We had a real rarity of a situation at the weekend actually, where the Women's Tour, European Games RR, Giro del Trentino and Omloop van der IJsseldelta were all on simultaneously, meaning some stretched pélotons for some of the top teams.
It's nice, we don't get that often.
And the Giro is coming up. Are you all excited? You should be - it could be one of the most unpredictable in a while. With Vos out injured, Rabo-Liv have some thinking to do. The logical leader would obviously be Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, who is the reigning World Champion of course and who finished 2nd last year - she actually won on the road (Vos' victory margin was the result of a number of bonus seconds accrued) and stayed with Marianne on the final climb to Madonna del Ghisallo, riding somewhat within herself (and also a bit dubiously since the Rabo trio had a bit of a rolling roadblock going on as Mara Abbott looked to attack). She's a strong climber and time triallist and can compete in all terrains. But, she's also been hurt, and had to skip the Tour of Britain after failing a late fitness test, so will the team be a bit nervous about going all-in for her if she's short of race days and form is unknown? The team have also had some success in the absence of the two stars, since their loyal helpers have been let off the leash a bit. Anna van der Breggen is strong uphill - she won La Flèche Wallonne and podiumed last year's Giro - and a good time triallist, and would seem the logical fit, but there's also the wildcard of Katie Unknown - she's not so strong against the clock, but she's a brilliant climber (did a big domestique turn on San Domenico last year & was also the last to be dropped by Emma Pooley in the queen stage) who is extremely aggressive when she gets let off the leash, and is coming off her best ever form, winning the Emakumeen Bira (women's País Vasco) and podiuming in Baku. She's a bit of a wildcard if she has the freedom, but coming 11th as a teenage neo-pro doing domestique duty last year points to immense promise. Even just picking the team is a bit of a headache for Rabo.
It shouldn't be a full-on Rabo show like last year though, with Vos out and PFP's form unknown. The main opposition of the last few years has come from two-time Giro winner Mara Abbott. She typically triumphs on the biggest climbs (her Giro wins were based mainly on solo wins atop the Stelvio and Monte Beigua) and now her nemesis Emma Pooley, the eternal QOM and who won all three main mountain stages last year, has retired, it remains to be seen who will be climbing with Mara. However, her form is also a complete unknown, having done very little racing in Europe this season. She won the Tour of the Gila, but the field there wasn't the strongest and it's a race that due to parcours and opposition it'd have been more noteworthy if she didn't win. She will presumably be Wiggle's main GC bet; they have a few options for stages however with some very strong contenders like Giorgia Bronzini in the sprints and ELB in the breaks.
Although this isn't the most mountainous of editions, the Giro does still tend to favour the stronger climbers. Unless somebody can destroy the hilly stages like Vos, it's rare that the winner doesn't come from the elite climbers of the women's péloton. As such, rather than at the top ranked riders in the world such as Johansson and Armitstead, we ought perhaps to be looking more at the likes of Alena Amialiusik, Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio, Megan Guarnier and Evelyn Stevens for where the contenders will come from. There's always a surprise or two - I want to know what happened to Francesca Cauz after her amazing breakout Giro a couple of years ago. And if she rides, we should never count out Claudia Lichtenberg either - she's the only other active Giro winner, having won it back in 2009.
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