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″/]
@Chris
Agreed. Love him or loathe him, Cav gets the business done more often than not, and while he might bitch ocassionally, he’s quick with the thanks when deserved. Class act dedicating it to WW. This should see him back in the red points jersey, non?
I’ve had a serious man-crush on Cav for about two years now.
@Ron
Per Inner Ring:
I’m still not quite sure how to wade through a twatter message but via the Inner Ring info. I think I deciphered that there is still a lot of noise about Cavendish spewing too much “hot air” himself. Probably just people having a laugh. Or negative folks who just gotta be disgruntled with feisty racers.
But…what the fuck? Here is what he does: show up to the biggest, most watched cycling events in the world and nearly always win when he is supposed to win. Yes, he has a good team, now, and has in the past, but there aren’t many misfires from him.
I guess last year when he crashed…was it twice? Once early and he left thigh was missing a few layers of skin, the in the corner of a tight turn, I recall. But otherwise he just wins most of the stages he has the make-up to win (flat-er sprint finishes).
@Ron He had a bad case of the rainbow turd last year didn’t he. He was taken out by one particularly dodgy crash that had me thinking someone had paid off a domestique to get him to hit the deck.
@Nate
I think part of the interest (and I have read a good few pieces which comment on how intelligent he is) is that even when his team does not get it right he can still latch on to the correct wheel, fire up the guns and launch to the win…there was so much talk about how he would manage without the HTC lead out train to help him but I suspect a good deal of the effectiveness of that train could be attributed to his input/leadership…he is not simply delivered to the line, he manages and sets it up to ensure it does deliver him every time. This has probably been shown now with the way that OPQS are getting better and better, they were pretty ropey in their discipline in getting the train going earlier in the season.
Have to admit in the last 3 years I have completely revised my view of Cav from a loudmouthed wheelsucker, to a sharp and intelligent rider, with an enormous amount of talent….
@minion It was extremely dodgy but it wasn’t a domestique it was another young sprinter Roberto Ferrari – he came across the sprinting line like he was avoiding a 6ft wide pothole.
To make matters worse he then beat Cav in a later sprint and Cav missed the red jersey overall by one point.
But for a rainbow jersey wearer he had a pretty good year – I think it was another fivestages in the Tour and his fourth consecutive win on the Champs d’Elysee.
Nobody else can match Cav’s record of victories. Arguing about whether he is the greatest sprinter ever is like arguing about whether Merckx is the greatest racing cyclist – people may have their favourites, and others have done great things but the facts only point in one direction.
@ChrisO Might be a perception issue – instead of the Rainbow Curse, if it was called the rainbow Jersey super year, we’d probably remember the wins more than the crashes. On another thread recently when Bettini came up with back to back WC jerseys I was convinced he’d had a shit year till I checked his palmares and saw how many races he’d won.
That Giro crash was dodgy as all fuck. There was absolutely no reason for Ferrari to swing across the road to the extent that he did, he was rolling with the big sprinters in that stage and would have been out the back before the finish line. My first thought seeing that crash was that the bookies would have better odds to work with from then on. Cynical but that was my gut reaction at the time.
Anyone else think the Lotto Belisol kit looks a million times better with the grey/silver lids?
Any of the GC contenders managed to stay upright? Ive seen Nibbles and Wiggo drop along with much of the peloton…its bedlam out there!
Adam Hansen, what a fucking ride!
Steamy takes over the lead in a race that was closer to the Luge than Cycling. Awesome day out and what a great ride by Hanson. Love seeing the big lads win.
Jeez you’d think being a Pom, Wiggo would know a little more about handling a bike in Rule #9 conditions…awesome work from Adam Hansen. Might pay to keep an eye on his twitter account this evening, he’s well known for some fairly humorous work normally, let alone when he’s won!
The TDF is going to have to come up with some pretty fucking amazing stages to take the shine from the Giro!
@Tobin the Girthat’s been more exciting than the Tour for a few years now. It’s my favorite GT
@frank
Obviously I used a huge luge to slide gracefully to the back of the peloton. I’m now metaphorically hanging on to the team car changing my shoes and waiting for someone to drop back and ride me back in.
@the Engine
Hi Brett – thanks for coming back for me…
Massive hat tipping to Nibali today. The way he handled that off and got back to the front was pure class.
@Mikael Liddy
All the roads in the UK are grippy chip seal or worse, you couldn’t slide off in the rain even if you tried.
@Tobin
I read that Chris Froome has beaten Iban Mayo’s (doped up) record of 55 mins up Mt Ventoux on his first training ride there. That should make for some good viewing in July.
@motor city
Cue your next rain ride and subsequent fall. It will hurt, that grippy stuff really tears.
@motor city
Fixed your post.
@frank
Yeah he looked juiced to the eyeballs at last years TDF, great stage yesterday, shapes up really well for the ITT, Nibali and Hesjedal have more than 1.20 in the bank on Wiggans even Evans has 1.16, I’m sure that’s not quite where Sky wanted to be but it’s gonna be great to see how Wiggans responds looks like it could rain!
@piwakawaka
Not only that but Uran burned a whole pile of time bringing Wiggo back…where is the Columbian Conspiracy now??
Whisper it quietly, but has Cuddles been looking a little like the 2011 TDF vintage? Looking forward to how it goes over the next couple of weeks.
@Mikael Liddy
Yes, and though I didn’t select him, I’m glad to see him making a showing. Those of us who picked Wiggo, who has been a little too Schlecktacular, for the win might consider Cuddles for the top step on a rest day swap flyer. Today’s TT to confirm.
Nibbles! Nibbles! Nibbles!
Forget Nibbles. When was the last time a Keeper led a VSP event?
I have four of the top five in the right position. We all know Gesink won’t stay in third, so surely I’ll fall back down the standings.
@frank
Legs like this help
@motor city
er, I beg to differ…. at least in Scotland, dont know about that shitehole further south though.
@ped holy mackinaw, those legs on Froome are more alien looking than his ugly puss.
@strathlubnaig No comment from the south lest I find my self on my ‘rse on what looks like a wet and windy club run tomorrow!
@strathlubnaig
And so easy to microdose the EPO, no trouble mainlining with that vasculature
@ped
althought I will point out (before someone else does) that I aint no oil painting myself….
@frank
Stewards inquiry !!!!!
Already thinking of my first rest day swap, depends on Sunday’s stage but it looks like Cadel is for real this year. He is going in my top five, not so sure about Gesink.
@frank
Recount!
@strathlubnaig
One art the top, one at the bottom…
@frank
I’m wondering if Froome maybe didn’t ride for a hundred km or more before riding up Mt Ventoux? Was Mayo’s time during le Tour? The Sky team would of course have major egg on their faces (especially Brailsford) if it ever comes out that any of them are juiced up.
My thoughts are that all the other teams have now sat up and thought they need a piece of the “marginal gains” pie. My evidence for this is that Sky just don’t seem to have as much of an advantage as they did last year, everyone else is catching up. Sure, in cycling the first thought that comes to mind is “they’re so dominant they must have found a way to cheat without getting caught, but if we personally want to be treated innocent until proven guilty then we have to give others this benefit. Kimmage says they must be doping but evidently he has some sort of axe to grind with Sky, lets see his evidence, from one interview I’ve listened to he sounds like a bit of an arse (a very small amount of evidence I agree).
I think we all want cycling to be clean, so maybe we shouldn’t be casting aspersions until we have some sort of basis for them.
This was bugging me last night though I realise @frank is possibly just having a bit of fun, in which case I’ll get ma coat.
@snoov Hear hear… the marginal gains thing is misleading in my view.
That’s certainly part of their philosophy but reading interviews with some riders – particularly those who’ve been on other teams – the ‘magic’ that Sky have brought is simply to operate the way I think most of would think a sports team should operate.
Most teams haven’t changed their way of working since the days of Merckx. Even now they just leave their riders to get on with their own training – a camp at the beginning of the season which may be the only time they ever train together. As for looking at nutrition, training peaks, planned campaigns, psychology and all the other stuff, forgeddaboudit. Imagine if you worked from home all the time and your boss just called you now and then and said go to this meeting.
There were more than marginal gains to be had for some fairly basic approaches to training and team management so I’m not surprised at the way they emerged so far ahead.
@ChrisO
I suspect a great deal of this philosophy came from Clive Woodwards management of the England rugby team in the 90’s. his book is worth a read.
BTW, speaking of being clean, I see TVG has made an appeal to everyone to have faith in the new generation of riders at his pre-California press conference.
So,, man riding in race sponsored by world’s leading EPO manufacturer says “We’re clean”.
Who says Americans have no sense of irony.
I’m amazed Amgen is still sponsoring it, and that there hasn’t been more of a reaction to it from teams, the UCI etc. Although at the end of they day I shouldn’t be surprised that it’s all about the money.
Looks like another proper Rule #9 day (fairly reminiscent of some of the weather the VMH & I experienced on our honeymoon in Florence actually), interesting to see how Sir C*ntalot handles it.
I think it may be Ryder OOT and Cuddles IN
That is another great day sorted. Ryder, whole lotta WTF going on there. I think his performance can be traced down to this moment.
@snoov Mayo’s time was set during the ITT in the 94 Dauphine, it wasn’t a road stage.
@ChrisO
You expect a sensible reaction from the UCI?!
@ChrisO
This is the same story line Postal used. It would be nice if it is actually true this time.
Tweet from Vaughters…. Well, on to plan B in the Giro. Rest on the rest day, then figure out how to liven up the race for the 2nd half.
That’s gotta hurt Ryder a wee bitty when he reads that.
@frank
What?? You stepped out in front of his bike while he was descending Haleakala?
@itburns Let’s hope so. I’m quite new to road cycling especially following the whole season of races and gossip so I didn’t know that re Postal. I have my doubts that Brailsford would put himself in such a position though, but that doesn’t mean anything.