Super human Liquigas

[theswordsman]

the same thing happened with BMC almost, evans soft pedalling so he didnt drop the whole team, just better communication probably.

But BMC finished 43 seconds behind Astana, so I wouldn't necessarily call it a better result.

Vino did a lot of long hard turns at the front. Astana, like a number of teams, didn't have a lot of depth at Time Trial specialists. I doubt they've put in the time working on it like Sky or Garmin. They probably could have saved a couple of seconds if Strangelj had been allowed to draft. Being up front yelling at a guy who was already frustrated and probably angry was a mistake. We'll see how it affects the team once things get tough in the mountains.

Liquigas is a really deep team Imagine if Pellizotti was here and Nibali was in California), and they impressed the heck out of me today. For Basso to gain time on GC contenders in any kind of Time Trial is huge. People are comparing Nibali's situation to Contador's the year he won, but I think it's better. Alberto was in a recovery phase, with his next scheduled race the Dauphine Libere. Nibali was to ride the Tour of California starting this weekend, so he should be at a high level of fitness. He hasn't done recon of the climbs, but he also hasn't had weeks of expectations, pressure and press. And I really liked his, "I wasn't even meant to take part in this Giro but just you now try taking this pink jersey off me." He's respecting his situation like an Italian.

 

[Eyjafjallajokull]

Would you have been as quick to open up a thread in 'The Clinic' if Sky had won?

Of course not. If Garmin had beat sky it would have been a fair cop.

 

[Eyjafjallajokull]

Liquigas may give up the jersy in the next few days, but come the moutains I expect them to smash everybody.

 

[Ferminal]

So Liquigas are doped, but Sky, Garmin, T-Mobile and Phonak are clean, because they finished behind them.

 

[barn yard]

can we have a list of the world class time trialists on team sky, apart from wiggins?

liquid gas have fielded a very strong team at the giro, i wouldnt go as far as saying they are 'super human' when you look at the other teams

 

[Oldman]

Vino did a lot of long hard turns at the front. Astana, like a number of teams, didn't have a lot of depth at Time Trial specialists. I doubt they've put in the time working on it like Sky or Garmin. They probably could have saved a couple of seconds if Strangelj had been allowed to draft. Being up front yelling at a guy who was already frustrated and probably angry was a mistake. We'll see how it affects the team once things get tough in the mountains.

I agree with both you and Angrilu and that's where the communication helps. Those guys are expected to help into week three when you really need to dig for motivation. I didn't see Liquigas rotation much but Astana always seemed to have some gapping which has to hurt the weakest guys. Liquigas finished a bunch of dudes that probably have a broad strength level in addition to the time they spent at the front of several stages.

 

[Winterfold]

So we're all agreed then. Team Sky were the real winners of the TTT and Liquigas are as bent as a banana.

Quite how you draw that conclusion from the responses to your question is beyond me.

What was the point of asking it?

Just to be clear, for the hard of reading, I can see how Liquigas beat Sky legitimately - for a start they did not drop riders.

 

[laziali]

Quite how you draw that conclusion from the responses to your question is beyond me.

What was the point of asking it?

Just to be clear, for the hard of reading, I can see how Liquigas beat Sky legitimately - for a start they did not drop riders.

Because Liquigas has a history of doping. Beltram, Pellizzotti. No doubt other posters can add more.

 

[Animal]

Did you see Vino's face at the end of the TTT, compared to the faces of his teamates?? they had the most horrible pained looks on their faces like they just took a couple years off their life to keep up with Vino, and Vino had his mouth closed practically, perfectly tranquil!! wtf!!

I can well believe it. Is there a youtube clip of them finishing?

 

[MarkGreen0]

They were climbing well today. Did you see them on the second to last climb when all five men blew the peloton to bits?

Evans should have stayed further back rather than playing their game and blowing up. He could have saved the energy for later.