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.
[vsp_results id=”32941″/]
I know as well as any of you that I've been checked out lately, kind…
Peter Sagan has undergone quite the transformation over the years; starting as a brash and…
The Women's road race has to be my favorite one-day road race after Paris-Roubaix and…
Holy fuckballs. I've never been this late ever on a VSP. I mean, I've missed…
This week we are currently in is the most boring week of the year. After…
I have memories of my life before Cycling, but as the years wear slowly on…
View Comments
@Chica
Glad to see others enjoying what has been a great race and not be as cynical as some of the other contributors to this site . Fuck me some of you exude hate .
@piwakawaka
Love that you can enjoy his ride without giving a 5 point exposition as to why he's full to the gills.
High Road, Chasing the Yellow Jersey is a great new novel by David Chauner, former Olympic cyclist, Hall of Famer, race promoter and journalist. Synopsis, reviews, how to order the paperback or ebook can be found on the author's website: http://www.davidchauner.com
@rockkk
Oh, I'm plenty cynical.
Watching today's finale, as it briefly looked as though Hansen and then Paolini had got away—and thinking of how the breakaways enjoy much better odds at the Giro than the Tour, I couldn't help being conflicted. The breakaways in the Giro are so much more fun to watch than the very predictable Tour stages where the riders are caught like Swiss clockwork at almost the same time every stage.
So here's what I'm wrestling with: the quality of the peloton in the Tour is light-years higher. Shouldn't a cycling purist appreciate that more, even if it lends itself to less dramatic value for the spectator? Shouldn't we acknowledge that more as a facet of sport, racing, and cycling. And something to be admired? In the Giro breakaways, success invariably comes less from the heroics up the road but rather by the mistakes made in the peloton to let them stay away.
Well, I'm riding this one into the finish with the same team I started with, even if I'm out 2 riders and I need my #4 to somehow shed 10 minutes in 4 stages and my #2 need, but there was no way I was going to swap in an Astana rider.
That said, and in response to @Steampunk, I am of the opinion that we Velominati value the spirit of the sport more than it's technical execution. That is why rides such as Eros Poli on Ventoux or Le Blaireau's 1980 LBL and the unpredictable drama of the Spring Classics will forever be hallowed in these halls; and Froome's 2013 Maillot Jaune gets this. This is also why, despite my opinion of Astana, when I see that video of Aru shattering himself mentally and emotionally... I can find respect for the man.
And speaking of Poli and the Giro - when asked by Cycle Sport magazine what he would like his epitaph to be, he said "Here lies Eros Poli, famous for being tall and coming last in the Giro d'Italia".
I'm quite able to enjoy the pro racing and also acknowledge there are plenty of unclean riders. I wish it was different, but sporting and money do bad things.
I can separate the two and still enjoy the racing, the scenery, the dreams of riding on a PRO team with all that support...
The only thing that bugs me about all of it is the fact that cycling, out of all the sports, is generally viewed as the dirtiest and I simply don't believe that it is, just that most other sports have laughable testing/rules.
@DeKerr
Very well put. But let me push back and play devil's advocate. Surely the panache you described is enjoyable not just to the aficionado but also to the non-cycling sports fan. But only a cyclist can appreciate the panache less heralded. It may seem dry, but watching the Hansens, Baks, Barrys, Getschkes, etc. toiling at the front of the peloton all day--and the supreme athleticism and power and work that requires: well, there's magic in that, too, and one less noticed. That capacity to hold a breakaway as though on a string--and to reel it in with precision--demands a kind of accounting that takes years and years of training. To ride at the front for 200k is a ridiculous kind of panache we should appreciate more than we do. Shouldn't technical proficiency matter more? After all, we demand that precision from our bikes. Why not the athletes who ride them so much better than we do?
@Steampunk
I'm no purist but I find the Giro much more compelling to watch, the biggest problem with the Tour is the stakes are too high and the fear of failure is over whelming, the Tour seems quite predictable, whereas the Giro? Who knows, and that's what makes it AWESOME!
@Steampunk
True, and I am of the opinion you are more fidei defensor than devil's advocate. The cyclist will watch Le Tour, not to see which GC specialist is staring at his power meter for 3 weeks, but to honour its history and to cheer the loyal lieutenants burning matches deep into the cave in service of their leader.
And to hold out hope for moments like the Giro Stage 16 finish where the effort of one of those lieutenants is given its due.
@rockkk
I'm happy for you that you can ignore obvious anomolies in the Giro but the cycling fan has every right to remain cynical in the face of continuing displays of questionable performance. Too many solo wins from unproven riders. You asked Mikael "why the hate" and he responded with five reasonable points. Why don't you respond to his "five point exposition" instead of condemning him for making it?
For me, taken in the context of GT history, the Giro this year has had some highly questionable stage winners. History shows us that extraordinary performance + suspect team + cheating DS = a Dog in a Hat. Landa's ride on Stage 16 takes the cake. If he rides for another 5 years and (A) repeats this kind of form more than once and (B) doesn't get busted, I'll be very surprised. That was completely NOT NORMAL. There was no hint of suffering from him as he raced this years most brutal stage - and then he puts 40 secs into Contador in the final 4k? Aside from being a complete cunt for sitting in for 40 then jumping at the finale, Landa looked like he was on the Sunday coffee ride. Kruijswijk and Contador visibly suffered (as did Aru!) Class from Contador to let Kruijswijk take the KOM points and finish line honors...