For the simple reason that the Cobbled and Ardennes Classics are behind us, I have not alternative but to get back on my soap box about the Giro being the best of the three Grand Tours. Well, usually, at least. Last year’s race sucked the big one (even if it was supremely Rule #9), but for the most part it is the race that is the most closely contested of the three. There are mountains everywhere Italy meaning there are less bunch sprints, the weather is completely unreliable, and the slightly lower calibre of rider seems hungrier. Or maybe the reduced pressure means riders aren’t quite as stressed out and are able to funnel that extra energy into the race.
My favorite Giro is a hard one to pick out, but its either the 1988 Giro when Andy Hampsten took the win after freezing himself stiff with Erik Breukink on the Gavia or when Pantani took his in 1998. I’ve been watching the ’98 Giro during my morning turbo sessions and Merckx-oh-me, that was an All-Drugs Olympics nail-biter. ’98 is also an interesting contrast to ’88; in just a decade, the technology had changed so much but more than that, the doping atmosphere in the sport transformed completely. From Hampsten’s Giro, EPO went from just being dabbled with on the fringes to being abused by leaders and domestiques alike by the time Pantani won. Hampsten wrote a nice piece about racing against dopers in Tyler Hamilton’s book, The Secret Race. He described the various side-effects that the popular drugs of his era had, such as bloating and a tendency to make the user over-estimate their abilities. Amphetamine made the riders do stupid things, cortisone made them retain water, and steroids made them heavy; a clean rider could use those factors to their advantage. A far cry from the rocket fuel that allowed humble domestiques to big ring up major alpine passes.
Why am I talking about drugs? There’s a race starting in a few days, people! This is our first Grand Tour, and the picks are worth more points, not to mention that strategy starts to play into things with the chance to swap your picks out on either of the rest days – at a certain point penalty. Remember that points are not accumulated; the standings on the last day of the race are what kinds, so keep the long game in mind.
Any points you win count towards the overall prizes plus the winner of this event also gets to post for the rest of the year in the pink jersey badge. So check the start list, review the VSP Grand Tour Scoring Guidelines and get your picks in by the time the countdown clock goes to zero at midnight PDT on Friday, May 9th. If you think we mapped one of your picks wrong, use the dispute system and we’ll review it. Also remember to be precise enough in your description so we know which rider you mean; in other words, if you enter “Martin”, we will use our discretion (read: wild guess) to decide if you mean Tony or Dan – and that choice will not be negotiable once the the countdown clock goes to zero. There has also been a recent scourge of people putting a rider in more than one place. Two words: Piti Principle, people! Don’t make me do a bunch of extra programming to keep you from being allowed to submit such an obviously unsportsmanlike set of picks. We will mercilessly clear out all your entries should we find you have attempted this.
Also don’t forget we’ve got three major prizes for the season-long VSP:
Good luck, have fun with it, and don’t lose your Rule #43 spirit.
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View Comments
I seem to recall an article referencing that Evans and BMC would like to lose the jersey in order that they do not have to control the peleton from here on out. I suggest marking your GC rider puts a great strain on the entire team, and so being within striking distance of the leader allows you to sit in more, remain fresher. It seems the lead GC rider's team are often tasked with pulling down the breaks if they are threatening to GC.
That said, I'm on record for stating here that Evans might be likely to lose his shit in the last week, like he did last year when Nibbles was able to run away from him, and Rigo overtook him for 2nd.
Biggest surprise for me is Quint, wondering if he will bust his guts as the mountains come, but he is a loooong way back.
As far as Rogers goes, he was allowed to go obv as BMC saw no threat, and no one else was gonna chase. Still, classy to win any stage in the Giro!
Finally, yes, I've noted previously, Cav, Terpstra et al have been donning the casquette on the podium, OGE at times also, so hopefully the tide is turning! The BBall cap just sucks balls when you see it on the podium next to a real cap.
Can't wait for stage 16: Gavia + Stelvio = fucking excite!
@Beers
Quint!
@wiscot
There were some boys that looked like they'd gone pretty deep as they were crossing the line, given they'll now be expected to control the pack with the Maglia on Mick's shoulders I just wonder if they might come to regret spending too much too early?
@unversio Gold!
@Mikael Liddy
yes, that's what I was thinking. Usually when you have a guy for the gc, the workers are told to sit up and rest in an ITT. Save your cookies.
With regards to their caps, effort is there but they need to specify the ADULT sized cap from their supplier. The cap must be PUFFY on top of the head, not stretched over the circumference of their cranium.
@minion
Tyler blamed someone else for hitting the brakes in front of him, big bunch going through a tight corner, who could have seen that coming....
@wiscot
It's not a mullet. A mullet has short top and sides although I grant you it's close.
This is a mullet
@Beers
I'm with you in that yes, I have heard that that is their preference. If I remember correctly it was Evans himself that said it was a big burden to carry the jersey from so early.
Gerro said that they have both Caps and Baseball hats in the bus for use at various times (Rule #22). What they get to wear on the Podium depends on what the Swanny hands him at the time and that in turn depends on what the swanny could put their hand to when packing for the finish line. If you've ever seen inside a team bus you'll understand why they often cannot find the exact item they want at the time and grab what ever comes to hand. I would agree though that more thought seems to be given to it with a preference going to caps.
Pre-giro d'itlaiia
Great ITT! Impressive show put on by Uran, I am excited to see how he fares come Tuesday.