Giro D'Italia 2008 : Stage 2 - Sunday, May 11: Cefalù - Agrigento, 207km

classic1

Me too. The Tour would be more interesting in the first week if they threw in a couple of stages like this.

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Collingwood - 2008 AFL Premiers

classic1 is on the bandwagon early this year

Ava Marie

I am looking forward to Ricco testing postive, he is a world class douchebag

guncha

Really? Have you looked at the route of this year's tour? Stage 1 of TDF has a similar finish to this one...
TDF 08 has 3 consective stages with cilmbs at altitude higher than 2600 while Giro has only climb like that. I can't recall that recent GT's have produced something like that... The first real mountain stage of Giro is Stage 14 while in TDF it's much earlier... TDF also goes through Massif Central with one hilltop finish in the first week of the race...
The killer stage of Giro is harder than in TDF but other than that TDF route is better, thier mountaintop finishes are longer and their average rate are from 7% to 8% ...

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classic1

Wayne666 is correct. So are you, but the changes for this year address the issues Wayne raised. The Tour is normally 5-8 flat stages with a TT somewhere in the mix, mountains, couple of boring as hell transition stages, mountains, TT and the procession into Paris. Year in year out. It's about time they mixed it up a bit. The Giro generally has a more varied and exciting route than the Tour.

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Collingwood - 2008 AFL Premiers

classic1 is on the bandwagon early this year

Runitout

Guncha - You don't need massive mountains to make a selective race - you need a parcours that encourages attacking riding by most riders - and the Giro has had that recently.

The Giro has specialised in having stages that, although they are not true mountain stages, do not necessarily suit the sprinters either - sprinkle a berg or three near the finish - nothing too big but enough to get a time difference. Often thee Tour just has a week of pancake flat stages, with the first selection on GC being the first ITT, then stage ten or so where the first of two early mountain stages comes up, then the rest day, etc etc etc - very formulaic.

The Tour seems to be working on it, and I look forward to this years Tour for that reason. But get a small hill of sufficient difficulty near the end of a stage - and your winner could be anyone from Bettini to Ricco to Contador to Rebellin, Pellizotti, etc. That makes exciting riding - when the classics guys and the GCers are duelling for stage wins in Grand Tours. It's gripping stuff, and e it's rarely on show in the Tour. St 3 2006 (when Kessler won) springs to mind as a recent example when they got it right.

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whiteboytrash

...and to Dave Z.... your farking PORNO TACHE is not so funny when your lying on a farking stretcher being carried off the side of the road ! YOU LOOK RIDICULOUS. TAKE CYCLING SERIOUSLY YOU DEFUSS.

limerickman

I wasn't sure when I saw the aftermath of his crash whether or not that was a 'tache he had or what.

Looks ridiculous, I agree.
Zabriskie looks like those blokes from the adverts for the directory enquires (Dave Bedford lookalikes)

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.."But finally the last thing I’ll say to the people who don’t believe in cycling, the cynics and the sceptics. I'm sorry for you. I’m sorry that you can’t dream big. [I]I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles. You should believe in these athletes, and you should believe in these people. I'll be a fan of the Tour de France for as long as I live. And there are no secrets" - this is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it - Armstrong 2005 TDF
morelike hypocrisy.

whiteboytrash

Yes 118 118.... Dave Bedford was a quality runner.... from memory he ran UK athletics for a long time before being booted at the time of the Chambers affair.......

DaveZ is a funny guy but he don't need to grow a bushy tache like that.....

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Rolfrae

I like his 'tache - wouldn't have one myself but it takes bravery to look so ridiculous. At least the guy's got some personality. He could be Bobby Julich for fark sake!

thunder

hhahaha, sounds like OAR8

thunder

nah, superficial accoutrement that is no substitute for personality.

TheDarkLord

His moustache has made enough of an impression for velonews commentary to comment today that it is indeed intact and didn't suffer damage in the crash. But apparently, he has an L1 fracture, but fortunately no neurological damage.

Wayne666

"Really? Have you looked at the route of this year's tour? Stage 1 of TDF has a similar finish to this one..."

No not at all, just comparing the last decade or so worth of races.

"TDF 08 has 3 consective stages with cilmbs at altitude higher than 2600 while Giro has only climb like that. I can't recall that recent GT's have produced something like that... The first real mountain stage of Giro is Stage 14 while in TDF it's much earlier... TDF also goes through Massif Central with one hilltop finish in the first week of the race...
The killer stage of Giro is harder than in TDF but other than that TDF route is better, thier mountaintop finishes are longer and their average rate are from 7% to 8% ..."

None of that has anything to do with the the course creating conditions that are conducive to entertaining racing.

micron

The Giro has often been the best race in terms of having a more challenging parcours than the TdF but the Tour will always remain the blue riband event of the sport, simply because it's not only a good route that makes an exciting race.

Prudhomme is already guaranteed the best field, now he is mixing things up with his choice of routes. I enjoy the Giro - I enjoyed it a lot more when riders went for the double - but it will never be the one race that every rider wants to win