Giro d'Italia 2012

[slayer 83]

Who's Robbie Hunter referring to in his Twitter post?

 

"Can honestly say I'm pissed, some young guys just have no respect at all.1km to go thought I was in for a shout for pink then go chopped!"

Edited May 11, 2012 by slayer 83

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Its funny to see guys like Thor blown out the back.. and will be interresting to see how he progresses during the tour..If he rides himself into form..

 

Maybe its just early on but it is odd, I remember Thor doing a few solo's on the TDF to win on bumpier roads than this so I was a bit surprised as well, but as you say its still early.

 

Cav seems to be on some good form as well, he had a nasty fall but was still able to stick with the gruppo and even sprint to the win, not a big fan of his at all but one has to give him credit where its due.

 

Basso, much to my dismay seems to have a lot better form than he was letting on, the road has not really turned upwards yet but he rode the entire day almost at the front and although I saw a few puffs and blows he didnt look to be under any real pressure and even put his team on the front and made it hard, maybe he is doing a LA here and was bluffing all along, soon we will see though.

 

Lampre was sitting pretty much on the front today and looked comfortable, I have to say Scarponi is looking almost too lean for so early in the race, he looks positively skeletal, and if he holds that I still say he is the man to beat.

[Cav']

Todays stage

 

And the GC

 

1 Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Garmin - Barracuda 14:45:13

2 Robert Hunter (RSA) Garmin - Barracuda 0:00:05

3 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin - Barracuda 0:00:11

4 Matthew Harley Goss (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 0:00:13

5 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Sky Procycling 0:00:14

6 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky Procycling 0:00:16

7 Manuele Boaro (Ita) Team Saxo Bank 0:00:19

8 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin - Barracuda 0:00:26

9 Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha Team 0:00:30

10 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha Team

[Cav']

I reckon some teams will try and drop a few sprinters on that climb at 118km

[Cav']

Wait.....it Will brake up on this climb!!

[Bos]

Mind me asking.. What kind of stage would really suit someone like Daryl Impey ?

On a day like today Id say some of the classics style riders like Ballan etc might have a chance at staying away?

 

@Cavendish.. If Farrar, Hushovt etc got dropped on the little cat 4 climb yesterday I dont think they have a chance today. Youre right I think teams like Liquigass and guys with a strong GC rider should have team members able to support in the mountains and those teams will make the race hard to get rid of as many ass possible and then I think we"ll se a break on one of those rollers near the end?

[Cav']

I'd say whe should watch out for De Gendt, Pozzato, Ballan today.

[Cav']

We should see a lot of attacks today

[Cav']

Pink would most probably go to Hesjedal

['Dale]

No way the Cav would lose with Baby Delilah visiting the finish line for the 1st time...

 

 

[nochain]

Bliksem but that was close for Hunter...3rd place would have given him Pink!!He was in the right position up to about 1km to go and had he stayed on Cavs wheel no doubt he would have been able to take 2nd or 3rd on the stage.

 

I think Hunter will fight very hard for it today, if he is in the leading group at the end and some of the other sprinters have tired legs he might just get those 5 seconds.

 

It will be a hard stage but Cavs form is good and they might want to control it.

 

 

I think Hunter has got some very good form at the moment and this might be a once in a lifetime opportunity. Pity it is his team mate that wears Pink at the moment because otherwise he could have taken it in one of the intermediate sprints and seal the deal before the end.

 

 

Mind you if I was Garmin I would say...listen this guy has been a Pro for almost 15 years, let’s give him his day in pink. There is no real risk because they just need to get one of the 2 to the end with the rest of the guys high up on gc.

Edited May 11, 2012 by nochain

[GrumpyOldGuy]

I think the breakaway may stick today, or we will see a solo attempt after the climbs by a good all rounder, today and the weekend suit my old chum Cunego down to the ground and I hope he makes a run for it.

 

Its a tough day for the pure sprinters and I think Liquigas and Astana, maybe even Lampre will push the pace hard over the climbs and shell as many as they can.

['Dale]

I think the breakaway may stick today, or we will see a solo attempt after the climbs by a good all rounder, today and the weekend suit my old chum Cunego down to the ground and I hope he makes a run for it.

 

Its a tough day for the pure sprinters and I think Liquigas and Astana, maybe even Lampre will push the pace hard over the climbs and shell as many as they can.

 

GOG,

I know you're a Cunego fan.

Just not sure what Lampre's game plan is with both him and Scarponi GC hopefuls.

Surely Cunego is riding for Scarponi and is the back-up for GC.

 

I'm not sure he'll have the license to kick azzzz unless Scarponi is out of contention.

[Cav']

Radioshack still doesn't mind this done to their team car...

Maybe they did it themselves

['Dale]

Must be a anti-LA fan who got their koki close enough there...

Funny!

[Bos]

Phinney's foot this morning:

 

 

So I had another look at Phinney"s foot after reading this tweet...

 

Taylor Phinney ‏ @taylorphinney

You know...for my 3 crashes, the only real damage came from the broken spoke that impaled my ankle! Otherwise, I'm quite alright.