Giro D'Italia 2008 : Stage 15 - May 25th : Arabba => Passo Fedaia/Marmolada, 153 km :
- Thread starter Crankyfeet
- Start date
Actually, he did drop Contador. But Di Luca & Contador got back to within 7 sec of him. Di Luca's getting back is somewhat impressive considering that he was dropped by Contador, Menchov, etc. before Rico got away from the mini-group.earth_dweller said:
The Italians have wasted their chance. They should have dropped Contador on Giau and worked together for next 30km. Only very bad from Contador can now save them.
Kronplatz is not long enough, Monte Pora not hard enough, Mortirolo is always a lottery. Dumbasses.
Kronplatz is not long enough, Monte Pora not hard enough, Mortirolo is always a lottery. Dumbasses.
I'm no expert... but assuming he can "recover", Bertie shouldn't be losing a second to his rivals in tomorrow's uphill TT.earth_dweller said:
Always nice to have the experts come on line. Funny that you did not notice that all of the riders in the lead group are not racing against Contador, but against one another.grampi said:
So is Menchov a dumbass for not attacking with 'the Italians' to get Contador out of the game?
My goodness, where were all these people before the internet?
Come on PP. Everyone knows that all the Italians in the Giro across all the teams work together as one team, and are prepared to sacrifice themselves if it means an Italian from a different team may have a chance to win...Powerful Pete said:Always nice to have the experts come on line. Funny that you did not notice that all of the riders in the lead group are not racing against Contador, but against one another.
So is Menchov a dumbass for not attacking with 'the Italians' to get Contador out of the game?
My goodness, where were all these people before the internet?
I don't know if he was referring to dope... but what sort of crazy Spanish eggs bear fruit???...kennf said:
Spanish?Crankyfeet said:I don't know if he was referring to dope... but what sort of crazy Spanish eggs bear fruit???...
Menchov is Russian
I was referring to his Spanish "doctor"...earth_dweller said:Spanish?
Menchov is Russian
. Anyway... it's an easy mistake to make. "Menchov" as a name definitely sounds more Spanish than Russian...
But Contador was the de facto leader of the race, and on paper the best TTer, so in hindsight it certainly looks like a better tactic when Contador was dropped on the earlier climb could have been to push on and try to distance him, since I believe he was also isolated.Powerful Pete said:
There were others dropped as well, so it would certainly appear to me that a chance was squandered for several of the "climbers" to perhaps put the boot in on several other riders including Contador.
Someone explain to me why Kloden was so bad. I mean he had good form leading up to the Giro, yet as soon as the mountains come he goes backwards. Maybe they are too steep for him, or am i missing something.
Before Astana knew their Giro invite was a definite Klodens big target in the late spring/early summer was the Tour of Romandie. He peaked for it, won it and that was that. Then they got the Giro invitation, so he's had to try and repeak just a couple of weeks after his first big peak, something that is very hard to do. As a result he's not on his best form.
think again of situation before yesterdays stage. Ricco, Di Lucca 1min, Simoni 1.30 behind. Last stage tt is pancake, so add another 1-2min to their time. This means they were 2.30-4min behind Contador before marmolada stage.Powerful Pete said:Always nice to have the experts come on line. Funny that you did not notice that all of the riders in the lead group are not racing against Contador, but against one another.
So is Menchov a dumbass for not attacking with 'the Italians' to get Contador out of the game?
My goodness, where were all these people before the internet?
Kronplatz is perfect for contadors style. On very average day he matches other GC riders on such TT. If he has a god day he makes another 1min on them.
Monte Pora stage is also made for Contador. One semi hard climb and then two uphill sprints. No way to drop him there.
Mortirolo is somewhere is the middle of stage 20. Aprica, after mortirolo, is where Basso has easily rode away from Simoni. It is certainly not very steep climb its for good TT riders like Bruseghin Leipheimer or Kloden. Astana will perhaps send Leipheimer into a break. If Contador is distanced on Mortirolo LL will wait for him at the top. Kloden wont be far away. On part following mortirolo the can pull back a lot of time.
If Ricco, Di Luca, Simoni, Pellizoti.. had attacked on Giau, Contador could have been thrown out of the game. He was alone and would have lost minutes before final climb. The Italians still would have had Marmolada to kill themself.
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