Tamest opening GT stage

[will10]

Prime contender in the offing today.

Other nominations please.

 

[Ferminal]

Meh, today in isolation is not an issue, but with Brescia it combines for a 19 day GT.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

18, because tomorrow's stage has no business existing either.

 

[Afrank]

I know your talking about the parcours, but just got to say, no one can call the finale of today's stage tame. Pretty epic final for a sprint stage.

 

[williamp78]

I know your talking about the parcours, but just got to say, no one can call the finale of today's stage tame. Pretty epic final for a sprint stage.

That was a pretty cool sprint.

Also, how do people think this stage compares to the traditional prologue?

 

[Miburo]

I know your talking about the parcours, but just got to say, no one can call the finale of today's stage tame. Pretty epic final for a sprint stage.

It's like saying Justin Bieber was singing a good song for once. It still will be garbish.

 

[pedromartins]

It's like saying Justin Bieber was singing a good song for once. It still will be garbish.

It's all about the riders (most of the time). The sprint was just fantastic!

 

[jens_attacks]

it was a very bad start for il giro, i agree

 

[forkboy84]

YEAH! There should be a Mountain top finish every day.

 

[jens_attacks]

YEAH! There should be a Mountain top finish every day.

nah, it's because i didn't like the final kms and the sprint

images were awesome

 

[burning]

YEAH! There should be a Mountain top finish every day.

People were pleased with initial route of this stage and it wasn't a MTF

 

[Zam_Olyas]

Yeah, not for nothing forkyboy, when people say a good route they don't naturally mean a MTF. How many times has this got to be mentioned?

 

[Libertine Seguros]

That was a pretty cool sprint.

Also, how do people think this stage compares to the traditional prologue?

Prologues > Scheldeprijs clones. "Right, I'm going to draw ten names out of a hat, and those ten will receive injuries. The next 20 I draw will crash but be OK. The rest can roll around a park for an hour before having a sprint".

If they're going to have a road stage as the first stage, that's not a problem, but they could at least have made it an interesting road stage.

This is the original parcours for this stage:

Note the more interesting profile that allows for more different possibilities. Or, alternatively, look at today's parcours:

and wonder, how much more interesting would the race have been if the stage were run in reverse? Alternatively they could have had the same laps but alternating the flat circuit and the hilly circuit, or done the flat circuits first then the hilly circuits to finish, to make for a more interesting parcours whilst still being able to compromise with those in charge at Napoli that wanted to show off the city improvements they've made.

 

[taiwan]

GTs have some easy stages. Different teams do the work, different riders get a chance to win. A grand tour does not comprise 21 GC stages.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

GTs have some easy stages. Different teams do the work, different riders get a chance to win. A grand tour does not comprise 21 GC stages.

But the weekends ought to have interesting stages since these are the days with the maximum potential audience.

 

[taiwan]

It's the first stage of the Giro, so people will still watch, I reckon. A straightforward final few kms would be better though.

 

[will10]

People were pleased with initial route of this stage and it wasn't a MTF

Exactly.

But the weekends ought to have interesting stages since these are the days with the maximum potential audience.

Exactly.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Liked the sprint today, but racing was dull for the most part.
Hopefully the people of Naples enjoyed themselves.

 

[The Hitch]

Liked the sprint today, but racing was dull for the most part.
Hopefully the people of Naples enjoyed themselves.

They probably did considring none of them seemed to care about the race.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

They probably did considring none of them seemed to care about the race.

so you think they had nothing better to do than stand at the side of the road?

 

[taiwan]

Anything is better than a TTT. Tiresome viewing, handing a GC advantage to the 'overdog'.

 

[will10]

I agree that long TTTs have little or no place in GTs. But my god they are amazingly good fun to ride. Which is perhaps why I personally don't find them dull viewing.

 

[ElChingon]

Some of you need to read up on the business end of the GT's before going off on stage profiles for your entertainment. This stage probably garnered the city of Napoli a boat load of profits for its local business and they are who the stage was made for, not you's. Next time you're in a start/finish city talk to the local business people, they'll give you the reality of why a particular city is chosen over another and why they would give their left ... arm to have the city re-host a stage and have both the finish and start be in their city which is a double win for them. Heck read up on the local city politics and how much they spend to get to be a host city, you will flip your lids.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

The original designed stage was in Napoli too, and was a clearly better stage. As I mentioned, you could even keep the flatter circuits, but do things in the opposite order with the flat loops first and the hillier loops second. The whole stage was televised, so it wasn't like you were screwing over one group of businesspeople etc.

 

[will10]

Some of you need to read up on the business end of the GT's before going off on stage profiles for your entertainment. This stage probably garnered the city of Napoli a boat load of profits for its local business and they are who the stage was made for, not you's. Next time you're in a start/finish city talk to the local business people, they'll give you the reality of why a particular city is chosen over another and why they would give their left ... arm to have the city re-host a stage and have both the finish and start be in their city which is a double win for them. Heck read up on the local city politics and how much they spend to get to be a host city, you will flip your lids.

You must think us pretty ignorant if you really think none of us know that.