Giro D'Italia 2008 : Stage 4 - Tuesday, May 13: Pizzo Calabro - Catanzaro-Lungomare,

limerickman

Stage 4

__________________
.."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.

Anticyclone

Bit of a tricky one this stage. The finish is flat but it is hardly a flat stage. Mountain early on shouldnt really cause too many problems although if the pace is fairly hot then some of the sprinters could find it difficult to cling on at the back. Then there is the hill just before the finish. If the pace is hard up here then i could see quite a few of the sprinters falling off the back. There is then 19k to catch up but if a sprinter who can climb's team (dont know who those are though) goes to the front on the climb and really hammers it then there could still be some of the sprinters missing. This makes me think that Cav and co may not make it to the finish in the front group. This will especially be the case if it is quite a hot pace up the mountain and some of the sprinters get knackered and/or dropped and have to chase back. A break could survive, especially if made up of people from teams who may want to chase otherwise. Maybe see an attack from someone who can climb and TT quite well but not well enough to put a serious challenge forward for the GC?

Powerful Pete

I think a team like Liquigas will do every possible to shut things down and deliver another sprint finish for Bennati and another day in pink for Pellizotti.

__________________
De Rosa Planet
Campagnolo Per Sempre!
PAOLO BETTINI CAMPIONE DEL MONDO x 2!

Eldrack

I think I'll be boring and go with Bennati as well.

Anticyclone

Yeah he won an uphill sprint in the Tour de Romandie suggesting that if sprinters are dropped then he is unlikely to be one of them. Seems to be on form too.

Rolfrae

Heart leads head and I'll go for Zabel. He'll have his sprint dialed after yesterday's practise run.

JAPANic

McEween if his collar bone holds.

__________________
Find your ideal riding partner. Anywhere in the world!!!

RdBiker

Just had this thought that would it be possible to add two pictures at the start of these threads: the map of the race and the profile of the race? This just came to my mind when Anticyclone commented on the route and I thought "well I'll have to go and search for the race profile and have a look at it". If it were right here you wouldn't have to google So what do you think Lim?
I found great maps at http://www.gazzetta.it/Speciali/Gir...appe/tappe.html
I could even offer to post the threads with the pics if it's too much hazzle for you.

__________________
It never gets easier, you just go faster
Oton ATK Sandisk Mp3-soittimet ja Koss kuulokkeet

Eldrack

Rik Verbrugghe has 7:05 with 35K to go. Here's to hoping that he makes it all the way! Solo breakaways are awesome!

TheDarkLord

But they rarely work. One has to question whether solo breakaways are a good idea in GTs, especially when the break starts very early into a stage. The rider has to continue racing for another couple of weeks (unless he is ok with not finishing) and it doesn't make sense to blow oneself up by being in front alone for so long during a stage. Having a couple more riders in a break makes it much more worthwhile.

thunder

good air time for Cofidis.

They have no sprinter, so may as well out someone in the break.

TheDarkLord

I didn't know that they use such tactics for publicity. Looks like Nuyens is out for Confidis.

Rolfrae

Looked like he cause the crash when he pulled his foot from the pedal? Not Tinkoff's fault this time?

Eldrack

Cavendish wins!!!! His first GT victory of many no doubt.