Velominati Super Prestige: Giro d’Italia 2013, Stage 10

Altopiano del Montasio. Photo via Cycling Passion
Altopiano del Montasio. Photo via Cycling Passion

Day 5 of the Six Days of the Giro continues with an impromptu VSP event.

Lets have a look at where we are in the 2013 Giro. Wiggins must have spent time training in Luxembourg because he’s been descending like a Schleck when things get dodgy before disappearing into the team van to have a cry about it. Hesjedal has put in some good moves and then proceeded to get creamed in the time trial before getting shelled on the last climb in yesterday’s stage. Evans seems to be riding like he did when he won the Tour though he’s sure to get sick before very much longer, as appears to be his usual approach to racing. Perhaps the biggest shock is that Gesink has managed to both stay in contention and on his bike. And Nibbles is killing it, proving once again that moving to a team with a long history of doping is usually all anyone needs to convert from contender to winner.

We’ve also had climbs, rain, rain, climbs, turns, descents, twists, rain, climbs, and more rain. The Giro is proving once again why it is the best Grand Tour of the year.

In honor of the first big climbing stage and with the time gaps already big enough to suggest some bigger, gutsier moves from some of those riders who have already lost time, this could be a zinger. Most likely some wild cards will escape and stay away, which makes naming your picks even harder than usual, but surely the favorites who are already behind will lay down massive helpings of the V to try to claw time back. The irony is not lost on me that the climb has the word piano in it, when you know the last thing that would ever happen is that they would ride up there at an easy tempo.

Get your picks in by the time the clock goes to zero. There isn’t much time, so get to it.

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215 Replies to “Velominati Super Prestige: Giro d’Italia 2013, Stage 10”

  1. @wiscot

    @Buck Rogers

    @Chris

    @Buck Rogers

    @frank

    @ped

    I promise that’s not me.

    Well, obviously it wasn’t you b/c it was the bystander who crashed and not the pro cyclist.

    Sorry, couldn’t resist!

    When I heard on twitter that someone had fallen off the edge of the mountain I’d assumed they meant Hesjedal rather than a spectator.

    Turns out that it was rather worse for Ryder, he disappeared off the face of the planet.

    Chapeau! Post of the day right there for me!

    I think the spectator was called Joey. Is he alright?

    Damn!  This just gets better and better!!!  Perfect segueway!  Frank, we need the Joey video!

  2. @Chris

    If Rigoberto was a doper surely he’d be able to sprint a bit better than he did at the Olympics. Maybe not well enough to beat Vino but certainly not as badly as he did.

    Wow!  So many levels of rightness and tongue-in-cheek in this post.  The site was on rare form yesterday.  Chapeau!

  3. @frank

    @Nate, @Bianchi Denti, @tessar

    You guys are cute with those theories, but if I’m not mistaken, the Columbians certain have their fare share of doping positives.

    There are a handful of riders who left the sport due to credible cases of not wanting to dope (Andy Hampsten, Edwig van Hooydonk, Graeme Obree) but I’d need more than a blog post (which I didn’t read, to be fair) to be convinced of such things.

    The fact is, so long as Sky races the way they do, and Astana, and Katusha, then I’m very skeptical that the sport is in fact cleaner at all, which nullifies all those arguments.

    @JohnB

    The fact is, we don’t know and the racing is just as awesome if they’re doping or not. I’d prefer them to be clean, but its not the reason I watch the racing and its not the reason I love the sport.

    Yeah, fooock me for being cynical but, specifically for all of you that have been following the sport since the ’80’s like me (or before like some of you) do any of you get the feeling like we are post-Festina or post-Operation Puerto all over again?  The whole, “We caught the cheats, we’ve cleaned the sport, now we can all feel safe in the knowledge that no one is doping anymore” sort of drivel?

    I do believe it is cleaner but in no way clean.

    But, like Frank said above, it is awesome racing and we can hope that it is clean.

  4. @Buck Rogers Sylvain Georges just tested positive at the Giro for Heptaminol….I am guessing he will go for a B sample but he is out for now, and I thought the French were generally better at this sort of stuff than the other sherbert sniffing countries….that was how I was explaining their shit performance in recent years anyway….

    I say don’t bother trying to figure out if they are clean or not.  Just focus on rigourous testing and ban the fuck out of those that cheat…honestly the UCI seem to feel smug that they are now wanting to move to 4yr bans!  In athletics it is lifetime!  That is one hell of a deterrant….

    In the meantime just enjoy the riding.

  5. Hesjedal: I can’t put my finger on it, but I just don’t feel myself, there’s something missing…

  6. With the 25th anniverary of Andy’s Gavia exploits and his Maglia Rosa there are great articles being written.  Steve’s blog has some commentary on the linked SI article, and the Peleton #21 issue (just got the digital link this morning) has another good one.

    When Steve built my ti Gran Paradiso he sent a Gavia poster that Andy signed for me.  Goes right along with my other Andy posters in the training cave.

  7. @Deakus

    @Buck Rogers Sylvain Georges just tested positive at the Giro for Heptaminol….I am guessing he will go for a B sample but he is out for now, and I thought the French were generally better at this sort of stuff than the other sherbert sniffing countries….that was how I was explaining their shit performance in recent years anyway….?

    I say don’t bother trying to figure out if they are clean or not. Just focus on rigourous testing and ban the fuck out of those that cheat…honestly the UCI seem to feel smug that they are now wanting to move to 4yr bans! In athletics it is lifetime! That is one hell of a deterrant….

    In the meantime just enjoy the riding.

    well vets in France use that stuff, so he may claim contaminated horse meat, non ?

  8. @strathlubnaig

    @Deakus

    @Buck Rogers Sylvain Georges just tested positive at the Giro for Heptaminol….I am guessing he will go for a B sample but he is out for now, and I thought the French were generally better at this sort of stuff than the other sherbert sniffing countries….that was how I was explaining their shit performance in recent years anyway….?

    I say don’t bother trying to figure out if they are clean or not. Just focus on rigourous testing and ban the fuck out of those that cheat…honestly the UCI seem to feel smug that they are now wanting to move to 4yr bans! In athletics it is lifetime! That is one hell of a deterrant….

    In the meantime just enjoy the riding.

    well vets in France use that stuff, so he may claim contaminated horse meat, non ?

    Shit that means we are all doped up here in the UK!…oh and Ireland!!

  9. Just checked in, as been in an Internet free zone-Sweden! ( I’m typo tight to pay roaming charges)

    well, frig me, I won something!

    Yea

  10. @piwakawaka

    @Bianchi Denti

    @frank

    @Nate, @Bianchi Denti, @tessar

    You guys are cute with those theories, but if I’m not mistaken, the Columbians certain have their fare share of doping positives.

    There are a handful of riders who left the sport due to credible cases of not wanting to dope (Andy Hampsten, Edwig van Hooydonk, Graeme Obree) but I’d need more than a blog post (which I didn’t read, to be fair) to be convinced of such things.

    The fact is, so long as Sky races the way they do, and Astana, and Katusha, then I’m very skeptical that the sport is in fact cleaner at all, which nullifies all those arguments.

    @JohnB

    The fact is, we don’t know and the racing is just as awesome if they’re doping or not. I’d prefer them to be clean, but its not the reason I watch the racing and its not the reason I love the sport.

    While I’m flattered that you think I’m cute, that’s not the issue here (save it for KT 2014).

    I agree that we don’t and probably never will know for sure. But the Colombian ascendency has followed the bio passport implementation and a general reduction in climbing rates. So I’m still willing to believe that they are fast and clean.

    Re: Sky, Katusha and Astana – there is a rumour this week that a “former GT winner” is about to be charged by the UCI for bio passport problems. These 3 teams all have at least one former GT winner riding for them.

    If anyone is interested, http://www.cyclinginquisition.com focuses on Colombian pros past and present. They have an excellent photo article this week on the 91 Tour.

    I’m more worried about the size of Evans jaw these days, who woulda thought it could get any bigger? Seems to be a performance correlation! What happened to the Canuck? Very disappointing.

    Yes. BMC also has a former GT winner in their ranks. But it’s all speculation and innuendo until we see a UCI press release.

  11. @Deakus

    @Buck Rogers Sylvain Georges just tested positive at the Giro for Heptaminol….I am guessing he will go for a B sample but he is out for now, and I thought the French were generally better at this sort of stuff than the other sherbert sniffing countries….that was how I was explaining their shit performance in recent years anyway….

    I say don’t bother trying to figure out if they are clean or not. Just focus on rigourous testing and ban the fuck out of those that cheat…honestly the UCI seem to feel smug that they are now wanting to move to 4yr bans! In athletics it is lifetime! That is one hell of a deterrant….

    In the meantime just enjoy the riding.

    Agreed. A lifetime ban instead of a 2 year highly paid training break like Valverde, Basso, Pellizotti, di Luca, etc, have taken recently should be a deterrent. But that puts pressure on testing bodies to make sure their processes are water-tight, and the UCI would have to sharpen its act immensely regarding policy and procedure. For that latter reason alone, I doubt lifetime bans will ever be imposed.

  12. Have the riders all been pashing each other or something, Twiggo, Hesjedal, even Wurf (excellent blog) been suffering from chest infections. Either that or they been sucking in each others snot rockets… yuk

  13. @Bianchi Denti

    @frank

    @Nate, @Bianchi Denti, @tessar

    You guys are cute with those theories, but if I’m not mistaken, the Columbians certain have their fare share of doping positives.

    The fact is, so long as Sky races the way they do, and Astana, and Katusha, then I’m very skeptical that the sport is in fact cleaner at all, which nullifies all those arguments.

    Re: Sky, Katusha and Astana – there is a rumour this week that a “former GT winner” is about to be charged by the UCI for bio passport problems. These 3 teams all have at least one former GT winner riding for them.

     

    So, Menchov just retired…

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