2005 Giro d' Italia Presented



I also think it is better if he prepares for the tour. But he promised his mom that he will ride the giro......so I think he wants to honour her....although not too smart for his tour prep.



hombredesubaru said:
News is that the stage will be shortened due to bad weather so I think this mean the climb at the start is out and the stage will be 150 km instead of 200 something.

I dont think Basso will stay in if he remains sick. The best Tour prep would be to get well and rest.
 
hombredesubaru said:
News is that the stage will be shortened due to bad weather so I think this mean the climb at the start is out and the stage will be 150 km instead of 200 something.

I dont think Basso will stay in if he remains sick. The best Tour prep would be to get well and rest.

I was surprised to hear about the shortened stage today. The shortening was an event Basso was probably very happy to hear about. If it was cold up there, he would have had to ride downhill and get chilled right after working his way up the mountain. As it was, he only finished 30 seconds or so back from the front and enjoyed a ride mostly flat, which means mostly aided by domestiques. He's still there.
 
MJtje said:
I also think it is better if he prepares for the tour. But he promised his mom that he will ride the giro......so I think he wants to honour her....although not too smart for his tour prep.

I think he will be ready for the Tour. If he would have won the Giro, I'm not so sure he would have been. He will be focused mostly on finishing the race now, not winning. He's in a rather enviable position as far as Tour prep goes, in my opinion. He's already had his glory from the Giro. The pressure to perform is gone now. Tour organizers cannot chastise him for using the Giro to prep for the Tour. Clearly, that was not his intent at all. He wanted the win as badly as any of the other top contenders: Simoni, Cunego, Savoldelli, the dark horse Di Luca. I think his odds now of being ready for the Tour are better than for Simoni, Savoldelli and Di Luca. Those guys will continue to thrash each other to pieces as long as they are in contention for the win. Actually, I don't know if Di Luca is trying for the Tour this year.

Simoni was pretty depressed during last year's Tour, as can be seen with a journal entry here where he says he doubts that he will return for the Tour. I think the Giro will be it for Simoni this year too. http://www.tourdefrancenews.com/tourdefrance/experts/columns/0,3489,s1-9810,00.html
 
He won't do the Tour........he can't go for GC and even couldn't win a stage in a break-away. The tour is above every race......and Simoni is a classic example who is a nobody at the tour.....but haha almost everyone looks like that when armstrong paddles in fast cadence away from the rest;)



gntlmn said:
I think he will be ready for the Tour. If he would have won the Giro, I'm not so sure he would have been. He will be focused mostly on finishing the race now, not winning. He's in a rather enviable position as far as Tour prep goes, in my opinion. He's already had his glory from the Giro. The pressure to perform is gone now. Tour organizers cannot chastise him for using the Giro to prep for the Tour. Clearly, that was not his intent at all. He wanted the win as badly as any of the other top contenders: Simoni, Cunego, Savoldelli, the dark horse Di Luca. I think his odds now of being ready for the Tour are better than for Simoni, Savoldelli and Di Luca. Those guys will continue to thrash each other to pieces as long as they are in contention for the win. Actually, I don't know if Di Luca is trying for the Tour this year.

Simoni was pretty depressed during last year's Tour, as can be seen with a journal entry here where he says he doubts that he will return for the Tour. I think the Giro will be it for Simoni this year too. http://www.tourdefrancenews.com/tourdefrance/experts/columns/0,3489,s1-9810,00.html
 
MJtje said:
He won't do the Tour........he can't go for GC and even couldn't win a stage in a break-away. The tour is above every race......and Simoni is a classic example who is a nobody at the tour.....but haha almost everyone looks like that when armstrong paddles in fast cadence away from the rest;)

Simoni was really talking it up big before last year's Tour. Then he failed to put the hurt into Armstrong that he thought he would. Simoni is an awesome climber though. I gotta hand that to him.

You are saying that Basso will not do the Tour?
 
Sorry I meant Simoni won't do the tour, he allready said that. And offcourse Simoni is a classy climber......but only when he is competing against a lesser field like the giro. But that doesn't mean his giro wins were nothing.....they were very good. But no way near any of armstrongs, simply because of the riders competing!

As far as Basso......he will do the tour. I wonder how he will preb for the tour after this bad giro.....will he rest or do 1 more race before the giro.......BUT first a TT and stage 18,19....

gntlmn said:
Simoni was really talking it up big before last year's Tour. Then he failed to put the hurt into Armstrong that he thought he would. Simoni is an awesome climber though. I gotta hand that to him.

You are saying that Basso will not do the Tour?
 
MJtje said:
Sorry I meant Simoni won't do the tour, he allready said that. And offcourse Simoni is a classy climber......but only when he is competing against a lesser field like the giro. But that doesn't mean his giro wins were nothing.....they were very good. But no way near any of armstrongs, simply because of the riders competing!

As far as Basso......he will do the tour. I wonder how he will preb for the tour after this bad giro.....will he rest or do 1 more race before the giro.......BUT first a TT and stage 18,19....


It might be a while before we see another Giro/TdF double win. Indurain did it, and later Pantani did it. In recent memory, there haven't been many. I wonder whether Basso will even ride both the Giro and TdF in the same year again after this year. I kind of doubt it.
 
I've been trying to get a handle on Cunego's problem this year. I have a sneaking suspicion he may have gained just a little bit of weight since last year. I see it listed here in this analysis of body weight versus power output discussion. He is listed at 58 kg, or 128 lbs, with a power to weight ratio of greater than 7 watts per kg sustained.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2004/giro04/index.php?id=stage17/s-cunegofans-0608

He looks like he's a bit bigger this year than last. This may have been the camera angle on that one OLN showing I saw over the weekend, and the fact that tv makes someone look thicker than he really is. So I'm trying to dig for some data. I don't know where they post this information.

Here he is listed at 171 cm and 60 kg. http://www.eurosport.com/home/pages/v4/l0/s18/personnews_lng0_spo18_prs14264.shtml

That's 2 kg more than that other website. I'd like to know the real story about Cunego's weight. Weight in 2004 Giro = ????
Weight in 2005 Giro = ????

If I knew these numbers, and the 2005 weight were higher than the 2004 weight, I think this would explain his poor showing this year. My hunch is that he is a little bit heavier. How can we get the exact numbers on this?
 
Here is his own website, which of course is in Italian. Here's the Google English transation version.

http://translate.google.com/transla...prev=/search?q=%22damiano+cunego%22&hl=en&lr=

He lists his height as 169 cm. He doesn't list his weight. I suppose it may not be too easy to tell if you are slightly heavier than the year before. If the weight range now is 58 to 61 kg, for example, and last year it was 57 to 59 kg, you may not notice that you are carrying about 2 kg more on the average than last year. I don't know if this is the case or not. Perhaps there is no difference. I'd like to know.

His birthdate is Sept 19, 1981. So he is still 23 and will be 24 not long after the Tour de France. He's young for tour riding.
 
It's amazing that the only American ever to win the Giro was Andy Hampsten in 1988. That was an interim year before Greg Lemond resumed his reign in the Tour de France, which he won in 1989 and 1990, adding to his victory in 1986. Other Americans have made the Giro podium, but very few: Hamilton, Lemond. Yes, that's it, no mas. Lemond focused on the Tour de France, not the Giro. He made 3rd in the Giro in 1985.
 
LOL, have you been searching on the NOS our dutch sportschannel!......too bad they don't do the giro. (gotta stop talking about lack of coverage compared to other members haha:D )

But Cunego may have a setback......which is not weird for a young guy. Or.......well my opinion is clear.. tour time:cool:


gntlmn said:
From 224th or something like that to number 1 rider in the world, all in one year (2004), such is the story of Cunego. He may be just suffering a momentary pullback. Here his weight is again listed as 58 kg, but I don't know how they come up with these numbers. They may be pulling them from other sources rather than from a current weigh in.


http://www.nos.nl/nosstudiosport/wielrennen/profielen/cunego_damiano.html
 
MJtje said:
LOL, have you been searching on the NOS our dutch sportschannel!......too bad they don't do the giro. (gotta stop talking about lack of coverage compared to other members haha:D )

But Cunego may have a setback......which is not weird for a young guy. Or.......well my opinion is clear.. tour time:cool:

Hahah. Guess I'm not the only one suffering from blackout coverage.

Cunego may not be in contention, but as you suggest, he's not completely cracked either. He's still making respectable showings on GC, and Simoni is still blasting away with his help.
 
Why do you think that is? TDF is biggest race so an american team, Motorola, Usps, Disco all want to perform good at le tour. Hell, every team wants to perform in the tour 100%, that is the race......commercially speaking. So not really amazing and Americans are still a weird side in the peloton.......youre lucky to gotten 9 tours.......a lot better then the cycling country of the world: Holland. We all cycle......you would think there might be someone that can do it. Same with Belgium.......aah well we're having a lot of talent at the moment. Who knows in a couple of years.......T.Dekker, Weening, Van Huffel (that guy is riding amazing in his first grand tour).



gntlmn said:
It's amazing that the only American ever to win the Giro was Andy Hampsten in 1988. That was an interim year before Greg Lemond resumed his reign in the Tour de France, which he won in 1989 and 1990, adding to his victory in 1986. Other Americans have made the Giro podium, but very few: Hamilton, Lemond. Yes, that's it, no mas. Lemond focused on the Tour de France, not the Giro. He made 3rd in the Giro in 1985.
 
MJtje said:
Why do you think that is? TDF is biggest race so an american team, Motorola, Usps, Disco all want to perform good at le tour. Hell, every team wants to perform in the tour 100%, that is the race......commercially speaking. So not really amazing and Americans are still a weird side in the peloton.......youre lucky to gotten 9 tours.......a lot better then the cycling country of the world: Holland. We all cycle......you would think there might be someone that can do it. Same with Belgium.......aah well we're having a lot of talent at the moment. Who knows in a couple of years.......T.Dekker, Weening, Van Huffel (that guy is riding amazing in his first grand tour).

Belgium will always be remembered for the incomparable Eddy Merckx. Of course, even when you have most riders way better than the average rider of a bigger country, it is still a matter of odds. A small country simply doesn't have as much population to draw from. But I bet the average Dutch citizen is in better shape than the average American. I'm a little bit embarrassed about our girth. heheh. I've been overseas and heard people laugh about it when they hear I'm American. I don't have a weight problem. Otherwise, they'd probably laugh politely in private later. :D They see the pictures of all the rolly pollies on the news all the time.
 
Haha that is true by the way......in Europe we get the image that there a lot of fat people in the VS......which is true. (no offense:D ) My dad travels a lot to the VS and he is amazed......aah well biking is good for your body and health (says a non-biker:p )



gntlmn said:
Belgium will always be remembered for the incomparable Eddy Merckx. Of course, even when you have most riders way better than the average rider of a bigger country, it is still a matter of odds. A small country simply doesn't have as much population to draw from. But I bet the average Dutch citizen is in better shape than the average American. I'm a little bit embarrassed about our girth. heheh. I've been overseas and heard people laugh about it when they hear I'm American. I don't have a weight problem. Otherwise, they'd probably laugh politely in private later. :D They see the pictures of all the rolly pollies on the news all the time.
 
Di Luca says he thinks the 2005 Giro will be decided in the Sestriere stage. This is the Penultimate stage with some extreme gradient climbs. Here's the profile:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2005//giro05/?id=stages/giro0519

The final climb of the day is about 11 km long. It's a mountaintop finish. Clearly, this favors the climbers: Di Luca, Simoni, Savoldelli. That last climb of the day will be sure to be a gut buster. But it's the one right before that that will be sure to put the hurt into their legs: a 9.2% average gradient for 18.5 km. Wow! That's about 5500 ft climb in about 11 1/2 miles. There's gravel at the top for almost 8 km.

I think I might have said earlier, but it's not over till the fat lady sings. Every one of those Giro leaders could get blown out on this stage, if they have a bad day. All it takes is a virus....
 
Here's the current GC after stage 15.

1 P. Savoldelli Discovery Channel 070:54:09
2 D. Di Luca Liquigas-Bianchi 00:25
3 G. Simoni Lampre-Caffita 01:48
4 J. Garate Saunier Duval 02:11
5 J. Rujano Guillen Selle Italia-Colombia 02:18
6 P. Caucchioli Credit Agricole 03:25
7 S. Honchar Domina Vacanze 04:05
8 E. Sella Panaria 05:50
9 D. Cioni Liquigas 06:40
10 V. Karpets Illes Balears 06:44
11 M. Fothen Gerolsteiner 06:51
12 M. Bruseghin Fassa Bortolo 07:01
13 D. Cunego Lampre-Caffita 08:03
14 D. Atienza Urendez Cofidis 08:11
15 G. Caruso Liberty Seguros 09:39
16 S. Sanchez Gonzalez Euskatel 11:14
17 W. Van Huffel Davitamon-Lotto 11:26
18 U. Osa Eizaguirre Isles Baleares 11:48
19 W. Belli Domina Vacanze 11:57
20 M. Celestino Domina Vacanze 13:48

I know I keep mentioning Karpets even though he isn't in contention for the win, but I suspect he may rise in the GC before the end. I'm wondering if he'll be able to get a top 7. He's a pretty good time trialist. I'd like to see how this turns out.

Notice the first 3 can easily move around. There isn't a huge gap there. In fact, there isn't a huge gap all the way down to the top 5 now. So that Sestriere stage ought to shake things up a bit.

There's still a TT stage left on May 27, stage 18. I think that's where Karpets will move up a couple of notches. Also, Savoldelli may increase his lead as well.
 
hombredesubaru said:
I think the Finestre is absolutely impossible.
http://www.salite.ch/finestre.htm

Really a question of stamina not just pure climbing, then Sestiere after.
I think Simoni will attack on the Finestre and see if he can get two minutes, meaning he'll attack with at least 8 km to go.
We'll see.

The climb is comparable to Ventoux in a way. Only harder, never lets up.
http://www.salite.ch/ventoux2.htm

That's what it boils down to if you are a contender: figuring out how much time you have to gap, counting back from the finish to estimate how long you'll have to accomplish it, and then attacking at the opportune time. If he can do this and bridge that gap, he deserves to win. That will be one helluva climb. This makes it interesting to keep watching the GC every day for any change in the top 3. It will be pure torture to make up time on that finestre. I suppose if you can do it, the success of it would put a lot of confidence into you. That would pay for a lot of pain.
 

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