The Giro! Picks? - VeloNation - Cycling Forums, Bicycle Forums, Community Forums

Posts:3180

05/05/2021 11:03 PM
The Giro just snuck up and bit me in the a**. I'm nowhere near ready. Haven't even been paying attention to who's riding. But that time's a-coming and we need to get ready! Just read the CyclingNews article on 6 Giro sprinters, Ewan, Gaviria, Sagan, Merlier (a new name to me), Groenewegen and Viviani. I'd like to see Gaviria pull off three wins but that's one longggggg shot! GC? Haven't read up on who's even there. Help me guys.

zootracer

Posts:833

05/06/2021 12:22 AM
Hasn't the Giro been moved to Oct?

zootracer

Posts:833

05/06/2021 12:25 AM
No, my bad, starts this Saturday....I was thinking of PRB...

Posts:4209

05/06/2021 10:23 AM
Ineos is bringing Bernal and Sivakov. Earlier in the year, I though Bernal was clearly on the way back....but he hasn't been seen much in the last few weeks amid reports that his back is flaring up again. Bike Exchange has Simon Yates still looking for redemption after 2018....not certain the team will be strong enough to support him for 3 weeks, though. Lots of people are talking up Fausto Masnada for Deceunick....just finished 3rd in Romandie (although it was somewhat of a snoozefest race). Nibali was just confirmed, but after breaking his wrist a few weeks ago (and with his age), I don't think he'll be a GC factor. Can Hugh Carthy improve on his podium finish from the Vuelata last fall? I kinda doubt it....he has seemed to be a bit inconsistent so far this year.

Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!

Posts:4499

05/06/2021 10:47 AM
Yates seems to be the only one listed as top favorite. Bernal will be favorite if his back holds. Nibali wouldn't factor in my mind anymore even if he's healthy. Evenepoel is also a major question mark without any racing kms. Beyond that Landa, Soler, Almeida, Sivakov, Vlasov, Hindley, Bilbao, a long list of would be candidates so it is the usual who knows. And then of course there is the master of the poorly timed attack, Dan Martin. Mollema is there for stages, not overall I understand. Ben - Merlier in one of Alpecin's sprinters, he's already won some good races this year, including the one where VDP broke his handlebars and then led him out. https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/giro-d-italia/2021/startlist

6ix

Posts:485

05/06/2021 04:25 PM
I second Yates. Not a fan but I'd wager he'll win. And who knows, maybe Remco will grab a stage or two along the way.

Posts:2881

05/06/2021 06:11 PM
And crash more often than he wins

Posts:4499

05/06/2021 06:30 PM
I would be 100% unsurprised if Evenepoel runs away with it. I believe he's won every stage race he's entered to date. Weeklong races but still. Apparently he is at fighting weight. The Belgians (the Flemish that is; the Walloons won't care) would go properly mad if he does. While they always have a good crop of racers, they have been waiting for a proper GC contender since like forever. The anticipation and pressure on Remco is massive.

Posts:3180

05/07/2021 11:31 AM
OK, I just read Phillipa York's summary. She likes Yates. Sounds solid but I'd much rather see either Evenepoel or Almeida win. Evenepoel is just plain fun to watch and I have a soft spot for the Portuguese rider. Sounds like DQS is all GC this year. You guys know I love the selfless attitude of the DQS team. The win that would be fun? Nibali pulling it off at high altitude in snow! Think frozen mud and really big cobbles. Give the Italian a final Tour on his own turf. (But that would take a lot of bad things happening to other riders.)

Posts:4499

05/08/2021 11:28 AM
Sounds like it is exit Almeida at DQS next year, bad faith negotiation by his manager and Lefevre is fed up.

Posts:4499

05/09/2021 11:03 AM
And just like that Merlier and Alpecin have their first GT stage win. Sounds like Gaviria got boxed in by his own leadout .

Posts:3180

05/10/2021 10:38 AM
Wow! The sprint teams screwed up. Let BORA wear themselves out monitoring the break, content to just cruise and keep their big shots up there. So the big shots were there at the end but they neglected to reel in the break! (BORA got the small consolation of at least podiuming for doing big time work. Viviani, Gaveria and the rest? Nothing. Justice is served. (Sorry; it really doesn't taste very good.)

Posts:4499

05/10/2021 11:01 AM
Ewan, Groenewegen and Merlier were 14 mins back. This was an opportunity for Sagan, Gaviria and Vivinia who managed to get over final hill just fine.

Posts:3180

05/10/2021 11:07 AM
But only one of those three teams was willing to do squat to reel in the break. The other two got what they deserved.

Posts:4209

05/10/2021 11:28 AM
Bora screwed up by shooting all their bullets trying to shed the sprinters....then when it was time to reel in the break, they had no one left. Cofidis and UAE should have helped but assumed the break would come back / lacked the confidence in their sprinters. Total mess....and Taco van der Hoorn capitalized on it. Bold move to go solo as far out as he did....not certain how he can ride a bike with balls that big!!!

Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!

Posts:3180

05/10/2021 11:53 AM
CK, as this played out, I see BORA as doing good. Yes, only the bottom step but with no help from anybody, that was a hard earned bottom step. Now, maybe they should have been thinking GT and not wasting bullets and simply given up on the race early. Let the break take the whole podium and save their legs for next time. Had BORA done that today would have been a really boring day. Or maybe the GC teams would have spiced things up.

Posts:4499

05/10/2021 02:19 PM
The GC teams weren't going to burn any matches today. Tomorrow, Thursday and then weekend is go time for them. The Belgian media is already drooling over prospect of Evenepoel taking pink. Ben - you will appreciated Van der Hoorn's backstory. Back in 2017 he had what seemed like an innocent bike spill causing what seemed at first an innocent concussion. But he ended up spending 8 months in a darkened room doing absolutely nothing, before slowly starting to ride around neighborhood again and then finally a year later training and returning in pro ranks.

Posts:3180

05/10/2021 05:32 PM
D-QS has put themselves in a good position for tomorrow. Should be fun ot watch. I'll keep my eyes open for Van der Hoorn's story. Thanks. Hard for me to imagine what he went through but I do know what hard to imagine can feel like. Cool that he stuck out racing and double so that he's pulled off a GT stage win.

Posts:4209

05/11/2021 09:08 AM
The Belgian media is already drooling over prospect of Evenepoel taking pink. Looks like they'll have to dry their mouths up....there will ne a new maglia rosa tonight, but it won't be Evenepoel.

Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!

Posts:3180

05/11/2021 09:44 AM
So far, D-QS is riding like a real GC squad, not jersey hunters. Put one rider in the break just to be allowed to do less work. Perhaps for the next few days the team, Evenepoel and Almeida will be allowed to do less work while others shoulder the glory. Pretty different from the Alaphillippe teams we've been watching.

Posts:4499

05/11/2021 10:00 AM
Posted By Cosmic Kid on 05/11/2021 09:08 AM The Belgian media is already drooling over prospect of Evenepoel taking pink. Looks like they'll have to dry their mouths up....there will ne a new maglia rosa tonight, but it won't be Evenepoel. Yes hard to make inroads on gap in this weather. Easy does it in downhills.

Posts:3180

05/11/2021 10:06 AM
And I suspect Evenepoel is still a little chastened by his attempt at making inroads downhill last summer.

Posts:4499

05/11/2021 10:09 AM
That crash was first and foremost a stupid call by his DS to put him at back of group. He should have been on Nibalis wheel. As it stands he had poor descenders in front of him and correcting for that cost him. Almeida distanced on climb...

Posts:4499

05/11/2021 10:54 AM
That's it for Almeida this Giro. Bennett probably too. No team able to control on that final climb. Should make for an interesting GC battle again.

Posts:4209

05/11/2021 11:21 AM
Welp....so much for the Almeida challenge. And some of the outsiders probably lost their chance today too...Sivakov, Nibali and Hindley all lost ~30" to the GC favorites. Yates lost a handful of seconds....not the end of the world, but the question is if the loss was the result of the horrific conditions or fitness. Nice win by Dumbroski.

Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!

Posts:4499

05/11/2021 11:44 AM
Almeida better hope his manager managed to sign a contract for him with a new team. Prospects of significant salary improvement probably declined today.

Posts:158

05/11/2021 08:11 PM
Joe!! almost ten years and yea!

Posts:158

05/11/2021 08:12 PM
Opps, Tough sona bitch

Posts:3180

05/11/2021 11:54 PM
Posted By Cosmic Kid on 05/11/2021 11:21 AM Welp....so much for the Almeida challenge. And some of the outsiders probably lost their chance today too...Sivakov, Nibali and Hindley all lost ~30" to the GC favorites. Yates lost a handful of seconds....not the end of the world, but the question is if the loss was the result of the horrific conditions or fitness. Nice win by Dumbroski. CK, I hope that's a typo. (Domb...) Yes, nice win but more fun, the jersey holder De Marchi. Fun interview and write-up. https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/de-marchi-my-way-of-doing-things-is-more-romantic-than-modern-cycling-allows/

Dale

Posts:1767

05/12/2021 02:28 PM
Speaking of Dombrowski.... hit the deck hard and is maybe out https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/dombrowski-heads-to-hospital-after-late-hard-crash-in-giro-ditalia/?utm_medium=social&utm_content=cyclingnews&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=socialflow&fbclid=IwAR25qxNSLFjtePY-Q5O_HfgjfrgTeCxvLM06B_WATWycS9fxTG3a4QOQFc8

Posts:4499

05/12/2021 02:38 PM
Sounds like possible concussion for Dumbroski (it's dumb bro to ski?) ehr Dombrowski (hit his dome and maybe his brow so is he still fit to ski?). Start tomorrow TBD. Landa and Sivakov are definitely out. Landa is always hard pressed for luck. Sivakov is of the same unlucky mold apparently.

Posts:4499

05/13/2021 10:17 AM
The Belgians will be drooling again.

Posts:2881

05/13/2021 07:28 PM
Bibs are in order for Flanders.

Posts:2881

05/13/2021 07:48 PM
For drool management.

Posts:158

05/14/2021 07:28 PM
Out of town for the day yesterday. Came home to watch reply of Giro. Tired and kinda dozing and the bam. TenK from finish a team car drives into a racer. Got my attention. As I was watching I knew as soon as I saw the rider slowing down he was going to get hit. I thought he was going back to hand off something to the car behind him. Watched again and saw the car next to the car that hit him handing something off. Just a rain jersey. Not enough going on in a bike race that you can't wait till the end to return that stuff. Guess a new rule is on the books tomorrow. Just bizarre.

zootracer

Posts:833

05/15/2021 12:43 AM
Yeah, stage 6 ,10k from finish. It's shown on YouTube. He was hit from behind by his own team car...WTF?

Posts:3180

05/15/2021 11:41 PM
Well, today's stage (8) was fun! Gaviria finishes ahead of Almeida and puts nearly 2 minutes on him on a stage with no flat ground! I spent the race rooting for him. Oh I knew he wasn't going to come close to winning but he kept working his way back into the the break. Started that final climb attached and 6 minutes ahead of the peloton!

Posts:2881

05/16/2021 10:57 AM
Reminded me of Froome in terms of huge burst of speed uphill.

Posts:4209

05/17/2021 10:49 AM
Bernal is clearly the strongest rider in the race.....for now. There is still a lot of racing left to do and I think reasonable questions about his back and fitness. But regardless of how the race finishes, he has shown he is back to his winning ways and will surely be contesting the Tour next year. yates is now obviously off form. Just leaking time on every stage where it matters....I don't think he'll be able to correct this as the race goes on.

Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!

Posts:4499

05/17/2021 02:44 PM
Yeah I am wondering about Yates. Obviously last time he came into Giro super hot only to have lead snatched away from him when it mattered. This time it seems he's come in undercooked. Curious to see how Evenepoel will fare in high mountains. Good that he hasn't gotten pink yet. For one, it is good for his learning experience if he has to work for something. And DQS also isn't experienced enough to carry the race lead. But he has Bernal a little bit nervous and attacking early in race. Vlasov finally seems to be getting it together and riding consistently.

Posts:2881

05/17/2021 10:43 PM
Excellent team performance today and the stage winner did everything right.

Posts:4499

05/19/2021 09:42 AM
Evenepoel clearly has some work to do on technical gravel work. Getting dropped like a wet rag. Or maybe a dusty rag. Bernal as ex MTB looking very good.

Posts:4499

05/19/2021 11:16 AM
This is a must re-watch stage for those who didn't tune in live. Best racing I've seen in a while. Massive battlefield.

Posts:4499

05/19/2021 12:23 PM
BTW - DQS is a hot mess of a team this Giro. The opposite of the usual wolfpack/band of brothers. Clearly Almeida is not enjoying his newfound domestique duties but even in absence of that, where was other support for Remco today? This is the type of racing they should be good at. Waiting for Yates to wake up now. Getting close to his terrain.

Posts:2881

05/19/2021 01:34 PM
Great comment by the on the ground color commentator concerning the question of whether gravel has a place in a grand tour - an emphatic yes! Nice to have something besides big mountains or the rare severe cross winds to break apart a race.

Posts:3180

05/19/2021 02:26 PM
CyclingNews live report says: "Today, Bernal is on caliper brakes, 28mm tubulars, and 53/39 &11/30 gearing. Evenepoel, meanwhile, is on disc brakes, 28mm clinchers with inner tubes at 5.5 bar, and 52/36 & 11/30 gearing." Bernal - rim brakes and sew-ups! Takes me back! But when I read that on the last three dirt sectors, team cars weren't allowed and support was limited to selected team and neutral support "pits" ala CX - well a rider might have to ride the rim a ways after a flat from a rock. And the wheel you get - who knows what its exact disk alignment is. Evenepoel riding discs and clinchers? That strikes me as being an uncharacteristic D-QS poor decision. I wrote the above while the Strade Bianche stage was still happening and got sidetracked. Sounds like Evenepoel cannot blame his tires for the outcome. Bernal's day! And fun that when it really counts what did the winner use? A bike a (very small) dinosaur would know how to operate! (Well, maybe not those clicky gear shift things. The old downtube paddles worked with all the claws.) I never wanted to warm up to Bernal given his employer but he is earning my respect. He came to play. Today was all his. That a Colombian true climber could do this much damage on the gravel - opened my eyes.

Posts:4209

05/19/2021 05:00 PM
Evenepoel clearly has some work to do on technical gravel work. I wonder if some of his issues today were residual mental issues from his crash....he was clearly extremely uncomfortable the second they came close to any gravel section. Brakes were literally going on the second they hit dirt.....but that said, his legs were also not good today, it seems. Even when he was in the group on pavement, he was at the back and not on song. This is a must re-watch stage for those who didn't tune in live. Best racing I've seen in a while. Epic stage.....the best thing about stages like this is that it forces the riders out front more than any other type of stage. Huge mountain stages are now just coming down to the last 400m....but toss a gravel stage in the mix and the big guns need to come out 40-50k from the line. Makes for great racing.

Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!

Posts:4499

05/19/2021 06:20 PM
Agreed his legs overall were no bueno, which was definitely a major factor. He suffered like a dog on that final road climb. Didn't get through rest day very well, which may be because of lack of racing kms. Don't think it is mental issues from crash. They've had some pretty sketchy wet downhill conditions already this Giro and he never seemed nervous. It would have presented itself there if that was case. It seems specific to the gravel. Needed more beefy tires LOL.

Posts:2881

05/19/2021 09:55 PM
Posted By Frederick Jones on 05/19/2021 09:55 PM JMO, but brake tech was not an issue today. Judicious avoidance of brakes was.

Posts:4209

05/20/2021 09:19 AM
Judicious avoidance of brakes was. Word.

Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!

Posts:4209

05/20/2021 09:20 AM
Just tuning into toay's stage....sounds like there was some carnage early on with some big names dropping out. Marc Soler, Gino Mader et al are now all out. Roads look kinda glacial, even though the sun is currently out.

Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!

Posts:3180

05/20/2021 10:51 AM
Posted By Orange Crush on 05/19/2021 06:20 PM Agreed his legs overall were no bueno, which was definitely a major factor. He suffered like a dog on that final road climb. Didn't get through rest day very well, which may be because of lack of racing kms. Don't think it is mental issues from crash. They've had some pretty sketchy wet downhill conditions already this Giro and he never seemed nervous. It would have presented itself there if that was case. It seems specific to the gravel. Needed more beefy tires LOL. Like tubular Paris-Roubaix Clements of the old days? (Bernal was on 28c tubulars - the modern equivalent.) I haven't done a side-by-side between skinny quality sewups and the excellent modern clinchers (I'm staying tubed whatever the casing) but my distant recollection is that the Criterium Setas of the '70s ran on gravel at road pressure as well or better than considerably wider Vittoria Open Pave/G+ types. Like maybe the Setas being as capable as say 28c. So if Bernal is running 28c tubbies, Evenepoel should have been on 32c? to match him in confidence. Maybe D-QS is getting soft and settling for easy sponsorship bucks and riding less than the tried and true?

Posts:3180

05/20/2021 10:56 AM
Posted By Frederick Jones on 05/19/2021 09:55 PM Posted By Frederick Jones on 05/19/2021 09:55 PM JMO, but brake tech was not an issue today. Judicious avoidance of brakes was. In decades past, we rode those races with high quality Campagnolo Nuevo Record "speed adjusts", not real brakes. Might have helped here! (Again, look what Bernal rode. Seemed to work OK.) A for CK!

Posts:3180

05/21/2021 11:08 AM
Good for Nizzolo! He hasn't been on my radar but he pulled a well planned and well executed sprint today. In his post-race comments, he sounds like a level headed guy. And Sagan, podiuming when there were at least 5 sprinters with the afterburners to beat him. Funny that the biggest climb of the day was in the neutral zone - a bridge. I think they managed a crash-free day. Everyone should be at their best for tomorrow (unlike Evenepoel after the lay-day). I wonder if the Strada disaster was part of Evenepoel's learning curve - that maybe he needed to learn he had to do this or not do that on a lay-day. That was, I believe, his first ever.

Posts:4499

05/21/2021 12:45 PM
Lefevre gave a pretty level headed interview on Evenepoel. Apparently he did some lower level race last year or earlier in which he also lost minutes on gravel so this was calculated in as a risk. Lefevre also indicated that things could go a number of ways with Remco, including pulling him from Giro if exhaustion becomes apparent. The Giro as first race in 8 months is pretty far out there no matter how talented you are. The topography reminds me of the ride I did in Green Swamp Florida, there too the only topo was bridges.

Posts:2881

05/22/2021 07:47 PM
Except for the plucky stage winner, boring. I miss the bold solo attacks. No soul, just chess pieces controlled by their DS via radio.

Posts:4499

05/22/2021 08:54 PM
Zoncolan is often boring simply because it is so hard. These kind of stages are self defeating from a spectator perspective. The interesting tactical stages are where they go over multiple passes.

Posts:4209

05/22/2021 09:29 PM
Agreed with OC...when you have a singular massive summit to end a stage, it will always come down to the last few KM. Even days with multiple passes are becoming somewhat textbook because everyone is so strong, the field is largely neutralized throughout the day. If you want exciting racing, you need to make it less challenging and shorter, because then more riders are capable of competing. Or add more gravel stages, because the other day beat the living schitt out today’s stage for entertainment and racing value.

Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!

Posts:2881

05/22/2021 10:34 PM
CK, I agree that what you wrote is true in the the current robot cyclist era. This is not "you kids get off my lawn" geezer nostalgia. Racing really was more interesting without radios and powermeters.

Dale

Posts:1767

05/23/2021 12:22 PM
Posted By Cosmic Kid on 05/22/2021 09:29 PM If you want exciting racing, you need to make it less challenging and shorter, because then more riders are capable of competing. This, but I'll amend to be ok with hard sections-- HC climb, gravel section, pave... adds to the drama. Milan-SanRemo is long but other than the question of "can someone make it over the Poggio with enough of a lead to prevent a field sprint" there isn't any excitement. Short stages seem to always have fireworks right from K zero.

Posts:2881

05/23/2021 08:47 PM
F'in radios! You kids get off my lawn!!!

Posts:4209

05/24/2021 04:35 PM
This, but I'll amend to be ok with hard sections-- HC climb, gravel section, pave... adds to the drama. Agreed 100%.

Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!

Posts:158

05/24/2021 04:54 PM
Thats who I've become. Not sure how many here watch or play golf. My dad got me playing when I was eight. 1958 I grew up playing and watching him watch golf on Sundays Shells Wonderful World of Golf. Quiet, gentlemanly, honor. Fans never yelling. Heck announcers would whisper Just fell into the last two holes of PGA tourney on Sunday. Have not played or watched golf in ten years. Almost as rowdy as soccer. I guess one of the first tourneys that allowed full fan participation. Looked like a soccer match in England when the local team loses. OK maybe not that bad. Oh tried to watch the Giro today, just to bring it to cycling. Not much luck with that either.

Posts:2881

05/24/2021 05:28 PM
Yeah, disappointing the golf crowds are nearly out of control. And the weather stymied the Giro video feed. I was hoping for a fixed camera at the summit.

Posts:4499

05/24/2021 05:39 PM
They probably had a hardwire feed running up the Gavia back in 88. I rolled out of bed at 7am normally good for an hour of live coverage, saw a recap of Bernal rolling across the line, went back to bed. Not the most exciting of Giro editions even though Bernal does his very best to make a good show of it and major kudos to him - well deserved. The route is interesting enough. Even the lineup was reasonably promising but only one guy showed up ready to do battle until Milan. I liked Yates better when he entered the race red hot only to lose it in the end. Undercooked Yates was never in contention, and neither was anyone else. The weather hasn't helped and doused some of the potential good racing. It seems like a particularly miserable May in Italy this year.

Posts:3180

05/24/2021 08:51 PM
Posted By Frederick Jones on 05/22/2021 10:34 PM CK, I agree that what you wrote is true in the the current robot cyclist era. This is not "you kids get off my lawn" geezer nostalgia. Racing really was more interesting without radios and powermeters. I had a thought and it's very simple. Don't allow outside power. For anything. No batteries, no fuel cells. Allow radios and power meters but require them to be powered by the rider's legs. (Well, he can use his hands or whatever.) Now the DSs can do all the overseeing they want but the rider's gotta pay in watts to listen! Same with power meters. (Now CK won't like this but the riders would have to go back to the old isometrics of compressing those derailleur springs.) And back to the Zolocan (sp - I hate that when I'm typing a reply, I cannot refer to the thread!). I wish I had seen the riders slog their way up the "Z". That ever so slow, ever muscle you've got climbing is what I loved when I was young and fit. Summit Road in Boston. The pitch beside the ski slope on Blue Hill, 2 miles from my parent's house. The final pitch of Mt Washington. Following on the Cycling News site, I got to wait minutes for the next report, less than a kilo later! Yup, my kind of racing.

Posts:2881

05/24/2021 09:25 PM
Ben, I love your proposed calculus of "so you want radios, you gotta pay for it in watts"! Modern electronics are power efficient, but in the realm of physics there is no free lunch, and the conversion from legs to radio emanations has a built in energy inefficiency cost too. If implemented, this would raise another doping equivalent angle, to cover or minimize the rider power loss using batteries or capacitors hidden here or there, like in Evenepoel's jersey pocket (do I need to explain?), or more discretely in better hidden spots such as imbedded in the bike or the helmet, or even inside the rider (I hope I don't need to explain).

Posts:4499

05/24/2021 09:37 PM
Bahaha - retrogrouches. Remove domestique access to top end training programs. Pay them a crap wage. That’ll make an impact. Ie basically go back to situation that women’s racing still has now. They have radios. And power meters. :-)

Posts:2881

05/25/2021 09:31 PM
GT organizers have put their fat thumbs on the route choice scales for decades, nothing new here. This year's Giro is tailor made for a skinny climber if he could survive some gravel. Bernal should send some thank you cards after he wins this thing.

Posts:3180

05/25/2021 09:54 PM
lsd, was there a skinny Italian climber who was supposed to show up? (Tailoring events to benefit one's countrymen is an old practice. The Giro, the Tour. Over here, the America's Cup. The rules 150 years ago were that the boats had to arrive under their own sails. The English had to sail the Atlantic. The US boats had to navigate the length of Narragansett Bay.)

Posts:3180

05/26/2021 10:33 AM
Another tough day in the mountains,another summit finish and not entirely boring. Good to see Martin pull off the win. I was kinda hoping Almeida was going to pass him but I'm good as it stands. Bernal is not immortal. Several others had the blinders pulled down. (And again, the final kilos took a long time! NBA last two playoff minutes!) Another crash. I hope for nothing broken or serious. That they all get to finish. Evenepoel is probably getting tired of these continuing lessons. He's going from 21 years of age to much older altogether too fast!

Posts:4499

05/26/2021 11:07 AM
I don't think Evenepoel is all that bad of a descender but both Lombardy and today showed he is prone to over-reacting. In Lombardy he fast approached slower/poorer descenders in front of him and braked too hard. This time he had same over-reaction to a crash in front of him, in both cases with same outcome, over the railing. Bernal - if it was an off-day then he can probably get over it and no big deal. If it is his back, things could quickly go from bad to worse. Surprisingly interesting day after it looked like a snooze fest for awhile. The three podium spots now look more set, the gap to fourth spot has grown substantially. Almeida would be in contention for podium had it not been for waiting for Evenepoel on gravel stage.

Posts:2881

05/26/2021 07:42 PM
Drama level is up. Yes! Could be very entertaining the next few days.

Posts:2881

05/28/2021 08:15 PM
Another entertaining day. Tomorrow could be epic!

Posts:4499

05/28/2021 08:40 PM
Smart play by Bernal today and good use of Martinez. Funny thing is Martinez got dropped by DQS on the flats and it took Ganna to pace him back to front. That massive first climb could make it a good fight tomorrow. Could.

Posts:2881

05/29/2021 10:36 AM
Another good one!

Posts:4499

05/29/2021 10:52 AM
Yup. Good action. Another beast mode stage by Martinez incredible efforts considering he also kept having to close self created gaps on descents.

Posts:2881

05/29/2021 09:45 PM
Man of the match, for sure. Still a fantastic stage win for Caruso. What a Giro he's ridden. Super smart and gutsy move with Bardet's team. Gaps are big so tomorrow likely will be an anticlimax. That's OK, there is that gorgeous Milano scenery to enjoy. Just my impression, but the Giro feed is doing a better than ever job of selling the appeal of Italy. If I were them, I'd find a way to work food into the mix.