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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Wanted to swap Landa for Porte but got skunked by the timer last night. Said "C’est la vie". Now I realized there was a problem. Any chance I can get it switched now?
@Teocalli
You be the judge at 2:22 http://www.steephill.tv/players/youtube3/?title=Official+Stage+16+Highlights&dashboard=giro-d-italia&id=93tA6EvrioA&yr=2015
Here's the thing - does Aru ride for Landa now or will he still be given free rein depending upon how he feels. Right now Bertie's looking pretty confident.
@Michael Heusdens
I can only suggest you take Rule 5 out to the garage and meditate long and hard on the rollers.
In other news, karma seems to have my adherence to no rest day swaps paying off. Aru slipping to third has worked quite nicely.
@wiscot
I doubt it. He's probably good for another strong day (but not the stage win). Otherwise, I can't see him finishing higher than sixth or seventh.
@Chris
Same for me, after briefly succumbing to weakness & making swaps I rescinded them. As it stands it's a good job I did. Was then contemplating Landa in for Porte as my 2nd place but assumed it wouldn't be worth it as Aru would finish ahead of him & wouldn't be worth the penalty.
Taking today as a sign from the almighty Merckx to have the strength to stand by my original picks.
@JonnyG
That was a fucking monster ride by Bertie, no other rider in the current peloton could have done that!
@erik
Landa finished 5th in the 2010 Tour de l'Avenir, which is saying something, given that Nairo Quintana won, Andrew Talansky was second, and we also saw the first inklings of success from the likes of John Degenkolb, Tom Jelte Slagter, Darwin Atapuma, Michael Matthews, Michal Kwiatkowski, and Taylor Phinney in that year's edition. It was likely that result that got him off the Orbea team and onto Euskaltel for 2011. Perhaps he would've been developed in time on the Basque squad if they had continued sponsorship, but let's be honest: it was Euskaltel - he'd have had a shot at a mountain stage here and there, but probably lacked a strong and diverse team to have gone for a GC result even if he had been the de facto leader.
Perhaps all he needed was a strong team and a chance. With all of the pressure on Aru, all Landa needed to do was shepherd his leader, stay close, and he'd get a decent result. Then again, this is Astana, and they have notorious past. I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt based on his previous performances, but time will tell if the kid is a future contender or another of Astana's fallen.
In other news, I am loving Oleg Tinkov's outrage over Astana's and Katusha's attack on Contador. There's an article on Cyclingnews that quotes him saying Astana and Katusha showed no class by attacking, and that five or ten years ago, there would have been more respect for the race leader. Oh, the irony. Does he not know about the Schleckanical five years ago? He's not going to find any sympathy in the peloton. Payback's a bitch, Oleg.
@Steampunk
Yes! Epic ride and a master class in the five and dime. Sure, his Giro didn't go the way he had hoped, but that's no excuse to just phone it in. He rode with heart today. Chapeau, sir.
Also, loving Kruijswijk's tenacity.
Watch this stage it is as good as it gets, epic big mountain racing, incredible riding, Mikel Landa rides like a great, at 25, looks so good on a bike, took the win as he could sit on Kruijswijk and Contador, but he still put 30 secs into them BOTH, in the final kms, brilliant fuckin' ride, and he looks fantastic doing it.
Tough day for Aru, whether he cried or not who knows, but he didn't give up. You can't juice guts. (or can you..)?