Stage 19: Bassano Del Grappa - Cima Grappa 26.8 km MTT

[maxmartin]

Aru for sure, already showed his climbing ITT potential in the first ITT

 

[Fight.The.Power]

Yeh I think I would love Aru to win here but as mentioned before have no idea on his MTT credentials. The guys talented, attacking, exciting and animated.

As much as its great to see a new 'huge' star such as Quintana rise so fast and he was certainly full of smiles when I was stood next the podium in last years TDF finale in Paris .

But I do like a degree of charisma and Quintana seems woefully lacking in this department. Am I being harsh? Or will I in future years be begging an exciting Aru to show up a dull Quintana??

EDIT: and full cred to The Hitch as it seems he drew attention to this great new find ahead of everyone else.

 

[Fight.The.Power]

Jurgen van den Broeck will be more than visible IMO.

Who? Never heard of him.

 

[Juan Speeder]

Who? Never heard of him.

He killed a blond american in Aruba

 

[greenedge]

I'll go for Uran to win here, but wouldn't be surprised if Quintana did.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Monte Grappa. The Scylla and Charybdis of the cycling world. Beautiful like Medusa.

 

[Duke_S]

Induran to destroy all.

 

[Pippo_San]

Monte Grappa. The Scylla and Charybdis of the cycling world. Beautiful like Medusa.

Great comparison. From almost every route you decide to climb it, it's quite brutal. A shame they didn't choose to go with the "Salto della Capra" route from Possagno, now that would've been INSANELY epic. Probably the hardest climb you can race on.

This is such a legendary climb they should put it in the Giro at least every couple of years or so. Zoncolan my ***.

 

[The Hitch]

A mountain top tt measures who the best climber in the race is. A mountain tt over one of the legendary climbs in the sport absolutely measures who the best climber in the race is. No one but the best climber in the race is winning this (or someone who is almost the best climber in the race who has deliberately been saving themselves for this tt)

TT and pacing ability is going to be minimal, and no one of the GC contenders has the tt ability to overcome what Quintana can take on Grappa.

The only way Quintana doesn't win this is if he goes pink jersey defense mode and tries to save some energy for Zoncolan.

The only threats I see to Quintana on the stage are climbers who have taken it easy last few days ala Garzelli 2010. But the ones that spring to mind were in the break today.

I don't know, maybe Scarponi, Niemiec? Even then Garzeli 2010 was probably more of a once in a generation event. No one is going to be close to Quintana unless he takes it easy. I think even a 2 minute gap on the field is possible.

 

[alspacka]

De Greef usually makes himself visible at least once every GT with a stupid attack or pulling in the maglia rosa group or something like that. But Monfort is the master of disappearance, he was 14th at the last Tour, 16th at the 2012 Vuelta, 16th at the 2012 Tour, 6th at the 2011 Vuelta. He accomplished all this barely showing himself. I think he had one top10 in the stages of these GTs. De Greef dreams that one day he can be a Monfort.

It really is astonishing. He comes in every stage 20th-30th regardless of parcours.

Honestly I thought Lotto had 2 or 3 riders left (Wellens and some faceless other). They've got 8.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Great comparison. From almost every route you decide to climb it, it's quite brutal. A shame they didn't choose to go with the "Salto della Capra" route from Possagno, now that would've been INSANELY epic. Probably the hardest climb you can race on.

This is such a legendary climb they should put it in the Giro at least every couple of years or so. Zoncolan my ***.

Final verdict. Respect, Sir.

And now I'm entering a religious state and will spend the morning praying Rolland doesn't tank today.

 

[SafeBet]

A mountain top tt measures who the best climber in the race is. A mountain tt over one of the legendary climbs in the sport absolutely measures who the best climber in the race is. No one but the best climber in the race is winning this (or someone who is almost the best climber in the race who has deliberately been saving themselves for this tt)

TT and pacing ability is going to be minimal, and no one of the GC contenders has the tt ability to overcome what Quintana can take on Grappa.

The only way Quintana doesn't win this is if he goes pink jersey defense mode and tries to save some energy for Zoncolan.

The only threats I see to Quintana on the stage are climbers who have taken it easy last few days ala Garzelli 2010. But the ones that spring to mind were in the break today.

I don't know, maybe Scarponi, Niemiec? Even then Garzeli 2010 was probably more of a once in a generation event. No one is going to be close to Quintana unless he takes it easy. I think even a 2 minute gap on the field is possible.

Scarponi abandoned on tuesday.

 

[movingtarget]

A mountain top tt measures who the best climber in the race is. A mountain tt over one of the legendary climbs in the sport absolutely measures who the best climber in the race is. No one but the best climber in the race is winning this (or someone who is almost the best climber in the race who has deliberately been saving themselves for this tt)

TT and pacing ability is going to be minimal, and no one of the GC contenders has the tt ability to overcome what Quintana can take on Grappa.

The only way Quintana doesn't win this is if he goes pink jersey defense mode and tries to save some energy for Zoncolan.

The only threats I see to Quintana on the stage are climbers who have taken it easy last few days ala Garzelli 2010. But the ones that spring to mind were in the break today.

I don't know, maybe Scarponi, Niemiec? Even then Garzeli 2010 was probably more of a once in a generation event. No one is going to be close to Quintana unless he takes it easy. I think even a 2 minute gap on the field is possible.

I think it will be a battle between Quintana and Uran. Uran may have been holding back a bit while Quintana is climbing like no one else. Not sure why some people think Rolland will do really well. Even though he is climbing well, the TT is a different sort of effort. I think of the top 10 the only other ones to do well may be Majka and Hesjedal even though he is not a pure climber. He has looked good the past few days.

Evans will either shed minutes or hang on to ninth or tenth spot as he has some time to play with down to 11th place. I would be surprised if he made time, going on the past few stages. Pozzovivo should be suited to this stage but I think there are others finishing the race a bit stronger.

 

[Flamin]

De Greef usually makes himself visible at least once every GT with a stupid attack or pulling in the maglia rosa group or something like that. But Monfort is the master of disappearance, he was 14th at the last Tour, 16th at the 2012 Vuelta, 16th at the 2012 Tour, 6th at the 2011 Vuelta. He accomplished all this barely showing himself. I think he had one top10 in the stages of these GTs. De Greef dreams that one day he can be a Monfort.

Only in last year's Giro I remember him taking some risks. In all other GT's his top 20 was way too important to sacrifice.

But yeah, Monfort looks possessed in trying to overtake De Greef's legendary status.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

I think it will be a battle between Quintana and Uran. Uran may have been holding back a bit while Quintana is climbing like no one else. Not sure why some people think Rolland will do really well. Even though he is climbing well, the TT is a different sort of effort. I think of the top 10 the only other ones to do well may be Majka and Hesjedal even though he is not a pure climber.

Monte Grappa is a brutal climb, with over 1500 vertical meters of 8% climbing it's a caliber of Mt Ventoux or Madeleine. This TT will be an epic battle. It's all about climbers: who has better legs, who has more W/kg. If Rolland has a good day he can do very well and the same can be said of any other contender. Quintana looks like a favourite after his "ITT" to Val Martello. I hope Majka will be well (my compatriot ) after his stomach problems.

 

[FellOff]

Greenedge the only person here who thinks Uran will fancy this one? He has something to prove, and it will be interesting to see what he can do when he doesn't give Q a two minute start. Earlier in the race he looked good, and I don't think he's finished yet.

 

[Piz Buin]

Does anyone have the start times for today?

 

[webvan]

I hope I'm wrong but end of GT ITTs are often disappointing in terms of gaps, reshuffling and surprises (except TDF 2008 I suppose), especially mountain ITTs. The Giro's had its fair share of those, like the one that Pelizotti "won", or that other "shady" Italian guy from Lampre who then went to Movistar and whose name escapes me at present...ah yes Brusegin.

 

[veji11]

All I want is for Rolland to do well, It would be great if he could keep his place on the podium, but really for the 3rd place it is very very very open, even Keldermann and Hesjedal are still in play.

 

[luckyboy]

Does anyone have the start times for today?

Jetse Bol - 13:15
.....
Nairo Quintana -16:11.

 

[Ruby United]

Jetse Bol - 13:15
.....
Nairo Quintana -16:11.

How long in between each rider?

 

[wirral]

How long in between each rider?

As if by magic

 

[FellOff]

How long in between each rider?

Top 10: 3 minutes; all the rest 1 minute

 

[Butterhead]

Easy prediction:

1. Quintana
2. Ulissi DNS
3. Uranus
4. Majka (if he solved his stomach problems)
5. Kelderman
6. Professor Pozzo
7. Rolland

EDIT: just heard Ulissi quit the race.

 

[coimbrawu]

Easy prediction:

1. Quintana
2. Ulissi
3. Uranus
4. Majka (if he solved his stomach problems)
5. Kelderman
6. Professor Pozzo
7. Rolland

Ulissi has quit the race