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.
VSP PICKS:
1. Uran
2. Nibbles
3. Sanchez
4. Scarponi
5. Wiggo
Uran will mark Nibali and take the time bonus and stage, Evans will catch Santambrogio who went early and Henao will drag Wiggans up to fifth
VSP PICKS:
1. Uran
2. Nibali
3. Evans
4. Santambrogio
5. Wiggans
Front two are the last to stay away…Cuddles & Nibbles mark Dirty Sammy all the way up the last climb & Good Cadel snags the bonification.
VSP PICKS:
1. Pozzovivo
2. Santambrogio
3. Cuddles
4. Dirty Sammy
5. Nibbles
VSP PICKS:
1. Nibali
2. Evans
3. Henao
4. Betancur
5. Gesink
VSP PICKS:
1. Santambrogio
2. Atapuma
3. Pelizotti
4. Nibali
5. Evans
VSP PICKS:
1. Nibali
2. Evans
3. Wiggins
4. Santambrogio
5. Henao
@il ciclista medio
‘Wait’ of a Nation will probably be another couple of minutes. Sigh.
VSP PICKS:
1. Betancur
2. Nibali
3. Wiggins
4. Evans
5. Gesink
VSP PICKS:
1. Santambroggles
2. Pozzovivles
3. Sanchles
4. Nibbles
5. Wiggles
VSP PICKS:
1. Chalapud Gomez
2. Sella
3. Visconti
4. Nibali
5. Evans
VSP PICKS:
1. Santambrogio
2. Pozzivivo
3. Betancur
4. NIbali
5. Sam I Am Sanchez
@Pedale.Forchetta
Amazing photos as always. Thank you for sharing and can’t wait to see more.
VSP PICKS:
1. Pozzovivo
2. Nibbles
3. Cuddles
4. Wiggins
5. Hesjedal
My little poni in for Ryder
VSP PICKS:
1. Pozzovivo
2. Nibbles
3. Cuddles
4. Wiggins
5. Scarponi
VSP PICKS:
1. Betancur
2. Sammy Sanchez
3. NIbali
4. Pozzivivo
5. Santambrogio
@piwakawaka
Yes! He always went hard and pitythe poor bastard that got in his way
VSP PICKS:
1. Uran
2. Pozzovivovivo…o
3. Good Cadel
4. Sam San
5. Wiggo
VSP PICKS:
1. Betancur
2. Nibali
3. Gesink
4. Cuddles
5. Watto Wiggo
I’m gonna be AG2R’s biggest fan tomorrow.
VSP PICKS:
1. Betancur
2. Henao
3. Pozzavivo
4. B. Intxausti
5. Sammy Sanchez
VSP PICKS:
1. Betancur
2. Nibali
3. Gesink
4. Cuddles
5. pozzovivo
VSP PICKS:
1. pozzovivo
2. santambrogio
3. scarponi
4. nibbles
5. good cadel
VSP PICKS:
1. Pozzovivo
2. Santambrogio
3. Pellizotti
4. Pirazzi
5. Atapuma
VSP PICKS:
1. Sanchez
2. Betancour
3. Nibbles
4. Evans
5. Uran
Very nice video on today’s stage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tG3pr_O342k
The Tour of California is awesome this year with the Dubai weather they are having what beasting they had yesterday. Imagine being 500m from the finish line but being to exhausted to finish it.
@huffalotpuffalot
I watched the end of that stage yesterday and all the riders were totally fried. At the base of the climb it was 44 deg C (111F) and when they crawled over the finish line they were toppling off of their bikes unable to pedal any further.
A Schleck who had looked in ok form the day before but finished 9 minutes down on a stage that should have suited him. Philip Deignan from Ireland rode well, I’m sure he’ll end up on a world tour team next year.
@huffalotpuffalot
I was absolutely glued to it! The commissaires were struggling to provide enough people to hold the riders upright as they crossed the line. I mean a 6km climb at 9% in 44degC of heat as a finish to spice things up would have been great if it had not looked so devastating…it was like a warzone.
Great to see Phil Gil cross the line without need of help though and continue pedalling, I think his next stop was somewhere near Hawaii!
@motor city @Deakus
Couldn’t agree more, i think also that as the stage was so brutal, you could really see the difference in those who were able to measure their efforts and maintain a constant effort versus those who shot their load too early and got caught short. Did anyone catch what the humidity was like? Here in istanbul you have 30-40 degrees but with 80-90 percent humidity. The humidity is the real killer for me.
@napolinige
Jaysus, can’t imagine trying that in the wet. Anyone who attacks down that has stones the size of cannonballs.
Well damn, I let the legs get heavy with the rest day and forgot to get my picks in for this stage. Shite.
Yup, definitely liking Betancur on this one, maybe he can actually celebrate a win, not a second place…
Crap, bloody time difference. Delgado’d
@huffalotpuffalot
That was amazing. Janier Acevedo’s kick at the end was brutal. He only gained 12 secs on Teejay, but the way he rode away was impressive. Riders were sitting down on the burning tarmac after the finish stuffing ice into their bibs, jerseys, whereever they could fit it. Brutal.
43km to go and Jack Rod is flying…visually, what an amazing stage to ride!
@scaler911
We’re not eligible to win prizes. And, given the likelihood of me holding this through the end of the day, it also hardly seems worth the programming to give the badge to the highest-placed non-Keeper.
Three right in the top five, YES! Nibbles and Cuddles strong as fuck. Gesink as usual. Wiggins won’t finish this race, imo.
Hmmm, I wonder if the Colombians can just shrug the shoulders & say ‘sorry, didn’t understand the radio call’ as opposed to Froome-dog being called back last year.
Uran kills it, including his own teammates. Nibbles rockin’ it, Hesjedal fucked. Nice work to @simonsaunders!
motherfucker! 3 of the top 5, but all in the wrong order.
O points? There’s a mistake here, I had Evans, Nibali and Santambrogio in the top 5!
…sorry, must re-read the VSP rules.
Hesjedal didn’t even appear in the TV coverage of the finish. Rough.
*cough..0 pts.
I know you wanted clarity over who the names were but I thought my picks were pretty easy to understand?
1. Cuddles 2. Nibbles 3. Dirty Diggles Sanchez 4. Wiggles 5. Biggles Bentancur
I’ll put in the disputes and stick to the real names next time if it is going to cause a load of manual work for the keepers..
@G’rilla
cracked on the first climb…kinda bridged & then got shelled real quick. He’s done.
@G’rilla according to the twitters, he’s just reached 3k from the summit
@Deakus
I believe on these special stage VSP you only score if you have the rider in the correct place, not just in the top 5.
@Buck Rogers
Aah fuckity fuckity fuck fuck! Ignore all my disputes then..
So you mean I am a bit like this….
Since I’m a rookie in this year’s VSP, I’m guessing I’ve Delgadoed this stage. I was under the impression that if I didn’t have any changes to my lineup (from the opening stage) I did not need to resubmit any more picks?
Need a bit of clarification, please.
@Buck Rogers
You’re much cleverer than me…
@Don Amedo This was a Stage 10 specific VSP in addition to the main Giro VSP.
@Don Amedo
No need to apologise this caught be by surprise too…last night a short notice article and day stage VSP went up to celebrate the 1st stage in the mountains. The rules do not seem to cover it and it is the first time I had seen one but in essence you made a set of picks specifically for todays stage. Your other picks are unaffected and continue as normal till the end of the Giro.
It also looks like the rules are slightly different on this one in that you only get points for riders in the top five that you picked in the correct placing they came in at. The short notice caught a few by surprise because of the time differences around the world but it kind of evens out because late risers in the US tend to Delgado on the Spring Classics anyway!!
@Deakus……..Thanks, guess I missed the added stage pick thing.