Stage 16: Ponte Di Legno-Val Martello/Martelltal (139 km)

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Butterhead said:
And here´s a proof Quintana ignored the directions. this is from the first km of the decent from Stevio, a red flag.
BoqOU9jIYAEDBIq.jpg

And he's behind the flag so it proves **** all.
 
Aug 15, 2012
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Insofar as nairo's ride goes, i think the fact he didnt have the energy for any finishing celebration says a lot. Dude turned himself inside out for that result.
 
Jun 15, 2009
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red_flanders said:
Agree with that.

Can't ignore the fact that the race org cocked it up big time, but I don't blame Quintana, and I think you're right that he'd have gained a bunch of time and also that Ryder did a great ride. Gutsy as hell.

Pippo_San said:
Completely agree with the posts above. Uran & co. completely ****ed up, thanks to the stupidity of their DS probably.
That's their fault, a race is a race, and I bet someone like Nibbles would've never ever let him escape just like that.

Sometimes you need to have big heart and big cojones to win. Quintana had both.

Here they come. The vets. Not spoiled by media hype, feeded by crybabies like Schleck, but guys who actually know cycling. :)

I guess those who blame Nairo don´t have the slightest idea what difference it makes to ride in the wind for 60 kms or not. Some studies show up to 30% energy saving when protected.
No doubt Nairos epic ride was legit, and Hesj did a helluva of a job too (and Rolland until he cracked). No need to excuse the riders who did hide behind their domestiques. If they had the legs, they had 40+ kms time to make up a gap of circa 1.45 mins... But they hadn´t, and wouldn´t have if arriving with Nairo on the last climb.
 
Libertine Seguros said:
Echelon stage, 2013 Tour
Fuente Dé, 2012 Vuelta
Rifugio Gardeccia, 2011 Giro
Alpe d'Huez, 2011 Tour
Col du Galibier, 2011 Tour
Every GC stage of the 2010 Giro especially Aprica

It belongs among those as the most interesting Grand Tour racing days of the last few years, and definitely will take some beating for 2014's best GT racing day, but I think 'by far the most interesting' is perhaps overselling it a bit.

I'm gonna come off as a spoil spoilt but I didn't think the stage was at any time particularly rivetting.

Its one thing if Quintana attacks on the stelvio Schleck style bridging up to domestiques, or if the team Gewiss Ballan it away from the peloton.

Its another when after 2 hours of racing that promises excitement that doesn't quite materialize, you hear rumours that Quintana is 2 minutes out front with half of Movistar. Once these are confirmed you watch a clock stay at 1.40 for the next hour, after which the pre race favourite easily as expected makes the clock grow and win the giro, deciding the GC.

If it wasn't the massive race favourite/ if he didn't have loads of domestiques to pace him up to the climb, it would have been different maybe.

But once it became apparent that Quintana was so far out front with his team, it became clear he had one hand and 3 fingers on the Giro trophy.

That's something you want to see happen with the guy attacking on his bycicle, not a fait acompli we find out about through twitter.
 
Aug 15, 2012
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The Hitch said:
I'm gonna come off as a spoil spoilt but I didn't think the stage was at any time particularly rivetting.

<snipped>

That's something you want to see happen with the guy attacking on his bycicle, not a fait acompli we find out about through twitter.

Aside from Nairo's great ride, I thought the way things played out behind was pretty interesting. Uran got the MR by staying quiet, and seems to have attempted defending it in the same manner. Some of the up and comers apparently felt differently.
 
Jun 25, 2013
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yespatterns said:
Aside from Nairo's great ride, I thought the way things played out behind was pretty interesting. Uran got the MR by staying quiet, and seems to have attempted defending it in the same manner. Some of the up and comers apparently felt differently.

Speaking of the way things played out, hell of a ride by Kelderman and Aru. Young guns not only having no trouble staying with the biggest names in the race, but even attacking them left and right.
 
May 25, 2009
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I think it was a good stage, but it wasn't all that incredible.

And the big time gain has probably made the next stages less interesting than they were shaping up to be
 
Frankly, all this focus on the neutralization takes away from the heroic efforts made today. In addition to Quintana's superlative performance, Aru, Rolland, Hesjedal all deserve high praise. Uran fought hard as well.

This was a memorable stage. The last stage at any GT this enjoyable was Evans' magnificent win over Vino on the Eroica stage at Giro some years back.
 
Jun 3, 2011
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Angliru said:
Couldn't watch stage until now and beIN has gone from 67 km to a commercial break only to return with 9 km til the finish!!! WTF!!!???

Don't ya just luv beIN? (or beIN incompetent as someone posted earlier) ;)
 
FoxxyBrown1111 said:
Good find. Great from Uran not to shift blame. Seldom in todays world...

Proud of my compatriot--He well knows he fvcked up big time & had to take it in the chin. Perhaps he realized he was going to lose the Malia Rosa at some point anyways- it was just matter of time.
 
Jul 22, 2011
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Had to leave at the top of the Stelvio, so glad I recorded everything else. Fantastic stage, deserved win.

On the controversy: when in doubt, attack. Cycling is simple, sometimes.

No comment on the organization - it's mostly their fault, of course, but to be blunt, **** happens when organizing an event of this scale, though those at fault should absolutely be held accountable. Even then, I'm pretty sure a ball-to-the-wall DS would not have heard the same radio comms Lefevre did. Pardon the English langue for it's lack of words to better describe him, but a wimp.

damian13ster said:
I just cant stand any people who take advantage of bull****, win on an uneven ground like that and pretend that nothing has happened
Well, of course Quintana won on an uneven ground! Have you even looked at the profile?
 
Libertine Seguros said:
It wasn't necessarily right... it just wasn't WRONG.

Look, you play to the whistle. This is the same for any sport...

What we had here was the linesman waving to an extent that many players stopped playing: they could see the flag clearly, but the crowd was too loud to be sure whether the whistle had been blown. A sensible referee would respond to that situation: the commissaires did not act like a sensible referee.
 
Just watching the replay on Rai and halfway down the descent (57.7km to go) Uran group is only about 40 seconds (two hairpins) down on Quintana.

Just watch it at that point on (2:29:00 in) and see how slowly Uran was taking it even at that point

So OPQS and others thought the whole descent was neutralised while others just thought about the earlier corners.. ?
 
FoxxyBrown1111 said:
Chaingate, Chaingate... that´s a hyped media thing b/c Schleck was crying to the press, as always. And the naive fan buys that crap. Schleck thinks races must be stopped when it rains, on descents, on cobbles, in bad weather, and when his big pampering siz isn´t next to him.

This is no Kindergarten, but pro cycling. Evans didn´t wait after the big crash earlier this Giro, still no one complained afterwards. LA didn´t wait for AC in 2009. Froome didn´t at Vuelta 2012. Only Ulle waited in 2003, and he paid a big price for that.

Not all goes planned in sports/cycling. Otherwise you could put riders on a home ergometer and hand the win to the guy with the best computer numbers.... $hit happens, live with it, don´t complain, and fight on. Like the above (outside of crybaby) mentioned did.

Today the brave prevailed. Rolland and Hesj were special heroes. Never hide this Giro, but tried their luck with attacks. Today they collected. Nairo was hit hard by early time loses, kept quiet, suffered trou sickness, and rode alone in the wind for felt 2 hrs. The sore losers OTOH soft pedaled hiding in a group of domestiques...

You guys are getting ridiculous. Next I am going to hear that he was alone for 8 hours, rescued a child during a race and started building colonies on Mars while outpacing everyone by an hour (read abolot colonies earlier in this thread). Meanwhile, all he did was outpace Hesjedal for an entire climb by 8 seconds and Rolland who attacked relentlessly last couple of days without conserving any strength by 70 seconds. The group of contenders behind them rode their own race. They knew that thanks to organizers Quintana is gone and although if they worked together they could bring them back but I am sure if somebody did the pacing the others would just follow and drop him in the end. They rode their own race and the gap the 3 up front gained doesnt reflect what would happen if all of them rode together in any way.

Race directors blew this stage, screwed up any fight for a win at giro and its entirely on them. And those up front dont have enough guts,honor, or arent naive enough (whatever you prefer) to fix organizers mistake on their own.


And here it is to make it stick: even though Quintana tried to attack multiple times he gained ENTIRE 8 SECONDS on Hesjedal. This wasnt out of this world performance and he got bailed out. Uran and Evans could lose some time but others in the group wouldnt lose many, or even more likely wouldnt lose any.
Also about recovering from the crash and sickness.......a guy with a legit flue doesnt compete in a race with decent result and he got away from the crash fairly easy. Majka couldnt even walk to a hotel on his own following that stage ffs, still cant get recovery through massages, etc. because of damage on his legs and you dont hear him complaining every day. I lost a lot of respect to Quintana in second week of the race for all the whining and even more today
 
Statement from BMC on today's stage.

The BMC Racing Team has issued a statement in response to several incidents which occurred on Tuesday during Stage 16 of the Giro d'Italia.

Tuesday's stage of the Giro d'Italia was a complete travesty, as teams were given an official communication at the top of Stelvio Pass that the race would be controlled for safety reasons on the downhill due to road safety and other factors.

All but two teams respected this official communication. The UCI and the race organization have a responsibility to see that the rules are respected. In addition to disrespecting the race instructions regarding race neutrality, several teams pre-determined that they alone would be allowed to have more than the designated two follow cars in the peloton, which showed complete disrespect for the other 20 teams in the race.

We take no position against the three riders that rode together to the finish. However, the UCI and race organizer RCS have a responsibility to maintain fair racing conditions, which we believe did not take place. We also believe that teams which disregarded the caravan follow car rules acted in an unsportsmanlike and totally unacceptable manner.

Respectfully,

Jim Ochowicz
President/General Manager, BMC Racing Team
 
christopherrowe said:
Statement from BMC on today's stage.

Good for BMC. Now OPQS and Saxo should issue a statement as well!

Don't say Quintana was bravo or blah blah blah and Uran was careless. If under clear circumstance, no one would have let Quintana go. So, the loser was not whining without a reason. And clearly, this should not have happened in a huge race like Giro.
 
Moose McKnuckles said:
Neutralized race or not, you just do not let the race favorite ride away.
Thing is, Uran even said he had no idea Nairo was up the road until he already had a minute.
LaFlorecita said:
Yep. I think Quintana would have taken 1 min otherwise (he would not have gone all out until, like, 6-7k to go in the best scenario). Uran would still be in pink. Would be exciting with the MTT coming up.
+1
Orbit501 said:
Say what you like about the descent - the bulk of the time taken today was on the final ascent, FACT.
True, but the ascent would have unfolded completely differently had the favorites been together at the base of the climb. I don't think there's any way he would have gained the kind of time on everyone that he got today if the group had been together

Today's stage makes me a bit sad. I like Nairo and I wanted to see him get a GT but not under circumstances like these. I don't blame him for anything but it's a shame it went down like this. At this point, I hope he puts 3-4 minutes on everyone to remove any doubt, but he really doesn't have to now as he can just be defensive - I really hope that doesn't happen.

And the last week was shaping up to be so good :(
 
Jun 4, 2013
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I agree the stage would have been quiet different if everyone had acknowledged the race was neutralized. Even if Quintana thought it was not, he would have been told on the way down, or at least realized when none of the other favorites came up after decent.

I am sure Quintana would still have taken between 1-2 minutes on Uran and he would still have had a great chance to win the Giro over the next stages. All he did now, is pretty much upset everyone else in the Peloton, so he better hope that he and his team is strong enough over the rest of the race, which I do believe they will be, unless everyone gang up on him.

As much as everyone blames the other favorites as they should have known, I do find it amazing that all the rest of the teams said they were informed, and why would RCS apologize if they were sure they had not said anything?

But all that aside, what I don’t understand, is how none of the teams took any responsibility, except Saxo and to some extend AG2R. If I were Majka I would be ****ed, spending all his team trying to catch up and then he attacks and no one wants to help. They then attack him later and drop him (Kelderman, Aru) so they are all riding for minor placing’s and allowing Rolland and to some extend Hesjedal to come back in top 3-5 contention. I thought it would have been smarter, if Aru, Majka, Kelderman and Pozo worked together, minimized loss to Rolland and Hesjedal while putting serious time into Uran and Evans, both looked cooked, they could then attack each other on last 1 km for smaller gains.