Velominati Super Prestige: Giro D’Italia 2013
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″/]
@LA Dave
That’s what I’m saying. There is nothing to say that what you are watching ISN’T ALREADY great and clean racing. Your doubt is hypothetical.
The only way for you to enjoy, is to suspend your doubt, because it may very well be unfounded! If you can’t do that, then your enjoyment is doomed.
@ped
This picture has Rule #10 written all over it.
Just mentioned in the commentary. How good is this gonna be?
@ped
Holy smokes …even his book title follows rule V.
Speaking of rule V – this guy just showed a fair amount of it riding his wheelchair up di laverado:
@Beers
Innocent until proven guilty doesn’t mean people can’t have doubts – otherwise how would Armstrong ever have been found out. People like Betsey Andreu were prepared to point fingers and others like Walsh and Kimmage were prepared to voice doubts. If Innocent Until Proven Guilty means putting your fingers in your ears and going La La La then it just reinforces the code of omerta, which we know was how doping thrived for years.
It doesn’t mean that every result and every stage leaves a sour taste, but it does mean not being oblivious to the fact that an extraordinary result from a rider in a team with strong doping associations is probably something to have a reasonable doubt over.
Don’t forget that even the legal concept of innocence leaves room for doubt. If it meant behaving as if everything was OK then police would never investigate or the press would never ask questions. The question is whether a case has been proven beyond reasonable doubt, not beyond all doubt – a jury might well believe the defendant probably committed a crime but find them not guilty because there is a reasonable doubt.
Movistar making a play another stage victory..what a great Giro for them so far.
There goes Nibbles!
Uran has a gap on Cadel…Come on Rigo, 12 seconds and you can help me get at least a few points out of my VSP!
At least Capecch has shown some life. unfortunately too little too late for my vsp.
@eightzero
Fucking perfect post!
Of course there is doping going on but most likely not as much as before but you know what, the racing is great, I love the sport, it will live on. Yes, I’ll be pissed and disappointed at times but I will be back for the next race. That’s what happens if you have stuck with the sport for the last 30 years.
Never surprised by a positive result anymore, all results are suspect to me but I still love it.
Must be like living with an addict that you love who keeps relapsing but you still see their beauty and pray for them and stick with them even with all of their troubles.
@Buck Rogers
Brilliant…
Nibbles has blasted off… truly in a class of his own. Looks like 3 colombians next over the line. Cuddles is battling… but I think he’s dropping to 3rd.
Evans just killed my VSP. Nibbles for another stage win and Uran moves to second place. what a race this has been.
@LA Dave
I agree with all of the above. Awesome stage today, it was inspiring, it inspired me to grab my snowboard and carve some turns! Who would have thought that I would be going for a 4hr ride in warm Scottish sunshine then coming home to watch the Giro in the snow. Awesome.
@RedRanger
yeah, was sad to see Cuddles slide in to 3rd but still a bloody impressive ride considering it was only decided he was doing the Giro 6 weeks ago…hopefully this gives him some form for July.
Fantastic, beautiful stage loaded with immense pain and pure will. Sorry Cadel faded, but delighted by Betancur’s performance.
So COTHO is calling out Di Luca? Interesting…
https://twitter.com/lancearmstrong/status/337925588394328065
What a raging narcissist douche.
@DerHoggz
Reinforces the mindset that it’s only cheating if you get caught, which , I presume, is why he calls him “fucking stupid”
@ped
Some of the replies to that tweet did not pull punches either.
@strathlubnaig
You, my friend are now leading the Giro VSP! Well done. Donnie Bugno would like to fight but you beat him to the punch. I don’t see the standings changing too much tomorrow.
Betancur did me proud again today. Even as a devote follower of Rule V, i was happy to watch the suffering but given the chance would have feigned a life threatening saddle sore rather than take to the wheels. Well done strathlubnaig!
Evans cites problems with his gears for time loss. Shimano?
We seem to be seeing this more and more often. Race results being affected by failing tech.
@mouse
Bad Cadel
@mouse
This is always a tricky one. Is a mechanical an easy excuse, or is there a danger of rubbing a sponsor the wrong way? And to what extent do we blame “user error” over a mechanical failure?
@Gianni
Holy Mackinaw !!! Well if the Leafs cant win the Stanley Cup then this is the next best thing woop woop
@mouse
Would have to agree, we seem to be seeing more and more mechanical issues relating to driveline of late.
And I think most of the time it is Shimano but not 100% sure on that, it always gets glossed over on the telecast and teams no doubt would not want to bag out a sponsor. But as someone else posted, is it user error or equipment problem?
I’ve seen a lot of whining on other sites about the weather “ruining” the race. Are these people mad? The weather, apart from when it has caused a stage to be entirely canned, has made it epic. Anyone finishing- let alone doing well- is pretty damn hard. It would have been nice to have seen what Wiggins and Hesjedal could have done if they weren’t ill- certainly, it would have made for more of a fight for GC- but thems the breaks. Nibali is a deserved winner- and sealed it in style in the snow.
Are we back to the days of writing cycling news articles in barely-disguised code… or is it my imagination ?
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/astana-guard-helps-nibali-to-giro-ditalia-victory
References to Vinokourov, Pantani and Martinelli followed by::
“Instead, it was the hitherto unheralded Tanel Kangert who stepped up to the plate with a surprisingly strong showing in defence of Nibali’s maglia rosa during the second half of the race. The Estonian champion, who returned to the amateur ranks for a year in 2010 after failing to make an impact at Ag2r-La Mondiale, has been a man transformed since resurfacing at Astana, and has made very noticeable strides in 2013.”
and
The most startling performance of all, however, came from Fabio Aru. Still only 22 years of age and in his first full season as a professional, the Sardinian helped to set the tempo for Nibali at the foot of the climb and then withstood the arctic conditions to take 5th place on the stage, just 21 seconds down… The youngster’s performance is all the more noteworthy given that he was suffering from illness in the second week of the race, but displayed remarkable powers of recovery in the third.
The only one they haven’t used is “extra-terreste”.
@ChrisO Well, they stopped short of saying, I haven’t seen anyone climb like that since Armstrong rode to Sestrieres
@anotherdownunder
User error?
quest que c’est le fuck? What might user error on a look like?
Well, user error on a fucking iPad looks like my last post.
“What might user error on a *bike* look like?
@anotherdownunder
Electronic shifting?
@Gianni
I just need bad cadel to drop one more spot to 4th and my vsp is at least a little salvaged!
@Deakus
Yep. Dura-ace Di2 9070. I think Uran runs that too. Some speculation that snow/ice build up jammed the RD shift in the last 3k.
That was a remarkable stage. Shame Nibbles won the TT. It would have been so much cooler (more believable?) for him to assert dominance in such brutal conditions on such a difficult climb. Cadel was never in the hunt in week 3. It seems unlikely he’s making up excuses given that he’d called himself out for bad form after his ITT time loss.
If he’s got the shits with Di2, I doubt he’d worry about publicly criticising Shimano. He’s already sympathised with Wiggo this season after his magic bike parking tantrum. It’s not like there’s a glut of electronic shifting group manufacturers waiting to fill a vacant need. Shimano will have to bust a gut to sort out the problem…
@strathlubnaig
It’s still going to be awhile before the Leafs are good. In the meantime, they beat up most of the league this year. Three goons who are also excellent puncheurs on one team makes for a lot of the rough stuff.
I thought it was clearly going to be Penguins v. Blackhawks in the finals. Seems like the Wings have something to say about that. I’m not a Pittsburgh fan but I would love to see Iginla get his hands on a Cup after a lot of seasons with very little supporting talent in Calgary. He did get close one year, but generally had a weak cast.
It does seem to be Shimano and Sram but that might be because more teams use it, and that’s not necessarily a matter of preference but sponsorship and payment.
However it does seem to confirm the fears of people who are lukewarm on the idea of electronic shifting. If it doesn’t bring an advantage, and adds weight to the bike, what’s the point.
It is overcomplicating something that was relatively simple, and introducing greater potential for error. Plus, for my mind, it makes the bike no longer a fully human powered vehicle.
I know two people who’ve had to finish rides on one gear after electronic problems, and I can’t think when that last happened with mechanical.
@ChrisO
Me also. Two guys I ride with have had RD issues on long rides/races and had to finish with 60k slogs with 2 gears.
Cadel’s comment after Wiggo’s trouble in Trentine was that some of the innovations / adaptions have yet to be fully tested. I wonder if someone was charged with the responsibility of testing the Di2 in snow and minus 10C?
I have no interest in electronic. I’ve spent enough time with cars and motorbikes pointing at innocuous looking black boxes and shrugging my shoulders. I’m happy enough to deal with springs and cables and hex keys. I’m not ready to put a multimeter in my jersey pocket.
The missile does it again, he’s a beast. Great stage, great Giro, can’t believe it’s over already….
Cav is just untouchable. Viviani couldn’t even hold his wheel.
Congrats on the Maglia Rosa strathlubnaig!
@Ron
Hoping myself for a Pens win, if only because they will need to put out Bawston to get there. Be good for the Pride of Cole Harbour to get the cup home again too. Though an Original Six final might be nice too.
Well I’m guilty of swapping out Wiggins for Nibali in the second rest day swaps, that left an open space in second which I hoped might get filled eventually by Uran! So my VSP was saved by Group San problems with ice.
@strathlubnaig Congratulations pal, see you in two weeks for the Cogal.
@snoov
I await official confirmation, but excited by a potential first Grand Tour victory. Might wear the pink coveralls at work tonight.
@ChrisO
+1 the bicycle is a two wheeled man powered device….no need for that electronic voodoo magic!
Congratulations on the GC win Strathlubnaig. I think you have to wear pink for a year though. See you on the 8th.
@Deakus
Interesting discussion in the latest Tech 5 podcasts over at http://www.velocast.cc. SRAM went from being the dominant groupset in the Protour to having just 2 teams in 2013, and a major factor seems to be that they didn’t offer electronic shifting. In fact, Garmin changed from free SRAM to buying Di2 because the riders demanded it. So I have to think there is some benefit to electronic shifting, at least if you are followed on every ride by a car with a spare bike and a mechanic! Don’t really see the point for plebs like us though (well, like me then).
@Bianchi Denti I think you have hit the nail on the head. I cannot see the benefit of electronic shifting vs the risks of electronic failure unless you have a team car. Ok it may feel a bit nicer but really? That outweighs the downside of a battery problem or other issue….nope it does not convince me and in fact it also seems to go against the grain of a human powered mode of transport…
@strathlubnaig Congratulations on your victory!
@Deakus