Stage 18: Belluno - Rifugio Panarotta (Valsugana) 171 km

[Fight.The.Power]

The movie was set in Colombia but filmed in Mexico and the Philippines. At least according to Wikipedia.

ROFL !

Really ! Oh OK. Well you learn something new everyday !

 

[Fight.The.Power]

Uran will do a heck of a TT. He lost his jersey trou tactical mistakes, not only on the Stelvio. He is still the 2nd strongest.
You heared it here first:
Quintana and Uran will cement their spots... From 3rd to 8th it´s up for grabs. Evans will finish this Giro 9th.

OK fair enough. Well I think I am in the minority here. We will duly find out tomorrow.

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

Don't understand why people think Uran will crack tommorrow

That´s beyond me either...

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Well that would be an added advantage having a major tour outside the usual April-August season.

Would love to see some helicopter shots of the Columbian mountains !

EDIT: Unless of course it is the rainy season ! I have seen Romancing The Stone !!

At some altitudes in the Andes, it is always the rainy season.

 

[movingtarget]

Somehow I think Rolland will struggle a lot on the Zoncolan and I don't think he is the best Mountain TT'er either. Despite my avatar, I'm rooting for him, his way of riding is both good for the race and very smart.

Today it didn't work out, but on the other days where he managed to get away he is so smart in using his team and the right moments in the race to ride away. A lot of the riders in the top 10 that only follow could've easily been in his position but they don't dare to do what Rolland does.

He attacked a bit too early today but still split the GC riders and got rid of Evans which was inevitable anyway after the past few days. I hope Cadel can do a reasonable TT and stay in the top 10.

 

[Kokoso]

Lol another poster who cannot admit knowledge of anybody else

Lol another Colombian fanboy

 

[DenisMenchov]

Stage unfolded as expected. I'm just a little disappointed PR wasn't able to distance anyone, heck he even lost a few seconds in the end.

 

[murali]

Colombians 1-2.

i was right in saying that a Colombian will win. I picked Duarte(who lost by 17sec) instead of Arredondo.

tomorrow's stage is going to be very interesting. Quintana can pace his climb becoz he will have all the data. so unless Uran has a bad day, 1-2-3 for Colombians tomorrow.

 

[damian13ster]

Dissapointed with this stage from GC perspective. Aru tried something, and much respect to Rolland. Inevitable happened in Evans cracking. Where are those people who said Quintana will put at least a minute on everybody else and prove he is the best? Aru took 3 seconds on him and rest of GC contenders were within 2 seconds.

 

[luckyboy]

Colombians 1-2.

i was right in saying that a Colombian will win. I picked Duarte(who lost by 17sec) instead of Arredondo.

tomorrow's stage is going to be very interesting. Quintana can pace his climb becoz he will have all the data. so unless Uran has a bad day, 1-2-3 for Colombians tomorrow.

Dude Pozzovivo isn't Colombian!

 

[VeloCity]

Did Quintana arrived at the finish with his mouth closed???
Or I missed that?

https://twitter.com/pelotonmagazine/status/472033979378712576

 

[PirazziAttacksVino]

Dissapointed with this stage from GC perspective. Aru tried something, and much respect to Rolland. Inevitable happened in Evans cracking. Where are those people who said Quintana will put at least a minute on everybody else and prove he is the best? Aru took 3 seconds on him and rest of GC contenders were within 2 seconds.

Ehm..He could have easily put time today on the others but it was pretty clear he saved himself for tomorrow.

 

[damian13ster]

Ehm..He could have easily put time today on the others but it was pretty clear he saved himself for tomorrow.

You people and your assumptions..... Look at facts! Aru distanced him, he didnt follow Rolland (although later caught). You can speculate whether he was saving himself or not but if he was true champion he would show he is clearly the best and isnt in the lead only by cheating and/or terrible communication from race directors. He didnt do that, but did his best Valverde impression

 

[Afrank]

https://twitter.com/pelotonmagazine/status/472033979378712576

That's awesome!

 

[alspacka]

So without that farce on stage 16 we are most likely looking at:

Uran
Aru
Majka
Pozzovivo
Quintana
Kedlerman

in GC? And gaps just a few seconds except for Uran? Would make for an awesome racing in last week. Still, a race for 3rd (and I think Uran will fade tommorow so it might be for 2nd) will be epic.

Predictions for tommorow between those riders:

Aru, Majka, Pozzovivo (within few seconds)
Rolland (30 seconds down)
Uran (cracks, over a minute down)

Dont know what to make of Kelderman

You're joking right?

 

[damian13ster]

You're joking right?

Which part? If GC then it was made just by removing results in stage 16. Nothing else.

If Uran fading part? No, I got a hunch although it is quite possible that he asserts himself in 2nd place

 

[movingtarget]

Uran will be psyched for a big performance tomorrow. I don't think he is weakening but the Zoncolan should also make a difference to the GC especially if Rolland and Quintana are feeling good.

 

[Rollthedice]

You people and your assumptions..... Look at facts! Aru distanced him, he didnt follow Rolland (although later caught). You can speculate whether he was saving himself or not but if he was true champion he would show he is clearly the best and isnt in the lead only by cheating and/or terrible communication from race directors. He didnt do that, but did his best Valverde impression

He controlled the race, absolutely no point in attacking. From a nice modest young very talented rider coming from a poor family from a country so far away he transformed himself on the descent from the Stelvio into a ruthless, cold-blooded GT assassin using every trick in the book to win. Whether you like it or not this Giro will be his first win in many.

 

[PirazziAttacksVino]

You people and your assumptions..... Look at facts! Aru distanced him, he didnt follow Rolland (although later caught). You can speculate whether he was saving himself or not but if he was true champion he would show he is clearly the best and isnt in the lead only by cheating and/or terrible communication from race directors. He didnt do that, but did his best Valverde impression

Ok, I look a facts when I see that he proved he clearly was the best on the climb of Val Martello. And please, don't tell me that if you were in the pink jersey you would go all out in a MTF just the day before a MTT. You'll look at facts tomorrow, when there will be more than a minute between Quintana and the 2nd place of the day. Just so you know, I'm not a Quintana fan by any means, but trying to believe that Quintana is not by far the strongest climber in this race is wishful thinking.

 

[Escarabajo]

Which part? If GC then it was made just by removing results in stage 16. Nothing else.

If Uran fading part? No, I got a hunch although it is quite possible that he asserts himself in 2nd place

Damian, get over it. Stage 16 is gone.

 

[alspacka]

Which part? If GC then it was made just by removing results in stage 16. Nothing else.

If Uran fading part? No, I got a hunch although it is quite possible that he asserts himself in 2nd place

Oh fair enough I assumed you were basing it on the descent attack/split not happening, not removing stage entirely.

 

[aarononymous]

https://twitter.com/pelotonmagazine/status/472033979378712576

lol, #7 is his Weekend at Bernie's face

 

[icefire]

You people and your assumptions..... Look at facts! Aru distanced him, he didnt follow Rolland (although later caught). You can speculate whether he was saving himself or not but if he was true champion he would show he is clearly the best and isnt in the lead only by cheating and/or terrible communication from race directors. He didnt do that, but did his best Valverde impression

You know, Quintana and Valverde are teammates, but Unzué also had in his team a certain guy called Indurain who didn't use to show he was the best in every stage.

 

[christopherrowe]

I hadn't even noticed that Ivan Santaromita didn't take the start. Tuft and Hepburn now the only remaining Orica GreenEdge riders and they both finished with the last group on the road, over half an hour down. I hope they both make it to Trieste, it would be a shame after the first week they had if they didn't have anybody cross the final finish line.

 

[damian13ster]

Ok, I look a facts when I see that he proved he clearly was the best on the climb of Val Martello. And please, don't tell me that if you were in the pink jersey you would go all out in a MTF just the day before a MTT. You'll look at facts tomorrow, when there will be more than a minute between Quintana and the 2nd place of the day. Just so you know, I'm not a Quintana fan by any means, but trying to believe that Quintana is not by far the strongest climber in this race is wishful thinking.

Nah. I wouldnt use dirty tricks to get into MR, so I guess I would be forced to attack for the remaining two stages + do my best in ITT