Who will win the Giro? 16th rest day poll

[VayaVayaVaya]

Roglič is going to win & it won't be close.

I said it in the previous rest day poll & I'll say it again here.

100% agree. Roglic is just better than the competition. The injury has been a setback but he aimed to preach in the third week, and when he does, people will been like Oh right this makes sense.

He's Roglic fanboy. No.

He's a Primoz Leipheimer fanboy, he loves to watch paint dry and grass grow.

@Logic-is-your-friend this is what I was referencing.

A lot of the fault for the slow and boring racing comes from the route design. When you draw up a race where attacking like crazy, being extra good in the TTs and being in great shape the first two weeks might get you a one minute gap... and then you have 4(!) stages in the last week when you can gain or lose a minute in a span of 5km... then something is wrong. Everyone knows that any time that might be gained in the first two weeks can be lost in one single climb in week three. So they decided that it is wiser to save energy for stages when the differences will be huge. Smart decision but unfortunatelly it leads to boring racing. They are doing what they think is the best way to win on a route that was presented to them.

Yes, my issue is that a team that has the fire power (Ineos, JV) should at least test the other guys in one of the stages. But they decided against it. I am assuming JVs tactic changed as soon Remco and Tao were out of the race. Because I think they believe Roglič will wipe the floor with everyone when the real climbs start. Then there are the other teams, but I think they (except perhaps Ineos) would already be satisfied with a podium. So they all believe in their strenghts.

So, basically. Don't put 4 hardest stages in a GT in the last week. Simple as that. Plus, as soon as Remco was out the TTs were basically irelevant since the main three guys are very much equal. This route might have worked if you had two guys who can TT (Roglič, Thomas) vs GC contenders who cannot (Mas, O'Connor, Gaudu, Landa, Hindley to an extent, Carapaz). But since this year Tour has almost no TTs al those guys skipped the Giro so you are left just with guys who can TT. Which in turn makes all the TTing useless.

I agree with this. Back loaded race Design + Covid + injuries from crashes got us here. The ITTs were surprisingly entertaining and stage 8 was actually great though.

Just can't shake the feeling that Roglic and Jumbo have Thomas exactly where they want him.

Almeida has a 4 year history of huge consistency that is consistently not good enough to win GTs. Thomas has a pretty hard cap to his level as well

I don’t think Roglic is worried about G, as much as I like G as a personality.

I'm more inclined to think that Roglic is in bad shape, hasn't been in amazing form in the beginning and is now really hurt from the crashes.
That's likely why he doesn't attack. If he's fine the passive racing of his team is mind-boggling and actually unexcusable in my book.

I don’t think he is in bad shape. I think he planned on preaching for the third week which makes sense when you look at the profiles. I do think the crash has hurt him, but I will be shocked if he isn’t clearly the best climber.

 

[gunara]

Anyone other than Roglic or Thomas winning will be enough to make me forgive this Giro. No I don't hate them as riders, but how things have been going so far makes me wish the biggest favourites lose. They have forced me to sit on terribly dull hours of GCN people rambling.

Almeida is the worst among the better options. But I'll still take him.

If Caruso or anyone else wins (with Rog & G not abandoning)...I'll say this Giro is legendary.

 

[JosefK]

I think maybe Roglic is suffering from his second crash. If he is recovering quickly from it, then he may be the eventual winner, but Almeida seems to have the mojo working, now. Thomas is tough--not a surprise. Today (stage 15) might have been the stage when other GC hopefuls should have put Roglic to the test (if he was hurting from the second crash), but they really didn't do anything till the final few kilometers, and by then it was too late to make a difference.

 

[glassmoon]

pls Almeida... save this Giro by beating those hacks... pretty please

 

[Elos Anjos]

I would love for Roglic to became the new Rominger but I sense there's something brewing with Almeida...

 

[Escarabajo]

Why Rubio is not as a choice?

 

[Tonton]

Only three minutes behind Roglic after all this ITT, and no Remco? Thibaut Pinot will will win this bike race.

 

[nightowl]

Judging by how it’s been going, there will be no attacks the rest of the race and Armirail will end up winning

 

[movingtarget]

Probably Roglic but I get the feeling that one good attack can win the race and so far on GC there has been little of that.,

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Why Rubio is not as a choice?

Because he gets dropped by Healy and McNulty.

 

[Rob5091]

Who will win and who deserves to win? Not maybe the same answer to those questions. Either Roglic or Thomas I suppose will win, but unless Ineos or Jumbo drastically change their tactics, we won't be dancing in the streets or naming our first born after the winner.
The most entertaining thing so far has been all the arguing between riders and commentators, so I nominate Lance Armstrong as winner for calling Jonathan Vaughters "a f*cking clown". Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner! Mind you, he might be disqualified later on, if he's taken any intoxicating substances.

 

[rallybanana]

In the previous polls, I voted for the Scotsman with the Irish name. In his absence, I nominate the Irishman with the Scottish name.

 

[Red Rick]

Im confused as to why one guy who has done nothing yet winning would be better than another guy who has done nothing yet

 

[Blanco]

Anyone other than Roglic or Thomas winning will be enough to make me forgive this Giro. No I don't hate them as riders, but how things have been going so far makes me wish the biggest favourites lose. They have forced me to sit on terribly dull hours of GCN people rambling.

Almeida is the worst among the better options. But I'll still take him.

If Caruso or anyone else wins (with Rog & G not abandoning)...I'll say this Giro is legendary.

So only Thomas and Roglic are to blame for dull racing?
Others are doing just fine, attacking left and right, making the race interesting...
Seriously, why not blame Almeida, Caruso, etc? They're behind, and they should be in theory weaker then Roglic, especially. So why not try to take time if you see that main favorite is riding conservatively?

 

[SafeBet]

Caruso has been hyped to attack on every meaningful descent of the route so far.
And yet the only "attack" was probably only meant to help Milan stay ahead and contest the sprint later.

I genuinely have no idea of who will win this Giro. It's impossible to understand who has better legs at the moment.

 

[Luthor]

pls Almeida... save this Giro by beating those hacks... pretty please

Almeida is a hack as well. The guy didn't crash, has a strong team and didn't do anything to actually make sure he gets some time.
Thomas and Almeida are both riding like a podium place is good enough for them. Regardless if Roglic is seriously injured or not, they haven't tested him for real. They let him recover and that might be fatal in week 3. Roglic also has Kuss who once again could be decisive.

 

[Carrick-On-Seine]

I'm more inclined to think that Roglic is in bad shape, hasn't been in amazing form in the beginning and is now really hurt from the crashes.
That's likely why he doesn't attack. If he's fine the passive racing of his team is mind-boggling and actually unexcusable in my book.

I keep seeing these references to Roglic crashing. Didn’t Thomas also come down in that pile up yet no one seems to be offering that as an excuse?

 

[Netserk]

I keep seeing these references to Roglic crashing. Didn’t Thomas also come down in that pile up yet no one seems to be offering that as an excuse?

Thomas landed on Covi, and I don't think he had any visible bleeding afterwards.

 

[tobydawq]

I keep seeing these references to Roglic crashing. Didn’t Thomas also come down in that pile up yet no one seems to be offering that as an excuse?

He landed on Covi (and people don't get equally hurt from a crash...).

 

[ppanther92]

Bit surprised that Roglic and even Almeida have so much more votes than Thomas. The guy finished the Tour 3 times on the podium, so knows how to ride GTs well.

 

[SafeBet]

After leaving the race Covi commented: "I finally understand the weight of the maglia rosa".

 

[topcat]

Caruso will attack the ascents and win. Picked him at the start and the middle and will pick him at the end.

 

[carolina]

Bit surprised that Roglic and even Almeida have so much more votes than Thomas. The guy finished the Tour 3 times on the podium, so knows how to ride GTs well.

Thomas is not portuguese

 

[BR2]

Bit surprised that Roglic and even Almeida have so much more votes than Thomas. The guy finished the Tour 3 times on the podium, so knows how to ride GTs well.

Yeah, I am not really into the "xy knows how to win" argument, but I'm also surprised and have him equal with Roglic at this point in my mind.

 

[firefly3323]

Derek Gee to finally get his deserved win....GC overall