The Prophet crushes fools on the way to the Tre Chime in the '68 Giro
This is the most exciting thing that’s happened in Cycling since April. Yes, that’s a full two weeks with nothing exciting happening and its been killing me. I know its been killing you, too.
I love the Giro, the master alchemist of bad weather and big mountains that keeps the racing exciting from the first day through the last. You can generally count on enough climbing in the first week to see the leadership bounce around like one of those singing ping pong balls on Sesame Street. The race has its fair share of provenance as well, with many a legendary battle fought between legendary riders.
This year’s race is also remarkable for the fact that a GC rider is not only racing both the Giro and the Tour, but for Contador’s publicly stated objective of doing the Giro-Tour double, a feat not matched since Pantani crushed it back in 1998. That is an awesome goal, I just wish it was a goal set forth by a rider I could get enthusiastic about. A quick scan of the start list has me wondering who is made of the same stuff Bertie, and I’m coming up short. Uran Uran and Pozzovivo are the standouts; and I have serious doubts about Porte being able to come up with the goods, not to mention my boy Ryder who, despite having actually won the Giro, does not inspire confidence in his ability to repeat the feat. It is looking like energy bars may be Contador’s biggest rival for the title, like in last year’s Tour.
Now that I’ve given you three paragraphs of useless drivel that you’ve probably already skipped over, I feel comfortable getting down to Road Tacks. This is the Giro, people, lots of points at stake. And those points are going towards amazing prizes including a Jaeger frame and a Café Roubaix wheelset. There is plenty of time for you to Delgado the thing, too, so my advice is that you avoid doing that. Give yourself enough time to enter your picks so if something has gone amuck, you have time to hit “reload” or come back V minutes later to try again before the event closes. Remember, your procrastination in this matter will not result in the only Keeper with database skills diving into the backend to enter your picks for you. (And if you do encounter a problem, please be so kind as to take a screenshot and upload it as the descriptor “it didn’t work” doesn’t help us debug the problem.)
The scoring for the Grand Tours is a tad more involved than the one-day races, so look them over before making your prognostications. (One of the best things about the VSP is that I usually get to use the word “prognostication”, an opportunity one should always relish.)
So get your picks in before the countdown clock goes to zero, hit the go button, and good luck.
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View Comments
Must remember to harden the fuck up about Pozzovivo. I was almost ready to whine about the point penalty that I would take for swapping him out on the rest (if I were to swap him out on the rest day). I think I will leave it as is. Take my lumps as they come. I don't think Uran can recover fully against Porte and Contador. I perhaps should have put Aru on the podium and not fourth.
Great day at the races though.
Stage 8 is another summit finish (Cat 1 this time), so potential for some more fireworks....should be quite quiet otherwise until the ITT and then 4 high mountain stages after that
Really hope that they don't all get dominated by one rider; would love to see a real tussle and back and forth to them.
@wiscot
I can safely say that they are hops. Very fine craft brewers
Great racing, I'm sure Porte is happy for Tinkoff to look after the Magila Rosa, seems like he is going to have to fight a lonely battle against the yellow and blue trains, but he looks great and up for it, excellent to see these young riders at the Giro and TOC, and Sagan getting a win today
Have loved seeing the different racing that's come in these last two days, over shorter stages (~150k). Unfortunately I doubt we'll see the same over the next two days with 180 & 260 respectively...might let me catch up on some sleep.
Also have to say, I'm struggling to get enthused by watching Astana smashing the front of the race with a team that's somehow a level or two above everyone else. I have a nagging feeling they may continue being extremely strong, while the other teams burn themselves out trying to keep up...
@Mikael Liddy
Agree re the first few days racing.
As Ive said before, the photos ive seen of As-tarn-Ah on the front look positively glowing !?! Ummm
@Nate
Where does one see one's picks processed or not on the VSP database?
PS - love Jeeves and Wooster, especially when there are prized pigs and the Drones club in the plot
@rfreese888
actually i can see now on the drop down doo dads
Saw this from Cipollini this morning:
“I don’t understand why a rider like Cunego who is form, or others, don’t attack Contador when he stops to change his bike.” Cipollini said. “I’d attack and make him chase for all of the climb. In our day that’s what would have happened. He’d perhaps think twice about doing if you attacked him every time.”
Errr . . . when did Cipo ever attack on the climbs and make riders like Contador chase? He was usually in the grupetto smoking and eating biscotti wasn't he?
I'm no big Bertie fan, but the talk of motors in the bikes is pure pish.
@wiscot
I'm not saying that they're definitely there, but this article does give a pretty good run down about how easily they could be there assuming someone had the money & motivation...
http://cyclingtips.com.au/2015/04/hidden-motors-for-road-bikes-exist-heres-how-they-work/