Stage 21: May 27th Milano- Milano 30k ITT

[Parrulo]

surprised no1 made one so far. . .

anyway final showdown for pink who is going to take it?

profile:

GC after stage 20:

1 Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha Team 91:04:16
2 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin - Barracuda 0:00:31
3 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre - ISD 0:01:51
4 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:02:18
5 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:03:18
6 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre - ISD 0:03:43
7 Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Sky Procycling 0:04:52
8 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Colnago - CSF Inox 0:05:47
9 Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 0:05:56
10 John Gadret (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:06:43

 

[Parrulo]

Contenders:

Joaquim "Purito" Rodrigues

Ryder "hesjay" Hesjedal

Michele "Boots" Scarponi

Thomas De "beast" Gendt

 

[ooh_25mm]

Velo news has a good comparison of purito v. TDG v. Ryder in TTs.
Tldr: historical TT data doesn't matter,it's all about the strongest and most well rested.
http://velonews.competitor.com/2012/05/news/giro-notebook-stage-20-ryder-purito-head-to-head-in-tt-cav-loses-points-jersey-hunter-others-kicked-out_221257

 

[maxmartin]

Thomas wins and takes second overall

 

[palmerq]

I am more interested to see the battle for 15th place between rodriguez and cavendish for the points jersey, its not over yet :S although it might be beyond both of them to register tomorrow

 

[Afrank]

Phinney or Pinotti for the stage win, Hesjedal to take the overall, De Gendt to take 2nd overall, and Purito to hang on for 3rd overall.

 

[jobiwan]

Pinotti and Ryder FTW!!

 

[Pippo_San]

Final GC should look like
1. Hesjedal
2. Rodriguez
3. De Gendt

I don't think the new Tank Engine can get 2.18 mins on JRod in this final stage. Not after today's effort: JRod should really bomb hard.
31 secs for Hesjedal should be doable.

 

[cineteq]

Something to take into consideration: it's an urban time trial

May the best rider win!

 

[ansimi]

I hope Rodriquez can do a good (for him) TT. I can't imagine him holding off Ryder in the standings but I really hope he doesn't get passed on the road. That always makes me sad.

There's a lot of turn-arounds in that route. I certainly hope it's dry. There are quite a few good TT guys left in the race. De Gendt, Larsson, Phinney, Tuft, Malori, Boaro, Pinotti, Clement, Rasmussen, Thomas. Which ones are good at those tight turns? Hard to predict how anybody's legs will be after the efforts this week.

 

[karlboss]

I hope Rodriquez can do a good (for him) TT. I can't imagine him holding off Ryder in the standings but I really hope he doesn't get passed on the road. That always makes me sad.

There's a lot of turn-arounds in that route. I certainly hope it's dry. There are quite a few good TT guys left in the race. De Gendt, Larsson, Phinney, Tuft, Malori, Boaro, Pinotti, Clement, Rasmussen, Thomas. Which ones are good at those tight turns? Hard to predict how anybody's legs will be after the efforts this week.

Going to be really tough for anyone to pass Rodriguez...he starts last. I suppose he could catch them pass, and then slowdown.

 

[Forunculo]

Perhaps no italian in Giro podium

 

[dlwssonic]

Phinney is recovering well he is riding well now.
Pinotti said Phinney was the favourite for the win.

 

[Random Direction]

Tuft for the stage.
Ryder for the overall.








(I might be biased due to nationality though)

 

[Fus087]

Perhaps no italian in Giro podium

Interesting.
Some years ago, basically only the Italians (and some foreigners that had ridden their entire careers up to that point in Italy) cared about the Giro. Now the rest of the world is back at the Giro. It's getting bigger, slowly but surely. Watch out, Tour.

 

[bicycle_rack]

Perhaps no italian in Giro podium

Starting to be like the TDF amirite?

 

[Zoetemelk-fan]

Something to take into consideration: it's an urban time trial

Which makes an advantage to Purito compared to TDG speaking the 2:18 advantage.

So yes, final GC:
1: Hesjedal (congrats)
2: Purito
3: De Gent

But what about contenders for today? Which impact has the last couple of days done to Phinney, Rasmussen, Boaro, Larsson, Navardauskas, Thomas, Clement, Malori?

This is a difficult pick, but I'll go with Larsson.

 

[LaFlorecita]

I'm cheering for Manuele and Purito, hope he can pull off the best tt of his life, but Hesjedal for the win seems to be the best bet.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I kind of dislike when the winner doesn't have to ever defend the leader's jersey (like Heras in 2003 or Evans last year), so I would prefer Rodríguez to hold on to it, but that's nothing more than a forlorn hope.

Hesjedal has at least worn the maglia rosa for a couple of stints, so has had to defend it during the race; while de Gendt winning is unlikely but would be great to really teach the conservative racing club a lesson.

I wouldn't totally write Scarponi off yet, though.

 

[Buffalo Soldier]

I kind of dislike when the winner doesn't have to ever defend the leader's jersey (like Heras in 2003 or Evans last year), so I would prefer Rodríguez to hold on to it, but that's nothing more than a forlorn hope.

But Rodriguez nor his team ever did attempts to defend his leader's jersey.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I reckon Henao to top 10 is a very solid bet. He's currently 11th at 7'20". That means he has to pick up 37 seconds on Gadret or 1'33 on Pozzovivo - both possible, as both are absolutely chronic against the clock.

 

[Kwibus]

I kind of dislike when the winner doesn't have to ever defend the leader's jersey (like Heras in 2003 or Evans last year), so I would prefer Rodríguez to hold on to it, but that's nothing more than a forlorn hope.

Hesjedal has at least worn the maglia rosa for a couple of stints, so has had to defend it during the race; while de Gendt winning is unlikely but would be great to really teach the conservative racing club a lesson.

I wouldn't totally write Scarponi off yet, though.

Well Hesjedals team did defend his position, while Katusha never did any work regarding defending the pink jersey. So imo Hesjedal deserves it more if you look at it from that point of view.

I'm a fan of Purito, allthough he is a wheelsucker that uses the same trick everytime. I just love his painface when he's doing it. I don't know... I just like him. He will have a hard time keeping pink though, but I hope he can do it.

 

[hrotha]

I reckon Henao to top 10 is a very solid bet. He's currently 11th at 7'20". That means he has to pick up 37 seconds on Gadret or 1'33 on Pozzovivo - both possible, as both are absolutely chronic against the clock.

You forget about the Basterd of the North, whose ITT skills are worse than those of Gadret and Pozzovivo combined and have actually been classified as a biological hazard.

 

[Kwibus]

I reckon Henao to top 10 is a very solid bet. He's currently 11th at 7'20". That means he has to pick up 37 seconds on Gadret or 1'33 on Pozzovivo - both possible, as both are absolutely chronic against the clock.

Indeed. Well done by the young Colombian.
Let's hope he can keep on improving the next years.

 

[Kwibus]

You forget about the Basterd of the North, whose ITT skills are worse than those of Gadret and Pozzovivo combined and have actually been classified as a biological hazard.

Snow is a hero though. I'm a fan of him since his stage win in the Vuelta 2 years ago and specially since he won the epic heroic queenstage of the Giro last year. I desperately hope Nieve can stay top 10!