Giro d' Italia 2014

[igknot]

Nice useless info, stats and rankings here.

 

http://www.procyclingstats.com/index.php

[Wez-O]

BMC means business:

 

BMC squad announced!

 

Brent Bookwalter (USA), Yannick Eijssen (BEL), Cadel Evans (AUS), Ben Hermans (BEL), Steve Morabito (SUI), Daniel Oss (ITA), Manuel Quinziato (ITA), Samuel Sánchez (ESP), Danilo Wyss (SUI).

Sami Sánchez is an incredible addition to the team! I cannot believe that his future in the sport was was in jeopardy at the end of last season.

[Cellar]

The head of technical development at BMC is a guy named Stefan Christ. That must make life interesting when you have to do something at work cause Christ told you.

['Dale]

The head of technical development at BMC is a guy named Stefan Christ. That must make life interesting when you have to do something at work cause Christ told you.

 

Nice one...

Who's that team that's got Jesus as a domestique?

['Dale]

Another graph of the route profile

 

http://24.media.tumblr.com/f7b2fc798ea3c953bf1c4f51fda1fde8/tumblr_n4xzfiw6401ropreyo1_1280.jpg

['Dale]

Teams:

 

BMC, Movistar and Katusha the hot favourites for GC podium, I reckon.

 

 

http://inrng.com/medias/giro/teammaglie2014.jpg

['Dale]

http://24.media.tumblr.com/7e0a1a1cbfbb926954bf668ff22a2d45/tumblr_n4xwtaoSgR1ropreyo1_1280.jpg

Pink: the most famous one, the maglia rosa, it is awarded to the rider with the shortest overall time for all the stages added together. As such, they have covered the course faster than anyone else. It is pink because the race has always been organised by newspaper La Gazzetta Dello Sport which is printed on bright pink paper. It is sponsored by Balocco, a biscuit maker.

There are time bonuses available on all the stages except the team time trial and individual time trials.

• 10 seconds for the winner, six seconds for second place and four seconds for third place on each stage
  
• Also for the intermediate sprint of the day three, two and one seconds are available for the first three riders
  

Blue: the mountains jersey. It was green in the past but is now blue, the maglia azzurra. It is sponsored by Banca Mediolanum, a bank. Points are available on the climbs in the race with this year’s edition tilting more points to the winner over the bigger climbs . There are five categories of climb:

• 15 fourth category climbs: the first three riders crossing the top of the climb win 3, 2 and 1 points respectively.
  
• Four third category climbs: the first four riders over the top get 7, 4, 2, 1 points
  
• Eight second category climbs: first six riders get 14, 9, 5, 3, 2, 1 points
  
• 12 first category climbs: the first eight riders get 32, 20, 14, 10, 7, 4, 2, 1 points
  
• Cima Coppi: a special award, the “Coppi Summit” for the highest point of the race. This year it is the Passo Stelvio on Stage 16. The first nine win points: 40, 28, 21, 15, 10, 7, 4, 2, 1 points
  

Red: the points competition. Riders pick up points at the intermediate sprints, the traguardi volanti or “TV”, during a stage and at the finish line. The allocation of points depends on the stage in question, they are categorised with the typical sprint stages offering more points in a bid to place the red jersey on the shoulders of a sprinter who is handy with mental arithmetic. It is sponsored by Algida, a brand of ice cream.

• Category A+B stages (2 – 3 – 4 – 7 – 10 – 13 – 17 – 21) offer points for the first 20 riders at the finish: 50, 40, 34, 28, 25, 22, 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. For the TV there are points for the first 10: 20, 16, 12, 9, 7, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1.
  
• Category C stages: (5 – 6 – 9 – 11) offer points for the first 15: 25, 22, 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. For the TV there are points for the first five: 10, 6, 3, 2, 1
  
• Category D + E stages: (1 – 8 – 12 – 14 – 15 – 16 – 18 – 19 – 20) offer points for the first 10: 15, 12, 9, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. For the TV there are points for the first three: 8, 4, 1
  

White: for the best young rider, this is awarded on the same basis as the pink jersey, except the rider must be born after 1 January 1989, ie aged 25 or under. It is sponsored by Fratelli Orsero, a fruit distributor.

Obviously a rider can’t wear two jerseys at once, they’d get too hot. So if a rider leads several classifications, they take the most prestigious jersey for themselves and the number two ranked rider in the other competition gets to wear the other jersey. For example if a rider has both the pink jersey and the blue mountains jersey they’ll wear pink whilst whoever is second in the mountains jersey will sport blue jersey.

['Dale]

7

 

 

slapies to go

 

 

Yaya!!

[Bianchisti]

http://24.media.tumblr.com/7e0a1a1cbfbb926954bf668ff22a2d45/tumblr_n4xwtaoSgR1ropreyo1_1280.jpg

Pink: the most famous one, the maglia rosa, it is awarded to the rider with the shortest overall time for all the stages added together. As such, they have covered the course faster than anyone else. It is pink because the race has always been organised by newspaper La Gazzetta Dello Sport which is printed on bright pink paper. It is sponsored by Balocco, a biscuit maker.

There are time bonuses available on all the stages except the team time trial and individual time trials.

• 10 seconds for the winner, six seconds for second place and four seconds for third place on each stage
  
• Also for the intermediate sprint of the day three, two and one seconds are available for the first three riders
  

Blue: the mountains jersey. It was green in the past but is now blue, the maglia azzurra. It is sponsored by Banca Mediolanum, a bank. Points are available on the climbs in the race with this year’s edition tilting more points to the winner over the bigger climbs . There are five categories of climb:

• 15 fourth category climbs: the first three riders crossing the top of the climb win 3, 2 and 1 points respectively.
  
• Four third category climbs: the first four riders over the top get 7, 4, 2, 1 points
  
• Eight second category climbs: first six riders get 14, 9, 5, 3, 2, 1 points
  
• 12 first category climbs: the first eight riders get 32, 20, 14, 10, 7, 4, 2, 1 points
  
• Cima Coppi: a special award, the “Coppi Summit” for the highest point of the race. This year it is the Passo Stelvio on Stage 16. The first nine win points: 40, 28, 21, 15, 10, 7, 4, 2, 1 points
  

Red: the points competition. Riders pick up points at the intermediate sprints, the traguardi volanti or “TV”, during a stage and at the finish line. The allocation of points depends on the stage in question, they are categorised with the typical sprint stages offering more points in a bid to place the red jersey on the shoulders of a sprinter who is handy with mental arithmetic. It is sponsored by Algida, a brand of ice cream.

• Category A+B stages (2 – 3 – 4 – 7 – 10 – 13 – 17 – 21) offer points for the first 20 riders at the finish: 50, 40, 34, 28, 25, 22, 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. For the TV there are points for the first 10: 20, 16, 12, 9, 7, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1.
  
• Category C stages: (5 – 6 – 9 – 11) offer points for the first 15: 25, 22, 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. For the TV there are points for the first five: 10, 6, 3, 2, 1
  
• Category D + E stages: (1 – 8 – 12 – 14 – 15 – 16 – 18 – 19 – 20) offer points for the first 10: 15, 12, 9, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. For the TV there are points for the first three: 8, 4, 1
  

White: for the best young rider, this is awarded on the same basis as the pink jersey, except the rider must be born after 1 January 1989, ie aged 25 or under. It is sponsored by Fratelli Orsero, a fruit distributor.

Obviously a rider can’t wear two jerseys at once, they’d get too hot. So if a rider leads several classifications, they take the most prestigious jersey for themselves and the number two ranked rider in the other competition gets to wear the other jersey. For example if a rider has both the pink jersey and the blue mountains jersey they’ll wear pink whilst whoever is second in the mountains jersey will sport blue jersey.

 

Who's designing those this year? Looks a lot like the Paul Smith design from last year.

[Bianchisti]

 

 

Nice one...

Who's that team that's got Jesus as a domestique?

Androni Giaccotoli. Jesus Hernandez (me thinks)

['Dale]

Trek Factory Racing have announced that its debut Grand Tour squad for the Giro d'Italia will support Croatian national champion Robert Kiserlovski in the quest for a good general classification placing while Giacomo Nizzolo is to chase victory on the flat stages suited for the sprinters.

 

['Dale]

The Cannondale team has revealed its nine rider for the Giro d'Italia with the Ivan Basso confirmed as the team leader for the overall classification, while Elia Viviani will target results in the sprints in the first half of the race, while the enigmatic Moreno Moser will also have the freedom to target stage victories.

 

['Dale]

Cadel Evans needed some time to accept that the BMC team wanted him to forget about the Tour de France in 2014 and focus on the Giro d'Italia. But with less than a week to go to the start in Belfast, the veteran Australian appears ready to fight for the race leader's iconic pink jersey.

 

['Dale]

The Lotto Belisol team announced its squad for the upcoming Giro d'Italia today, naming Maxime Monfort as the team's rider for the general classification.

 

The team will head to the start in Belfast on May 9 with stage wins at the top of its agenda. They will be without sprinter Andre Greipel, who is coming back from a shoulder injury.

Instead, the team of Sander Armée, Lars Bak, Kenny Dehaes, Gert Dockx, Adam Hansen, Monfort, Tosh Van der Sande, Dennis Vanendert and Tim Wellens will aim for breakaways and sprint stages.

 

['Dale]

 

The Pro Continental Colombia squad is set to get the Giro d'Italia underway, naming its nine-man selection for the Grand Tour which begins on May 9 in Belfast. After running into difficulties securing the team's visas for the stages in Ireland, team manager Claudio Corti is confident the issues will be solved.

 

"After some weeks of worry and tension, we are finally receiving the first UK Visas, and we hope the issue will be completely solved in time to leave to Belfast," Corti said.

 

The team was forced to withdraw from the Tour of Turkey last week because the riders' passports were being held by the British embassy in Rome during processing of the visa applications.

 

Fabio Duarte will lead the squad in its second attempt at the race. The Colombian finished just off the podium at the Giro del Trentino.

 

 

[Cellar]

Teams:

 

BMC, Movistar and Katusha the hot favourites for GC podium, I reckon.

 

 

 

 

I'll throw my hat in and say Roche or Majka will be there.