Velominati Super Prestige: Giro D’Italia 2013
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.
[vsp_results id=”23343″/]
@ped
Is that spit or puke?
I don’t know, but I do think that kit looks pretty sharp. Like the black contrasted with the colorful Columbian flag.
@frank that was puke, a few chunks down his legs, then a massive projectile spray to his right, about 20m from the finish line. He’s a class act
Bonus rest day today according to the internet. Does that mean we get free swaps?
Great quote from Danilo Di Luca from INRNG’s twitter
“Doping is a weakness, period. But it’s disappeared from cycling and other sports”
D’oh!
Just having a look at Di Luca’s wikipedia page when I realised that the long list wasn’t his palmarès but his doping offences.
@Chris
What a berk. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one to think he’d been looking a bit too punchy on the Giro. Lifetime ban heading his way I suspect…
Quote from Cyclingnews.com:
“In recent days, reports in the Italian media had linked Di Luca with a move to Astana for the 2014 season.”
Surprised? Anyone?
Danilo Di Luca – “Killer” = wanker
Feel sorry for his DS – quote
“It’s true,” Scinto said in a quiet, sad voice. “He’s mad, he’s a cretino, he needs treatment. There’s nothing else to say. We gave him a second chance and the sponsors put their faith in him and this is how he pays us back. It’s crazy that a rider thinks they can get away with it like that.”
Case building for lifetime ban – once a cheat, always a cheat I fear
On a totally unrelated matter, how did Nibali do that on the climb TT yesterday?…….if Wiggo gets slagged, and he is a seasoned TTist, surely it is only a matter of time before the Astana transfer process starts the lights flashing…..
BTW, I love Nibali, but am struggling with his Giro performance – just waiting for the 9 minute solo victory….
@Dr C
Nibbles’ improvement seems significant this year, the fact that it coincides with Astana’s involvement seems uncomfortably convenient. I’m sure there are various new flavours of dope doing the rounds, I wouldn’t be surprised if Astana had access to a few of them.
*Sigh* seems we have a long way to go yet…
More boring dopers caught doping. I’m going to cheer myself up with this great photo of the Galibier stage from the always rad manual for speed http://www.manualforspeed.com/
I can’t quite see how anyone, including DS, team owners, sponsors or fans can be in the least surprised by the Di Luca news. A career’s worth of previous offences. We all knew it would only be a matter of time.
What a stupid cunt
Better shot of Duarte’s V-related expulsion.
In relation to yesterday I hope all we saw was the difference between the guy who prepped for this race as his season goal & the guys that weren’t quite planning on being on peak form at the moment…I hope.
@Mikael Liddy
I think from now on, Duarte should be called Senor Creosote.
@Mike_P
Not so much surprise as just dejection. When you are hoping that things at least have gotten better, to have a big-name racer get nabbed in a GT is just an indication that some will never change.
@Ron
True, Ron. I’ve been hopeful that the days of riders raiding the pharmacy in desperation to retain their contract had gone and maybe they largely have. But Di Luca was a big name racer that everyone knew was a serial doper. This case strikes me as one of a complete idiot thinking he can somehow use one of the most detectable substances and get away with it. Like the adage says, if a rider put in an unbelievable performance, it probably is.
@Mike_P
so what say we of Visconti (banned for having worked with Ferrari) dropping the killer like a stone the other night?
Nibali’s win in stage 18 is one which – based on his personal history – should rightfully be celebrated as a victory that cements his place in the top echelon of competitors in the peloton today. Should he maintain his current 4 plus minute lead all the way to Brescia he will sit squarely on the top shelf next to Froome, Contador, Wiggins, JRod, et al. as the creme de la creme of the current stage racing crop. Sadly though, in this day and age when you couple his dominating performance so far in this years Giro with his move to an Astana team still tainted by their dope filled recent past I simply cannot ward off the voices that well up in the back of my mind.
@Chris
And it already says “former Italian professional road racing cyclist“
@seemunkee
Looks like Da’ Killer just commited suicide, eh?
Who’s up next? Scarponi?
@Mikael Liddy We have to put some faith in the testers and testing processes. They are not fool-proof and in much the same way as computer virus developers are always a step ahead of the anti-virus companies, the dope developers will always be a step ahead of the anti-doping authorities. You can’t test for something until it exists.
I’m a believer in people being given a second chance. You screw up, you take your reprimand, you learn from it, you move on. If you’re caught a second time though, it’s hasta la vista.
@Mikael Liddy For all the opprobrium that is rightly attached to Ferrari as an apparently unrepentant dope-master, he is/was also someone who seems to have brought a lot to training and preparation (not only ‘preparation’) well ahead of Sky and others.
So I’m conflicted about people who have associations with him. I can understand how they might have worked at a non-doping level. I would love to read (or write) a biography.
Vincenzo Vince!
@unversio
Still the coolest guy in the peleton, despite serving up shoes for dinner to his mate Ivan
@Dr C
Love this fistfight salute!
@LA Dave
Victory never holds back — and it never ceases.
“It’s true,” Scinto said in a quiet, sad voice. “He’s mad, he’s a cretino, he needs treatment.”
A cretino indeed, FFS, he should not have been racing, that’s for sure.
Woah, no stage today? Just reading this news. How many Grand Tour stages have been canceled in history?
Gosh, just when I was starting to believe those silly scientists about global warming…this totally proves that’s just some pussy liberal hoax.
@Gianni Scinto wasn’t happy with Di Luca in the team, he said clearly before the start that it was a decision made by the main sponsor Vini Fantini (where Benetton has a stake).
He’s a cretin indeed, he put in danger the whole team, the people working for it, mr Acquarone, who allowed him to compete in the race and everyone who love the Giro…
@Ron in 1989 the Gavia stage was cancelled because of the snow…
Fuck DeLuca.
And oh, cycling is *so* mcuh cleaner now. The new generation is *so* all about clean racing and no doping. We’ve turned a corner.
I’m shocked, *shocked* there’s gambling going on in here.
@Pedale.Forchetta
Interesting. I don’t know why Di Luca got any respect. Italy seems to do very well with their riders who dope but Di Luca got some special treatment. It’s a good point you make, he hurts his team, the staff, Acquarone, everyone gets hurt when a rider is this much of a cretino.
Fucking DiLuca.
@unversio
Very true indeed. Just to be clear – I did not want him to not ride to his fullest abilities, but rather, I wanted his abilities to be not too much better than the other riders -thereby reducing the amount of suspicion that will inevitably follow such a performance. Does that even make any sense?
I still love watching these races, and will never stop, but the spectre is always there with teams such as Astana and consequently, those who wear their colors.
@Ron
Fixed that for you.
For those who had Wiggins, Hesjedal and Gesink, congratulations on getting a hat trick.
@strathlubnaig
That’s me. Too bad we aren’t still playing by the old swap rules… I’d be killing it right now!
@LA Dave I suppose a proper ‘gordie howe’ hat trick in a GT would be to lose one from a crash, one to an illness and one to getting caught doping.
@strathlubnaig
yup, good thing my other two are getting me some points!
@unversio
Seeing the effects of Wiggo/Sky throughout the peloton following their domination last year…
@LA Dave
I’m starting to get pissed because almost every comment section just starts flinging doping accusations. God forbid someone actually wins a race, that is essentially the same as a positive test.
This may seem harsh and some may become, what you ‘muricans call collateral damage, but it would be worth it.
@ DerHoggz until this happens how can we believe?
Well, just fuck. You either enjoy the racing on offer at the time, or you doubt every result for eternity. I can’t believe fans wanting Hinault or Merckx to be ‘just’ better than the peleton. Crushing the other riders is what brings legend.
The only way forward for a fan is to love the result, leave the doubt at the door, as otherwise every stage of every race will leave a sour taste and question marks.
Fans also can’t pick and choose their teams if you want to lay suspicion. If Sky are all clean and dainty and place 2 on the podium at TdF, then you must believe other teams can do the same in the same clean fashion.
What’s not to say that Nibbles and Astana just targeted the Giro. FFS there has been the TOC, tour of Belgium and Giro all on at the same time, so the competing teams aren’t at their absolute strongest.
For me, it’s innocent until proven guilty, even if it takes 20 years like Pharmy, and enjoying it as it goes, heart on my sleeve.
It’s been great so far, loving the pics of riding in the snow!
@G’rilla
Thank you. Of course, I hope you know that I wasn’t being serious. Just a mocking gesture at people who don’t feel it might be in our collective interest to try and avoid continuing to fuck up the planet at an alarming rate.
@Beers
+1 for every remark.
@Beers
I envy you being able to keep your head in the sand and simply enjoy, I did the same for over 15 years… just haven’t got it in me anymore I guess. I want to have my cake and eat it too (i.e. great and clean racing). So far so good in this Giro, we’ve had some amazing racing and as yet we haven’t had one of the big names get popped for doping during it…oh wait….
Anyway – apologies for all the bitching about wanting to be able to believe in my cycling heroes! I feel like Lloyd Dobler in Say Anything, bringin’ all his friends down at the Gas-n-Sip on a Friday night – I’m wiggin’!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3fhKo6MCI4
On a lighter note – I agree completely about the riding in the snow… wish we could have seen more today and hopefully we get one final day of it tomorrow. Vegni has already said they’ll reach the Tre Cime di Lavaredo regardless of the weather conditions. Should be great – Steephill.tv @ 5 am anyone? Can’t wait.
@strathlubnaig
+1!