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
@piwakawaka
What a COTHO. Couldn't even get on Katusha's squad last year and now he's climbing better than Froome and Quintana, time trialling up there with Big Tony and soloing out of an all day breakaway to beat a fast finishing bunch. NOT NORMAL.
Some of the solo finishes this year have really left me cold. That's 5 from 11 - Formolo, Polanc, Intxuasti, Tiralongo and now Zakarin - no one else in the picture.
@Harminator
he is a pretty freaky looking guy even by cycling's standards, I can understand him doing that shit up a mountain but to stay away on a F1 track...
Nice win for PhilGil today. Everyone's looking pretty tired and there are still 9 stages to go!
Those roads looked pretty skitey today too - lots of wobbly descending. I'm surprised there weren't more crashes.
@Brett
The dangle, or , as it's Giro - la Penzolare, sounds better, looks shit
@wiscot
This is going to be an interesting last week. Aru looks tired from trying to punch Bertie for a week and a half. Bertie is getting stronger. Richie looks good but I can't see him getting more than a minute on Bertie in the TT. Going to be a great last week! Riggo will just bleed seconds everywhere but the TT.
Really good to see Fast Phil get a stage, his team rode well today.
You know what's better than Phast Phil winning that stage? This face from Aru as he crossed the line...cry me a fucking river.
It's going to be a beezer of a last week or so. My man Rigoberto Rio has has a crap time so far, but he's going to rock the TT. He's going to hit form in week 3. I predict Aru's going to ride the TT in sand - I think Brtie, with his experience, is messing with the kid. Don't get me wrong, I like Aru, but he has a lot to learn to take on the Bartster. Glad the TT is a nice length 60kms - not those stupid 3-40 kms ones we see too many of these days. 60 kms will see some big gaps appear.
The race of truth will indeed reveal all, just how juiced is Aru? How much has Porte improved? Landa? Clenbutador? we will see come Saturday.
hehe, looks like Clarkey has learned his lesson from the other day...
https://youtu.be/zhK7NcPVUSA?t=20s
@Mikael Liddy
why the hate ? have you got something against sardinians ? or do you know something we dont know ?