Tirreno Adriatico - Stage 4 - Narni → Chieti - 240km

[Tuarts]

May be a bit early but has an Aussie WC and a Norwegian winning a WC in Australia broken the rainbow curse?

Next year we'll know for sure!

 

[auscyclefan94]

I think you're reading into it a bit too much this time. I think he was just saying Evans was too far back and the way he wound up near the finish...well if he had positioned himself better he might've won.



How far up is Morabito on the GC?

Showing in the breakaway is not success.

Thanks for sticking up for me Tuarts! The Dutch Mafia is very nasty to poor ole ACF!

I didn't say they were showing success as Kroon hasn't won yet but they are doing well in two races which is surprising!

 

[sublimit]

I think I need to calm down! It has been a long time since I got excited from a cadel peformance like that in a race.

I think everybody needs to calm down..

Hushovd looks the size a track sprinter, very powerful looking and it was some ride by him. And looking forward to seeing him leading Haussler out at M-S-R

 

[ansimi]

What a fantastic stage! Lots of riders looking hungry and fit ahead of the hilly classics and the Giro - looking forward to more great racing

Italian camera work is the best! They don't just show us the action; they show us the beauty of the race.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

holy mother of god...what a race!what a finish!hushovd looks like a monster i've never liked him but i think he's gonna smash this year like nobody else.unbelievable power.
1. [ITA] SCARPONI Michele LAM 6h10'57"
2. [ITA] CUNEGO Damiano LAM 01"
3. [AUS] EVANS Cadel BMC 01"
4. [ITA] BASSO Ivan LIQ 04"
5. [ITA] DI LUCA Danilo KAT 08"

and what about this top5???!!!definitely the race of the season until now.lampre barbies looking absolutely great.i was just so close to have a heart attack when i saw the killer flying in the front of little prince.and evans and basso the titans looking great too.

oh man now i can't wait to see the ardennes classics.vino-killer destroying everybody!!

Agree with every single word in this post.

 

[rhubroma]

Great stage finish. Scarponi was really incredible to hold them off. He attacked first and, after the initial wall, was able to immediately push into a higher gear and regain the gap (DiLuca and Cunego where right there), and this is when he won the stage.

I was surprised that DiLuca was so brilliant in the end, but this is his home turf so he was super motivated. Gilbert was the big looser of the day, while Evans punch was not as surprising considering his win at Flètche-Walonne last year and in Tuscany at the Giro. Basso was impressive, because he does not excel at such finishes, though played cool from behind until the last 2 k when he moved to the front with Evans and only faded a bit in the last 200 meters.

Shleck? Nowhere. Geznik, decidedly less impressive in form than at Omar and only saved face by taking the jersey.

But, all in all, a riveting arrival.

 

[Kwibus]

Basso again showing he has interest in more races then just 1 GT which is great to see.

 

[Spine Concept]

Gesink post-race comments:

"I am very glad glad with the leader's jersey of course," said Robert Gesink after the race. "And I thought that today wasn't gonna be my day. I wasn't feeling well the whole day and that's why I started too far from behind on the last climb. But that lack of confidence was unjust because I passed many riders on my way up. On one hand it's annoying, because I in the end I think that I would have lost less time had I not gone with the way I was feeling, on the other hand it gives me confidence. Because even when I'm not feeling well I'm still pretty good apparently.''

Source: rabosport.nl

 

[Damiano]

Stage results:
http://www.gazzetta.it/Speciali/TirrenoAdriatico/2011/it/download/1005 - Ordinediarrivo.pdf

GC:
http://www.gazzetta.it/Speciali/TirrenoAdriatico/2011/it/download/1005 - ClassificaGenerale.pdf

 

[Ferminal]

JRod 14 minutes back... Nice result for Andrew, only a minute down.

1. 72 ITA19790925 SCARPONI Michele ITA LAM LAMPRE - ISD 6.10'59 0 10
2. 71 ITA19810919 CUNEGO Damiano ITA LAM LAMPRE - ISD 6.10'59 0'00 6
3. 21 AUS19770214 EVANS Cadel AUS BMC BMC RACING TEAM 6.10'59 0'00 4
4. 81 ITA19771126 BASSO Ivan ITA LIQ LIQUIGAS - CANNONDALE 6.11'01 0'02
5. 63 ITA19760102 DI LUCA Danilo ITA KAT KATUSHA TEAM 6.11'05 0'06
6. 134 NED19860531 GESINK Robert G NED RAB RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM 6.11'11 0'12
7. 11 ITA19770925 NOCENTINI Rinaldo ITA ALM AG2R LA MONDIALE 6.11'11 0'12
8. 82 ITA19841114 NIBALI Vincenzo ITA LIQ LIQUIGAS - CANNONDALE 6.11'11 0'12
9. 151 SWE19840404 LOVKVIST Thomas SWE SKY SKY PROCYCLING 6.11'15 0'16
10. 101 BEL19820705 GILBERT Philippe BEL OLO OMEGA PHARMA - LOTTO 6.11'15 0'16
11. 41 ITA19830113 VISCONTI Giovanni ITA FAR FARNESE VINI - NERI SOTTOLI 6.11'21 0'22
12. 84 ITA19871012 CARUSO Damiano G ITA LIQ LIQUIGAS - CANNONDALE 6.11'23 0'24
13. 1 ITA19730716 GARZELLI Stefano ITA ASA ACQUA & SAPONE 6.11'23 0'24
14. 33 ESP19870427 CASTROVIEJO Nicolas Jonat G ESP EUS EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI 6.11'23 0'24
15. 184 POR19851018 MACHADO Tiago POR RSH TEAM RADIOSHACK 6.11'23 0'24
16. 27 BEL19850517 VAN AVERMAET Greg BEL BMC BMC RACING TEAM 6.11'23 0'24
17. 118 AUS19860718 CLARKE Simon G AUS AST PRO TEAM ASTANA 6.11'23 0'24
18. 135 NED19850117 LANGEVELD Sebastian NED RAB RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM 6.11'30 0'31
19. 194 ITA19840211 MARCATO Marco ITA VCD VACANSOLEIL - DCM PRO C.TEAM 6.11'35 0'36
20. 64 RUS19810504 KOLOBNEV Alexandr RUS KAT KATUSHA TEAM 6.11'36 0'37
21. 35 ESP19890204 IZAGUIRRE INSAUSTI Jon G ESP EUS EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI 6.11'38 0'39
22. 112 ITA19820322 GASPAROTTO Enrico ITA AST PRO TEAM ASTANA 6.11'38 0'39
23. 55 ITA19760225 PINOTTI Marco ITA THR HTC - HIGHROAD 6.11'38 0'39
24. 153 GBR19810319 CUMMINGS Steven GBR SKY SKY PROCYCLING 6.11'38 0'39
25. 171 SUI19810318 CANCELLARA Fabian SUI LEO LEOPARD - TREK 6.11'38 0'39
26. 148 ITA19740514 TOSATTO Matteo ITA SBS SAXO BANK SUNGARD 6.11'38 0'39
27. 58 SVK19850221 VELITS Peter SVK THR HTC - HIGHROAD 6.11'38 0'39
28. 185 KAZ19791102 MURAVYEV Dmitriy KAZ RSH TEAM RADIOSHACK 6.11'46 0'47
29. 96 ESP19880730 MADRAZO RUIZ Angel G ESP MOV MOVISTAR TEAM 6.11'46 0'47
30. 94 BLR19810628 KIRYIENKA Vasili BLR MOV MOVISTAR TEAM 6.11'46 0'47

Full stage results: http://www.gazzetta.it/Speciali/TirrenoAdriatico/2011/it/download/1005 - Ordinediarrivo.pdf

Full GC standings: http://www.gazzetta.it/Speciali/TirrenoAdriatico/2011/it/download/1005 - ClassificaGenerale.pdf

 

[Damiano]

76. 155 NOR19870517 HAGEN E.Boasson G NOR SKY SKY PROCYCLING 6.21'17 10'18

Damn.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Gesink post-race comments:

"I am very glad glad with the leader's jersey of course," said Robert Gesink after the race. "And I thought that today wasn't gonna be my day. I wasn't feeling well the whole day and that's why I started too far from behind on the last climb. But that lack of confidence was unjust because I passed many riders on my way up. On one hand it's annoying, because I in the end I think that I would have lost less time had I not gone with the way I was feeling, on the other hand it gives me confidence. Because even when I'm not feeling well I'm still pretty good apparently.''

Source: rabosport.nl

he was poorly placed in the entire last 15km. I never saw him.
Regardless of confidence he should be better placed. Unfortunate.
Again he seems to struggle at first with the explosive stuff, last year he always hit a wall at the start of the climb, and then as the climb continued got stronger.. a shame it wasn't a km or two longer.

excellent race I knew cuddles would do well on this climb, suited him.

 

[Ferminal]

76. 155 NOR19870517 HAGEN E.Boasson G NOR SKY SKY PROCYCLING 6.21'17 10'18

Damn.

Oh snap... writing off EBH and Cancellara is possibly the first thing I've got right this season

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Jrod has been bloody awful so far this season

 

[Tuarts]

Some highlights:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DClA_PICHVI

 

[Parrulo]

machado looks good for a top 10 placing ^_^

 

[Granville57]

Funny comments from the British announcers on the final climb.
With 1.5K to go, as the road kicked up, "Well, you might as well get a cup of tea because this is going to take awhile."

 

[Cobblestoned]

76. 155 NOR19870517 HAGEN E.Boasson G NOR SKY SKY PROCYCLING 6.21'17 10'18

Damn.

What happened ?

Or does he just follow his trainingplans and Lövkvist is da man for GC ?

 

[Damiano]

What happened ?

Or does he just follow his trainingplans and Lövkvist is da man for GC ?

Löfkvist should be the man for the GC according to their website:
"The next chance to impress comes at Tirreno-Adriatico where the team will be working for Thomas Löfkvist on the general classification and then Boasson Hagen and Sutton in the sprints."

and

""As far as the GC is concerned we'll see how Thomas goes every day while the rest of us will look to help him and move towards the classics and pick out stages here and there. Obviously Steve Cummings coming into this off his win in Portugal might be a dark horse for a stage win too. We'll just have to see how the race develops.""- http://www.teamsky.com/article/0,27290,17546_6800774,00.html

But somehow people expected miracles from him today..

 

[maltiv]

But somehow people expected miracles from him today..

Well last year he was 13th, only 20 seconds back on a similar finish but I guess he just didn't have the legs today. He lost too much time in the TTT to have any chance for a decent GC placing anyway. Will probably do better on the shorter stages because he still tends to fade in anything longer than 230 km.

 

[Michielveedeebee]

Jrod has been bloody awful so far this season

Jrod will kick Giro ***

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

My bad! I thought it was Boom who was 6th

Besides Gesink is peaking for april, thank god he isn't that good now.
Also, it was to be expected. Short explosive climbs are still more Scarponi terrain than it will ever be Gesinks.

Suprising that Basso does so well though

 

[roundabout]

Basso goes pretty well on double-digit slopes

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Gesink post-race comments:

"I am very glad glad with the leader's jersey of course," said Robert Gesink after the race. "And I thought that today wasn't gonna be my day. I wasn't feeling well the whole day and that's why I started too far from behind on the last climb. But that lack of confidence was unjust because I passed many riders on my way up. On one hand it's annoying, because I in the end I think that I would have lost less time had I not gone with the way I was feeling, on the other hand it gives me confidence. Because even when I'm not feeling well I'm still pretty good apparently.''

Source: rabosport.nl

Well that's stupid

 

[theyoungest]

Besides Gesink is peaking for april, thank god he isn't that good now.
Also, it was to be expected. Short explosive climbs are still more Scarponi terrain than it will ever be Gesinks.

Suprising that Basso does so well though

There wasn't much difference between this climb and the San Luca, where Gesink kicked Scarponi's *** quite recently.