Velominati Super Prestige: Giro d’Italia 2017
I spy with my little eye a certain Michele Scarponi, who sadly lost his life while out training near his home two weeks ago, in there amongst his teammates after his captain, Nibbles, won the race. I’m torn about a death like Michele’s – we subject ourselves to similar risks every time we climb aboard our bikes and we accept it as part and parcel of our craft. Yet, while every day members of our tribe lose their lives to their trade, it takes a high profile rider to remind us how real that risk is.
But onto lighter topics, Nibali won the Giro last year going downhill, and it happened on the one stage I managed to sleep through which is another way of saying I missed it. But I love waking up to a that WTF feeling only a reshuffled GS can give you.
The race starts Friday morning, which is sooner than I expected, so I’ll stop typing so you can start picking. Get them in by the time the clock goes to zero, and remember that our Grand Tour scoring rules are a little different than the smaller events. So jump on that start list and get prognosticating!
Good luck!
[vsp_results id=”104353″/]
@stooge
Yup. Anyone got watts per kilo on that ride from TD? Guys like Yates and Nibbles must surely be wondering how to counter giving they’re losing time trying to follow wheels!
that was some nice work today by Dumolin. very impressive indeed.
@Cary
That was a wonderful ride. TT’ing himself right back up to Nairo, even had his hands over the bars at one point, and then boom. Tom D has made this race interesting for sure. That was great fun to watch. And the stage was perfect in it’s timing as wasn’t tailor made for Nairo to simply ride away up the mtn. The Mtn’s on stages 16, 18 and 20 ? We’ll see.
And just when I was thinking that once again the ATOC was the better race…
Cheers
@harminator
The seafood diet thing was a bit of a troll – I don’t really think it’s anything fishy. I didn’t expect TD to lose any time this week, but I didn’t expect him to be putting time into the small climbers yesterday (even though the climb kinda suited the likes of him and Zakarin). Can he keep it up in the big multi climbs? Whatever happens, his performance this year will be talked about for many to come.
Apparently, in the press conference, someone pointed out that his ride was only 10 seconds slower over the last 6kms than Pantani’s. I don’t think there’s much t be made of it.
Pinot looked like he’d gassed big time, then steadily made up ground and caught some for the remainder. That was good to see, too.
was Gaviria actually trying to win today? it seems likely. why would he chase points, now, with the lead he has? i really think he had designs on the stage. and WTF is up with Movistar clogging the road with a team car? in a corner, on a descent, no less! they’re all lucky that foolishness didn’t get anybody REALLY hurt.
VSP PICKS (2nd Rest Day Swaps):
@john @Gianni
Dat you who diddat?
Out of town all weekend in northern WI doing the Bear 100 gravel ride in Laona. (www.thebear100.com) Insanely hard ride, but I’ll be back at it next year.
This might be heresy, but watching the stage Tom D won, I thought, “big man in pink, up with the climbers, chasing down a wee man, not giving up and crushing his rivals in the sprint? That’s Merckxian in style. The race leader calling a truce while a major rival gets sorted after a crash? That’s patron-like behavior.” Other riders might have kept wee Nairo in their sights, but not Dumoulin – . he kept at it. His rivals must be getting nervous and hope he has a really bad day this week.
@wiscot
I can’t see how TD is going to lose. if he’s going to lose a chunk of time, it’ll be tomorrow. Quintana’s last chance?
I loved Dumoulin’s comments about it not being right to gain time on a rival when they’ve had a crash…aimed at Movistar, y’think? Class, anyway.
Ref Kangert’s horrendous crash. Could have been so much worse in the scheme of things BUT…….when I saw it live (and the replay) it looked like he intentionally went to hop the curb and did not see the sign. OK so he may have been forced into that line, it wasn’t clear from the shot but I did wonder whether the fact that the pro peloton are so used to hopping curbs that he chose to go that way and just did not see the sign. Almost impossible to police but hopping curbs at the sort of speeds the peloton goes, it’s always going to go badly wrong at some time or other.
@Teocalli
I was going to mention that -I thought he was lucky not to get impaled on the pole! Looked like he was going at such a speed he smashed the sign out of the way.
@RobSandy
He certainly appeared to bend the post which takes one heck of an impact.
VSP PICKS (2nd Rest Day Swaps):
Yup, Dumoulin is certainly showing some class. I like him as a rider and I really hope he wins. Sunweb aren’t one of the BIG teams and it would be fantastic for them to get the win.
You could say that that was a bit shit of Zakarin, Merida and Movistar.
Chapeau to Dumoulin to hang in there. Shame Landa did not get the stage.
@wiscot
@Teocalli
Indeed. Especially after the class Dumoulin showed the other day. Hopefully this was TD’s “bad day” and he recovers well. As for how TD should ride the rest of the Giro? No gifts. Fuck Movistar.
Awesome win by Nibbles BTW.
I’m not a fan of Quintana or Movistar but I think they (and Nibali) were between a rock and a hard place today.
I can understand the point of view that the bunch should have killed it quickly and let Dumoulin back but personally I think this one was just the other side of etiquette.
Had it been on the flat between the Stelvio and Umbrail then yes it would have been the correct thing to do.
But at the very foot of the final climb in the Queen stage of a Grand Tour… sorry, that’s just shit luck.
Kudos to him for toughing it out to hold on to pink – just a pity he couldn’t hold on to brown.
@ChrisO
Yeah, it’s a tough call. I’m just hoping that this was TD’s bad day and that he is better tomorrow. I still think (barring other shitty luck) that Quintana would need at least 2 minutes over TD going into the final TT. Nibbles seems to be getting stronger too. Shit luck for Yates – had it not been for the crash, he’s be in podium contention.
Basically, a GT needs three TTs – one each week.
Co-rider VV Dam opined that he did not expect the others to stop since it wasn’t a crash. Usually peloton does not stop for interludes as these. Too bad for Tom but I hope he’ll return with a vengeance today.
Shit happens…
@ChrisO
With hindsight given he appeared to have needed it for a while he should have gone earlier.
@Teocalli
I love you for that. Genius.
Something else I’d like to discuss…
Nibali.
Descending.
Goodness me.
@RobSandy
Steady there, steady…….
Geez I hope TD can hang in there for the overall win. There’s a story for the ages in this. Rides like a proper hardman, does his work without complaining, waits for rivals that can’t ride good, even has time to take a shit during hostilities and still wins the maglia rosa. Legendary stuff.
@RobSandy
I was thinking same thing. That was something else. To just simply ride away from Nairo like that… wow. And somewhere along the way down he reached in to his back jersey pocket for a snack? Bunny hopped the water in front of the turn? He looked like he was having fun is what it looked like. That was cool.
is Nibali riding the Tour this year? it would be fun to see him go at it with Romain Bardet, who also descends “like an idiot”, according to Sean Kelly.
@Cary
Would that be the same (sainted) Sean Kelly who once admitted, in a rather offhand manner, that the maximum speed he had descended at was 124 km/h? Takes one to know one I guess!
he said it last year, referencing Bardet’s descent of thr Col d’Allos in the 2015 Criterium du Dauphine. it WAS pretty crazy. he left everyone, including Nibali, for dead.
@Cary
I’ve done just over 80kms/h and that was scary enough. But 124 km/h, that’s 77mph. I don’t drive my car that fast!
Fuck me. TVG has actually won something!
I am so NITRO today.
@wiscot
I’ve hit just over 50mph on my bicycle … just once. The result was overshooting the road we were supposed to turn onto.
And you are a pansy car driver!
@chuckp
I am, I admit it. In my defense, you can only push a wee Ford Focus so hard . . .
TJvG won! I wasn’t sure he was still in the race. Mind you, I’m glad he won. He is still a quality rider, just not a GT contender. Maybe a new focus on stage hunting will see him wind up his career with some more successes. For sure, today will have done his morale a world of good.
@chuckp
67 kph on the Hautacam which was pretty bumpy where the ski busses had been braking in to the corners. Fast enough for me on a road like that; I live in a pretty flat place.
@wiscot may just have a car that is worth less than his bike!
Pretty poor show from Quintana and it’s hard to see where else he’s going to pull something out of the bag.
That’s twice he’s had the whole team set up for an attack with riders up the road and both times he’s failed to take advantage.
Watching him shake his head refusing to even go on Nibali’s wheel in front of Dumoulin was surely the moment Dumoulin must have realised the Giro is his to lose.
Say what you like about Contador, even Froome, they do their best to make the race.
@ChrisO
Bertie would’ve attacked even earlier than Quintana’s first attack on the Passo Gardena. He (Contador) understands that to win you have to risk losing.
P.S. I say this as someone who’s a fan of Nairoman.
@wiscot
It must be an old Ford Focus. The new ones are pretty zippy. Even if it’s not an RS model. I actually had a Ford Focus ST for a rental not too long ago and it could definitely haul ass!
Haha, this is very good: https://mobile.twitter.com/giroditalia/status/867758885066747904
“Why you don’t ride”… stick it on a T-shirt someone !
Top work from Dumoulin today…clearly that little pit stop yesterday was just what he needed to get down to optimum racing weight. Last chance saloon for #thatgeekcanroll and Nibbles tomorrow. Stage 20 has a short downhill and some rollers before the finish and Big D should bury them in the TT.
@ChrisO
LOLZ. It’ll duck my VSP but I am now a Tom Done-a-poo-lin fan. What a guy. And so handsome.
Quintana isn’t winning any fans. Mohali needs to explain to him what panache is…
@wiscot
most of my descending experience is from working as a bike messenger in San Francisco on a fixed gear. believe it or not, i used a 48×16, or even a 52×16, and no brakes, of course. not quite the same thing as Alpine descending, but still fun.
@ChrisO
Gold.
@chuckp
It’s a 2011 – before they made it look “sporty.” Does what it needs to do and I can get any bike in the back by popping the seats down and removing the bike’s front wheel.
Also, not much of a temptation for car thieves!
So, I didn’t think Doumolin has it in him 3 weeks ago. But I think it would be phenomenal if he won. Of course, my VSP would be over. But it would still be cool. I’m pulling for him.
Too little, too late. Looks like Tom will take it, barring any bizarre goings on tomorrow. He’s got some giant balls.
Well done to Landa for the stage win. Good stuff. Also happy to see Yates back into to top ten and in the white jersey. Both did well to adjust goals and keep their heads in the game.
@Erik
Depends what happens tomorrow. If he loses even more time tomorrow and has a minute or more deficit going into the TT in Milan, it will be tough for him to get the time back. He actually now has more than just Quintana to worry about. If either Nibali or Pinot can put enough time on him tomorrow, they may be able to leapfrog Quintana in the TT and Dumoulin might not be able to make up the difference. So unlike TdF, which is a Skybot yawnfest, the Giro is once again a fun and interesting race until the very end.
And even though I’m not a big Sky fan, chapeau today to Landa for a well deserved win … especially after getting pipped twice in previous stages. Plus appropriate for him to win a climbing stage wearing KoM jersey.
Top six within 90 seconds going into the last two days. I don’t think Dumoulin was being snarky when he told Q and N to watch out: Pinot, Zakarin or even Pozzovivo could sneak onto the podium. This is anyone’s Giro.
For now, I will enjoy my temporarily fabulous VSP: 4 of 5, with 1,2,4 ITRO.
@John Irvine
Yes indeed. If Q wants to win overall, he’s going to need more than 38 seconds going into the TT. The whole podium is up for grabs.