Giro D'Italia 2008 : Stage 7 - Friday, May 16: Vasto - Pescocostanzo, 180km

limerickman

Stage 7.

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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.

Grater

One of the main favourites surely but don't discount Siutsou - providing High Road ride for him.

Anticyclone

Yeah, the first big stage for the GC contenders. With a fairly easy saturday and sunday to come, followed by a rest day i think that the pace will be high. This is likely to mean that any break gets swallowed up by the end. If there is someone good in it then they may stay away but then i dont think anyone good will be allowed to get away. Di Luca to win?

Eldrack

The climbs aren't that selective, enough to drop most of the bunch but I think a group of GC contenders will arrive at the finish together. Based on that Di Luca is the best pick, as he has a good sprint, should be able to beat most of the other GC contenders though a late attack that doesn't get shut down could also result in victory. So I'm going to go out on a limb and pick Siutsou, mainly because he's in my fantasy cycling team.

Powerful Pete

Fine, you guys have convinced me. I will go with DiLuca...

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guncha

Final climb is quite small and riders will have to attack on penultimate climb to get significant time. However, I don't think they'll do it. I expect tactical race tomorrow.

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Grater

Yep

Kanstantin for me too. His form in Georgia suggests that this is a good stage for him to do something on.

Grater

Also on Kanstantin, I can see him attack in the final few k's and I don't think the GC contenders will go with him as he isn't a major threat to them. Regardless, he is going to be with them to the end - it just depends if he does a late attack.

Anticyclone

Yeah, there's definitely the chance of someone darting away in the last few kilometres while the favourites all look at each other. Partly depends on how things are going though. If one of the favourites is in trouble then the other favourites may be piling on the pace. Sivtsov is obviously a good climber but does anyone know how he compares to Possoni and Pinotti (both on High Road)? Also, Leipheimer seems to have been the third of the big three Astana riders so far - maybe form measured against Leipheimer isnt as good as it may seem? We'll see

Powerful Pete

Bosisio wins and Di Luca is able to 'shake things up' with only Piepoli, Ricco' and Contador keeping up. Pellizotti ent from 7 seconds advantage on Di Luca to 44 seconds down, Kloden is now at 1 minute 12 seconds, Simoni lost 51 seconds and is now at 1 min. 46 seconds, Leipheimer is now at 1’47" and Menchov at 1’49".

Interesting quotes post race: Di Luca: " Piepoli and Ricco` are very strong. Contador is not on vacation, as some have been saying, but I did not understand his tactics today: he was not pulling in the break, maybe he was waiting for Kloden or he was a bit tired".

Ricco' also commented that Contador was strong - something along the lines of his not being on vacation when they called him to race the Giro...

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grampi

They called Contdor for Giro back in march..

It is only first week of the giro and Contador is already very close to his best.
He will just smash everyone in Dolomites. Maybe big time doper Di Luca will follow him till 5km to go and even get a stage or two. But guys like Simoni will kill themself for nothing.

limerickman

Great ride by DiLuca today.
He wanted to put time in to his rivals like Menchov, Kloden etc.

Contador?
He didn't look very fresh in the last km or so - when DiLuca and Ricco went away from him.

__________________
.."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.

azdroptop

DeLuca did a lot of hard work today that may come back to hurt him down the line. Nice how he attacked his teammate in the break. Contador isn't on form yet, but was able to hang until the last 1 or 2 K's.

Powerful Pete

The teammate was sent ahead by Di Luca on purpose. The fact that he won the stage was incidental. Di Luca would have made better use of the extra time that a stage victory would have brought him...

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