombia they don't soft pedal in the flat. they go harder in flat than most european races. look at averages. now I don't say the flats in colombia is tougher because europe is more tough because of the speed accelrations and ability to go much harder as well as all the nervous pushing in flat etc but in colombia they don't know what it is to stand still. they attack from the get go until the finish, flat or not flat.

I've heard now from colombian riders who said the pace in mountains in colombia is higher than in europe so I tend to believe that yes. rujano literally said he will be on vuelta colombia 2009 shape next week. he doesn;'t even talk anymore about 2005 because he has shown and proven to himself and others the past few years that he is much stronger than in 2005. you think these riders are bullsh*tting and you know better??

btw in 2010 vuelta colombia he got beaten by henao (admittedly, rujano wasn't in shape of 2009). I remember you laughing your *** of when I sayd he will be able to podium giro in his first year. well he will, you didn't expect rujano to follow contador on etna either and accoriding to rujano he isn't near his best shape yet. even he surprised me.

 

[El Pistolero]

Yes, I think South American cyclists are bull****ting most of the time. Didn't Rujano call Andy Schleck NOT a pure climber? Lol.

And Joaquim the second best climber? Yeah, in what world is that?

If the pace is slower on European climbs than someone should tell the Colombians to stop getting dropped on them. Yeah, Rujano has proven him self. Colombian cyclists? Not so much.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

I remember here and other places how he got laughed at for calling himself the 3rd best climber in the world. well it seems he was actually too humble as he's now the 2nd best climber in the world and after this giro the best climber in the world. goodbye with contador

actually rai asked him about this yesterday and he said I was deadly serious. but after yesterday I wasn't even near 100% shape and I could already follow contador I will now try to win 2 of next 3 mountainstages

how can you not love this guy! _O_

 

[El Pistolero]

Think you should rewatch Etna Quite a big difference between the two.