Who will win 2013 GIRO?

[Vino attacks everyone]

Did anybody tell you're a smart poster?

no, but i hope that one day people will appreciate my genious

 

[Wigwan]

Who will get the 4 GIRO wildcards: Qhubeka, Katusha, Farnese, Europcar, Colnago, Netapp or IAM?

Maybe Katusha will be re-instated in the world tour.

If Katusha get re-instated, that means theres only 2 wildcard left (Androni already have theirs) and no way will Farnese and Colnago will be left out.

 

[Jason_Mercier]

I think in the next Giro D'Italia we could see many surprises in the GC. At first a Franco Pellizzoti who has comeback at the 2009 level, Carlos Betancur, who has finished 4° in Trentino, Winner Anacona, which in his first year as a professional rider was near the bests climbers on the Vuelta, the leaders of Coldeportes if Acquarone invite the team, Steven Kruivswijk (if he confirmed the 2011 level) Wilco Kelderman, benefited by the ITT, Robert Kiserlovski, the GC guy of Radioshack which did a good race in 2010, Gianluca Brambilla, if he improves in Omega Pharma, Mikel Landa and Rafal Majka, and Henao or Porte as team leaders if Wiggins finally doesnt ride. Who knows if Aru and Dombrowski will ride. The logic says no but if they ride i can see them as surprises of the race and Superdomestiques.

 

[Maaaaaaaarten]

Changed my mind; I voted for Nibali, but obviously Gesink will win now that he is participating
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/video-gesink-takes-aim-at-2013-giro-ditalia

 

[cineteq]

Changed my mind; I voted for Nibali, but obviously Gesink will win now that he is participating
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/video-gesink-takes-aim-at-2013-giro-ditalia

I'll stick with Nibali, but I like this:

"he [Gesink] is going to Italy with the maglia rosa in mind, inspired in part by Ryder Hesjedal's victory in 2012."

 

[theyoungest]

Changed my mind; I voted for Nibali, but obviously Gesink will win now that he is participating
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/video-gesink-takes-aim-at-2013-giro-ditalia

Realistically speaking,

Nibali, number of GT podiums: 4, of which 1 win.
Gesink, number of GT podiums: 0

Then again, the same went for Hesjedal before last year

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

Nibali will come to the giro with a very strong squad (only Sky might be stronger on paper). And with the spirit of Vino I can't see why this is even a disscusion?

 

[iZnoGouD]

Tiago Machado

 

[Maaaaaaaarten]

Well Gesink vs. Nibali vs. Wiggins sounds great to me; can't wait until the Giro

 

[Jason_Mercier]

The Gesink of the Vuelta wouldnt do nothing against Nibali, Wiggins and even Samuel Sánchez if he come back in top shape after the injury.

 

[Maaaaaaaarten]

The Gesink of the Vuelta wouldnt do nothing against Nibali, Wiggins and even Samuel Sánchez if he come back in top shape after the injury.

Not saying Gesink'll kill everybody and be back to the best he ever was; but if everything goes normal, obviously he should be a better than in the Vuelta.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

The Gesink of the Vuelta wouldnt do nothing against Nibali, Wiggins and even Samuel Sánchez if he come back in top shape after the injury.

You do realise Gesink virtually had no preparation for last years Vuelta? He had ok form after an ok-ish preparation (more like recovery from the tour fall) and obviously was a bit far from his 2010/11 level

 

[Jason_Mercier]

The Gesink of 2010/2011 wouldnt do nothing against Nibali, Wiggins and even Samuel Sánchez if he come back in top shape after the injury. As much a 3rd place if Samu or Wiggins dont come to Italy. Do you realise this?

 

[Pentacycle]

You do realise Gesink virtually had no preparation for last years Vuelta? He had ok form after an ok-ish preparation (more like recovery from the tour fall) and obviously was a bit far from his 2010/11 level

Could be true, his crashes were worse than they first appeared. Wiggins' 2011 collarbone fracture, even if that looked bad, healed quite well. He was already training on rollers a few days afterwards, which meant he was able to do a sufficient preparation for the Vuelta, even without racing days.
Fact remains that we haven't seen the 2011 Dauphine Gesink in a while, and there's no reason to believe he'll be back for next season. He's definitely not a Giro favourite, like Wiggins(?), Purito, Hesjedal or Nibali obviously are.

 

[theyoungest]

You do realise Gesink virtually had no preparation for last years Vuelta? He had ok form after an ok-ish preparation (more like recovery from the tour fall) and obviously was a bit far from his 2010/11 level

That's true, Van Houwelingen also said that he was surprised by Gesink's performance as his preparation was far from ideal ("op z'n jan-boerenfluitjes", as Van Houwelingen called it). You could also see that after the Vuelta he was completely dead, at the Worlds. Non stop rehabilitation, training, and racing since October last year.

Anyway, we'll see, I'm still to be convinced that post-legbreak Gesink can climb as well as before. The Tour of California and the final weekend of the Tour de Suisse leave me somewhat hopeful in that regard.

 

[greenedge]

An itt specialist, capable of fighting for the GC, is lacking.
A fantastic long tt will be wasted, and the race will come down to battle in the mountains.
I have nothing against climbers' showdown, but with a rider who can put 4-5 minutes on climbers in that tt Giro would be spectacular.

Just watch, Evans will ride great in the Ardennes, win the TOR- make an impromptu decision to ride the Giro and win it by 4 minutes.

 

[serfla]

Evans could really be cat among the pigeons.

Menchov is the other name which is falling on my mind, but I'm very reserved regarding him.

 

[movingtarget]

Could be true, his crashes were worse than they first appeared. Wiggins' 2011 collarbone fracture, even if that looked bad, healed quite well. He was already training on rollers a few days afterwards, which meant he was able to do a sufficient preparation for the Vuelta, even without racing days.
Fact remains that we haven't seen the 2011 Dauphine Gesink in a while, and there's no reason to believe he'll be back for next season. He's definitely not a Giro favourite, like Wiggins(?), Purito, Hesjedal or Nibali obviously are.

Gesink will do well. His TTT is as good as any of the other GC riders except for Wiggins. As long as his preparation goes well I think Gesink is a chance for the podium.

 

[iZnoGouD]

Tiago Machado easy

 

[orangerider]

Evans could really be cat among the pigeons.

Menchov is the other name which is falling on my mind, but I'm very reserved regarding him.

Menchov's done. Too old, steadily declining over the years. Capable of a stage win, perhaps, but not much more than being on the 20th+ place list.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Tiago Machado easy

Did you really need to post that twice in two days?

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

I voted Purito, but I don't think he will ride anymore. If the issue with Katusha is not resolved, I reckon he'll join a WT team that has no viable leader for the Tour, such as Astana. Either way, it's likely that he'll go for the Tour instead.

Still a strong field of climbers, IMO. Nibali won't win easily... or more likely, not at all.

 

[The Hitch]

Could be true, his crashes were worse than they first appeared. Wiggins' 2011 collarbone fracture, even if that looked bad, healed quite well. He was already training on rollers a few days afterwards, which meant he was able to do a sufficient preparation for the Vuelta, even without racing days.
Fact remains that we haven't seen the 2011 Dauphine Gesink in a while, and there's no reason to believe he'll be back for next season. He's definitely not a Giro favourite, like Wiggins(?), Purito, Hesjedal or Nibali obviously are.

Why would he not be a favorite. If he can recover.from injuries - and time is the great healer, then it is very likely he will get his.climbing form.back.

And with his climbing form.i can't see who.would drop him. Samu of 2 years ago maybe and purito 200m.from the finish but that's about it.

 

[Netserk]

So Wiggo will aim for the Giro-Tour double...

Do you think he will give the Giro absolutely everything then, or do you think he will save something for the Tour?

 

[Eshnar]

So Wiggo will aim for the Giro-Tour double...

Really? I must have missed the news.

Logic says he'll fail, so he'd better go all out at the Giro