tombeej

'Dale, unfortunately I've been wacked by flu and off work since Wednesday. Work has piled up and so had to cancel Tuesdays leave. PVR to the rescue

http://www.velogames.com/ But you would have needed to submit your team before the Giro started, so too late for this round. We'l be doing the same for the TDF, but I want to look at another Fantasy League site - one that allows rider changes during the tour. The one we've got now doesn't, which is a serious pain.

Other weather sites saying there's going to be a bit of a breeze, so wind chill effect in play.

OK, here's your weather forecast for the big day for Tuesday (the Gavia and Stelvio): Today was cloudy, light winds, max. 2 degrees C. For tomorrow (Monday) expect similar conditions, except that there's a 45% chance of rain. No snow forecast. But not looking too comfy for the riders on Tuesday. Weather forecast for Passo di Gavia on Tuesday 27 May: The weather will be slightly unstable, thunderstorms possible. An "86% probability of moderate rainfall, light sleet and snowfall and showers." So raining in the valleys and lower slopes, with light sleet and snowfalls in the mountains. Max temp: 4 degrees Celsius. Almost no wind at all. ----- So nothing at this stage to indicate any chance of the passes being closed .

Any further news on the weather situation for Tuesday?

Ouch, Cav

I was expecting more attacks, more fireworks TBH. What it's telling me is that everyone is pretty evenly matched and generally on their limit. More evidence (for me anyway) of a pretty clean peloton.

More Columbians on the mountain today than Italians!

Someone else who might blow before the summit: Carlton Kirby...

Arredondo must be a real headache for his DS. The lighty is so enthusiastic and impatient, he always goes way too early. Like I've said before, he's got a lot of maturing to do in terms of his understanding of race tactics and of his own human limitations.

This is why I'm such a fan of Arredondo. Got an old school way of riding - no 'marginal gains' and riding-by-powermeter. By instinct and heart.

Countdown to the fireworks. 3km to the start of the climb...

Today is the first day where the cream will have a chance to rise to the top. The first really big climb of the 2014 Giro. Time for those puncheurs and all-rounders still hanging about in the top 20 to say their goodbyes to the GC. Make no mistake, the Montecampione is a monster. 1500m vertical elevation gain in 19km at an ave 7.7% gradient. How it compares to some of Europe's more well known HC climbs: Mont Ventoux: 1500m elevation gain in 21.5km @ 7.2%. Col du Tourmalet: 1270m gain in 17km @ 7.4%. Col du Galibier (from the north side): 1241m gain in 18km @ 6.9%. Alpe d'Huez: 1073m gain in 13km @ 8.2%. Of course the above numbers are just simplistic comparisons, and don't include difficulty, summit altitude, etc (e.g. the Galibier is a much harder climb since its summit is 1000m higher above sea level). But it's still worth pointing out that they’re basically doing an Italian Mont Ventoux today. One last observation: despite it's truely impressive stature, it's interesting to see that Montecampione doesn't even get a mention in the list of top 50 climbs in Europe. Shows what an embarrassment of riches Europe has in terms of legendary climbs. Although, as the Giro includes Montecampione more frequently in future, and more stories are written of big battles on its slopes, so will it come to be recognised as a worthy inclusion amongst the giants of Europe. So pull up a chair and a cooler with some cold ones. Today is going to be a belter .

I thought Carlton Kirby was going to burst a blood vessel or something by the finish line. He gets so worked up, it gets me all worked up. I found myself jumping out of my chair and I've never even heard of todays winner .

Ok cool. Lots of possible approaches within the broad 'church'. Always learning

I wonder how wise it was of Movistar to admit that Quintana has had bronchitis, only just finished his antibiotics and was "only at 80%" in the ITT. He’s got a bit of a target on his back now - his rivals are going to go after him this weekend. They should want to do it now before he's got a chance to be at 100% again.

Thanks. I'm not familiar with Ron Rosedale. But is he LCHF? From that passage it doesn't sound he subscribes to a high fat diet.

Ok, I've been trawling through the literature to find references to the fact that saturated animal fats aren't the best when it comes to trying to lose weight. Haven't come up with much success TBH. So can someone help me out?I've always understood that besides coconut oil, saturated animal fats should be our first, second and third choice when it comes to healthy LCHF living. Personally, 90% of my fat intake intake is from animal sources and coconut oil, and the rest a mix between monounsaturates and omega 3 PUFAs from fish. Besides ease of dropping weight I have literally never been healthier (according to my GP). Of course, the only animal fats to have in careful moderation are the non-ruminants like pork and chicken, which we should know by now.

Hells bells. Uran blows up the course and goes into pink.

The back of his saddle is almost in line with the seat post. Quintana, I mean.

The back of his saddle is almost in line with the seat post.

Has anyone seen Quintana's offset seatpost? Offset forwards, so that he's sitting over the top tube. Seriously aggressive position.

In this day and age, when a rider 'suddenly' makes a breakout performance, especially in a grand tour, questions tend to soon follow. Ulissi's TT performance has left an ex pro like Dan Lloyd "almost speechless". This follows his 2 stage wins. I'm a new fan of his, don't get me wrong.

It might just be my flu-addled imagination.

Either the colour mix on my TV is out, or all the 'white' lines on the road are in fact all now pink....