Tirreno-Adriatico 2023, March 6-12

[Devil's Elbow]

Profile of the final hill tomorrow?

1.4k at 5.3%, but progressively steeper towards the end.

Compared to the hill in that Paris-Nice stage, it's definitely easier. Moreover, the run-in is completely flat this time, the Paris-Nice hill did have a turn into the climb (whereas the first part of this climb is the final stretch of a long straight) and was twice as close to the finish. I'd be surprised if anything significant happens.

 

[Red Rick]

1.4k at 5.3%, but progressively steeper towards the end.

Compared to the hill in that Paris-Nice stage, it's definitely easier. Moreover, the run-in is completely flat this time, the Paris-Nice hill did have a turn into the climb (whereas the first part of this climb is the final stretch of a long straight) and was twice as close to the finish. I'd be surprised if anything significant happens.

I still expect a modest thining out operation to drop the Cavs and Groenewegens of this world.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

I still expect a modest thining out operation to drop the Cavs and Groenewegens of this world.

Given that they'll hit it at full speed, I think anyone who's near the front of the peloton at the bottom won't lose places fast enough to get dropped on the hill. Of course, if Cav and/or Groenewegen are halfway down the pack to start, they can get dropped if the pace is high, but that's not that likely.

 

[search]

they did the same circuit the other way around in 2020, and both side of the climb look fairly similar. Nothing really happened back then, but it was a bit further away from the finish. I'd tend to still expect the same

 

[Poursuivant]

Wide open race, hard to pick an overall winner

 

[CHGJ2000]

Bit of a weird thing to say after a race that was (mostly) decided by the weather.

Apart from Sheffield being 3rd instead of 2nd, there was nothing significantly changed by the weather? Wind was relatively consistent (apart from the very early starters) and although rain (and for a few minutes hail) is unpleasant, it's not impacting the result of a TT with 2 corners and 1 kink that could be taken in the extensions while it was raining (see: Pidcock).

 

[CHGJ2000]

Apparently, Ganna had shifting issues throughout the TT. We didn't see him much, but if you go to the final 1KM you can see him go off the extensions with one hand to shift on the base bar and then get back into position.

«It was the time trial I wanted, tonight I'll look at it again, so in the meantime I'll let the time pass. It was a great satisfaction, even if several times the change on the prosthesis didn't work and I was forced to use the one on the lower part of the handlebar» explains the Italian champion, suggesting that he has lost something in his performance due to this small inconvenience.


«During the race it was important to have information from the flagship, the presence and advice of Dario (Cioni, ed) are always very precious to me because when I pedal with my head down I can only see a few meters in front of me. The curves? I faced them with caution, I didn't want to risk it, leather is dear to me... The secret of these successes? There's a lot of training: after the Algarve I did three blocks of training at home, including one on the track, to get to the top at this event and I was rewarded».

And again: «Today was certainly a good performance. I've been looking for victory for a long time. I didn't see many riders reconnaissance this morning at 9.30 and maybe that made things easier for me. When I set off the asphalt was still wet but I decided not to take any risks in the three bends of the course. The Tirreno-Adriatico is still long and I don't know what the team's program will be. I could try to defend the Maglia Azzurra up to Sassotetto or work for our men in the standings. I am however happy. My goal is to do well also in the online stages and not just in the time trial».

 

[HelloDolly]

Who’s the favourite? Almeida?

Arensman or Kamna look very good to me and can both climb probably alot better than Almedia

 

[CyclistAbi]

Congratulations to Filippo Ganna for winning the opening ITT.

Was a short and sweet ITT. Too bad weather played such big role. Hence we can't really draw much conclusions from it. Well maybe we can say Ganna was flying. Roglič in my opinion did good. Considering the weather conditions and the group of GC favorites in that close time frame. He gained an advantage. What is interesting is at least 3 teams now have GC leadership issues. And multiply that by 2 to get the number of teams that can end up on the podium. Should be a nice race to watch. On stage 4 Rogla might try with a signature move, stage 5 where individual team leaders will likely be set and stage 6 on where likely we will get GC winner. Looking forward to that.

 

[JRanton]

Ganna with a monster time today but I still think that a couple of the stage are too hard for him to win the overall.

Finally two UAE riders outside Pogačar doing a good ITT even if they were a bit lucky with the conditions.

Surprised to see Hindley and O'Connor this good too.

Sheffied's time was incredible too would have been a clear second if he had the same conditions as the last riders. Its a matter of time until he starts challenging for World Championships TT medals.

Sheffield is a beast. Looked great at Strade too before his crash as well. I think he’s capable of doing something special on the cobbles too…

 

[Landeirovic]

Arensman or Kamna look very good to me and can both climb probably alot better than Almedia

In Algarve on Malhao, Almeida was pretty strong

 

[Tonton]

Given that they'll hit it at full speed, I think anyone who's near the front of the peloton at the bottom won't lose places fast enough to get dropped on the hill. Of course, if Cav and/or Groenewegen are halfway down the pack to start, they can get dropped if the pace is high, but that's not that likely.

I agree that Ganna can absolutely ITT what amounts to a Cat. 4 climb.. But no one will want a small gap at the finish when guys slow down defeated to cost 20 stupid seconds. Many will fight for the front very late not to be losing stupid time.Some may get caught.

 

[tobydawq]

Given that they'll hit it at full speed, I think anyone who's near the front of the peloton at the bottom won't lose places fast enough to get dropped on the hill. Of course, if Cav and/or Groenewegen are halfway down the pack to start, they can get dropped if the pace is high, but that's not that likely.

TotalEnergies will drill it for Sagan and it will be 2013 and glorious again.

 

[Kazistuta]

TotalEnergies will drill it for Sagan and it will be 2013 and glorious again.

Oh, we're still believing (or hoping), Toby.

 

[RedheadDane]

Hey, guys. We'll just set up our equipment in the middle of your hotel lobby. That's fine, right?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1632692298147299328

At least I'm guessing it's the lobby, and not one of their rooms, coz if it's a room, then they got some frikkin' huge rooms!

 

[Riek s]

Apart from Sheffield being 3rd instead of 2nd, there was nothing significantly changed by the weather? Wind was relatively consistent (apart from the very early starters) and although rain (and for a few minutes hail) is unpleasant, it's not impacting the result of a TT with 2 corners and 1 kink that could be taken in the extensions while it was raining (see: Pidcock).

your rolling resistance increases dramatically though, (that and the power transmission from the wheels to the asphalt, depending on how much water there is.)

 

[Lequack]

If Vingegaard did this timetrial he would've beaten Ganna, given his last TT result.

 

[SafeBet]

The muri stage will prove too hard for Pippo, even if he tries to stay in contention until that point.
Sheffield is a different beast though, would be interesting if Ineos keeps him in the GC fight. Last year he was already climbing fairly well and he looks improved as a bike rider overall.

Kamna doesn't really look interested in GCs the past few years. UAE and Bora have different cards to play, but to me Rogla is still the favorite.

 

[Faserr]

This year Kämna wants to ride for GC at some races. He will even try at the Giro. I don't think he can win Tirreno but he is a card to play for Bora.

 

[Red Rick]

The muri stage will prove too hard for Pippo, even if he tries to stay in contention until that point.
Sheffield is a different beast though, would be interesting if Ineos keeps him in the GC fight. Last year he was already climbing fairly well and he looks improved as a bike rider overall.

Kamna doesn't really look interested in GCs the past few years. UAE and Bora have different cards to play, but to me Rogla is still the favorite.

I like the order of the GC stages to be honest. Gives a very natural progression and selection for teams with multiple GC riders.

 

[search]

Ganna most likely won't even try. In the interview before the start he just said that he would prefer to lose the jersey today, and try to go for another stage later on in the race.

 

[wheresmybrakes]

Hey, guys. We'll just set up our equipment in the middle of your hotel lobby. That's fine, right?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1632692298147299328

At least I'm guessing it's the lobby, and not one of their rooms, coz if it's a room, then they got some frikkin' huge rooms!

The room is so big, they ran out of wallpaper for the back wall.

 

[Mayomaniac]

I gotta admit sometimes I choose him over the Italian commentators, which should tell you how bad they are.

It really depends who is commentating, Borgato & Pancani are really good. Frankly I don't even mind Petacchi as a co-commentator alongside 1-2 good ones because he notices small things (someone having a different wheel afterwards, meaning he had to change it) and him being really pessimistic and realistic can be hillarious ("you think the breakaway has any chance of making it?" "No.")

 

[Lequack]

He comes from the future

 

[Mayomaniac]

Ganna most likely won't even try. In the interview before the start he just said that he would prefer to lose the jersey today, and try to go for another stage later on in the race.

Yeah, will probably have to do some donkey work for Pidcock today...