Twiggo is dreaming of a Giro-Tour double. He has sent out mixed messages about his Tour ambitions. Will he use the Giro as the ultimate Tour preparation or will be burn all his matches in May and hope he can find another pack for July? He has abandoned his successful 2012 Tour run-up strategy of winning every stage race he entered the previous spring. Now it’s the seclusion of Mount Doom of Tenerife, his coach and his watt meter his only competition. Team Sky is supporting Wig with a very strong squad, including superman, Kanstantsin Siutsou and with Cav no longer a teammate, it’s all the knights of the round table for Sir Twig.
Will the curse of the god-awful Astana kit continue to haunt non-Kazahk riders? Can Vincenzo’s Italian mojo overpower its powerful pale blue and yellow aura? Roman Kreuziger was finally able to win a big race once he shed that kit and pulled on one of Bjarne’s Saxo jerseys. Maybe it was more Bjarne and less jersey that made the difference.
Ryder gets no respect as the defending champion. His little dance at the end of Liége-Bastogne-Liége showed he is fit and ready for a fight. He can time trial, he can climb. Personally I have to back the local boy. And I always hate the overpowered, overwhelming favorite (read Team Sky here) in any race, unless that racer is Fabian Cancellara. No one can say Fabs has won a race this year surrounded with a team as strong as Sky’s. The Shack is just the Shack or a shack. Once Cancellara leaves for the Swiss “I AM” team, it’s lights out in the shack. Frandy, don’t forget to turn out ’em out when you leave.
If Cavendish wins the first day’s sprinter’s stage he will be in pink. He may be out of it after stage two, a team time trial.
But this is the Giro: crazy, unexpected, beautiful things can happen. The spinning wheels of fortuna are less predictable in Italy as they are in France in July. The betting window is now open. The complete start list is not yet available, an incomplete one is here and shall be updated soon. So sleep on your picks, wait for all the teams to make it official, unless you want to go with the obvious all Sky podium. The race begins Saturday so don’t Delgado away a Grand Tour opportunity.
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View Comments
@anotherdownunder
User error?
quest que c'est le fuck? What might user error on a look like?
Well, user error on a fucking iPad looks like my last post.
"What might user error on a *bike* look like?
@anotherdownunder
Electronic shifting?
@Gianni
I just need bad cadel to drop one more spot to 4th and my vsp is at least a little salvaged!
@Deakus
Yep. Dura-ace Di2 9070. I think Uran runs that too. Some speculation that snow/ice build up jammed the RD shift in the last 3k.
That was a remarkable stage. Shame Nibbles won the TT. It would have been so much cooler (more believable?) for him to assert dominance in such brutal conditions on such a difficult climb. Cadel was never in the hunt in week 3. It seems unlikely he's making up excuses given that he'd called himself out for bad form after his ITT time loss.
If he's got the shits with Di2, I doubt he'd worry about publicly criticising Shimano. He's already sympathised with Wiggo this season after his magic bike parking tantrum. It's not like there's a glut of electronic shifting group manufacturers waiting to fill a vacant need. Shimano will have to bust a gut to sort out the problem...
@strathlubnaig
It's still going to be awhile before the Leafs are good. In the meantime, they beat up most of the league this year. Three goons who are also excellent puncheurs on one team makes for a lot of the rough stuff.
I thought it was clearly going to be Penguins v. Blackhawks in the finals. Seems like the Wings have something to say about that. I'm not a Pittsburgh fan but I would love to see Iginla get his hands on a Cup after a lot of seasons with very little supporting talent in Calgary. He did get close one year, but generally had a weak cast.
It does seem to be Shimano and Sram but that might be because more teams use it, and that's not necessarily a matter of preference but sponsorship and payment.
However it does seem to confirm the fears of people who are lukewarm on the idea of electronic shifting. If it doesn't bring an advantage, and adds weight to the bike, what's the point.
It is overcomplicating something that was relatively simple, and introducing greater potential for error. Plus, for my mind, it makes the bike no longer a fully human powered vehicle.
I know two people who've had to finish rides on one gear after electronic problems, and I can't think when that last happened with mechanical.
@ChrisO
Me also. Two guys I ride with have had RD issues on long rides/races and had to finish with 60k slogs with 2 gears.
Cadel's comment after Wiggo's trouble in Trentine was that some of the innovations / adaptions have yet to be fully tested. I wonder if someone was charged with the responsibility of testing the Di2 in snow and minus 10C?
I have no interest in electronic. I've spent enough time with cars and motorbikes pointing at innocuous looking black boxes and shrugging my shoulders. I'm happy enough to deal with springs and cables and hex keys. I'm not ready to put a multimeter in my jersey pocket.
The missile does it again, he's a beast. Great stage, great Giro, can't believe it's over already....
Cav is just untouchable. Viviani couldn't even hold his wheel.