Giro d’Italia

Dr Winston wrote:

Possibly....but also possible they attack the pink jersey elect. His nearest serious contender is three minutes behind him and he has a further TT to come.  Three minutes is more than just one good day of beating Roglic. If it isn’t tomorrow then i’d suggest it’s very soon if any of them seriously think they can beat him at this Giro for overall.

I think GC teams will make it hard on the main climb & attack on the final 'hump' but there is a long way from that final climb to the finish and the next 2 stages offer a much better chance of making significant time if Roglic struggles.

Dr Winston wrote:

I think they’ve gone a bit mad with it tbh Minardi. I remember the days when sprints at both sides of the road were common to keep out of trouble...those days have been replaced by more single bunched sprints hiding behind each other. Having race craft and knowing how to stay out of trouble by using the whole road is an art whether at GC or sprint disciplines.....or at least it was.

I think the problem is inconsistency in applying penalties.

UCI rules state that riders shouldn't change line and impede other riders but the rule isn't often applied.

In the last 3 or 4 years sprinting has changed too. Reducing the number of riders in teams has meant some teams don't bring a sprint train and rely on jumping on other riders trains and hopping wheels.

Personally I think riders are talking rubbish when they say they didn't realise another rider was there. They have a very good idea who is near them and I am pretty sure Viviani realised someone was coming up on his left and he deliberately moved further over than necessary to obstruct them. What he didn't realise is how fast Moschetti was coming and as a result hit him.

Like most sprinters Moschetti had the reactions and bike handling ability to avoid crashing.

Dr Winston wrote:

MinardiM189 wrote:

Dr Winston wrote:

Possibly....but also possible they attack the pink jersey elect. His nearest serious contender is three minutes behind him and he has a further TT to come.  Three minutes is more than just one good day of beating Roglic. If it isn’t tomorrow then i’d suggest it’s very soon if any of them seriously think they can beat him at this Giro for overall.

I think GC teams will make it hard on the main climb & attack on the final 'hump' but there is a long way from that final climb to the finish and the next 2 stages offer a much better chance of making significant time if Roglic struggles.

Oh Aye. Good chances to make significant time on those for sure. My point is that by the time you add the chunk of time he will gain on the final TT to the three minutes he has in hand then they have to make significant time on him on more than one stage. I’d find it hard to believe they’d take much more than a minute out of him at best on any one day...or do you think they could duff him up for more than a minute on one stage between them all?

Nibalis is 1:44 behind Roglic.

Roglic hasn't got much help in the mountains, only Tolhoek & Kuss. Roglic will find himslef isolated on quite a few stages, he can lose a lot of time quite quickly.

Sniffer wrote:

Condor Andy wrote:

MinardiM189 wrote:

At one stage Viviani was 4th in the points classification with the 18 points he scored on Stage 2.

However it now appears that these points taken off him as an additional punishment.

That's what I'm assuming too, but I was trying to find confirmation of his punishment.

I think he will be on minus points

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/giro-ditalia-viviani-unrepentant-after-s...

 

Yep sorry PCS has updated it now 18 points after stage 2, none now after stage 3. well maybe save him a weeks riding in Italy....lol serve the inconsistent authories right. silly really the one sprinter who might have stayed on to the end. Although now Demare will probably have to do it.

Dr Winston wrote:

MinardiM189 wrote:

Dr Winston wrote:

MinardiM189 wrote:

Dr Winston wrote:

Don’t understand this Giro at all. What on earth is going on? No problem with a big break today...almost expected...but 14 mins?

GC riders....what on earth are they doing?

This is exactly what I expected today although I didn't anticipate Polanc being in the break.

It was always going to be a came of call my bluff with the GC teams. At some stage I hope Mitchelton Scott have to chase and nobody does anything to help them.

 

Polanc is a very big surprise....as is the time thay’ve given him. What I don’t understand is why the peleton din’t just close the door at about 6 minutes. They seem he’ll bent on making things difficult for themselves like when they let Bilbao and Formolo go.

None of the GC teams want to work.

If it wasn't for Trek helping out UAE Formolo & Bilbao would have gained even more time.

I think Mitcehelton cause the problem by completely refusing to work.

At some stage I can see someone gaining a hell of a lot of time and no-one doing anything about it.

Aye. We have to remember the numbers being quoted for Polanc is the lead he will have over Roglic....a lot of the others are a big chunk behind that. As I said last night there really isn’t much wiggle room left for the like of Yates and Lopez. After today they’re faced with maybe getting back 10 mins on Polanc and 3 mins on Roglic. I have no idea who’s making the decisions for some of these teams but they might want to revise their strategies.

Working beautifully for UAE though.  A day when Conti could be really challenged for pink and by getting Polanc into the break they will not only keep the jersey today, but gives them a better chance of holding it for a few days.

Dr Winston wrote:

MinardiM189 wrote:

Dr Winston wrote:

MinardiM189 wrote:

My team for today -

ROGLIC
YATES S.
LOPEZ
ULISSI
BATTAGLIN
CIMOLAI
MADOUAS
LONARDI

Pity they don't have live coverage on Eurosport there is a real battle to get in the break.

How many transfers Minardi?

Six transfers taking my total used to 12

I’m only on 11. I haven’t liked the look of today and tomorrow for some time. Prepared to fall a bit and save the transfers for a better day. Oomen is interesting me in that breakaway. Oomen Ciccone could be the two KOM picks to get soon. Tomorrow will tell us if TDG is interested or not.

Hmmmm, I just realised I shouldn't have brought the top GC riders in because the guaranteed points for GC just disappeared.

Big mistake !!!

I was thinking Lopez is a guaranteed 7 for GC plus 5 for young rider, plus anything else he picks up is a bonus. He just lost all those'guaranteed' points.

Dr Winston wrote:

Good decision. The Vuelta was really hard work last year with stages going from flat to mountains and back again all the time. 

That's the general idea, gives slightly more wiggle room so people aren't pushed to write stages off due to lack of transfers.

MinardiM189 wrote:

My team for today -

ROGLIC
YATES S.
LOPEZ
ULISSI
BATTAGLIN
CIMOLAI
MADOUAS
LONARDI

Pity they don't have live coverage on Eurosport there is a real battle to get in the break.

TDG

Roglic

Yates

Lopez

Nibali

Sosa

Conti

Ciccone.

Gecko-cyclist wrote:

Needs a brighter mind than mine to unpick how happy the big boys will be with today. I brought in TDG and played it safe with GC contenders to leave a few hanging around until the TT. Like the good Dr. I earned a resounding 7 points in the process! With 5 minutes plus advantage, today's break could be filling the GC until the final week and some of them won't give their positions up easily. The giro hasn't thrown up a surprise winner for a while. Are we due one?

I'm beginning to think that JumboVisma haven't done themselves a huge favour. Yes UAE will now ride to protect any immediate threat to GC.

But what about all the riders 7 or 8 minutes down? UAE won't see them as a threat to their pink jersey but they could become a threat to GC later on.

It is a great time for riders like Sivakov, Geoghegan Hart, Zakarin, Landa, Cattaneo, Nieve, Kangert  to get in the break and move up GC.

Dr Winston wrote:

Agreed. Gave far too much time away...which they may get back...but what they’ve  also done is lose control of the race to an extent and opened the door to an entirely new race. I fully expected them to contrive to push Ulissi into pink yesterday, if possible, and remain just a minute or so off the lead. Even TDG seemed somewhat puzzled by it all yesterday when he tried to get Jumbo to chase with him.

Nieve, Bilbao, Carthy, Plaza & Gallopin in the break

Surprised Bahrain are doing all the chasing, Jumbo Visma should be giving a hand.

MinardiM189 wrote:

Dr Winston wrote:

Agreed. Gave far too much time away...which they may get back...but what they’ve  also done is lose control of the race to an extent and opened the door to an entirely new race. I fully expected them to contrive to push Ulissi into pink yesterday, if possible, and remain just a minute or so off the lead. Even TDG seemed somewhat puzzled by it all yesterday when he tried to get Jumbo to chase with him.

Nieve, Bilbao, Carthy, Plaza & Gallopin in the break

Surprised Bahrain are doing all the chasing, Jumbo Visma should be giving a hand.

I think Jumbo may have completely messed this up and even TDG feels it, Stage 13 seems to have arrived very quickly?

chrisdstripes wrote:

Well that worked out pretty well

MinardiM189 wrote:

The intermediate sprint points are a little bit confusing in this race.

It looks like only the first intermediate sprint counts for the points competition and the points scored are different to the sprints competition.

Yesterday the first sprint scored 12, 8, 6,5,4,3,2,1 for the first 8 riders, these count to the points competition.

The first 5 riders scored 10,6,4,2,1 in the sprints competition.

At the second intermediate sprint, points were only awarded in the sprints competition but riders also get bonus seconds -3,2,1.

Does anyone know for sure how it works ?

I'm looking at the Giro website now and in the intermediate sprint classifications for stage 2 have 10-6-3-2-1 for both, with 3 riders listed on the first one as having 0 points. Weird discrepency with Frapporti showing 10 and 3 points for the sprints, but only on 12 total for the stage. Your guess is as good as mine. I might peruse the Garibaldi at lunch to see if there's any fine print.

Condor Andy wrote:

I'm looking at the Giro website now and in the intermediate sprint classifications for stage 2 have 10-6-3-2-1 for both, with 3 riders listed on the first one as having 0 points. Weird discrepency with Frapporti showing 10 and 3 points for the sprints, but only on 12 total for the stage. Your guess is as good as mine. I might peruse the Garibaldi at lunch to see if there's any fine print.

I found the rules for intermediate sprints.

Only the 1st Int. Sprint counts towards the points competition, the first 8 riders score - 12,8,6,5,4,3,2,1

There are only bonus seconds at the 2nd Intermediate Sprint 3,2,1 seconds.

There is a separate intermediate sprint competition, the 1st 5 riders score - 10,6,3,2,1

Unless Demare was going for the intermediate sprint competition, he was wasting his time at the 2nd intermediate sprint today.

archieboy wrote:

Stg 3 last few kms look interesting over the sandbar, headwind & echelons anyone...

Apparently there are trees lining the final kms of the race so unlikley there are echelons at that point but there could be earlier.

MinardiM189 wrote:

All in for sprinters today -

ACKERMANN
VIVIANI
GAVIRIA
EWAN
DEMARE
CIMOLAI
HALLER
LONARDI

I thought I was being clever with my Haller pick. Should have known you'd get him too. I haven't gone for Ewan or Demare and I've kept Roglic, Nizzolo is my other pick.