2009 Giro : stage 12 : Thurs 21 May : Sestri Levante - Riomaggiore (ITT) 60.6kms - Page 3

Menchov was looking insanely strong blitzing everyone at the second time check. Leipheimer was doing what was needed and Leipheimer took 30 seconds off Garzelli at the third time check and Menchov is now bobbing his head around a bit.

This will be close.

Menchov wins the Giro.

Wait a minute...
He won TT, he has advantage and form, but he doesn't have a team. It's going to very interesting.

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Should be interesting to see how the other contenders use their stronger teams, especially Liquigas, LPR and Astana. With a hard hill finish and 3 mountain top finishes to go anyone in the top ten who carries form into the last week could win this race. Hell, someone who's five minutes down could eat out an advantage bit by over the 5 remaining stages that will affect the GC.

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first, apologies to ddl for applying the kiss of death to his giro by tipping him in another thread.
second, yes, it is going to get very interesting for the g.c.
third, rabo might just have been keeping the powder dry in the previous mountain stages.
fourth, time to apply the kiss of death to menchov. while i don't think rabo had the team to pull menchov to the lead before today, i do think what's left of rabo will be enough for him to defend over the remaining stages. the wrench in the works will be the time bonuses.

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Hey Grater, my hunch on Wiggins wasn't that bad after all. He really is in superb shape...

Given how more often than not LA is getting dropped on the climbs, I don't think he is going to be of much help to LL. Also, I really doubt whether LA will ever work for LL.

huh... DiLuca and Leipheimer are still very much in the mix.. 34 and 40 seconds and there is still lots of riding to do... with traditional ITT left and 5 uphill finishes left... even the guys at 2+ mins have a shot if Menchov has a bad day...

have a look at stages 14 through 20 and i think you'll change your mind.. the Giro is just warming up... this is the Giro not the tour... they design it so it's not decided 'til the last day.. Giro is awesome racing.. the tour sucks ass!

Just to round off the discussion:

57 SOLER Juan M. COL BAR 1:42:07 7:38
76 DANIELSON Tom USA GRM 1:43:18 8:49

What's up with Dave Z losing 10 minutes?? He was god-like in the Tour of California. Maybe he's a pint low...

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Good one!

Menchov is looking strong. He didn't have a team around him in the stage he won and he has always been around there. All he needs to do is stick with them and he can. He's in solid form. Yes this will be close but I think Menchov might just hang on here.

Probably because the route didn't favour a pure TTist. Actually it favoured a pure climber more than a pure time trialist. Due to this the riders who are good at time trialing AND climbing did the best.

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Menchov has no weeknesses, and he is cool as a cucumber. True he does not have great support, but I think he will be tough, as Contador was last year. I expect further attacks from far away by Garzelli who wants the green jersey, with maybe others like Simoni and Soler who can't sit back any longer. It could get interesting if LPR and Astana don't choose to pull back breakaways. And Pellizotti they must watch out for. I think he can win a stage and create a situtation where there are 4 riders within a minute of each other