Giro D'Italia 2014

[limerickman]

The 2014 Giro starts on Friday May 9th in my own country.

The Giro menu reads as follows

Stage date location distance live results photos Stage 1 May 9 Belfast 21.7 km Stage 2 May 10 Belfast 219 km Stage 3 May 11 Armagh - Dublin 187 km Rest Day May 12 Stage 4 May 13 Giovinazzo - Bari 112 km Stage 5 May 14 Taranto - Viggiano 203 km Stage 6 May 15 Sassano - Montecassino 247 km Stage 7 May 16 Frosinone - Foligno 211 km Stage 8 May 17 Foligno - Montecopiolo 179 km Stage 9 May 18 Lugo - Sestola 172 km Rest Day 2 May 19 Stage 10 May 20 Modela - Salsomaggiore 173 km Stage 11 May 21 Collecchio - Savona 249 km Stage 12 May 22 Barbaresco - Barolo (ITT) 41.9 km Stage 13 May 23 Fossano - Rivarolo Canavese 157 km Stage 14 May 24 Agliè - Oropa 164 km Stage 15 May 25 Valdengo - Montecampione 225 km Rest Day 3 May 26 Stage 16 May 27 Ponte di Legno - Val Martello/Martelltal 139 km Stage 17 May 28 Sarnonico - Vittorio Veneto 208 km Stage 18 May 29 Belluno - Rif. Panarotta 171 km Stage 19 May 30 Bassano del Grappa - Cima Grappa (ITT) 26.8 km Stage 20 May 31 Maniago - Monte Zoncolan 167 km Stage 21 Jun 1 Gemona - Trieste 172 km

 

[limerickman]

It's been dreadful racing conditions here in Ireland.

It really is a pity that the first three days of racing have been as badly affected as they were by wind and rain.

The response to the race here has been really positive. The colour and pagentry of the Giro is something else.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Conditions were the same in Bari, today. Wet and just a little warmer...with ice skating rinks for pavement.

 

[cale262]

Originally Posted by limerickman
...

The response to the race here has been really positive. The colour and pagentry of the Giro is something else.

So happy they found and disarmed that car bomb before it could be detonated.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Nice finish by Ulissi. Cadel looked good coming through, also.

 

[Scotttri]

What are everyones thoughts on the last stage. Should the front group have sat up snd waited? Personally I think what they did was fine, but there is alot of debate over it. It will definitely help Evans cause.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

The continuation of Cadel's group to race was cool IMO. Cadel may not have won the Giro due to that crash, but several other riders have pretty much lost the race because of it.

Nice ride by the pink jersey. Matthews looked good right to the sprint.

Off to read the injury reports. The flip by Braj into the guard rail could have been far more injurious. The pile up in the roundabout was weird. Caused by last minute changes in which way to go around? That traffic furniture 'point'? I say guys hopping both curbs rather than hit the brakes or try a course change on the wet road.

Damage report:

J-Rod out with busted rib and thumb.
Sam Sanchez beat up.
Scarponi has some...scars. Couldn't resist. Scraped up and lost 1:37.
Janus Braj out with compound elbow fracture.
Giampaolo Caruso to hospital with busted hip or femur? Abandoned.

Several more riders with serious bruises and road rash/deep cuts.

Uran and Quintana both remounted and lost almost 50".

Off to look at time losses...there's going to be some big losers that didn't make that second group.

 

[limerickman]

Originally Posted by Scotttri

What are everyones thoughts on the last stage. Should the front group have sat up snd waited? Personally I think what they did was fine, but there is alot of debate over it. It will definitely help Evans cause.

I see no difficulty with Evans tactics on the road (I presume that we're discussing the Monte Cassino stage).

Caruso's fall was dreadful.

Tour of California looks good. Weather is beautiful there. Monterey-Cambria stage scenery was spectacular.
(Eurosport show these stages live every night).

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Quote by Lim:
"Tour of California looks good. Weather is beautiful there."

My neighbors have a house in yesterday's finishing city, Santa Barbara. They'll be back here in Ohio next week and I'll have to ask them how it was downtown when the race finished.

Yeah, beautiful warm, sunny weather out there! We also get ES coverage here.

Edit: It sure took the medical staff a long time to get Caruso packed up and headed for care.

 

[jhuskey]

I been watching the TOC. This race has turned into a real killer over the years, big climbs and heat that most of the riders are not use to dealing with. Even Wiggo looked like he was about to drop on the pavement after one of the big climbs. Great ride by Phinney yesterday.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

What a cool win by Mick Rogers today. Well done!

 

[CAMPYBOB]

An absolutely epic day on the Giro. Snow, freezing rain, fog on the passes. The descent of the Stelvio has been neutralized.

Riders wearing four and five layers...balaclavas under helmet covers...riders changing gloves repeatedly.

 

[limerickman]

I really enjoyed todays stage. A very nice stage win by Quintana.

I thought Hjesdal did a superb ride. He looked shattered with 40kms to go but he recovered really well to finish second on the stage. One of my favourite riders Pierre Rolland got a well deserved third place.
GC is now shaken up.

Uran looked a bit tired at the end of a gruelling stage.

The last week of the Giro guarantees fireworks and this week, this year, is no exception.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

I still can't believe Ryder stuck with Quintana...hellova effort. He even took that last pull right before Nairo gassed it to the line and dropped him. Canadian tough, right there. I've always thought he was a deserving Giro winner.

Uran looked as frozen and wasted as the rest. Cuddles looked a bit upset and I'll give him props for hammering all the way to the finish line. A fighter that had no punch to match Quintana today.

The big question is why the guys let Quintana descend away? No commo? No care? Surely they had the legs and balls to go after him. A tactical error on a grand scale?

I was surprised Rolland blew...but, then again, ANYONE could lose power suddenly on a day like today. The climbing and temperatures combined to stun a lot of legs into submission and I wished they would have showed the autobus. Never saw those guys at all.

How easy Quintana makes climbing 14% look after 15 Km's of 7-10% work. He reminds me of Pantani minus the exaggerated pedaling style or Lance on a good day. The power-to-weight ratio he has is nuts...smooth as silk too.

 

[limerickman]

Originally Posted by CAMPYBOB
I still can't believe Ryder stuck with Quintana...hellova effort. He even took that last pull right before Nairo gassed it to the line and dropped him. Canadian tough, right there. I've always thought he was a deserving Giro winner.

Uran looked as frozen and wasted as the rest. Cuddles looked a bit upset and I'll give him props for hammering all the way to the finish line. A fighter that had no punch to match Quintana today.

The big question is why the guys let Quintana descend away? No commo? No care? Surely they had the legs and balls to go after him. A tactical error on a grand scale?

I was surprised Rolland blew...but, then again, ANYONE could lose power suddenly on a day like today. The climbing and temperatures combined to stun a lot of legs into submission and I wished they would have showed the autobus. Never saw those guys at all.

How easy Quintana makes climbing 14% look after 15 Km's of 7-10% work. He reminds me of Pantani minus the exaggerated pedaling style or Lance on a good day. The power-to-weight ratio he has is nuts...smooth as silk too.

Yeah, Ryder did a superb ride today. If he hadn't have injured himself at the start of the Giro, I reckon Ryder would be significantly ahead on GC today because he's ridden really well since his initial injury.

Was there a problem at the start of todays stage? I only got to see the last 70kms of the race and they were saying that the riders were frozen for the first half of todays stage.
Uran was pouring tepid tea on to his legs to keep himself warm. Why he rode without leggings was strange.

A very enjoyable stage today. Quintana is like Pantani, I agree but with less aggressive riding style.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

The weather extremes was the big issue. Light to driving snow on the climbs and sunshine in the valley and up part of the last climb. Standing water and runoff made the roads sketchy. There were rumors of rider protests and the big fear was frozen fingers not being able to brakes and stay in control on the fast, wet descents.

Lots of tweets and *****ing when the fully prepared 'just in case' secondary stage route was not used and the organizers decided to go with the epic climbing, original route.

More idiocy, there were all kinds of rumors (cell phones? tweets? emails?) going thru the caravan on the way up the Stelvio that the descent was going to be neutralized. It never was officially called neutral and this is when Nairo and the others charged hard and got clear of Uran and company on the downhill side.

I would not call the descent "kamikaze", but the lead 5 or 6 guys were rolling the hairpins very fast for the conditions and those stone walls don't move an inch if you kiss them.

They had a decent bunch that was motivated and easily rolled the last flat to get to the final climb. After that, no one's legs could match Quintana except for Ryder. The pair just destroyed the field and 95% of the effort was from Quintana.

Yes, bare legs to knee length shorts to tights and every combination of base layer-jersey-jacket-rain jacket possible. I saw a close up shot of Quintana and the dude was smart enough to have the tops of his shoe covers DUCK TAPED to his ankles to keep the ice water from running down his legs and filling his boots!!! I'm sure he's glad he shaves when it coms time to pull that tape off!

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Stefano Pirazzi flips the bird Eyetalian style as he crosses the line!

...and they said Lance was a cad!

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Pirazzi's big 'Screw You!' salute can be seen on video here at Gazetta deloo Sport's website:


http://www.gazzetta.it/Giroditalia/2014/it/video/tappa-17/giro-pirazzi-ombrello-5-anni-critiche/c6614f1c-e687-11e3-b863-ceafbd80fd9b?videoid=ff36ab14-e67f-11e3-b863-ceafbd80fd9b