Simoni's Already Lost the 2009 Giro

[Rolfrae]

A Giro time trial for Armstrong


The 2009 Giro d'Italia could tip in favour of Lance Armstrong, with the inclusion of the longest time trial in the event's recent history. The three-week Italian stage race will feature a 61.5-kilometre time trial on stage 12, according to Tuttosport.

Race organiser RCS Sport will present the official route of the 92nd Giro d'Italia on Saturday, in Venice. In October it announced that the three-week race will begin with a 21-kilometre team time trial in Venice.

The Italian newspaper predicts stage 12 will travel from Sestri Levante to Riomaggiore, in Liguria's Cinque Terre. Its distance will be made more difficult with two climbs, the Passo del Bracco (600 metres of climbing) and Passo del Termine (around 500 metres).

Armstrong, returning to the sport after a three-year retirement, based his seven Tour de France vicitories on the time trials – he won 11 in total. The Giro's mid-race stage definitely will leave a mark on the race's overall classification. The final stages should feature mountains that will alter the standings before the race's conclusion in Rome.

The last time the Giro d'Italia featured such a long time trial was in 1996. Russian Eugeni Berzin won the 62-kilometre stage over Spaniard Abraham Olano. The longest time trial this year was 36 kilometres, won by Maurizio Bruseghin.

The 2009 route will likely feature three time trials in total, with the first on day one in Venice and the last on the final stage in Rome. The paper expects the final time trial to be 15 kilometres, starting and ending in Imperial Fora, and to pass some of the city's famed sites – Porta Pia, Piazza del Popolo, Piazza Venezia and the Coliseum.

The Giro d'Italia held its first time trial in 1933, 62 kilometres, won by Alfredo Binda. The longest time trial was in 1951, 81 kilometres, won by Fausto Coppi.

Armstrong announced in October that he would participate in Giro d'Italia as part of his comeback. It is his first time to race the Grand Tour

 

[whiteboytrash]

Sounds like told the Giro organisations that if there's no long TT then he won't ride. Suckers. Same goes for the CERA test.

A Giro time trial for Armstrong


The 2009 Giro d'Italia could tip in favour of Lance Armstrong, with the inclusion of the longest time trial in the event's recent history. The three-week Italian stage race will feature a 61.5-kilometre time trial on stage 12, according to Tuttosport.

Race organiser RCS Sport will present the official route of the 92nd Giro d'Italia on Saturday, in Venice. In October it announced that the three-week race will begin with a 21-kilometre team time trial in Venice.

The Italian newspaper predicts stage 12 will travel from Sestri Levante to Riomaggiore, in Liguria's Cinque Terre. Its distance will be made more difficult with two climbs, the Passo del Bracco (600 metres of climbing) and Passo del Termine (around 500 metres).

Armstrong, returning to the sport after a three-year retirement, based his seven Tour de France vicitories on the time trials – he won 11 in total. The Giro's mid-race stage definitely will leave a mark on the race's overall classification. The final stages should feature mountains that will alter the standings before the race's conclusion in Rome.

The last time the Giro d'Italia featured such a long time trial was in 1996. Russian Eugeni Berzin won the 62-kilometre stage over Spaniard Abraham Olano. The longest time trial this year was 36 kilometres, won by Maurizio Bruseghin.

The 2009 route will likely feature three time trials in total, with the first on day one in Venice and the last on the final stage in Rome. The paper expects the final time trial to be 15 kilometres, starting and ending in Imperial Fora, and to pass some of the city's famed sites – Porta Pia, Piazza del Popolo, Piazza Venezia and the Coliseum.

The Giro d'Italia held its first time trial in 1933, 62 kilometres, won by Alfredo Binda. The longest time trial was in 1951, 81 kilometres, won by Fausto Coppi.

Armstrong announced in October that he would participate in Giro d'Italia as part of his comeback. It is his first time to race the Grand Tour

 

[limerickman]

A Giro time trial for Armstrong


The 2009 Giro d'Italia could tip in favour of Lance Armstrong, with the inclusion of the longest time trial in the event's recent history. The three-week Italian stage race will feature a 61.5-kilometre time trial on stage 12, according to Tuttosport.

Race organiser RCS Sport will present the official route of the 92nd Giro d'Italia on Saturday, in Venice. In October it announced that the three-week race will begin with a 21-kilometre team time trial in Venice.

The Italian newspaper predicts stage 12 will travel from Sestri Levante to Riomaggiore, in Liguria's Cinque Terre. Its distance will be made more difficult with two climbs, the Passo del Bracco (600 metres of climbing) and Passo del Termine (around 500 metres).

Armstrong, returning to the sport after a three-year retirement, based his seven Tour de France vicitories on the time trials – he won 11 in total. The Giro's mid-race stage definitely will leave a mark on the race's overall classification. The final stages should feature mountains that will alter the standings before the race's conclusion in Rome.

The last time the Giro d'Italia featured such a long time trial was in 1996. Russian Eugeni Berzin won the 62-kilometre stage over Spaniard Abraham Olano. The longest time trial this year was 36 kilometres, won by Maurizio Bruseghin.

The 2009 route will likely feature three time trials in total, with the first on day one in Venice and the last on the final stage in Rome. The paper expects the final time trial to be 15 kilometres, starting and ending in Imperial Fora, and to pass some of the city's famed sites – Porta Pia, Piazza del Popolo, Piazza Venezia and the Coliseum.

The Giro d'Italia held its first time trial in 1933, 62 kilometres, won by Alfredo Binda. The longest time trial was in 1951, 81 kilometres, won by Fausto Coppi.

Armstrong announced in October that he would participate in Giro d'Italia as part of his comeback. It is his first time to race the Grand Tour

The last three Giri have made excellent viewing, because those tours featured a lot of climbing from stage 11 onwards.

I think that the 2009 race will suffer if RCS meddle with the existing format.

 

[mrfrogger]

The last three Giri have made excellent viewing, because those tours featured a lot of climbing from stage 11 onwards.

I think that the 2009 race will suffer if RCS meddle with the existing format.

Am I the only one that thinks team time trials are the most boring thing in cycling?

 

[Leafer]

Am I the only one that thinks team time trials are the most boring thing in cycling?

Nope, right there with you. Not to mention how badly they distort the GC - why should a GC rider be punished for having a weak tt team?

 

[Tech72]

Nope, right there with you. Not to mention how badly they distort the GC - why should a GC rider be punished for having a weak tt team?

On the flip side, why should a GC rider be punished for having domestiques that can't climb worth a damn. Just being a devil's avocate, but you get my point. Different teams excel in different disciplines. A flat TTT is as exciting as a flat TT, that's to say not very much at all but it's all part of the game.

 

[mrfrogger]

On the flip side, why should a GC rider be punished for having domestiques that can't climb worth a damn. Just being a devil's avocate, but you get my point. Different teams excel in different disciplines. A flat TTT is as exciting as a flat TT, that's to say not very much at all but it's all part of the game.

I see what you getting at but I don't care about fair! If I did I'd probably choose a different sport. No, I want entertainment and watching a journeyman domestique crack in the Alps offers far more than a TTT. Even in an ITT you at least see one rider on his limit the whole way, no shirking on the back there. Well except for the sprinters anyway.

 

[RdBiker]

Nope, right there with you. Not to mention how badly they distort the GC - why should a GC rider be punished for having a weak tt team?

Why should a GC rider be punished for having a team that can't control the flat stages?

So we take out TTTs, mountain stages and flat stages. Basically we've got TTs left

 

[limerickman]

Am I the only one that thinks team time trials are the most boring thing in cycling?

No.

TTT makes for pretty boring viewing, I think.

 

[RdBiker]

No.

TTT makes for pretty boring viewing, I think.

On the contrary, I find them pretty interesting to watch since it can be even more precision work than the ITTs. The whole team working together with just a few inches between their wheels is amazing to watch.
Not that I'd find it as interesting as mountain stages but it beats the flat stages in my book.

 

[Eldrack]

I'm not the biggest fan of the TTT but I think short team time trials do have their place as a way to start off a grand tour. Short enough not to damage anyones chances (much like a prologue) but still giving the spectators a spectacle to enjoy. Long TTTs or ones further into the race are a bad idea.

Everything I've heard about this years Giro route has been a tad discouraging, might be a bit of a damp squib compared to the previous three years...

 

[bobke]

I think I for sure predicted this a while back when Lance announced he was riding the Giro.

I think its great there is a long ITT and a decent length TTT.

The TTT is a very glamorous and competetive event.

Like the team pursuit in track, it is elegant and fantastic prestige for the winning team. Sorry you guys have such limited views of the sport of cycling.
THe WAY it gets covered on TV is often horrible. Its like the producers have never heard of split screen TV, of running visuals at the bottom ALL THE TIME with the top 5 time splits at each check.

I am sure a bunch of U.S. teenagers who use Mac software Final Cut Pro could do better. What is the deal with the euro TV producers?

 

[tonyzackery]

As long as this thread has turned into the GT complainer's haven I might as well chime in - irrespective of the whole doping issue, the worst aspect of pro cycling hands down (for me anyway) is the radio issue. The radios need the heave-ho, right after all the dopeheads...talk about lack of spontaneity...

 

[Geoff Vadar]

I'm not the biggest fan of the TTT but I think short team time trials do have their place as a way to start off a grand tour. Short enough not to damage anyones chances (much like a prologue) but still giving the spectators a spectacle to enjoy. Long TTTs or ones further into the race are a bad idea.

Everything I've heard about this years Giro route has been a tad discouraging, might be a bit of a damp squib compared to the previous three years...

I dont know how much of a stupid idea this is or not but I wonder would it be cool to have a longish (40-50km TTT) as like a permanent prologue (results of which stand outside GC) but fight for 'ranking' of team cars for the whole grand tour. So if you win the TTT then you sit first car back from the Comm all tour. So late in a tour if you have a rider 1st in GC but had a shocker of a TTT in the prologue then your team car is still last - which could come back to bite you maybe? But the actual times of the TTT are not included in the overall riders times. I dunno just thought it might be interesting.

I just think the TTT are a great spectacle and would love to see more of them.

Edit: Agree completely regarding radios. They should all have them but only the comm can use them to all riders regarding safety concerns and also allow all riders to hear the results of intermediate sprint points etc.

 

[limerickman]

As long as this thread has turned into the GT complainer's haven I might as well chime in - irrespective of the whole doping issue, the worst aspect of pro cycling hands down (for me anyway) is the radio issue. The radios need the heave-ho, right after all the dopeheads...talk about lack of spontaneity...

I agree with your views about allowing the use of radios.

Putting my cards on the table, I did think that radios would be an improvement.
Especially when you consider the messing around that used to go on years ago when incorrect interval times were deliberately given to pursuing riders.

Riders would be told that the interval time was less than the actual time gap.
In fact several GT results could have changed if the correct information could have been more accurately ascertained by the pursuing rider.

But now I am of the view that radios not only neutralise races - the use of radios diminshes the amount of tactical awareness a rider needs to employ in order to read a race.
Both are retrograde in my view and they spoil the race as a spectacle i believe,