Tirreno-Adriatico 2011 Stage 5: Chieti - Castelraimondo - 240km

[auscyclefan94]

BMC are coming 1st in something

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

can I please get rid of this avatar, dutch mafia?

You may ask this on the wedding day of the don's daughter, and only then.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Funny, all races I missed watching this season, Rabobank wins. All races I see, they fail.

Maybe I should just stop watching cycling at all.

 

[Moondance]

Tirreno very exciting this year, like years previous... I hadn't expected it to be this good; I thought the course was rather lame, but I should've know better since Italians can always design an excellent race.

Although it helps that teams (Lampre especially) are willing to go flat out in this race, unlike the soft pedaling we saw for much of PN

 

[eljimberino]

BMC are coming 1st in something

They did well today.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Great to see Cunego riding so well. He is my favorite Italian, and thus has been very frustrating the last year or two.

 

[ak-zaaf]

can I please get rid of this avatar, dutch mafia?

I think you can. You should replace it with an Omega Pharma - Lotto one, since they are clearly better than BMC.

 

[Moondance]

can I please get rid of this avatar, dutch mafia?

The deal was for a month, no? If so you still have a week to go.

 

[Spine Concept]

I agree with the positioning thing, it is very annoying.
He doesn't really blame anyone but himself though.
Surely by now he'd realize hitting a steep slope like that, positioning is crucial.

but he was very poor today.

I get that, but for how long is he gonna keep blaming himself for it? Isn't he supposed to learn from his mistakes by now? It's just frustrating cause we all know how good he is but always blows it rather foolishly. Just try to stay in front when a decisive climb is coming up. One would think that's quite a simple concept....

 

[The Sheep]

Looks like they held up poels a bit in the last bend.

 

[Michielveedeebee]

Funny, all races I missed watching this season, Rabobank wins. All races I see, they fail.

Maybe I should just stop watching cycling at all.

no, please keep watching

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Why are they playing Pendulum - Crush at the finish line?? You'd expect music from Pendulum at a sport like snowboarding or something, not cycling...so weird

 

[rhubroma]

Another great finish. Now with the GC, Evans 1st, Baso 2nd, Cunego 3rd, Scarponi 4th, it's going to be an interesting time trial. On paper, Evans should win. And to think he thought he didn't have the racing days in his legs to do it.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Cuddles Time!!!!!

 

[Moondance]

I get that, but for how long is he gonna keep blaming himself for it? Isn't he supposed to learn from his mistakes by now? It's just frustrating cause we all know how good he is but always blows it rather foolishly. Just try to stay in front when a decisive climb is coming up. One would think that's quite a simple concept....

True, given the massive advantage his teammates (with Gesink's involvement obviously as well) gave him in the TTT he should've been able to hold FT overall W. If he finishes outside the Top-5 it'll be a massive disappointment for sure.

I guess he's not completely out of it yet. He did very well on the finish to Macerata last year, and he should do a better TT than Scarponi and Cunego at least, although both those things assume his form is good, and stupid mistakes played a significant part in his losses today. But that's just the optimist in me speaking.

 

[Cobblestoned]

can I please get rid of this avatar, dutch mafia?

Since this was no TT, I don't think so.

 

[Havetts]

ACF, how long are you going to bother us Dutch mafiosis with the fact that Gesink lost his Leader jersey today .

 

[Beech Mtn]

ACF's avatar is the reason Gesink stunk today. He was riding well back before that avatar went up. It's the curse of the ACF. You guys should let him put up his Cadel picture and sit back and watch what happens to Cuddles' luck.

 

[Mellow Velo]

Well, well, Gilbert. Nice steal!
Could Mr Evens be our new leader?
Not that he looked too comfy, today.

 

[Ferminal]

lol, I completely missed Gilbert coming through. Tough for Poels and even moreso Amador and Malacarne.

Lampre are going to make this very exciting tomorrow. I think Evans will be ok, and BMC are actually strong here so should be able to contain attacks at least until the final circuit. BMC will want a safe break to go and try and stop the Lampre boys getting their fingers on the bonuses.

 

[auscyclefan94]

True, given the massive advantage his teammates (with Gesink's involvement obviously as well) gave him in the TTT he should've been able to hold FT overall W. If he finishes outside the Top-5 it'll be a massive disappointment for sure.

I guess he's not completely out of it yet. He did very well on the finish to Macerata last year, and he should do a better TT than Scarponi and Cunego at least, although both those things assume his form good, and stupid mistakes played a significant part in his losses today. But that's just the optimist in me speaking.

Scarponi and Cunego are average tt'ers so Gesink could move over the top of them with a good ride tommorow!

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Another great finish. Now with the GC, Evans 1st, Baso 2nd, Cunego 3rd, Scarponi 4th, it's going to be an interesting time trial. On paper, Evans should win. And to think he thought he didn't have the racing days in his legs to do it.

Lovkist @ 27 seconds will probably get over gesink, scarponi, di uca and cunego (all within 5sec of evans i think)lol.

 

[rhubroma]

Well, well, Gilbert. Nice steal!
Could Mr Evens be our new leader?
Not that he looked too comfy, today.

Evans is the new leader with 2 sec. on Basso.

 

[auscyclefan94]

ACF's avatar is the reason Gesink stunk today. He was riding well back before that avatar went up. It's the curse of the ACF. You guys should let him put up his Cadel picture and sit back and watch what happens to Cuddles' luck.

Hehehe!!

ACF, how long are you going to bother us Dutch mafiosis with the fact that Gesink lost his Leader jersey today .

I won't rub it in and lower myself to the dutch mafia's standards

 

[theyoungest]

I get that, but for how long is he gonna keep blaming himself for it? Isn't he supposed to learn from his mistakes by now? It's just frustrating cause we all know how good he is but always blows it rather foolishly. Just try to stay in front when a decisive climb is coming up. One would think that's quite a simple concept....

He was riding in the front of the peloton pretty much all day, except for the decisive moment. But he had no teammates to support him for the final 20 k or so either. Collective failure by Gesink and Rabo.

I think he didn't feel very good again, but he managed to keep the gap on the front group around 10 seconds all the time, so that would suggest he's not that bad at the moment. Then again, he was outclimbed by pretty much everyone in the top-20, so there's definitely something wrong.

However, one guy did ride very attentively, and had a very strong team (it needs to be said): Cadel Evans. He deserves to win this, and he probably will.