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
@KW
You don't become a Russian oligarch by being honest and playing by the rules. What do you think he'd have said if his rider had done what Quintana did?
Quintana's group wasn't supposed to overtake the red flag, so a fine would have been adequate, but nothing more. It's now back to racing as far as I'm concerned.
It wouldnt be the Giro without some polemica at the processo.
@Mirko
Good point, no-one likes being the loser when rules are bent and ignored when they themselves like to bend and ignore rules.
I can only imagine what kind of chaos was going on on the Stelvio. Bad weather, shitty roads, riders everywhere looking for clothes, probably bad radio reception in team cars and on the riders' receivers. An inept, indecisive race organizer/commissaire. Surely they had someone at the top of the climb long before the race got there who could have said "Neutralise the descent." To paraphrase Malcolm Tucker, "From bean to cup, they fucked it up."
@wiscot
Damn. Have to be quick (posting after the next stage is already finished is certainly not "quick" enough) to get in on these conversations without just repeating what everyone else has already said. My picks were ruined the day J-Rod fell but I can hardly wait to see how the next few days play out.
@wiscot
Or tell you what, let's make every tour a nice combo of individual time trials and a couple of crits held on nice flat courses in perfect weather. That should help ensure a nice race.
Exactly my thoughts. If riding batshit fast down an HC hill in a snowstorm is your particular strength then good luck to ya. Sure enough yesterday was one of the few days of the year you get to exploit that. As a cyclist I want to see how its done: As a racing fan I want you to have your day in the ...umm...crud....and to see how your rivals cope. As far as safety is concerned, as always, ride to the conditions. Is it any worse than a narrowing 110 degree corner in the last 4k of a flat stage?
Does anybody know whom Pirazi's vaffanculo gesture was meant for?
@Mirko
I think, but I'm not sure, I think it was meant for those who felt that Bardiani were not worthy of a place at the Giro table. You know, leave the little guys at home instead of a Pro Tour team. Well, Bardiani have won three stages so far - same as FDJ and OGE. Lampre and Giant have two apiece. Belkin, BMC, Cannondale, Garmin, Lotto, Trek, Sky, Tinkoff/Saxo and Katusha = zilch.
"You think we don't belong at the Giro? Well, fuck you!" seems to sum it up I think.
@Harminator
I hgar you. What if you are a sider from, say Ireland, Scotland, or a Scandinavian country (or somewhere not known for warm weather) and you ride a race in super hot temps? Can you say, "hold on a minute chaps, I'm not so great in hot weather, may we take it easy today? This heat really wipes me out." "Sure," and the riders say,"we acknowledge that warm weather isn't to your liking so it tranqillo all the way today."
While I'm at it, everyone knows the Tour has a nasty cobbles section this year. No surprise to any DS or riders I hope. So if a rider loses time on them is it all to be neutralised? "My guy punctures and everyone kept on racing, not fair?" I hear the complains being drafted already.
Just wanted to hop in on this while it's still kinda fresh since I'm not in these conversations too much, likewise because it's changing everyday. If this hasn't already been seen/heard this little article provides kind of a cool perception of the reactions from Stelvio. Link to cyclingtips.
@Mirko
There was a little write up on cyclingnews. It was for all those who dis him because he can't win from small breaks. He said everyone rides against him.