Pieter Henning Posted February 26, 2008 Posted February 26, 2008 So, I've noticed there hasn't been that much speculation/discussion about the Giro del Capo yet - Guys, it's only a week's time 'til the racing starts! I'm literally counting the minutes 'til I can leave boring University behind for an entire week and go play (read suffer/die) with the pro's on the passes and in the gutters of the Western Cape, so let's make this a thread to get everyone's opinions on who's gonna win, what parts are gonna be the toughest, and all the other gossip! Here's what I know so far... Some surprise names on the startlist - Tom Steels (needs no introduction), Leon van Bon (former Dutch National Champ), Dominique Cornu (former U23 TT World Champ, currently on Silence-Lotto), Bart Brentjes (former Olympic MTB Champ, right?), Kevin Evans, Burry Stander, Shaun Davel. John-Lee won't be riding, unfortunately (or fortunately for those of us who are riding - That oke flies up the climbs). Zoon has been hinting that Neotel might ride some very light full TT bikes up Signal Hill (???). 25 teams, i.e. 150 riders. The prologue has been dropped. Stages are longer and tougher (in my opinion) than last year. 105 km180 km179 km150 km5.5 km Signal Hill TT. Which hubbers will be taking part? Any other interesting info, gossip, whatever-you-might-know, post it here!
Pieter Henning Posted February 26, 2008 Author Posted February 26, 2008 Team Barloworld ready to defend Giro del Capo crown After a strong start to the 2008 season, Team Barloworld is heading to Cape Town to defend this year's Giro Del Capo and Cape Argus crown. The races will be taking place from the 4 - 9 March. This year's team has been carefully selected, to ensure that each cyclist fully complements and supports the others to achieve maximum results in the race. "When choosing the ideal team to race in the 'Mother City', there were six cyclists that stood out as ideally suited to the Giro del Capo. They are the fast paced Robert Hunter, versatile Christian Pfannberger, 2007 podium placed Hugo Sabido, 2007 stage winner Daryl Impey, climber Christopher Froome and 2007 stage winner Felix Cardenas, who together make a formidable team," says Chris Fisher , Head of Corporate Marketing at Barloworld.Team Barloworld's cyclists that will make up part of the race peloton are:? Christian Pfannberger (28) is the Austrian national champion and has been a professional cyclist since 2006. In this short space of time he has proved himself a talented and versatile cyclist who will now play a vital supporting role to King of the Mountains Soler in the future. Pfannberger recently took a podium finish and points jersey at this year's inaugural World View Challenge in February? Robert Hunter (31), Team Barloworld's captain, is a South African sprinter and classic cyclist and has been competing professionally since 1998. Hunter, who has a wealth of racing experience for the team to draw upon, including 9 Tour de France rides, has 33 victories to his name, the most recent two sprint finishes at the World's View Challenge? Daryl Impey (22), the young South African who joined Team Barloworld from MTN Microsoft, was particularly impressive in the 2007 Pick 'n Pay Giro del Capo, after winning the prologue and a stage and is one to look out for in this year's race? Christopher Froome (22), a talented climber from Kenya, won the Tour De Maurice in 2006, a stage in the 2007 Giro delle Regioni, a prestigious stage race in Italy, a stage at the Tour of Japan and a silver medal at the 'B' World Championships time trials. Froome had a strong start to the 2008 season by winning the King of the Mountains jersey on the third day of the World's View Challenge? Hugo Sabido (29) is from Portugal and has been cycling professionally since 2001. Sabido has 4 victories to his name, including a podium finish at the 2007 Giro del Capo and had a strong and consistent showing at the World's View Challenge? Columbian cyclist Felix Cardenas (35) has been professional since 2000 and has 21 victories to his name, including winning stage one at the 2007 Giro del Capo"By living Team Barloworld's culture of teamwork and individual excellence and competing in world class races, these cyclists are on their way to being recognised as some of the best in the world. We look forward to experiencing the passion, excitement and endurance during this year's Giro de Capo and Cape Argus," concludes Fisher
Sidekick Racer Posted February 26, 2008 Posted February 26, 2008 Barloworld apparantly only has 2 south africans in their team for giro... the rest are their BEASTLY euro pros... so i have heard... thats gonna be wow.... then, the vissershok stage has actually been measured by riders to be around 195km.... and yes please, two of your big names in your 1st thread are on my team.. hahahaha awesome but yea, i agree, the giro this year is goling to be insane... waaaaay harder than last year and probably any other year for that matter...
Jason Posted February 26, 2008 Posted February 26, 2008 The Visserhok stage, do they go over gravel again like last year?
Pieter Henning Posted February 26, 2008 Author Posted February 26, 2008 I'm not 100% certain, but I think we don't do the dirt section this year.
fandacious Posted February 26, 2008 Posted February 26, 2008 The one really awesome thing about last years one stage was that they did 10 laps around somerset west. it made for fantastic spectator value.For me its not worth taking a day off to watch them come up a hill 2x... Any team cars wanna offer me a ride for a up close and personal view of the race?
rello Posted February 26, 2008 Posted February 26, 2008 where can one find a start list of teams and riders etc?
Sidekick Racer Posted February 26, 2008 Posted February 26, 2008 noooo, we do the large lap again as two years ago, which encorporates both vissershoks, right from down by the n7, and we go down till the end of adderly street... 3 laps.... and the last 40km is first a side wind and then a head wind (which is if the south easter blows, which is very probable)
Wonder Woman Posted February 26, 2008 Posted February 26, 2008 I'm definitely there to watch the hill climb again and support my boys Gonna remember the picnic basket this time too!!!
Pieter Henning Posted February 26, 2008 Author Posted February 26, 2008 Crux has a list, but I think he has already left for Sani2C.I'll put my money on Cardenas, Pfannberger and George for top 3 on GC (not necessarily in that order).
Pieter Henning Posted February 26, 2008 Author Posted February 26, 2008 Hubbers taking part: MyselfJason du Preez (a.ka. Jason)Jaco Fereira (a.k.a. Kakaa)Petri Strydom (a.k.a. Shammy_Rash)Alexander Lamberts (TCS)Barend Burger (TCS)????? (a.k.a. Who knows who...)Erik Kleinhans (a.k.a. Erik Zaber)Dan Craven (a.k.a. Craven) Anyone else? Is Titus riding?Phen2008-02-26 05:54:58
fandacious Posted February 26, 2008 Posted February 26, 2008 Crux has a list' date=' but I think he has already left for Sani2C.I'll put my money on Cardenas, Pfannberger and George for top 3 on GC (not necessarily in that order).[/quote'] You think barloworld will give the GC to someone other than mr hunter?
Pieter Henning Posted February 26, 2008 Author Posted February 26, 2008 Crux has a list' date=' but I think he has already left for Sani2C.I'll put my money on Cardenas, Pfannberger and George for top 3 on GC (not necessarily in that order).[/quote'] You think barloworld will give the GC to someone other than mr hunter? Mr Hunter is not a GC rider. He's never won the Giro, and I doubt he ever will. They'll ride for their climbers. Hunter will most probably win Argus (and if one of the stages in the Giro ends up to be a bunch gallop, probably that too).
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now