Eugene Oppelt

The Khoi and San people named the mountain Hoerikwaggo or ‘Mountain in the Sea’. The mountain was sacred for the Khoi and San people as they believed their god (Tsui or Goab) lived there.

Meanwhile, the other Slovenian GC leader is back on his bike catching sun. I saw Tratnik back on the indoor trainer recently too after crashing during training while preparing to support Roglič at Giro.

What an incredible duel between two classy racers. Roglič conserved himself so well in week 3 and Gee started well and faded in the final third of the climbing TT. I wonder whether Thomas will reconsider retirement now. Not sure he knows either and whether Ineos would resign him for maybe another final season. A good two months on the beach and a few beers will reveal all. Is this performance worthy of a co-leadership position with Vingegaard at the Tour de France in the near future? Hmmm, having Remco as a rival would’ve been a solid measurement of how good Roglič performed. Off to Rome today to wrap up what has been a very challenging Giro with angry weather gods and the resurgence of the gogga. I am sure that TDF teams will recall their COVID 19 protocols regardless of whether the ASO organisation will require them to. Slovenia is blessed with so much talent, hey. Not to mention the super fans.

I laaik this bra. Very insightful and self-aware in his interviews.

Gordon’s Bay - Spoke failure for a bra.

Majestic mountains today, sjoe! I will rewatch the final 100 kms just for the scenery. Several hours of travel for the peloton to the hotel from the stunning Dolomites as the mountain TT drama looms. Gee looks rock solid. Roglič will likely be gaining a small mental advantage from today’s final few kilometres, however he would’ve wanted to get much closer to the Maglia Rosa. Meanwhile, check this data from TP so deep into the Grand Tour. That’ll warm me up, hey.

Eina, moer! 5 x Category Eina climbs. 5000 plus vert. 3 of them above 2,000 metres above sea level and oxygen will be limited. 2300 metres altitude is where the finish line is. If ever you should WFH, today would be it. So, start coughing excessively at work from about noon, which means just about now. It appears that Primoz are playing mind games with the rest of the GC contenders, faking injury and that he lost time 2 days ago because of his side-hip niggle after several crashes. Or is it a double bluff? Wie weet... Whatever, the ramps of 9-12 percent will suit the explosive Slovenian. Geraint seem to be one foot on the beach, sipping cocktails and looking forward to retirement. He would want to finish his career on a high, pun intended. He alluded to as much in comments from the latest edition of "Watts Occurring". Hugh Carthy abandons. I am hoping Ben Healy will get the mountains jersey now that Pinot has used all his gun powder yesterday chasing that elusive stage win. C'mon Benno! One Italian in the top 20 of GC and he is 35 years old. No Italian teams. The same dynamic in Spain. What is going on? One would guess economic pressures have taken its toll. For example, the Colnago is now majority owned by a Abu Dhabi investment fund, Chimera Investments LLC. Enjoy today. It is going to be beautiful and dramatic racing before tomorrow's uphill drag race. Onto the beautiful and legendary Dolomitic mountain peaks of Tre Cime di Lavaredo. Pic credit: Frank Bienewaldt/LightRocket via Getty Images

Hehehee

My weapon of mass stress reduction. 💋

What a finalè yesterday. Beautiful racing. Sepp Kuss, incredible support for Roglič. Cycling is a team sport after all. Excellent damage control by team Jumbo-Visma. Eddie Dunbar - achievement of the day. Almeida - most aggressive rider Gee - might’ve been a career defining attack. Will he retire or be given the option at WorldTour level to continue? 37 years old and what a classy professional. Chapeau to Ben Healy who is inspiring me to ride my bike at this point in time.

Sorrie, Coach. It was only 3 min max efforts until I blew my legs off.💋

Pretending I’m Ben Healy - hill intervals

Week 3 Bodies will be sapped beyond the ordinary from lots of cold and wet weather. Staying healthy will be a key 'performance area', nevermind the GC favourites exploding the race up the climbs. It's a moerse long one just over 203 kms today with 5,200 metres of vert. It is likely to be the breakaway's day with the GC trains keeping it 320-350 watts up the first few climbs until the race craft will be deployed in the finale - 21 kms at average 6.7%, met eish. Pinot wants the mountain's jersey. It is gonna be another sword fight between him and Movistar's Rubio, I suspect. While they are watching each other, I am hoping Cepeda on his Cannondale can escape. Almeida needs time on Gee and the Slovenian ski jumper. It will be handy to have a time advantage for the top 2 before the mountain TT. Gonna be dramatic. It promises to be sunny and about 25 degrees celsius on the valley floor. If you wanted to work from home, this would be the day, hey, just saying. I can write you a sick letter. I work until 19h00. *weeps, snot en trane*

Sweet interview. Legend. Character of note. Tough as titanium nails.

Riding for Ash-ta-naah in his final season, this will likely be his penultimate Grand Tour. I suspect that he will roll tomorrow and then aim for a sprint win on Wednesday before the rest of the Giro climbs up to the heavens on Thu-Sat. What a career on the road, not to mention track success. This includes the rainbow jersey and that spectacular win at Milan San-Remo.

Bottelary Rd, 07:27, autumn magic.

Hey, Cupcakes, please keep this thread on topic as its intended to be, please. 💋

Hehehe

The elegance of Eva 🖤

The Selvino climb has these gorgeous hairpin bends - 11.1 km at 5.6% gradient. Yum yum.💋

Admittedly, the rainbow jersey and maglia rosa leaving the Giro was a kick in the nuts. Remco received such criticism from all over for exiting after week 1 and taking care of his health. Of course, he was paid an appearance fee of substance, I guess. And the illness thinning out the peloton, not lekka to see. However, athlete health and safety first. 44 riders have left the race, yoh. The rainy weather is definitely damping the spirits of the peloton, pun intended. There is less risk taking, less bravado on greasy surfaces and, of course, conserving matches for a very tough week 3. However, racers like man mountain Milan, the diminutive Ben Healy, the resilient Derek Gee and veterans like Denz have really lit up the 'race within the race'. Not to mention, yesterday's mountain duel and a very crafty win by for Movistar. If you can admire the difficulty level and the unpredictability of the racing thus far, it is there. Excitement will of course ramp up in week 3, another pun intended. Today's stage was just sublime. It was a race within the race within the break. And, of course, an unexpected new GC leader in FDJ's Armirail. It’ll be the biggest day for his career. The first Frenchman since 1999 to wear the leader jersey in the Giro. Breathtaking finalé at the head of the race, yoh. "I wanted to look for a stage win today. I didn't really imagine that I was going to take the maglia rosa tonight. It's amazing. I tried on stage 4 and was disappointed not to take the win home. But it's brilliant. "The moment it became a reality for me was there at the end. In the last few kilometres I was hurting, struggling, really trying to stay with everyone. For the team it's fantastic after Thibaut's second place yesterday. It's a dream. I can't believe it." Pic credit: Getty Sport Images

The body can do almost anything. It’s your mind you have to convince.

Must take my Scalpel to Greyton - just beautiful 😍

@tadejpogacar

Fork it, more rain forecasted today with a lowly 13 degrees. There are ideas floating around by the race organisers to finish a week later next year to end on a special national day in early June. Maybe this will help the Giro to move a bit closer to the European summer. However, climatologists are saying that the weather gods are unpredictable and that seasonal trends are no longer trends and it will only become more unpredictable. I suspect the breakaway artists will make another move today on what is a relatively short stage at 179 kms for this Giro. Does deMarchi have the legs to go again? Could be another throw of the dice for the punchy and low CDA'ed Ben in his pink Rapha jersey? There will be a GC battle though if you look at what is a lekka climb deep into stage 12. About the crashes - obviously the wet roads are greasy as hell and I think that the racers are taking massive risks in order to stay in contention. What a tough job! I take risks in my profession and I will not lose skin, end up concussed or break a hip like the unfortunate Geoghegan. We are halfway through this race and about 40 racers have exited as a result of the gogga. Go, Ski Jumper Jumbo!