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

[The Hitch]

Dont forget boys and girls. Tomorow looks like a very good stage again. Seems to finish on a ramp so a chance for the great climbers of this race to put some more time into Geskink Evans Nibali and Gilber (i think ive included every faction from these boards in there).

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

will be another interesting one.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Did anyone copy the gc?

Just imagine if I carried on like the way the dutch mafia are for every bad peformance of BMC's?

 

[Moondance]

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

Either way, Cadel looks good FTW. The TT is short but he's easily the best over a flat stretch. He could easily 20+ seconds on most of the Top-10.

BMC should just about pip Euskatel to the line of 'not being the last WT team to win a race.'

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Dont forget boys and girls. Tomorow looks like a very good stage again. Seems to finish on a ramp so a chance for the great climbers of this race to put some more time into Geskink Evans Nibali and Gilber (i think ive included every faction from these boards in there).

harsh But you forgot to mention Jrod

I really can't explain what is wrong with Gesink tho, maybe he did over-peak @ oman. He looked very sluggish today.

Tomorrow should suit him more, but he really doesn't look great.

 

[Havetts]

Also was kind of unlucky for him he had to descent versus Nibali leading the other group. Hard to catch on then, but I just wonder why he lost those positions in the peloton so easily.

Would be hard for Cadel to screw this up now and lose the Tirreno .

 

[auscyclefan94]

Either way, Cadel looks good FTW. The TT is short but he's easily the best over a flat stretch. He could easily 20+ seconds on most of the Top-10.

BMC should just about pip Euskatel to the line of 'not being the last WT team to win a race.'

He didn't look too good today but barring catastrophe he should take the overall!

 

[theyoungest]

harsh

I really can't explain what is wrong with Gesink tho, maybe he did over-peak @ oman. He looked very sluggish today.

Tomorrow should suit him more, but he really doesn't look great.

I never thought I'd say this, but I think Gesink would have a better chance of still reaching the podium if the time trial were tomorrow. I don't think he'll survive another day of climbing.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Also was kind of unlucky for him he had to descent versus Nibali leading the other group. Hard to catch on then, but I just wonder why he lost those positions in the peloton so easily.

Would be hard for Cadel to screw this up now and lose the Tirreno .

Never underestimate cuddles to do such a thing

 

[search]

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

Pinotti should be in the same range

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

He didn't look too good today but barring catastrophe he should take the overall!

I'd expect scarponi to take a bit more time tomorrow tho. That could make things interesting. But the tt will surely be too much.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

To be fair, close to the finish line Cadel didn't look that great either. He'll have to do better tomorrow to win this Tirreno I think.

Lampre looks awesome.

 

[ingsve]

Pinotti should be in the same range

Was Pinotti part of the front group? Or did he lose a little more time?

 

[Bala Verde]

Evans appeared a little far back in the finishing group, especially compared to yesterday. It was a 240k racing day again, which has probably done some damage to riders who are still trying to up their racing miles. On the other hand, if he can stick it out tomorrow, he'll be this year's T-A winner. The straight and flat ITT should suit him well.

Lampre and liquigas will probably want to upset Evans and put some distance into Gesink as well. I am expecting a lot of action and a hard race right out of the gates, tomorrow.

BMC team looked pretty good today though, so I wonder how they will isolate Evans. It's all about the last ramp.

I don't know if positioning was Gesink's problem, I think he was not strong enough. Perhaps 2x 240k in 2 days is still a little too much for him. I am guessing he doesn't have that endurance (yet) too stay with the big guys.

 

[roundabout]

Was Pinotti part of the front group? Or did he lose a little more time?

Same time as Evans etc on the stage should be s.t. with Lovkvist in the overall

 

[ingsve]

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

I'm a little uncertain of Löfkvists time trialing though. Last year it seemed that the more focused training he had done on climbing had hurt his time trialing a bit so he might have lost a little ability in that department. Or it could just be that he wasn't in very good shape for most of the time trials last year.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Evans appeared a little far back in the finishing group, especially compared to yesterday. It was a 240k racing day again, which has probably done some damage to riders who are still trying to up their racing miles. On the other hand, if he can stick it out tomorrow, he'll be this year's T-A winner. The straight and flat ITT should suit him well.

Lampre and liquigas will probably want to upset Evans and put some distance into Gesink as well. I am expecting a lot of action and a hard race right out of the gates, tomorrow.

BMC team looked pretty good today though, so I wonder how they will isolate Evans. It's all about the last ramp.

I don't know if positioning was Gesink's problem, I think he was not strong enough. Perhaps 2x 240k in 2 days is still a little too much for him. I am guessing he doesn't have that endurance (yet) too stay with the big guys.

Probably a fair assesment. Shorter stage tommorow which will make it interesting

 

[Mellow Velo]

I hate to say it, but Di Luca and the Lampre duo don't half make a difference to the racing.

 

[Cobblestoned]

Evans appeared a little far back in the finishing group, especially compared to yesterday. It was a 240k racing day again, which has probably done some damage to riders who are still trying to up their racing miles. On the other hand, if he can stick it out tomorrow, he'll be this year's T-A winner. The straight and flat ITT should suit him well.

Lampre and liquigas will probably want to upset Evans and put some distance into Gesink as well. I am expecting a lot of action and a hard race right out of the gates, tomorrow.

BMC team looked pretty good today though, so I wonder how they will isolate Evans. It's all about the last ramp.

I don't know if positioning was Gesink's problem, I think he was not strong enough. Perhaps 2x 240k in 2 days is still a little too much for him. I am guessing he doesn't have that endurance (yet) too stay with the big guys.

Its never easy for non Italians in that race, if you are surrounded and attacked by all these Italians. They hook you and co-operate.

Wasn't easy for Gesink - and will not be easy for cuddles tomorrow.
Good thing for him is that he can TT

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Its never easy for non Italians in that race, if you are surrounded and attacked by all these Italians. They hook you and co-operate.

Wasn't easy for Gesink - and will not be easy for cuddles tomorrow.
Good thing for him is that he can TT

Gesink wasn't great at TA last year either (he recovered after the steep bits then too), so I'm not overly shocked. But he was a little too bad today for my liking.

 

[sublimit]

Its never easy for non Italians in that race, if you are surrounded and attacked by all these Italians. They hook you and co-operate.

Wasn't easy for Gesink - and will not be easy for cuddles tomorrow.
Good thing for him is that he can TT

You have a good point.. Probably will be a decent idea for BMC, Sky(Lovqvuist), Omerta-lotto team (Gilbert)and Rabo(Gesink) to stick together.

 

[Mellow Velo]

The Italians gang up on foreigners?
Yeah right.
Worked a treat against Contador and Menchov in the 2008/2009 Giros.

 

[Grzdylu]

will be another interesting one.

Wrong profile of last kms. Final round around Macerata was changed:

 

[Havetts]

From the Rabobank website Gesink says:

It was a extremely tough day, maybe the most stressy stage I've ever rode this way. Though Im satisfied after the hard and stressy stage. It went fine, only I was too far back on that last climb and I missed the connection. It is the way it is, I'm beaten on value.

( not sure if I translated it 100% correct, so correct me if im wrong. )

Rabosport.nl

"Het was een verschrikkelijk lastige dag, misschien wel de stressigste rit die ik ooit reed," zo keek Robert Gesink er zelf op terug. "Toch ben ik wel tevreden na deze moeilijke en stressige etappe. Hij verliep op zich prima, alleen zat ik op die laatste klim net te ver naar achteren en miste ik daar de aansluiting. Het is zoals het is, ik ben op waarde geklopt."

 

[theyoungest]

Wrong profile of last kms. Final round around Macerata was changed:

Wow, that certainly looks like an improvement. Very tough final climb, by the looks of it. 2 km at 9% average. And they have to do it 4 times, if I understand the profile correctly.