Velominati Super Prestige: Giro d’Italia 2012 Stage 20

The famous bends of the Stelvio

See that huge mountain over there? The one with the steep, twisty road going up it? The one that is often covered in snow this time of year? Right, race ya to the top.

I don’t know what more there is to say about this year’s Giro; four days from the end, with two of the biggest mountain stages yet to come and the G.C., Mountains, and Points competitions are all wide open. Basso is looking perhaps the freshest of the favorites, but Hope of a Nation is not looking to be weakening, either. Purito hasn’t shown weakness, though he also hasn’t really been able to show the speed he usually has on the uphill finishes; on his trademark uphill finale attacks, the slower men have (usually) been able to contain him. The Pony, on the other hand, showed his scars as he cracked on the way over the last hill on Wednesday’s stage and seems to be on the down side of his good form as we enter the final stretch.

Friday’s stage may well solidify the looks of things, but Saturday’s stage to the top of the Stelvio will be fireworks for sure. Clear your calendars for Friday and Saturday; this is going to be good.

Since this is a Tour stage, point on offer are 5 for first, 4 four second, 3 for third, 2 for fourth, and 1 for 5th. No bonus points for the right rider in the wrong place. Get your picks in by the time the countdown timer goes to zero. Points count towards your overall VSP total but do not effect your Giro VSP total. Good luck.

frank

The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking. As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen. Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.

Next Ride Like a Leader: Ivan Basso »

Previous « Rule 43: Don't be a Jackass

View Comments

imakecircles says:

May 25 2012 at 4:23 pm

Ryder's in the drivers seat after today's stage. Purito, Basso, and Scarponi all need to take about 3 minutes out of him on the Stelvio, which I don't think is going to happen. But to even have a chance at taking this much time, they must attack him early on the climb. Ryder's going to follow the wheels and nip them at the end.

VSP PICKS:

1. ryder
2. scarponi
3. basso
4. jrod
5. nieve
scaler911 says:

May 25 2012 at 4:30 pm

I'm starting to like Ryder more and more every day. He was sooooo solid today. Roman went all in (and won of course), but had the stage been 100M longer, it woulda sucked for him.

VSP PICKS:

1. J Rod
2. Ryder
3. Sir Basso A Lot
4. Duran Duran
5. Scraps Only
snoov says:

May 25 2012 at 4:39 pm

VSP PICKS:

1. Hesjedal
2. Rodriguez
3. Basso
4. Scarponi
5. Pozzovivo
Steampunk says:

May 25 2012 at 5:05 pm

@imakecircles
3 minutes?? I think we're starting to get a little carried away. Hesjedal took 10 seconds from Basso in the prologue. Multiply that out and you get 30 seconds. You also get a rather narrow margin between the two. Also, at last year's Tour, where neither had much to ride for, Basso beat Hesjedal by more than a minute (both were behind both Schlecks, so maybe that makes the comparison irrelevant). All this to say: while I won't dispute that Hesjedal is arguably the best TTer of the four real candidates at this stage, it's not like he's a particularly great TTer by pro standards.
Steampunk says:

May 25 2012 at 5:06 pm

@Mikel Pearce
CafÃ© Domestique has a raspberry ale on tap. It's pink. Might be appropriate for after the Cogal. Here's hoping.
DerHoggz says:

May 25 2012 at 5:20 pm

I have no clue.

So I'm probably not waking up at 4, when would be the best time to join in to not miss the excitement? I can't find the profile for some reason.

VSP PICKS:

1. Basso
2. Hesjedal
3. Purito
4. Scarponi
5. Pozzovivo
Bianchi Denti says:

May 25 2012 at 5:21 pm

My random Basque (Intxausti) lost 40 f'ing minutes on stage 19! So he's out, and Ryder's in.

VSP PICKS:

1. Hesjedal
2. Scarponi
3. Pozzovivo
4. Purito
5. Basso
imakecircles says:

May 25 2012 at 5:26 pm

@steampunk, well, Scarponi's currently 1:39 to Ryder and Basso's 1:45 down. If both of them took 3:00 out of Ryder on the Stelvio, they'd be up on him by 1:21 and 1:15 respectively. That would seem to be a comfortable margin for them going into the TT. And Purito could easily lose that much time in the TT. My point was that all three need to attack and distance Ryder from a fairly long way out, and maybe they (or one or two of them) can do it if they take turns attacking Ryder, but they are all going to be marking each other for their chances to keep a podium, so I don't see it happening.
Perhaps one of the favorites will be allowed away on the Mortirolo for an epic break? We'll see tomorrow. And Sunday.
Netraam says:

May 25 2012 at 5:26 pm

Kreuziger is still disappointed with his Giro performance, wants to do the same thing again.

I'd love to see him try, and I would love even more to see him get it!

VSP PICKS:

1. Hesjedal
2. Basso
3. Scarponi
4. Roman Crossiger
5. J-Rod
Buck Rogers says:

May 25 2012 at 5:37 pm

@Steampunk

@Mikel Pearce
Post-ride drinks could take on a whole new meaning. Of course, it could also mean we might be bombarded by a whole summer horde of fat, rule-breaking new adopters of our fine sport, clogging up "our" roads on steeds for which they are wholly unworthy (yes: we should embrace this missionary work).

Too, there's an outside chance the Ontario Cogal could start with an espresso with Steve Bauer, who is scheduled to meet the CBC (Canadian for BBC) at our point of departure on Sunday morning (though I fear we'll miss him by an hour or so). I indirectly invited him to join us in case he preferred a ride (Rule 9 conditions quite likely) over watching the TT...

Are you serious??! Damn man, i hope you invited him to the 2much on 100 also since you are all such good mates!