Giro D'Italia 2008 : Stage 11 - May 21, 2008: Urbania > Cesena, 193 km :
- Thread starter limerickman
- Start date
Very hilly stage, around 3000m of climbing all in all but a flat finish. I think it's likely a breakaway will take this one, with Bettini leading what is left of the pack home.
Kinda hard to predict the winner if a break takes it so I'm going to go for a shot in the dark and pick Tadej Valjavec for the win. No reason apart from the fact he's got a cool name.
Kinda hard to predict the winner if a break takes it so I'm going to go for a shot in the dark and pick Tadej Valjavec for the win. No reason apart from the fact he's got a cool name.
Quite a steep climb there! 10% for 6km
http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2008//giro08/?id=stages/giro0811
I also think that it'll be a breakaway that wins. Bit too mountainous for him perhaps but maybe Millar will have another go? Voigt?
http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2008//giro08/?id=stages/giro0811
I also think that it'll be a breakaway that wins. Bit too mountainous for him perhaps but maybe Millar will have another go? Voigt?
Eldrack said:
Levi is gone ! Crashed ! he's been sitting at the back all day... Pipeioi went down as well which is not good for Ricco...... Visconte went down as well......
whiteboytrash said:
Sorry should say Levi has been yo yo'ing off the back due to the pressure of LPR all day....
Makes me wonder if Di Luca and Ricco are fearful of the steep mountains since they went so hard today. If I've understood correctly those two are not at their best in the steepest parts of the mountains but more so at hills like we had today. So maybe they tried to shake Contador, Klöden and Simoni off and create a small buffer for the mountains?Wayne666 said:
You have to love Di Luca. He makes the race exciting...
It's ironic that him and Evans battled it out for world's best rider last year. They are polar opposites. The constant attacker vs. the eternal wheel sucker.
I do like Evans though..only because he races a lot.
It's ironic that him and Evans battled it out for world's best rider last year. They are polar opposites. The constant attacker vs. the eternal wheel sucker.
I do like Evans though..only because he races a lot.
Di Luca's team pushed the pace on the climb around the middle of the stage and that was the one with an average of 10% for 6km. Leads me to think that Di Luca is happy enough with those gradients unless it was a bit of a bluff.RdBiker said:
CESENA, 21 May 2008 – The strange thing about this stage full of rain, attacks, falls and injuries is that it had no effect on the general classification. All kinds of things happened during the 199 kilometres of the 11th stage of the Giro, but Visconti held on to the pink jersey in spite of sundry bruises and burns, and the gaps between the star racers remained unchanged.
ASTANA’S STRENGTH – Alberto Contador stands out among today’s winners, as he survived today’s announced ambushes (like that of Riccò near Monteleone) as well as the surprise ones during the race (see Di Luca on the Carpegna). Alongside the Spaniard were Klöden and the two Italian forwards, Menchov and Leipheimer.
JOY AND PAIN – Today’s prize goes to Alessandro Bertolini, the iron man who lives and trains in Dosso di Trambileno, a town of 30 people in Trentino. The former troublemaker became a hero in Stuttgart, pulling along the riders of the Italian National team which pushed Bettini to his second World Championship win. He is the pawn that Gilberto Simoni and the Diquigiovanni-Androni team will play on the mountains on Saturday. "Gibo and I have trained all year solely and exclusively for the Giro. This win is for my wife, my daughter Rebecca and also for him,” said the 36-year old, who in 2007 won the UCI Continental classification. The mood turned gloomy when it was Giovanni Visconti’s turn to comment on the events on the streets of Pantani. "I fell at 60 km an hour; I thought I was going to be hurt bad. They found my bike 10 metres down, in a ditch,” said the Sicilian from Quick Step (still in the pink thanks to the work of Bettini, Tonti and Garate). He ended up in the hospital for X-rays of his left elbow and right wrist. No fractures, so tomorrow he’ll be at the start off.
THE TOTAL – Rarely have we seen falls like those in this year’s Giro. The list for the 11th stage is unending: Santambrogio, Efimkin, Tonti, McEwen, Pasamontes Rodriguez, Pellizotti, Larsson, Leipheimer, Piepoli, Dall’Antonia, Bosisio, Baliani, Bertolini and Sella, who fell a total of three times. And if the Baliani’s nasty fall was significant in the last thousand metres of the race, Piepoli’s fall (he injured his left hand and his right brow) risks negatively affecting Saunier Duval’s strategies.
ASTANA’S STRENGTH – Alberto Contador stands out among today’s winners, as he survived today’s announced ambushes (like that of Riccò near Monteleone) as well as the surprise ones during the race (see Di Luca on the Carpegna). Alongside the Spaniard were Klöden and the two Italian forwards, Menchov and Leipheimer.
JOY AND PAIN – Today’s prize goes to Alessandro Bertolini, the iron man who lives and trains in Dosso di Trambileno, a town of 30 people in Trentino. The former troublemaker became a hero in Stuttgart, pulling along the riders of the Italian National team which pushed Bettini to his second World Championship win. He is the pawn that Gilberto Simoni and the Diquigiovanni-Androni team will play on the mountains on Saturday. "Gibo and I have trained all year solely and exclusively for the Giro. This win is for my wife, my daughter Rebecca and also for him,” said the 36-year old, who in 2007 won the UCI Continental classification. The mood turned gloomy when it was Giovanni Visconti’s turn to comment on the events on the streets of Pantani. "I fell at 60 km an hour; I thought I was going to be hurt bad. They found my bike 10 metres down, in a ditch,” said the Sicilian from Quick Step (still in the pink thanks to the work of Bettini, Tonti and Garate). He ended up in the hospital for X-rays of his left elbow and right wrist. No fractures, so tomorrow he’ll be at the start off.
THE TOTAL – Rarely have we seen falls like those in this year’s Giro. The list for the 11th stage is unending: Santambrogio, Efimkin, Tonti, McEwen, Pasamontes Rodriguez, Pellizotti, Larsson, Leipheimer, Piepoli, Dall’Antonia, Bosisio, Baliani, Bertolini and Sella, who fell a total of three times. And if the Baliani’s nasty fall was significant in the last thousand metres of the race, Piepoli’s fall (he injured his left hand and his right brow) risks negatively affecting Saunier Duval’s strategies.
The climb of mount carpegna was the preferred climb of Marco Pantani in training. He would prepare all his tours there. Preferring it to riding up the actual mountains to be raced. Which he really never did. Though he confessed to taking a car ride up the Mortirolo for reconnaissance.Wayne666 said:
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