The Time has come.

[Vino attacks everyone]

Is Kiserlovski riding?

nop

............

 

[Libertine Seguros]

The Giro may have reduced the super-steep stuff this year, with only the Pampeago stage being super brutal gradient-wise (on the final climb at least, we all know about the Mortirolo etc), but I don't see Fränk winning. His time trial is barely better than J-Rod, and his climbing on the steep stuff is inferior to Purito's too.

 

[gregrowlerson]

The Giro may have reduced the super-steep stuff this year, with only the Pampeago stage being super brutal gradient-wise (on the final climb at least, we all know about the Mortirolo etc), but I don't see Fränk winning. His time trial is barely better than J-Rod, and his climbing on the steep stuff is inferior to Purito's too.

They are doing the Giau too, or is that the on the Pampeago stage? And stage 8 I think has a rather steep section at the end, though not too long and it finishers on a short flat.

I see Frank as a more consistent climber over 3 weeks than J-Rod. The former is more likely to make the podium. The latter more likely to win a stage. It just seems that J-Rod always has one bad stage that ruins him, though I think he deserves a podium result.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Also.

This year the giro is thus structured that the 12 day middle section, even if it not particularly hard on paper, will favour those peaking / able to resist the fatigue until the last week even more than the usual GT setup. I think this adds to the suspense, and in this regard Basso would appear very feasible. Though I voted for Rujano myself. Last year he got ill, and that gnaws my certainty about him a bit.

even when ill he was better than everyone but contador. I still hope for great weather though and right now it is in italy.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

The Giro may have reduced the super-steep stuff this year, with only the Pampeago stage being super brutal gradient-wise (on the final climb at least, we all know about the Mortirolo etc), but I don't see Fränk winning. His time trial is barely better than J-Rod, and his climbing on the steep stuff is inferior to Purito's too.

but pirot always suffers in long climbs and always has a bad day in one of them. frank is good in long climbs, although no match for guys like rujano, quintana, scarponi and even basso

 

[Froome19]

Hope this is the right place to post this.
I have some questions about the trophy.

#1: The winners of all years are writing on the trophy; does that mean it keeps getting longer? Or do they simply remove the oldest to keep it at a managable size?

#2: (This is actually a couple of questions in one.)
Last year Contador won, but then he didn't. I assume riders get to keep their trophies. A: Did he have to hand his back? B: Was that trophy destroyed and replaced with a version that said 2011: Scarponi, rather than 2011: Contador?

I read an article where Acquerone was complaining about the fact that he needed to get a new trophy after contador's ban.

 

[The Hitch]

The Giro may have reduced the super-steep stuff this year, with only the Pampeago stage being super brutal gradient-wise (on the final climb at least, we all know about the Mortirolo etc), but I don't see Fränk winning. His time trial is barely better than J-Rod, and his climbing on the steep stuff is inferior to Purito's too.

Purito doesn't like the cold, he is tired from the ardennes, and he has been underperforming in gts for a while. also his time bonus advantage is gone.

 

[Peccio89]

Hope this is the right place to post this.
I have some questions about the trophy.

#1: The winners of all years are writing on the trophy; does that mean it keeps getting longer? Or do they simply remove the oldest to keep it at a managable size?

2011: Contador?

Since they call it the never-ending trophy i guess they keep adding the names

 

[hatcher]

With Nibali not riding, I'll move my pick to Scarponi. But it's a very tepid pick.

 

[Caruut]

Since they call it the never-ending trophy i guess they keep adding the names

Maybe make them smaller?

 

[DominicDecoco]

For finally doing the right thing Frank gets my vote.

 

[sucotash]

Honestly I have no idea who will win it. I have doubts about every GC contender. With a gun put into my head I would say Scarponi, but I do not think that Cunego riding this race is good for his ambitions.

I think we will have a big surprise in four weeks time

 

[Froome19]

Purito doesn't like the cold, he is tired from the ardennes, and he has been underperforming in gts for a while. also his time bonus advantage is gone.

I'am a bit confused about Purito tbh because last year he peaked well for the Ardennes and then started off a bit sluggishly in the Giro before starting to look really good as it drew to an end and then winning two stages and clearly being the strongest (albeit unable to tt, so no overall) in the Dauphine.

You would have originally assumed he would have been tired from the Ardennes and so he wouldnt have been great in the Giro as he started to demonstrate yet then his perfomances started to pick up so it couldnt really have been down to fatigue.
Purito always seems to be good and even when he is not on top form he is still probably the best steep hill finisher (currently) in the world so though i
doubt he will get much opportunity there, ruling him out is foolish.

I also wonder whether he is worried about expending too much energy as I am sure he has part of his mind on the Vuelta, especially considering the parcours and even considering Contador. Last year he was disappointing in the high mountains of the Vuelta and many riders (scarponi, anton etc) put their poor form in the Vuelta due to the taxing Giro, so i wonder if Purito will just want to take it a bit easy.

 

[hatcher]

For finally doing the right thing Frank gets my vote.

I wouldn't mind that at all. If the Giro goes well for him it could certainly make the rest of his career more interesting. Make him a bit more selfish.

 

[DominicDecoco]

Neither would I. As long as he quits moaning and just rides aggressively and entertaining I'd be happy for him to nick this one. If there's one rider who has won far too little considering the actual ability it's Frank. But man, he really needs to harden up to make a it a realistic target.

 

[lukinox]

I think this Giro will be a battle among Basso, Scarponi and Kreuziger. Basso's form is improving as we saw in Romandie and should be good for the 3rd week, he's also got
Smyd in super form at the moment (since when can he time trial as well?) and that should help a lot. Scarponi did not do well at Trentino but he's probably building up form for the 3rd week and the Giro is his main goal so my guess is he will be in contention also having Cunego as a super domestique. Kreuziger has also been impressive lately, to be honest if he doesn't win it this year I don't see him winning one ever, Tiralongo is looking good to do a great job for him.
Honorable mention for Rujano, he should be in the top ten maybe even top 5. I also saw Gadret doing well at Romandie and he should be in the top 10 as well.
I also hope that Frank Schleck comes to the Giro to try to do well and not just to make up numbers.

 

[Cogombre]

I'm voting for Scarponi. I think he'll want to have a 'proper' Giro win, actually enjoying the podium ceremony in pink. I think Rujano will be the stronger in the mountains though, but I can easily see him ****ing up somehow. Basso seems to be improving, but I can't see him getting in top shape in time, which is a shame, as I can't really see more people other than Rujano and him challenging Zapatero.

 

[Kokoso]

I think this Giro will be a battle among Basso, Scarponi and Kreuziger. Basso's form is improving as we saw in Romandie and should be good for the 3rd week, he's also got
Smyd in super form at the moment (since when can he time trial as well?) and that should help a lot. Scarponi did not do well at Trentino but he's probably building up form for the 3rd week and the Giro is his main goal so my guess is he will be in contention also having Cunego as a super domestique. Kreuziger has also been impressive lately, to be honest if he doesn't win it this year I don't see him winning one ever, Tiralongo is looking good to do a great job for him.
Honorable mention for Rujano, he should be in the top ten maybe even top 5. I also saw Gadret doing well at Romandie and he should be in the top 10 as well.
I also hope that Frank Schleck comes to the Giro to try to do well and not just to make up numbers.

Kreuziger is very young still. These days GC riders mature lately, so he has plenty of time. But of course I vote for him.

 

[Froome19]

Kreuziger is very young still. These days GC riders mature lately, so he has plenty of time. But of course I vote for him.

Thats the point which everybody uses to degrade Kreuziger because they claim he matured early (when he won the tds at 22) and that he has not progressed since then. Of course I disagree but.....

 

[Kokoso]

Thats the point which everybody uses to degrade Kreuziger because they claim he matured early (when he won the tds at 22) and that he has not progressed since then. Of course I disagree but.....

Yeah, I noticed that some enough people here are his antifans, often even using nonsense arguments. Maybe he might stagnate but this year rides better and today's TT showed improvement, even not in top form and after illness finished 5th. Definitely one of the best TT in his career. Let him show us what he can do in May

 

[gustienordic]

I think this Giro will be a battle among Basso, Scarponi and Kreuziger. Basso's form is improving as we saw in Romandie and should be good for the 3rd week, he's also got
Smyd in super form at the moment (since when can he time trial as well?) and that should help a lot. Scarponi did not do well at Trentino but he's probably building up form for the 3rd week and the Giro is his main goal so my guess is he will be in contention also having Cunego as a super domestique. Kreuziger has also been impressive lately, to be honest if he doesn't win it this year I don't see him winning one ever, Tiralongo is looking good to do a great job for him.
Honorable mention for Rujano, he should be in the top ten maybe even top 5. I also saw Gadret doing well at Romandie and he should be in the top 10 as well.
I also hope that Frank Schleck comes to the Giro to try to do well and not just to make up numbers.

This is my prediction
1. Scarponi
2. Kreuzinger
3. Basso
4. J-Rod or Rujano
5. Gadret
6. J-Rod or Rujano
7. Kloden
8. Schleck
9. Hesjedal
10. Uran

 

[Swede1]

Basso seems to be feeling good about his chances and will have a really strong team. I'm gonna change and instead of Scarponi ill say Basso will win. Like in 2010 he will not be seen until the 3rd week and then he will ride away from all opposition. Scarponi will just have 1 bad day, enough for Basso to ride away with the win.

 

[Tigerion]

What! No greenedge riders listed, the bias on this forum is astounding

Kreuzinger has been looking good this season so think he will be up there.
Rujano if nothing goes wrong but I see him losing big time on a stage and missing out on podium.

Top 5 prediction
1. Kreuzinger
2. Basso
4. Kloden
3. Rujano
5. Scarponi

 

[Eric8-A]

What! No greenedge riders listed, the bias on this forum is astounding

Kreuzinger has been looking good this season so think he will be up there.
Rujano if nothing goes wrong but I see him losing big time on a stage and missing out on podium.

Top 5 prediction
1. Kreuzinger
2. Basso
4. Kloden
3. Rujano
5. Scarponi

Nice of you to believe in Klodi

Only one person has mentioned Hesjedal.

 

[meat puppet]

Only one person has mentioned Hesjedal.

Well, the way I see it this topic was about the winner mainly. And though I always root for Ryder, I can't quite see him making it to top floor so to speak. But I'm expecting a solid top10, even top5 if the stars align right and he attains the same form as in TdF2010.