javadude Posted May 30, 2007 Posted May 30, 2007 Todays Giro stage is apparently THE toughest climb in cycling. Heres a couple of quotes from CyclingNews.com "The average percentage is 12 percent, the maximum is 22 percent. I hear you can't even ride up it if it is wet. We'll see.""Maassen said it would be "a heroic day" and wondered how his climberMichael Rasmussen would do. "Teams are not even allowed to take the carup the Monte Zoncolan. It is a small and steep climb with a lot ofspectators who are expecting a fabulous stage. The organization'schoices will also depend on the situation in the course. If cars arenot allowed to go up, we will send a mechanic on a moped to help ifneeded. It will be difficult for Rasmussen once again because it is avery important stage for the classification leaders. But you neverknow," concluded Maassen.""In the stage to Zoncolan we won't make the mistake we committed before,where the lightest gear some of us had was 39:25. Now we choose betweena 27 and 29 sprocket and 34 will be mounted at the front. I've neverraced on such a course before, but the stage is just 140 kilometreslong, and I hope all Tinkoff guys will make the time cut" I think today will sort out the men from the boys.
SwissVan Posted May 30, 2007 Posted May 30, 2007 Last Chance for someone to "break" Da Luci - hopefully will be riveting stuff to watch, my outside bet would be Ricco to put in major time on Da Luci, but in all likelyhood Da Luci looks unbeatable.Perhaps the cold weather will change things a bit??
Jason Posted May 30, 2007 Posted May 30, 2007 Hope Simoni does a bit of magic...Still think today's finish will be one of the best... I like Di Luca but I hope Simoni has something in the bag (Besides Stage 17 stuff... like Floyd had) oh and today is also stage 17 .Can't wait to get home and watch...
SwissVan Posted May 30, 2007 Posted May 30, 2007 Hope Simoni does a bit of magic... Still think today's finish will be one of the best... I like Di Luca but I hope Simoni has something in the bag (Besides Stage 17 stuff... like Floyd had) oh and today is also stage 17 .Can't wait to get home and watch... Yep Simoni was my first choice, but looks like to me he just does not have it in him at the mo, maybe he is a good poker player and is taking a huge gamble. I set the recorder to record it and hopefully it does, yesterday Eurosport changed the cycling to another channel and all i got was Tennis...
javadude Posted May 30, 2007 Author Posted May 30, 2007 I wonder if guys like Pettachi will survive today. Pity i don't have DSTV so i cant watch. I suppose i will just try and imagine the moment next time i ride up Contermans.
Jason Posted May 30, 2007 Posted May 30, 2007 Yup Simoni's been a bit off, but I still think there's something there for him... He was quite aggresive on a few stages last week and let Di Luca know that's he's not going down without a fight... we'll see today...should be good racing...Hopefully a few early attacks with someone in it who's a threat on GC tire the Liquigas team with all the chasing and leave Di Luca to battle the bump at the end against the whole Duval team...
SwissVan Posted May 30, 2007 Posted May 30, 2007 Quote from Eurosport.com "If I feel good on Wednesday I'll attack again to gain more time," Di Luca said."They say Monte Zoncolan is the hardest climb in Europe and so it'll be a very important stage. It's very steep but I think it suits me and I'm confident of my form."Former winner Gilberto Simoni, fourth overall, said: "Di Luca has a good lead but the Giro isn't over yet."There's still a week of racing to go and I don't feel beaten. Di Luca is very strong but he has to attack on Monte Zoncolan if he wants to win the Giro."Seconds out...Round 17
SwissVan Posted May 30, 2007 Posted May 30, 2007 Appetiser for the day ahead...13:41 CEST Hello and welcome to Cyclingnews liver coverage for the mother of all stages for this 2007 Giro d'Italia. Today the riders are going to hit a wall that goes by the name of the Monte Zoncolan. It is a 10.1-kilometre beast, averaging 11.9% gradient and with a maximum of 22%, coming at the end of a 142-kilometre stage.13:42 CEST 25km/117km to goWe already have a escape for the day, it numbers around 10 and went at kilometre 15. We will bring you the names very soon.Please boss can I go home now?...
widget Posted May 30, 2007 Posted May 30, 2007 Di Luca needs to loose more than 3 minutes to Simoni which I think will be difficult - he looks very good (for a non climber anyway) so he just needs to hang in and he has it in the bag.Simoni will still be my man, if anybody can upset the applecart its him. I dont think Mazzoleni and especially Schleck will hold on, so Simoni will definately move up onto the podium with probably Cunego - but with a TT still to come Simoni needs at least two extra minutes on Di-Luca (5 in total) which looks unlikely. ............but anything can happen and Simonis quote of the day..........................."I dont feel beaten yet" gives me hope.!
SwissVan Posted May 30, 2007 Posted May 30, 2007 Heading for an exciting finish with the current breakaway containing 3 quickstepies (of which Bettini is one)... Vangelis's Conquest Of Paradise would be a fitting soundtrack for this adventure me thinks.
HomerSimpson Posted May 30, 2007 Posted May 30, 2007 Starts on RAI at 17:30 according to the website...if that's italian time....they are GMT +1 I think...so that means..hell I can't figure it out. It starts on RAI at 16:30, 17:30 or 18:30 (our time)
narra Posted May 30, 2007 Posted May 30, 2007 Is it on RAI yet ? I think they just do highlights packages ?
nochain Posted May 30, 2007 Posted May 30, 2007 The horror, the horror! The front three of Codol, Cioni and Baliani start their way to the top.from cyclingnews.
javadude Posted May 30, 2007 Author Posted May 30, 2007 Let the games begin: 16:24 CEST With -7km it will get vertical. Here we go.
The Saint Posted May 30, 2007 Posted May 30, 2007 Nothing on RAI yet, some stupid magazine show is on. I finally got off work early rush home and F'all on sports channels except F'ing Soccer...anyways nothing I can do about it.
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