Jump to content

Giro Stage 15


linnega

Recommended Posts

Great stage today.  Ricco gets his first big victory, Simoni was in a great position but it seems he is past his best.  With two teammates up the road he had a great opportunity to put big time into Di Luca, but Killer is looking like the Maglia Rosa.  Fantastic effort by Eddy Mazzoleni, using Savoldelli's downhill skills to lauch him onto the attack.  He put big time into Di Luca, and he may have another chance on Wednesday.  Schleck faltered for the first time today.  He held onto his white jersey, but that may be under threat on Wednesday.  The final sprint was something to behold.  I would liked to have seen Di Luca and Simoni trying to battle out a sprint at the top on the 15% gradient.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thumbs%20Up Giro caught fire this weekend. Too bad Rai had Censored soccer on! St14 some commentators predicted a quiet day, but wow, what a race. Simoni bridging to a break containing Mayo & Salvoldelli (sounds like it happened on the big descent, catching out Di Luca & Cunego. Big chase then for Liquigas & Lampre, with Di Luca managing to limit his loss to Simoni.

 

Today was also great. Simoni seems to be a bit out of it, but a Di Luca & Mazzoleni showdown is on the cards for Tuesday & the final TT. The Saunier threat may be a bit reduced, but they will still be dangerous if left unchecked.

 

How does Mazzoleni rate vs. Di Luca in a TT?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Simoni has more excuses than a young lady that cramps a lot. I really hope Di Luca puts him in his place.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Simoni has more excuses than a young lady that cramps a lot. I really hope Di Luca puts him in his place.

 

 

he's doing just that, this from afp

"Minutes later Di Luca, known as less of a climbing specialist than either Cunego or former two-time Giro winner Simoni, launched a decisive move which brought him a double prize.
After finishing the stage 2min 53 behind Ricco, Di Luca saved his pink jersey and stole some more time from Simoni, arguably his biggest rival, who finished 3:20 adrift.
"I showed I was the strongest on the climbs," said Di Luca, who brazenly waited until the steepest parts of the final climb, on the last four kilometres, to put time on his rivals.
"Some people said I wasn't suited to the steep climbs. Because of my speed at pulling away and my cadence, I think exactly the opposite.""
Link to comment
Share on other sites

? and "the cannibal", who was in bergamo, reckons he's the man:

"In this Giro, it will be difficult to beat Di Luca."
 
Link to comment
Share on other sites

To be fair to Simoni, the moto DID assist Garzelli, he blatently dived behind it in the last 500m before launching the jump on Gibbo.

 

Anyway, I think this has been a great Giro, Di Luca hasnt put a foot wrong and would have to have an awefull day on the Zoncolan to loose the race now.

 

.............not bad for someone who cant climb hey!Wink

 

Simoni is looking a bit tired, at 35 he is struggeling a bit I think, but I still say he will get a podium.

He is a class act a wily old campaigner and he knows what is needed to be on the podium.

 

I think young Schleck will loose some time on the Zoncolan, he is also showing signs of fatigue and Simoni and Cunego will manage to get up onto 2nd and 3rd positions.

Mazzoleni is a great climber  and a canny bike rider and if we remember was instrumental in Cunegos Giro win, telling him when to attack and when to sit and pulling him on some of the climbs, so he could be a "fly in the ointment" but I still think Simoni and Cunego will duke it out for 2nd and 3rd.

 

Piepoli is spectacular, he is without a doubt the best climber there, and has worked hard for the team.

Ricco was much better yesterday as well, I think he got a bit of "stage fright" on the Izoard, but he appears to have got it in control again.

 

SPECTACULAR PIEPOLI - SPECTACULAT Di lUCA - SPECTACULAR GIRO.

 

 
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had set the machine to record stage 14, only to discover the next day that SuperSport decided to bump the Giro highlights - all I taped wa the first half of some arb football game. Grrrrr.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tomorrow will be another great stage. It looks like its Mazzoleni vs Di Luca. Chances are that there are two stages that can still bring about big changes in the GC, st16 tomorrow and the final TT. Schleck may lose his podium to Simoni tomorrow, and the white jersey to Ricco, but may get both back if he rides a good TT. Sounds like Mazzoleni is not bad in a TT either, and he'll ride one of those super BMC time machines, I hope Cannondale has nice TT bikes for Liquigas! Saunier will have 2 cards to play with Simoni and Ricco tomorrow, but they need to get a lot of time back and build a buffer for the TT, and Di Luca still looks strong, despite not being a climber Wink The stages in between st16 and the TT may allow a bit of recovery after the mountains, but the pressure will be on Liquigas to control the race. The should get some help from Milram, who would like to see their man take some more sprint finishes. 
Link to comment
Share on other sites

you know you're getting old when you read that a pro cyclist like eddy mazzoleni's parents named him after " the cannibal".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I dont think Mazzoleni will worry Di Luca or Simoni on the Zoncolan, he is a good climber but a little more explosive than Simoni or Di Luca.

 

The Zoncolan is long and steep and Simoni is ideally suited to this type of climb, he is not a fast climber but once he gets his "diesel" going he just grinds away and can keep it up for ages.  

 

A few years ago Simoni would have run away with this stage, but it looks to me like he is a bit tired now, so I just hope he can recover today and give us a show of his old climbing self again.

 

Cunego hasnt shone but he is always around, so maybe he is just waiting..........................!!!!

 
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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 account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Settings My Forum Content My Followed Content Forum Settings Ad Messages My Ads My Favourites My Saved Alerts My Pay Deals Help Logout