Categories: Velominati Super Prestige

Velominati Super Prestige: Giro D’Italia 2013

Pink Ryder photo:REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo

Twiggo is dreaming of a Giro-Tour double. He has sent out mixed messages about his Tour ambitions. Will he use the Giro as the ultimate Tour preparation or will be burn all his matches in May and hope he can find another pack for July? He has abandoned his successful 2012 Tour run-up strategy of winning every stage race he entered the previous spring. Now it’s the seclusion of Mount Doom of Tenerife, his coach and his watt meter his only competition. Team Sky is supporting Wig with a very strong squad, including superman, Kanstantsin Siutsou and with Cav no longer a teammate, it’s all the knights of the round table for Sir Twig.

Will the curse of the god-awful Astana kit continue to haunt non-Kazahk riders? Can Vincenzo’s Italian mojo overpower its powerful pale blue and yellow aura? Roman Kreuziger was finally able to win a big race once he shed that kit and pulled on one of Bjarne’s Saxo jerseys. Maybe it was more Bjarne and less jersey that made the difference.

Ryder gets no respect as the defending champion. His little dance at the end of Liége-Bastogne-Liége showed he is fit and ready for a fight. He can time trial, he can climb. Personally I have to back the local boy. And I always hate the overpowered, overwhelming favorite (read Team Sky here) in any race, unless that racer is Fabian Cancellara. No one can say Fabs has won a race this year surrounded with a team as strong as Sky’s. The Shack is just the Shack or a shack. Once Cancellara leaves for the Swiss “I AM” team, it’s lights out in the shack. Frandy, don’t forget to turn out ’em out when you leave.

If Cavendish wins the first day’s sprinter’s stage he will be in pink. He may be out of it after stage two, a team time trial.

But this is the Giro: crazy, unexpected, beautiful things can happen. The spinning wheels of fortuna are less predictable in Italy as they are in France in July. The betting window is now open. The complete start list is not yet available, an incomplete one is here and shall be updated soon. So sleep on your picks, wait for all the teams to make it official, unless you want to go with the obvious all Sky podium. The race begins Saturday so don’t Delgado away a Grand Tour opportunity.

[vsp_results id=”23343″/]

Gianni

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  • @Patrick

    Fuck - Cav is as mega today as Wiggo is poor(ly)...I bet Froome will be sick when Wiggins drops out and decides he wants to go for TdF again to make up for this.

    Agree on both points.

  • @Chris

    @Buck Rogers Apparently Duran Duran and Crowded House are with nibbles, mis communication from Race Radio Ga Ga I think.

    Ahh, so much for cyclingnews' live ticker.

  • Nobody tell me that flat stages aren't interesting.

    I love seeing a break out for hours and then it comes down to the last few hundred metres.

    Hard, hard work all round.

  • You gotta give it to Cav - he brings home the goods. Clean pair of heels to the bunch today. That looked like a hard chase to get the break back.

  • @Buck Rogers

    @LA Dave

    Jens was at it again in the TOC. Best quote of the day:

    "Once I go I'm committed, and yeah, I actually have, sometimes I have confidence beyond reason, you know you can't beat that out, I'm motherf*cking Jens Voigt, their not gonna catch me, right?"

    Reminds me of the movie Bottle Rocket and the line "They'll never catch me" by Owen Wilson

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QihI3ORsFn0

    Long ass clip but skip to 2:00 for the line. Just classic and I can just imagine Jensie saying this.

    So good....such a great movie and scene. I'll need to find that DVD and watch again.

  • @Chris

    That felt slightly funereal, the amount of time time they gave to footage of Wiggo being brought in by his team rather than replays of Cav making everyone else look slow.

    If it weren't for the clock in the corner, I would have thought Sky were out for an easy Sunday cruise for the last 5km.

  • Almost forgot the results were updated today. Wiggins is almost as fucked as Ryder.

    Provisional Race Results
    1. NIBALI Vincenzo
    2. EVANS Cadel
    3. URAN URAN Rigoberto
    4. GESINK Robert
    5. SCARPONI Michele
    Provisional VSP Standings
    1. Tobin (35 points)
    2. Blake (35 points)
    3. Smithers (33 points)
    4. ped (32 points)
    5. leadout (32 points)
    6. pakrat (30 points)
    7. Mikael Liddy (28 points)
    8. mouse (28 points)
    9. mbarston (28 points)
    10. RedRanger (28 points)
    11. scaler911 (28 points)
    12. V-olcano (28 points)
    13. frank (28 points)
    14. MJ Moquin (28 points)
    15. sprider (27 points)
    16. seemunkee (26 points)
    17. Noel (26 points)
    18. Rigid (26 points)
    19. King Clydesdale (26 points)
    20. razmaspaz (25 points)
    21. Dufferin Sportif (25 points)
    22. Nate (23 points)
    23. Mike_P (23 points)
    24. gladoe (23 points)
    25. Duende (23 points)
    26. Sauterelle (23 points)
    27. Don Amedo (23 points)
    28. Donnie Bugno (23 points)
    29. Dino (23 points)
    30. ramenvelo (23 points)
    31. Daccordi Rider (23 points)
    32. Alex (23 points)
    33. il ciclista medio (23 points)
    34. Dashiell (23 points)
    35. Mirko (23 points)
    36. taon24 (23 points)
    37. Russ (23 points)
    38. dancollins (23 points)
    39. Ron (23 points)
    40. Chica (23 points)
    41. DocBrian (21 points)
    42. Gervais (21 points)
    43. Heihachi (21 points)
    44. strathlubnaig (21 points)
    45. San Tonio (21 points)
    46. stickyjumper (21 points)
    47. Nosyt (20 points)
    48. Simon (20 points)
    49. Bianchi Denti (20 points)
    50. moondance (20 points)
    51. napolinige (20 points)
    52. Patrick (20 points)
    53. sehmis (20 points)
    54. Souleur (20 points)
    55. gallilano (18 points)
    56. Deakus (18 points)
    57. Skip (18 points)
    58. the Engine (16 points)
    59. CanuckChuck (16 points)
    60. TomC (15 points)
    61. chrismurphy92 (13 points)
    62. tony macaroni (13 points)
    63. Benzo (13 points)
    64. Joe (11 points)
    65. DerHoggz (11 points)
    66. anotherdownunder (11 points)
    67. VirenqueForever (11 points)
    68. VeloVita (11 points)
    69. bderw (11 points)
    70. R00tdown (11 points)
    71. RManneck (10 points)
    72. freddy (10 points)
    73. El Mateo (10 points)
    74. sthilzy (9 points)
    75. TOM.NELS2120 (9 points)
    76. asyax (9 points)
    77. piwakawaka (9 points)
    78. torrefie (9 points)
    79. Yannersan (9 points)
    80. Franklin (9 points)
    81. Chris (9 points)
    82. margc (9 points)
    83. Dan_R (9 points)
    84. The Grande Fondue (9 points)
    85. sgraha (9 points)
    86. pink (9 points)
    87. Adrian (9 points)
    88. Jhortua (9 points)
    89. quanyeomans (9 points)
    90. jeyrod (9 points)
    91. Lukas (8 points)
    92. wiscot (8 points)
    93. Harminator (8 points)
    94. imakecircles (8 points)
    95. blue (8 points)
    96. simonsaunders (8 points)
    97. NoTubes (8 points)
    98. Islandbike (8 points)
    99. ten B (7 points)
    100. Bat Chainpuller (6 points)
    101. Dr C (6 points)
    102. Buck Rogers (6 points)
    103. SimonH (6 points)
    104. Tartan1749 (6 points)
    105. Fausto (6 points)
    106. PeakInTwoYears (6 points)
    107. kyle (6 points)
    108. Al__S (6 points)
    109. roger (6 points)
    110. snoov (6 points)
    111. brian (6 points)
    112. Two Ball Billy (6 points)
    113. Blah (6 points)
    114. Cyclops (6 points)
    115. Erik (6 points)
    116. brad_the_dean (6 points)
    117. la plaque (6 points)
    118. Facetious_Jesus (6 points)
    119. Benny (6 points)
    120. girl (6 points)
    121. zalamanda (6 points)
    122. Vernwitha_V (6 points)
    123. ChrisO (6 points)
    124. Roberto Marques (6 points)
    125. Velodeluded (6 points)
    126. m_demartino (6 points)
    127. graham d.m. (6 points)
    128. paolo (6 points)
    129. minion (6 points)
    130. Jay (6 points)
    131. xyxax (6 points)
    132. Geordi (6 points)
    133. starclimber (6 points)
    134. PT (6 points)
    135. TBONE (5 points)
    136. HeinrichHausslersHairstyle (4 points)
    137. LA Dave (4 points)
    138. eightzero (4 points)
    139. zeitzmar (4 points)
    140. motor city (3 points)
    141. Steampunk (3 points)
    142. The Goat (3 points)
    143. Gino (3 points)
    144. 936adl (3 points)
    145. eenies (3 points)
    146. el gato (3 points)
    147. JohnB (1 points)
    148. unversio (1 points)
    149. oneninefiveninesix (0 points)
    150. brett (0 points)

  • After another boring stage of tour of CA fuck me Jensy goes off the front again and nails it......quote from his team DS "retirement is frightened of Jensy"

    classic!

  • So the next rest day will allow everyone who (like me) got sucked in by the Wiggins Bandwagon to trade him out for Uran. A chest infection has been cited (maybe he tried to lose too much weight to get into the best climbing shape of his life ?) And Ryder has bailed too.

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Published by
Gianni
12 years ago

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