Tour of the Alps 2022 (April 18-22)

[Ilmaestro99]

Wait... if you don't want to hype riders you like, does that mean you dislike Masnada?

Well, my hyping of Landa is more of a personal excitement. Every year saying to myself (and to others) that it would be his year, he will win the giro, only to be dissapointed because of a bad luck or mistake.

But Landa has plenty of opportunities and most of the wolrd knows how good he is.

Whereas with Fausto I think he was totally underrated and wasn't given the right opportunities by his team. And I felt other fans didn't understand his talent. So I felt almost a duty to hype him a little bit. Fausto is a gracious guy who also is an entertaining racer.

Unfortunately it became a meme because people don't share my opinion. But I'm just a Masnada fan.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

If he didn't hype Masnada no one else would, whereas Landa already has a dedicated following.

A shame Masnada had to get sick exactly in the season he was about to win the Giro-Tour-Vuelta trebble.

 

[Escarabajo]

Lopez at almost 14 minutes. This guy is a true enigma!!!
One minute he is attacking and at the front, the next minute he arrives with the gruppetto.

Oh dear!

 

[Krzysztof_O]

For a long time it seemed that the strong breakaway will make it but Bahrain set a big tempo, especially on the last descent with a lot of straight road.

Lopez at almost 14 minutes. This guy is a true enigma!!!
One minute he is attacking and at the front, the next minute he arrives with the gruppetto.

Oh dear!

Enigma indeed. On a good day he can distance Pog&Rog on biggest climbs and another day he's left in the dust by average riders.

 

[Lequack]

Lopez at almost 14 minutes. This guy is a true enigma!!!
One minute he is attacking and at the front, the next minute he arrives with the gruppetto.

Oh dear!

Beaten by Froome as well.
Also Thibaut Pinot in the same group as Lopez, 14 minutes behind.

 

[AlfaLum]

Bilbao will lose multiple minutes on the better climbers in the Giro. Finishes like Fedaia and Blockhaus do not suit him at all.

And it will also be tough for him to limit the losses in the stages that include the Mortirolo/Santa Cristina, Monte Rovere, Kolovrat. He will probably be forced to fight back on all of those stages, where it might well be that he is not allowed if Landa is still in the race.

 

[Lequack]

Nothing that I've seen from Bilbao in this year shows me that he would suffer on climbs.

 

[Mayomaniac]

For a long time it seemed that the strong breakaway will make it but Bahrain set a big tempo, especially on the last descent with a lot of straight road.



Enigma indeed. On a good day he can distance Pog&Rog on biggest climbs and another day he's left in the dust by average riders.

Maybe he just tried his legs in the breakaway and took it easy later on (probably wishful thinking ).

 

[Mayomaniac]

Beaten by Froome as well.
Also Thibaut Pinot in the same group as Lopez, 14 minutes behind.

And Fabbro, but the guy had Covid and got bronchitis later and has already said that he'll skip the Giro because right now he just lacks the base level (he'll ride the Vuelta instead).
Still, what happened to the version of Fabbro that we saw between the hilly stage of the 2020 edition of Tirreno-Adriatico and 2021 Tirreno-Adriatico? He hasn't been the same since then. I didn't expect him to become a top gt rider (he has always been too inconsistent for that), but the guy finished 5th in Tirreno-Adriatico against a really stacked field and was the only one besides Pogacar, Landa and Wout to finish inside the stage top 10 on both the MTF and the brutal murito stage the day after.

 

[AlfaLum]

Nothing that I've seen from Bilbao in this year shows me that he would suffer on climbs.

He lost over a minute on Landa on Carpegna.

He lost contact wait the main contenders on most steeper climbs in Basque Country. Those are short climbs. The truth is that Bilbao has always suffered on the longer climbs. So it is very likely that better climbers such as Carapaz, Landa, Yates will be able to distance him on the tougher climbs in the Giro.

 

[Big Doopie]

bahrain ridiculous.

 

[Pinot's goat]

Nothing that I've seen from Bilbao in this year shows me that he would suffer on climbs.

When has Bilbao ever put in a climbing performance in a GT that suggests he could compete for the overall win. He even got destroyed by Hindley, TGH, Dennis etc.

 

[search]

Nothing that I've seen from Bilbao in this year shows me that he would suffer on climbs.

he actually was dropped basically on every climb in Itzulia, which initially was supposed to be his #1 goal. Maybe he switched his focus a bit more towards the Giro (so wasn't in peak shape yet), but his climbing this year hasn't exactly been stellar.

 

[Lequack]

I guess he will have to win the Giro on descents then.

 

[AlfaLum]

I guess he will have to win the Giro on descents then.

Landa has to be smart this giro. No holding back for him on Etna and Blockhaus, so he can claim sole leadership early on in the race.

 

[gregrowlerson]

Yeah he does this so it will be the other way around in the Giro. This will be Landas Giro.

And he shall be confirmed as the second coming of Andreas Klöden (albeit a climbers version).

 

[tobydawq]

I'm afraid I have never seen a Brioche descend...

It's like how Bouchard descends.

 

[tobydawq]

When has Bilbao ever put in a climbing performance in a GT that suggests he could compete for the overall win. He even got destroyed by Hindley, TGH, Dennis etc.

Yeah, after having ridden 40 GT stages and two world championships races in the span of 8 weeks. Embarrassing!

 

[Bolder]

Yeah, after having ridden 40 GT stages and two world championships races in the span of 8 weeks. Embarrassing!

If Caruso can get a Giro podium, Bilbao certainly can. Hell, if TGH can win the damn thing...

But more seriously, Bilbao looks really good right now and Bahrain clearly has a team to support him and/or Landa. I'm a Landista (Landinista?) but I've learned not to expect the worst.

 

[Roku]

Bilbao is not good enough for a GT win or podium, unless there are several withdrawals, crashes or a sudden and huge increase in his base level.

 

[SafeBet]

If Caruso can get a Giro podium, Bilbao certainly can. Hell, if TGH can win the damn thing...

But more seriously, Bilbao looks really good right now and Bahrain clearly has a team to support him and/or Landa. I'm a Landista (Landinista?) but I've learned not to expect the worst.

To me Bilbao has never looked as consistent as this year and I think he has taken the right approasch to his season: race a lot. He tends to improve with more racing days. I think he's a lot more likely to podium the Giro than Landa. Win might be a stretch, but you can't rule him out.

 

[Pinot's goat]

To me Bilbao has never looked as consistent as this year and I think he has taken the right approasch to his season: race a lot. He tends to improve with more racing days. I think he's a lot more likely to podium the Giro than Landa. Win might be a stretch, but you can't rule him out.

Bilbao will lose minutes on climbs like Blockhaus and Santa Cristina.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Well, now we know why Kämna took it easy yesterday and lost over 9min...

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Well, now we know why Kämna took it easy yesterday and lost over 9min...

With Quinn there the break is doomed, though.

Edit: and while I was typing, Bahrain shut down the move.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Bilbao will lose minutes on climbs like Blockhaus and Santa Cristina.

Bilbao's best ride of that 2020 Giro came on the Stelvio stage, the hardest mountain stage of the past few years. He also finished third on Jebel Hafeet this year. He's better on longer climbs than he gets credit for, not GT winning level but he absolutely can challenge for the podium if he hasn't peaked for Itzulia and this race rather than the Giro.