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
@Erik
Glad to help regarding Landa. As for the blood feud, I think it speaks more to Contador's character rather than an all-out war between teams. Contador was clearly telling his team to drill it, and even surged forward himself to get the pace up before breaking away later. Yet when he was asked about it after the race, he claimed the same defense he used on Schleck: he and his team were already attacking at the time of the accident. That's certainly not how it looked in either case, but that's his story. Contador's actions today serve to remind us what a wanker he is. Personally, I think he's just an opportunist and will take any advantage he can. But you've got a point: Oleg's running the show now, and it's possible he might've told the team to take advantage if the opportunity arose. I guess we'll see in future races if Tinkoff-Saxo continue to hold a grudge against Astana and Katusha.
I really don't like cheering for Contador, but damn I need the points for the VSP.
Much as I was hoping for Chava to win, I have to admit that was a fantastic ride out of Gilbert today. Loved the cheeky looks to the camera about 4k out and the obvious delight at taking another stage.
Question for British folks - have you noticed that the BBC are not reporting the Giro AT ALL. I can understand there not being the usual excitable headlines about Wiggins, Froome or Geraint but surely there is still interested even without a British entry?
I'm not sure they even update the standings after each stage. Rubbish.
@RobSandy
Yup situation normal. I have to watch it on Eurosport. The only GT that Brit TV seems to know about is the TdF - even then that is not on the Beeb and we only get daily highlights in the evening on Channel 5 (I think it is). So again back to Eurosport.
@Teocalli
It's annoying. ITV4 usually has highlights of all the GT's, but they've not bothered this year.
I find it more disturbing that the BBC isn't even putting stage write-ups on the website.
Channel 5 has the cricket highlights. I remember last summer I was trying to wangle it with the VMW to watch the cricket highlights from 7 to 8, then the Vuelta from 8-9, and the Tour of Britain (which I think was at the same time) from 9 to 10. Didn't go down all that well.
@RobSandy
Ah yes you are correct ITV4. I just pay a sub to Eurosport and watch it on my pc via EurosportPlayer. So when I am working from home I just pop it out onto a second screen.
@Teocalli
Fixed your post.
Just hoping for a dry day in Leeds today.
@RobSandy
Ha Ha! Thanks. Northampton today for me and a long night last night on site so knackered this morning. Raining here - so looking forward to trying to stay awake on the drive back south later while stuck in all the Friday traffic.
@Teocalli
I'm 'working from home' today for completely shitty reasons I wont go into.
However, it does give me the opportunity to knock off early this afternoon and go for a ride. I'm slightly disappointed to see it seems to be drying up here, was gearing up for a bit of Rule #9 action around the Valleys.
Fellas, go to steephill.tv for all your Giro needs. And everything else pro cycling for that matter. Live coverage, pics, interviews. You might have to watch in English, Italian, Dutch or something, but you'll see it. Ye cannae whack it!