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
@wiscot
Possibly, but what is so great about the Giro is that there are the bonus times for finishing order. I cannot imagine that Cuddles, as savvy as he is, would ever let 5 or 10 seconds that are available be passed up if at all possible. He was dragging everyone to the line b/c he knew that he was gaining time on the GC rivals. I am sure that he would have won the stage as well if he could of and more power to him for it!
Is it just me, or does anyone else have a new favorite rider in the maglia rosa, Matthews. In pink, wins a stage, 4th in today's sprint. He is everywhere.
@Erik
Gutsy rides but let's see where he is on Sunday night. Cannot wait for tomorrow and Sundays stages!!!
@Buck Rogers
I don't really expect him to survive the weekend, but he is making hay while the sun shines (in the rain, so to speak).
Chapeau to Evans, I say. He kept himself out of trouble, the race was already on, so he just stayed upright and stayed on it. It's not like the pace was slack and he attacked after seeing the crash. No-one likes seeing crashes and injured riders, but then I don't remember anyone criticising Faboo or Vanmarcke for not waiting for Stybar in P-R last year.
I had Martin & Purito 4 & 5, but my top three are looking good so far. Long way to go yet, can't win it in the first week.
@Buck Rogers
When the race starts seriously going up and Evans is ahead it means he can be defensive and cover attacks as opposed to having the pressure of having to attack. Of course either position can suck depending on how one feels when the attacks start... But if he is still feeling good then cover and counter attack. I think that's where I'd like to be (in my fantasy Giro) going into this weekend.
On the subject of Sanchez not being seen at the front, I wonder if crashes aside he is riding into form? Going in to a long race rested but not peaking the first week can be the spring board to that form and he says that Evans is in great form, does that imply that he is still getting there?
I can't stand Evans, the way he rides or his personality. I've given him a chance and tried to find something to like about him but I can't. He leaves me cold.
I hope the race improves and there is a fight to win, however I think its going to be Evans grinding out his lead over the other GC's for the next two weeks. If that happens I'll switch off.
@norm
Don't you like the way Evans tilts his head when he's laying down the V? You're right though--that's about as much personality as you're going to get. He's a good grinder and that's the kind of race this is. But it's the Giro. Many more unpredictable things will happen. You never know: Good Cadel may have some bad days and bingo...Uran, Basso, Scarponi, or Pozz can take advantage. Looking forward to the weekend.
Well I'll be damned. I never thought I'd see the day when I darkened the top step of the VSP podium. I'm sure it will be fleeting, but I'll enjoy it for now.
In other race news, I went to the start of today's Tour of California stage and scrutinized the bikes and got a good look at some of the riders warming up. I had a brief chat with Brian Holm, who was very friendly. I know that it's part of their job, but I was impressed by how patient the riders were with the fans right before the start of a stage. The funniest thing that I saw was Cavendish being mobbed outside the team camper and politely telling the fans that he had to go or he would be late to the start. I walked to the start and sure enough, I watched the peleton roll out and then Cavendish appeared about 20 seconds later all by himself off the back.
Gutted for Arredondo and Rolland - that was cruel.
WTF was Pozzovivo doing? His team rode their hearts out to get to the last 5 km and then... he sat in. Uncomfortable silence in the team bus I suspect.