Giro D'Italia 2008 : Stage 3 - Monday, May 12: Catania - Milazzo , 221km

limerickman

Stage 3.

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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.

Eldrack

I can only hope that Cavendish takes this one. McEwen will be up there as well.

Grater

This is Cav's stage

LewisBricktop

Bennati looked to be in good form in Romandie. I've got him marked for the points competition.

thunder

first bunch kick?

is it a flat finish?

I'll go Cav. He has Greipel to help him out.

Bennati and Mcewen will be there and Forster too.

Powerful Pete

If it ends in a group sprint then I must go for Bennati.

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Anticyclone

http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2008/giro08/?id=stages/giro083

Looks like a flat finish to me. There is a small hill that ends 7km before the finish but it looks to be fairly minor and even Cavendish should be able to get over it

I think a bunch sprint is fairly certain. The cyclingnews guide at the top says that a sprint finish is expected on the next stage but that hill near the end could well see most of the sprinters go out the back. Then there is a long uphill finish (bit like stage 2), then a short uphill finish which i think will be too much for at least most of the sprinters. Therefore a number of the sprinter's teams are going to be all out to keep it together today to line up their man for the finish as it is their best chance today for quite a while. Bennati is my choice for today's stage

Rolfrae

And the winner is Bennati - well picked!

Anticyclone

Greipel finished almost 8 minutes back. Does anyone know what happened? Did he crash at some point or lose touch on the hill and no make it back?

hawkeye87

Both Cav and Greipel were in a crash, earlier in the stage. I cannot recall who else was in that one. They were not in the one that took out McGee.

If memory serves, Tinkoff is pretty good at creating crashes during the Giro. They wreaked havoc last year and certainly did their part in two of them today.

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TheDarkLord

Yes, he had a nasty crash. A Tinkoff rider took a right turn too fast, brushed the curb and bounced into the peloton bringing down quite a few riders. I think McGee is out of the Giro with a shoulder injury in one of the crashes today.

Powerful Pete

Nice win by Bennati. McGee's injury is unfortunate.

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

whiteboytrash

McGee didn't look good.... couldn't lie down on the stretcher because of his collarbone... looked to be in a lot of pain...... he was so injured he couldn't even pat down his helmet hair.... lot of crashes today..... most blame the shitty roads.... I guess EU money doesn't reach that far down in Italy !!! Farkin Southerners !

hawkeye87

It's a double Aussie hit for CSC.

http://www.team-csc.com/ny_news.asp?n_id=1863

BOTH Bradley McGee AND Stuey have broken collarbones.

I caught some free video (bad feed, no audio) in time to see that crash. It did look like 2 CSC guys were involved.

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"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." -- Wayne Gretzsky