The Time has come.

[King Of The Wolds]

Cue Thor Hushovd.

Thor doesn't pick up points in the sprints these days and he's not going to be there on the really serious stuff, so I don't see him as a threat for the points jersey. I'd have thought he'll have some stage wins as targets. The prologue maybe, a transitional stage or a reduced bunch sprint - 6, 12 and 16 look like his sort of stages.

 

[maltiv]

Cue Thor Hushovd.

He won't finish the race.

 

[PedalCastro]

Cant Ventoso get over some of the climbs better than most other sprtinters?

As for the overall i'm going with -
Basso
Scarponi
Gadret
Kreuziger

 

[will10]

He won't finish the race.

He might, depends if he's still in the picture for Le Tour.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

he will get dropped on every single MTF in the last week.he hasn't the engine to fight scarponi-basso-rujano,not even gadret.finestre last year was obvious.entering the top 5 would be a surprise,only if he really improved a lot or if they will go extremely slow on the mountains which i seriously doubt.
i already can see tiralongo dragging kreuziger for hours.

you understand it. kreuziger doesný recuperate well and he sucks in longer climbs. last year finestre was painful. this year will only be worse

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Really, you're one of those guys? What late results makes anybody believe he'll be a favorite this year?
What he did in the past, it's just that. It's like saying Cadel Evans should have won the Tour of Romandie because he won last year

dear god. you really don't understand a thing about cycling, do you?

 

[cineteq]

dear god. you really don't understand a thing about cycling, do you?

Don't make me chuckle - I'd say, I have the same knowledge as you do if not better.
Hope that answered your question.

 

[airstream]

rujano won't be in top-5

 

[PedalCastro]

rujano won't be in top-5

Who will be? Not saying you're wrong, just curious!

 

[PedalCastro]

Could Nieve be a suprise top 5?

 

[airstream]

Who will be? Not saying you're wrong, just curious!

i think top-5 will be basso/scarponi, kreuziger, cunego, f.schleck. rujano again will lose 6-7 minutes on flat, then start attacking while zero resistance and win some stage. Later he'll say "i would of won if i hadn't lost the time before the climbs by chance". But if he's brave enough to fight only for the GC initially, he will inevitably fail. This story has no end...

 

[The Hitch]

Could Nieve be a suprise top 5?

Really can't see it unless people get injured or he does a laquilla. there are a good 8 or 9 riders in the race better than him and that's excluding superdomestiques.

 

[airstream]

No one knows Nieve's ceiling in case he concentrates exactly on GC rathen than stages. Though I doubt he will do that..

 

[Koub3cc]

you understand it. kreuziger doesný recuperate well and he sucks in longer climbs. last year finestre was painful. this year will only be worse

You are serious Roman´s hater Anyway let´s see what will happen in next couple weeks but I am pretty sure Kreuziger won´t be missing on podium in Milan!

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

You are serious Roman´s hater Anyway let´s see what will happen in next couple weeks but I am pretty sure Kreuziger won´t be missing on podium in Milan!

you are a fan. I will laugh hard after 3 weeks to see kreuziger stumble. I think he's an overrated idiot, of whom I already made lots of money by laying his sorry a** in tirreno, trentino, romandie and other races

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

i think top-5 will be basso/scarponi, kreuziger, cunego, f.schleck. rujano again will lose 6-7 minutes on flat, then start attacking while zero resistance and win some stage. Later he'll say "i would of won if i hadn't lost the time before the climbs by chance". But if he's brave enough to fight only for the GC initially, he will inevitably fail. This story has no end...

Uitslag:
1 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Discovery Channel-Pro Cycling Team 91.25.51 (37.855 km/h)
2 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 0.28
3 Jose' Rujano Guillen (Ven) Selle Italia-Colombia 0.45

 

[PedalCastro]

i think top-5 will be basso/scarponi, kreuziger, cunego, f.schleck.

2 Lampre in top 5? I'd be very suprised. Cunego might go stage hunting?

 

[airstream]

Uitslag:
1 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Discovery Channel-Pro Cycling Team 91.25.51 (37.855 km/h)
2 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 0.28
3 Jose' Rujano Guillen (Ven) Selle Italia-Colombia 0.45

GC before first real mountain stage:
General classification after stage 10

1 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 44.51.40
2 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC 0.09
3 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Discovery Channel-Pro Cycling Team 0.35
4 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 1.15
...
40 Jose' Rujano Guillen (Ven) Selle Italia-Colombia 6.04

Anyways, if you don't see the difference between attacks being a labeled GC rider and being Rujano, there's nothing to discuss.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

here's what rujano did in the final stage of that giro when he was 1 minute down in gc and a very serious threat for pink jersey.



1 Jose' Rujano Guillen (Ven) Selle Italia-Colombia 5.49.30 (32.618 km/h)
2 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 0.26
3 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 1.37
4 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 1.53
5 Wim Van Huffel (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 1.55
6 Serguei Gonchar (Ukr) Domina Vacanze
7 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Discovery Channel-Pro Cycling Team
8 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Phonak Hearing Systems
9 Mauricio Alberto Ardila Cano (Col) Davitamon-Lotto 2.38
10 Emanuele Sella (Ita) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 5.07

 

[Eshnar]

here's what rujano did in the final stage of that giro when he was 1 minute down in gc and wheelsucking all the way up to Finestre.



1 Jose' Rujano Guillen (Ven) Selle Italia-Colombia 5.49.30 (32.618 km/h)
2 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 0.26
3 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 1.37
4 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 1.53
5 Wim Van Huffel (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 1.55
6 Serguei Gonchar (Ukr) Domina Vacanze
7 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Discovery Channel-Pro Cycling Team
8 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Phonak Hearing Systems
9 Mauricio Alberto Ardila Cano (Col) Davitamon-Lotto 2.38
10 Emanuele Sella (Ita) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 5.07

fixed
...

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

he forced the attack on the finestre. after that simoni and di luca took over. he did not wheelsuck at all. in sestrieres he dropped simoni like a stone and he was simply the best climber there and nearly won the giro in that final stage. he also had not a single bad day. some bad luck yes. but was very strong

 

[The Hitch]

he forced the attack on the finestre. after that simoni and di luca took over. he did not wheelsuck at all. in sestrieres he dropped simoni like a stone and he was simply the best climber there and nearly won the giro in that final stage. he also had not a single bad day. some bad luck yes. but was very strong

But last year, same stage, he was not as strong. Kiriyenka who had been in the break all day, was putting time into him.

So you are going to say he was ill, but then, that could happen again.

 

[roundabout]

Wouldn't that make him 3 minutes behind Savoldelli before the penultimate stage?

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

But last year, same stage, he was not as strong. Kiriyenka who had been in the break all day, was putting time into him.

So you are going to say he was ill, but then, that could happen again.

he was on anti biotics. that's also why androni didn't chase. they thought he would finish in the autobus, he attacked out of pure passion for the mountain and got away. I will never forget how rujano cheered when he finished. he amazed himself again

 

[airstream]

here's what rujano did in the final stage of that giro when he was 1 minute down in gc and a very serious threat for pink jersey.



1 Jose' Rujano Guillen (Ven) Selle Italia-Colombia 5.49.30 (32.618 km/h)
2 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 0.26
3 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 1.37
4 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 1.53
5 Wim Van Huffel (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 1.55
6 Serguei Gonchar (Ukr) Domina Vacanze
7 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Discovery Channel-Pro Cycling Team
8 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Phonak Hearing Systems
9 Mauricio Alberto Ardila Cano (Col) Davitamon-Lotto 2.38
10 Emanuele Sella (Ita) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 5.07

I see. It already was a consequence of the fact that he felt he could do that. Are you certain he can fire starting from the first mountain stage? My thought just is Rujano needs an absolute psychological liberty to show himself. staying close in GC doesn't help that.