Giro D'Italia 2008 : Stage 20 - May 31st : Rovetta => Tirano, 224 km

[ilpirata]

wonder if Simoni will comment on Sella tonite.

simoni complemented Sella, he was taken somewhat by surprise by Sella's attack at Aprica, picking up something from the team car, and acknowledged that Sella once he goes is almost impossible to catch. He further explains that he made a big mistake the previous day, by not adequately protecting himself, and getting so cold on the mountain downhill in the rain.

 

[Anticyclone]

So curiosity... how much did Sella cost for Astana? I've always wondered if there's a well known scale for stuff like this.

Why would Sella have to be bought? Out of any deal that there was he got a stage win and over a minute on his nearest challenges. Why would he demand payment to do that? I suppose that it will weaken him a bit in the TT tomorrow but i would have thought that today's effort was worth it?

 

[RdBiker]

In post-race interview Bruseghin attacks Ricco'... 'maybe we could have done more if some riders who talk like they have superlative legs would actually back it up...'.

Ouch. Expect more fireworks when Ricco's hears this...

Well said Bruseghin Riccò should've really tried to gang up against Contador instead of the opposite...
Riccò isn't that great after all...he is good but not anything spectacular. If this was him at his peak form then he has to train and dope quite a bit before he can challenge for a Tour victory.

 

[thunder]

Well said Bruseghin Riccò should've really tried to gang up against Contador instead of the opposite...
Riccò isn't that great after all...he is good but not anything spectacular. If this was him at his peak form then he has to train and dope quite a bit before he can challenge for a Tour victory.

Ricco will never win the Tour. Good rider, but not a Tour rider. They dont manipulate the parcours so guys who cannot tt win the Tour. You have to go and fix the deficiency, then he will lose in the mtns. I dont rate him as a climber. As a climber, you have to be able to ride away. He can make an attack stick, but he cant put major time into anyone.

 

[whiteboytrash]

Ricco will never win the Tour. Good rider, but not a Tour rider. They dont manipulate the parcours so guys who cannot tt win the Tour. You have to go and fix the deficiency, then he will lose in the mtns. I dont rate him as a climber. As a climber, you have to be able to ride away. He can make an attack stick, but he cant put major time into anyone.

Thunder well said. Ricco looks good. He attacks with 3km to go but he never gains more than 30 seconds or a minute. He talks the talk and even attacks but not a lot of it comes to much just a few seconds and here and there.

Whether we like it or not Contador rode the Giro to win and win he did. He did basically fark all but he still won. Italian's have this thing where they have to win with style and panache but there is little point in burning up energy like Di Luca & Ricco did by attacking on a lumpy stage without gaining time. It was pointless and showmanship.

Yes Bruyneel has taken an exciting young rider like Contador and turned him into an automaton and made young Alberto the most boring rider to watch. However thats all that matters.... the win.... not how you get there.

 

[thunder]

Thunder well said. Ricco looks good. He attacks with 3km to go but he never gains more than 30 seconds or a minute. He talks the talk and even attacks but not a lot of it comes to much just a few seconds and here and there.

Whether we like it or not Contador rode the Giro to win and win he did. He did basically fark all but he still won. Italian's have this thing where they have to win with style and panache but there is little point in burning up energy like Di Luca & Ricco did by attacking on a lumpy stage without gaining time. It was pointless and showmanship.

Yes Bruyneel has taken an exciting young rider like Contador and turned him into an automaton and made young Alberto the most boring rider to watch. However thats all that matters.... the win.... not how you get there.

plus there is the curious phenomenon of him being granted an increase in his 50 TUE crit BS exemption to a 60 exemption...

 

[poulidor]

Contador es el maestro y el campeón - enhorabueno señor!

Two years, two titles, too good for the Italianos. Viva España!

And Viva Fuentes, the true and real chmapion of many recent succes of Spaniards!

 

[Eldrack]

Ricco, well, he's a good rider that's for sure. He's got a rapid finish on short climbs, so expect him to put in some good performances in the Ardennes and in the small climbing tours which are won by a matter off seconds. His attacks though aren't really proper attacks. He accelerates a bit because he's that sort of rider and therefore can without too much problem, but then can't make an attack stick. He'll probably do well in the Giro of years to come as the climbs are far more suited to his small stature, the time trials in the tour are way too long for him to ever do well there until he matures. He's still young, so either he'll mature into a rider like Simoni/Di Luca or he'll fade away, a bit like Popo did (podiumed in the '03 Giro, hasn't really done much since, although he seems to be on his way back up).

Hats off to Di Luca for yesterdays attack, that showed flair, panache, and he paid for it today. Unfortunately both the physics and the physiology of cycling say boring is best, to win using flair you have to know exactly what you are doing, and be incredibly strong. I guess you could put Sella in that catagory? Although he hasn't won he's at least made an attempt to light the Giro up.

Contador: His performance in this Giro has been measured and nothing more. He gained time in the TT's then slowly lost it to attacks, but he's stayed consistent throughout and that is, perhaps unfortunately, what wins races more often than not. However if he had been stronger and able to attack he would have ended up winning by a much larger margin, which would have made the race a lot more boring. Hopefully ASO will keep him from ever riding the tour again, forcing him to have a slightly more diverse racing calendar than Armstrong did.

 

[TheDarkLord]

Contador: His performance in this Giro has been measured and nothing more. He gained time in the TT's then slowly lost it to attacks, but he's stayed consistent throughout and that is, perhaps unfortunately, what wins races more often than not. However if he had been stronger and able to attack he would have ended up winning by a much larger margin, which would have made the race a lot more boring. Hopefully ASO will keep him from ever riding the tour again, forcing him to have a slightly more diverse racing calendar than Armstrong did.

I really don't see how they can do that beyond this year. They have a perfect excuse this year thanks to Astana's doping problems for the past couple of years. But they cannot simply arbitrarily exclude a rider just because they don't like him...

 

[wicklow200]

I think you have summed up RR very well. I am actually surprised he's stayed so well in the mountains this year - I didn't expect him to have the stamina for a few more years to come.

Having said that I find this years Giro in the mountains very strange. Usually there are the same 2-3 GC contenders making the decisive breaks on mtn stages in any one giro. This year there have been none, bar di Luca's attack on Fridays stage. But then that was more of a nothing to lose kamikaze effort. Sella, sure, but he's not going for GC.

On Contadors TdF form he should have shredded this field. On Di Luca's form of last year, he should have been more dominant. LL never showed once. Menchov never got away. And Ricco mixing it with the big boys?

I think diLuca et all are off the juice this year due due to Italian vigilance lately. Hence a levelling out of performances.

Ricco, well, he's a good rider that's for sure. He's got a rapid finish on short climbs, so expect him to put in some good performances in the Ardennes and in the small climbing tours which are won by a matter off seconds. His attacks though aren't really proper attacks. He accelerates a bit because he's that sort of rider and therefore can without too much problem, but then can't make an attack stick. He'll probably do well in the Giro of years to come as the climbs are far more suited to his small stature, the time trials in the tour are way too long for him to ever do well there until he matures. He's still young, so either he'll mature into a rider like Simoni/Di Luca or he'll fade away, a bit like Popo did (podiumed in the '03 Giro, hasn't really done much since, although he seems to be on his way back up).

 

[sonicman]

Remind the last time they did the Aprica, with the Simoni-Basso affair and the extraterritorial thing? Well, maybe story is repeating itself.

 

[Watoni]

Remind the last time they did the Aprica, with the Simoni-Basso affair and the extraterritorial thing? Well, maybe story is repeating itself.

I think you mean the extraterrestrial thing ....

 

[ilpirata]

I think you have summed up RR very well. I am actually surprised he's stayed so well in the mountains this year - I didn't expect him to have the stamina for a few more years to come.

Having said that I find this years Giro in the mountains very strange. Usually there are the same 2-3 GC contenders making the decisive breaks on mtn stages in any one giro. This year there have been none, bar di Luca's attack on Fridays stage. But then that was more of a nothing to lose kamikaze effort. Sella, sure, but he's not going for GC.

On Contadors TdF form he should have shredded this field. On Di Luca's form of last year, he should have been more dominant. LL never showed once. Menchov never got away. And Ricco mixing it with the big boys?

I think diLuca et all are off the juice this year due due to Italian vigilance lately. Hence a levelling out of performances.

I think Ricco is quite a talent and has done extremely well. He lost 30 seconds on the team time trial. Really messed up, with a mechanical problem in the first individual time trial, where he lost almost two minutes to Contador. Expect he will lose another 20 seconds on todays time trial. So if you weigh in the loss of Piepoli to the accumulation of injuries, that left him all alone for the mountain stages, Ricco lost for bad luck and inferior team support. But as far as likeability, he is quite immature and lacks in sportsmanship. He needs to apologize to CSF and lose with grace when he loses. For me DiLuca gave it his best, he did not have the condition of last year, and was inferior as a climber and a time trialer to his direct competitors. But he rode with a lot of heart.

 

[sonicman]

I think you mean the extraterrestrial thing ....

Correct.