Velominati Super Prestige: Giro d’Italia 2015
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.
Café Roubaix's CR Wheelworks Arenbergs
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@Erik
I second that, shitty start to the work day here, but that little gem put a smile on the dial.
Where do the UCI stand on the assistance of seemingly most Spaniards in the peloton to assist each other. Rules are rules, but FFS, this ruling has hairs on it.
I saw a twitter feed calling for all riders to swap front wheels with the guy next to him at the start line = all riders get 2 minute penalty = race restored.
That would work
@dyalander
well it would be a pretty boring world if things were always black & white! My comment around the time limits was more that they tend to look the other way when enforcing the rule would run against the rules of common sense (e.g. when half the field misses the time cut cos the gruppetto got their sums wrong).
At Paris Roubaix this year they actually used the “spirit of the rule” excuse as one of their reasons not to exclude riders, because they’d been able to neutralise the race, thereby negating the advantage gained by the group that cut over the level crossing. Seeing as Porte still lost time as a result of the puncture, I’m sure they could argue that there wasn’t a huge gain despite the rule breaking…
Secondly, “Go home UCI and Giro, you’re drunk ! “
Just saw this, oops
@Barracuda
Looks like the other Sky guy did a U-i and arrived after the event. Would’ve loved to have listened in on the Sky radio.
@Mikael Liddy
I don’t get why they enforce this which doesn’t advantage Porte, simply reduces the disadvantage of an unlucky occurrence and yet when riders ignore a closed rail crossing they decide not to punish. Some really selective enforcement there…
@Phillip Mercer
I would assume that the justification is that there were too many riders involved to clearly ID them at the time, so they could only DQ after the race, when there would be arguments that having the riders complete the race impacted the result because people didn’t know whether they were in or out. That, and the fact that the organisers had the front of the bunch allow the delayed riders to catch up meant the disadvantage was negated. With this, although the penalty was enacted after the stage finished, the race overall is still in progress.
Jonathan Vaughters tweets
” How do you say “bullshit” in Italian? ”
my translation = ” 2 minutes”
@Mikael Liddy
You make a fair point – they do use the spirit of the rule argument elsewhere.
In the end I think they’re just sticklers at this year’s Giro and part of the problem may well be that there’s a mixed bag when it comes to judges. If they cross a train line in the giro these guys would dq them. I heard somewhere that the judges at this year’s Giro are headed by the same guy responsible for eliminating Ted King at the Tour (I think it was 2013). Not sure if that’s true or just a good one-liner, but it would make sense.
I’ve not needed to use this image previously, but I think it’s a fair assessment of my feelings towards the race jury just at the moment.
@dyalander
He’s also the same bloke who was made to look like a bit of a knob in that same TdF when the OGE bus got stuck under the stage 1 finish gantry & he moved the finish line a couple of times without communicating it effectively…maybe he’s still pissed with them.
Be kinda cool if a few k’s out from the start the bunch rolls out in staggered team formation, so no team member next to each other, stops, takes out a front wheel and passes it the guy next to him and carries on.
@Barracuda
while I understand the sentiment, I think you guy’s are blaming the wrong people, as the above photo show’s only three, FFS three of the main culprits right there, how they are not aware of a very basic, racing related (they are professional bike riders after all) rules is unbelievable.
Fuckin’ Porte, he’s my guy an’ everything, hope he fuckin’ smashes the TT, and Sky were holding something back as they watched Astana and Tinkoff bitchslap each other, and they destroy them in week three, Love this Bloody Race.
@dyalander
As I said earlier its a shitty rule and without reading the entire rule book it would seem to me that the UCI have no choice but to retrospectively strip Wiggo of his TDF on account of his waiting for Bum Chin after he punctured from tacks on the road.
Where does it leave a rider who stops to look after a badly injured rider from another team?
@Chris
I agree it’s poorly worded and should be improved – but that doesn’t mean Porte should get off.
Did he clearly and unequivocally wait. I don’t recall any pictures or footage of him standing by the side of road waiting then pacing Cadel back. Obviously he kept the pace low and they allowed Cadel and others – and that is also a key point, it wasn’t just Cadel from memory – back but he and others, again this is also a key difference, others also ‘waited’, they did enough to show sportsmanship without doing enough to unequivocally get caught breaking a rule. Don’t get me wrong, clearly the rule could be worded better, but they’re not equivalent situations in anything more than the very broadest of senses.
Your example of someone waiting for an injured rider is a better example of why the rule is so poorly worded – clearly it’s the pacing back that would be the issue and that should be explicit. But not necessarily a reason Porte should get off, just that the rule could be better in respect to a seperate type of banned assistance.
The P-R boom gate is also a clear example if inconsistency but I think that example doesn’t let Porte off it just shows that they should enforce the rules to the letter more often not less often.
The more I think about it the less decided I am – would I rather there just be no rule about inter-team assistance? Part if me says yes because acts like Clarke’s would be allowed, team alliances would come and go and could add interest, and riders with good relationships would be rewarded enhancing the hero and villain aspect. But I think the reality is that acts like Clarke’s would be few and far between and instead you’d just get dodgy team politics escalating to a level that would do far more damage than this incident has done. So I go back to accepting thst there needs to be something stopping teams selectively offering other teams assistance even though it also discourages sportsmanship to some extent. The spanish armada was bad enough, imagine if all bets were off. I’d leave the wheel swap rule (though I’d update “tubular”), and I’ d try to “clarify the “waiting” part – maybe waiting for and then pacing a rider…”
Henderson should sneak over and swap his front wheel with Aru’s at the startline, take a selfie while doing it, then tweet it.
Goddamn, if we don’t quit all this drama and debating we’re about to devolved into some shitty NBA or NFL fans…all drama, all the time, no sporting.
Here is how I see it: Porte broke a rule and got caught. Accept the enforcement. Saying the UCI selectively enforces rules is the same as saying, “Oh well, the ref missed that penalty” or “his stepped on the line” so my team technically should have won. Refs miss calls, UCI doesn’t enforce every rule, all the time. Just how it fucking goes. Way she goes, boys.
Very much related to this, where the fuck were the teammates and team car of a guy sleeping in his own goddamn motorhome? Sky and Porte fucked up. Call this the stupid tax for leaving your GC rider isolated.
@dyalander
I know Sky just ditched Veloflex tubs and started buying Contis – not team issue ones either, just the same as we can buy.
@dyalander
Haha!
Some really spectacular missing of forests for trees here.
The real point is not the rule itself, or why the Sky riders weren’t next to Porte (a question I can’t believe anyone who’s ridden in a hard-racing peloton would think to ask).
It’s the idiocy of a sport that on the one hand is so toothless as to let a team like Astana make a mockery of the entire system with barely a slap on the wrist, while on the other hand applying minutiae of arcane rules out of all proportion to the actual offence.
Read the latest Cycling Tips ‘Secret Pro’ column for an inside view of how Astana is viewed by the peleton, and I think they would have a pretty good idea what was going on don’t you?
“The whole Astana situation is something that’s been the talk of the peloton for a fair while now. I for one haven’t got a clue what the UCI were up to when they allowed Astana to keep their licence. The team and their situation pisses so many people off; they’re a joke really.”
He also says that after Henderson’s tweet a lot of people congratulated him for saying out loud what everyone knew. Now he’s getting sued. It’s total bullshit.
I hope for some serious karmic vengeance on Astana and Aru.
I never would have said this through the whole Armstrong saga but today I am embarrassed to be a pro-cycling fan.
@Ron
Yeah. You’re right. Richie seems pretty philosophical about it too. I’ll move on.
Unfortunately it overshadowed what was a great breakaway – all Italian – winning the day. Gatto had very bad luck, Malaguti the hometown boy, was inhaling wasps from 40k out and getting yelled at by Boem to take his pulls. Lotto had no help trying to bring them back – Hendo said it was the fastest last 50 he’d ridden for some time. Kudos to Boem – super strong.
The pace is on today kiddies. BMC want a bit of it. The break is strong and the chase has been strung out for the last 20. Siutsou just got shelled. Find a TV!
@ChrisO
Yes.
Did Aru defend himself or go straight for litigation? Shades of the master COTHO.
@Mikael Liddy
Not to mention Chris and whoeverthefuck this dude is.
No fan of Porte; that is total bullshit though. It was bad enough he lost the time in the first place, the penalty is just kicking the little fucker while he’s down.
Score one for the tall blokes – how big is Zakarin? Looks at least 186cms.
Contador sent a little message there too.
@Nate
First rule of dementia club…. Don’t talk about chess club
@frank
Not a fan either but what a bollocks decision that was. How can Froome take a 20 sec hit for a gel that saved him completely blowing up yet Porte takes 2 minutes having already lost 47 seconds. I fucking hate the inconsistency. I would have loved to know how the com’s would have reacted if Porte was Italian
@dyalander
I’d totally agree with you on all of that apart from the Wiggo bit. Whilst he didn’t actually stop and wait, he sat up, slowed down and ordered everyone else to do so as well. What he didn’t do was turn it up to 500 watts and fuck off into the distance which would have equaled not waiting.
@dyalander
Just another busted cheat sigh…
@frank
Horner tweeted about that last night along the lines of “Good thing we didn’t swap any bike parts here….”
@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 ?
@rockkk
How unfortunate.
@Mikael Liddy
Must be the “cholera”
Gerrans down again – that’s not bad luck, the Assos ninja, scourge of the wheel sucker, is finally catching up with him.
@rockkk
let me count the ways…
1. He learned le metier under the tutelage of one of the best when it comes to preparing young riders
2. In choosing his professional team he chose the team run by (possibly) the most rampant & unrepentant cheat of the past 20 years
3. Said team has responded to their incomprehensible reprieve of keeping their racing licence by suddenly dominating the front of every race since like Gewiss incarnate. The same team that was barely seen prior to the licence hearings unless it was footage of their CG rider getting dropped by Andre Greipel up a 5% gradient.
4. Less than a month ago he was apparently so ill from intestinal problems he shed 5 kilos…yet he’s shown amazing form over the first week of a GT (until yesterday)
5. When another rider (apparently) summed up the feelings of the rest of the peloton, he didn’t bother responding to the claims, or perhaps offering up a denial, he just ran to his lawyer claiming he would sue for damage to the good image of he & his team (stop me if you’ve heard this before…)
There are 5 reasons that have absolutely no relation to his heritage, numbers 2 & 3 I’d happily direct towards Jakob Fuglsang as well, a man who shares the same country of birth that I do. Along with that I’d be asking how fucking stupid he would have to be to sign for that clusterfuck of a team AFTER the majority of the details of what they did last summer were revealed.
@The Grande Fondue
it’s what happens when you dope the rest of your team so hard that there’s none left for the team leader…
I don’t think that Porte really has leadership at Sky. Viviani contested the sprint and took third. I don’t think anyone would be sprinting when the GC leader was down if it were Froome. Disastro!
@Chris
I’ll hit reply instead of quote because I really, really, REALLY didn’t need to see that pic of Ed Milliband eating a bacon sandwich again! There’s been some weird shit posted on here, but that ranks top 5. But then again, if one is self-proclaimed as a “jewish athiest” shouldn’t one refrain from eating bacon in the first place?
Did I mention I predicted all the main contendors would crash out?
@Mikael Liddy
In regards to your number 5 it was not rest of the peloton tweeter but GH tweeter. He takes responsibility. That aside, GH is a professional athlete so even on tweeter he should behave in that manner, that was not the case. He is paid to do the talking with his legs, not with his mouth and on tweeter like a spoiled teenager with dumb hashtags.
Even if Aru tests positive tomorrow that was a dumb tweet. Why didn’t he tweet about the UCI that allowed the licence, but picked on one rider? There are other teams linked to Ferrari but he didn’t tweet about them, did he? Valverde always seems to be on form, spoiled couple of races in Belgium this year including LBL, didn’t see any tweets about him? Are you suggesting that Aru should have also used the tweeter instead of asking his lawyer? Agree or disagree but that was just wrong and unprofessional.
@TommyTubolare
so… do we want riders to speak out or not? If it only results in being sued then no-one will ever talk and it’s just same old, same old.