Velominati Super Prestige: Giro d’Italia 2013, Stage 10
Day 5 of the Six Days of the Giro continues with an impromptu VSP event.
Lets have a look at where we are in the 2013 Giro. Wiggins must have spent time training in Luxembourg because he’s been descending like a Schleck when things get dodgy before disappearing into the team van to have a cry about it. Hesjedal has put in some good moves and then proceeded to get creamed in the time trial before getting shelled on the last climb in yesterday’s stage. Evans seems to be riding like he did when he won the Tour though he’s sure to get sick before very much longer, as appears to be his usual approach to racing. Perhaps the biggest shock is that Gesink has managed to both stay in contention and on his bike. And Nibbles is killing it, proving once again that moving to a team with a long history of doping is usually all anyone needs to convert from contender to winner.
We’ve also had climbs, rain, rain, climbs, turns, descents, twists, rain, climbs, and more rain. The Giro is proving once again why it is the best Grand Tour of the year.
In honor of the first big climbing stage and with the time gaps already big enough to suggest some bigger, gutsier moves from some of those riders who have already lost time, this could be a zinger. Most likely some wild cards will escape and stay away, which makes naming your picks even harder than usual, but surely the favorites who are already behind will lay down massive helpings of the V to try to claw time back. The irony is not lost on me that the climb has the word piano in it, when you know the last thing that would ever happen is that they would ride up there at an easy tempo.
Get your picks in by the time the clock goes to zero. There isn’t much time, so get to it.
@wiscot
Damn! This just gets better and better!!! Perfect segueway! Frank, we need the Joey video!
@Chris
Wow! So many levels of rightness and tongue-in-cheek in this post. The site was on rare form yesterday. Chapeau!
@frank
Yeah, fooock me for being cynical but, specifically for all of you that have been following the sport since the ’80’s like me (or before like some of you) do any of you get the feeling like we are post-Festina or post-Operation Puerto all over again? The whole, “We caught the cheats, we’ve cleaned the sport, now we can all feel safe in the knowledge that no one is doping anymore” sort of drivel?
I do believe it is cleaner but in no way clean.
But, like Frank said above, it is awesome racing and we can hope that it is clean.
@Buck Rogers Sylvain Georges just tested positive at the Giro for Heptaminol….I am guessing he will go for a B sample but he is out for now, and I thought the French were generally better at this sort of stuff than the other sherbert sniffing countries….that was how I was explaining their shit performance in recent years anyway….
I say don’t bother trying to figure out if they are clean or not. Just focus on rigourous testing and ban the fuck out of those that cheat…honestly the UCI seem to feel smug that they are now wanting to move to 4yr bans! In athletics it is lifetime! That is one hell of a deterrant….
In the meantime just enjoy the riding.
Hesjedal: I can’t put my finger on it, but I just don’t feel myself, there’s something missing…
With the 25th anniverary of Andy’s Gavia exploits and his Maglia Rosa there are great articles being written. Steve’s blog has some commentary on the linked SI article, and the Peleton #21 issue (just got the digital link this morning) has another good one.
When Steve built my ti Gran Paradiso he sent a Gavia poster that Andy signed for me. Goes right along with my other Andy posters in the training cave.
@Deakus
well vets in France use that stuff, so he may claim contaminated horse meat, non ?
@strathlubnaig
Shit that means we are all doped up here in the UK!…oh and Ireland!!
@teleguy57 My framebuilder (Max of 333fab) is the welder for Hampsten, especially his titanium frames. Our bikes were probably welded by the same guy.
Just checked in, as been in an Internet free zone-Sweden! ( I’m typo tight to pay roaming charges)
well, frig me, I won something!
Yea
@piwakawaka
Yes. BMC also has a former GT winner in their ranks. But it’s all speculation and innuendo until we see a UCI press release.
@Deakus
Agreed. A lifetime ban instead of a 2 year highly paid training break like Valverde, Basso, Pellizotti, di Luca, etc, have taken recently should be a deterrent. But that puts pressure on testing bodies to make sure their processes are water-tight, and the UCI would have to sharpen its act immensely regarding policy and procedure. For that latter reason alone, I doubt lifetime bans will ever be imposed.
Have the riders all been pashing each other or something, Twiggo, Hesjedal, even Wurf (excellent blog) been suffering from chest infections. Either that or they been sucking in each others snot rockets… yuk
Last 30 minutes of today’s foggy stage:
http://www.rai.tv/dl/RaiTV/programmi/media/ContentItem-a0b1fd0c-2ad3-4611-a9c1-989fef3b5658-raisport.html#set=ContentSet-7bbd2092-5ccb-440f-a6a1-c8ab90a5c9ac&page=0
@Bianchi Denti
So, Menchov just retired…