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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@Deakus
The Society of Luddites is looking for new members! So, too, is the Flat Earth Society. Velominati are better than that! There is no reason that batteries will fail more than gear cables snap or stretch. Elect reduces chance of dropping chain, reduces problems of cross-chaining because it has auto-indexing. It does not change cycling from being human-powered. Just as as putting gear change on handle bars rather than down tubes made gear changing quicker and more efficient, so does elect. It is not as if the battery is powering a motor to drive the bike forward. With that attitude we'd still be riding PennyFarthings instead of the technologically advanced machines we all take pride in. Or we'd still be transporting our bikes in horsedrawn wagons instead of the now accepted automobile.
In the rare case of electronic failure, the bike can still be ridden in an intermediate gear. With cable snap, or even over stretch that happens with mech gears that is most probably not possible.
How come we accept carBon frames, carbon wheels, ultra-light tyres, tyres with puncture resistant layers, blade spokes, computer designed aerodynamic frames, cleats-on-shoes, carbon-soled shoes, Teflon lubes, wireless computers, I-phones and iPods, Lycra kit? All in their own ways have been eventually welcomed as great advances over the now discarded old rubbish.
Guess I will need to show up for the next McCogal in a maglia rosa then. 'kin-A.
bzzzzzt...ping, ping, ping.
Final results have erupted from the VSP generator. They look much like yesterday's results. @Strathlubnaig has pulled victory from defeet. He might win some defeet schwag, I'm not sure of the official prize but it will Rule. Bragging rights are prize enough for now.
Also, chapeau to Donnie Bugno for his strong work here. Who knew getting your picks in early would help. I put mine in five minutes late and got Delgadoed, but I would have had a lowly two points anyway. I suck.
Stairclimber, dude, we will confer with Frank (who is communing with the sasquatch again)and the generator. I don't know how to rectify your "problem" other than a good psychopharmacologist.
@Gianni Thankyou for the Official Update from VSP Central HQ, Gianni. I shall bask for a time in the unexpected glory of my first grand tour victory and try to honour the jersey. Not sure I can do a GT double though.
@DocBrian
Not so much a Luddite, as just wanting a decent return on investment. Once most of the bugs have been ironed out, and the price represents value for money, I'll happily go electronic. But I've alwasy considered that early adoption is for people with too much money, too much time, or both.
I wouldn't consider Wiggo to be a Luddite for insisting on mech Dura Ace for the Giro after his bike-throwing Di2 problem pre-Giro. Possibly an over-reaction after one problem (in public - who knows how many in private), but he obviously saw some value in going back.
Mechanical problems do seem to have joined doping as prime online discussion points. Maybe we are having no more than previous, but they are just reported more. These cycling websites have to generate their content from somewhere...
@DocBrian
Because they make the bike go faster. Adding weight doesn't. Nibali notably used mechanical Campag in the Giro after using EPS in previous races.
@minion
Most assessments show that despite slightly greater weight, elect gears save significant amounts of time over even moderate distances because of their greater efficiency, mainly in their speed of gear change. Sometimes efficiency beats lighter weight. Some heavy tyres have lower rolling resistance that overcomes their extra 30 or 40 grams. Some riders prefer slightly heavier tyres because, in general, they last longer and are more trouble-free. Some aero wheels are heavier than standard rims, but much more efficient in many cases. Ultegra elect is much heavier than DuraAce, and even DuraAce Di2 is somewhat heavier than mech DuraAce, but gains in efficiency. 11speed mech gears are significantly heavier than 10 speed mech, but have efficiency advantages. Some riders prefer alloy bars over carbon bars, thinking of them as more durable even though they might someway what heavier.
@Gianni
Chapeau @Strathlubnaig
@Gianni 'Stairclimber'. Lol. Oh, and I like to be my own pychopharmacologist, so I'd best be adjusting the dosage up, way way up, past 11 perhaps. Keeping away from the MRB's, sadly, as I'm 'actually' peaking in under 2 months, and I'm a geriatric FATTY.
@DocBrian Think Cadel's laboring on his over-geared bike on Saturday wasnt that efficient.
"Most assessments show that despite slightly greater weight, elect gears save significant amounts of time over even moderate distances because of their greater efficiency, mainly in their speed of gear change..."
I call bullshit on that. Yep, electronic gearing might be easier, and maybe faster in the gear change itself. Not sure how this somehow equates to "significant amounts of time over even moderate distances"?
Two words for you: Mavic Mektronic.
Congrats strathlubnaig. great racing. Yesterday's stage was a nail biter watching Cadel drop from 2 nd to 3rd.