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Post by Bod on May 11, 2023 22:22:47 GMT
Your daily reviews are spot on BodThanks. I actually get enjoyment from cycling as opposed to watching us! Stage 6 and it was the best and worst of cycling today. It should have been a sprint day. With 40km to go, the break looked good. 30km a little less so, but still possible. 20km, losing time but OK. 10km, break should have it in the bag. 700m, break has a winning gap if they don’t start finessing. Thus they start finessing and get swept up by the bunch and Pedersen takes the sprint. Clarke and De Marchi are old hands at breakaway riding. They are Norman Stanley Fletcher level of experience, and race craft. They fucking blew it. A guaranteed first or second place (which carries great points in a GT) was there for them. They finished 88th and 89th. A team like IPT needs all the points it can get and I thought it was brainless riding after the two of them combining so well and strongly. Pedersen bided his time and finished the job perfectly, Milan did well once again and Ackerman rounded out the podium. Gaviria went so early that he ran out of gas and Groves was an odd one, not getting Alpecin to help with the chase at all. Unless he didn’t have it in his legs today and didn’t want to knacker his teammates? Roglic took a tumble for the second day in a row and the camerawork which tracked his chase to rejoin the bunch was stellar. All done from a moto rather than a helicopter and was about as immersive as you could get. The manoeuvring in and out of team cars always amazes me. The mutual trust is obviously paramount. Leknessund stays in pink for another day, but tomorrow… Tomorrow is a 1st cat finish at the end of a final 50km which all drags uphill. The final climb is sort of split into mini climbs, with a false flat section in the middle and then the steepest gradients at the end, with the final 4.5km at around 8%. I hope it pisses down… If a team or teams decide to absolutely drill it, it could be a brutal couple of hours at the end. The sprinters are currently writing letters to their loved ones asking to be kept in their prayers. Edited to add that Cav crashed again today. Came in 18 minutes down in a little group. Interestingly Ben Healy lost 14 minutes and is now 26 mins down on GC which I think is smart riding. He will have leeway now as I don’t think his job is to support Carthy and so stage hunting should be on the cards, or maybe a challenge for the mountains jersey…
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Post by marylandstoke on May 12, 2023 0:46:33 GMT
Your daily reviews are spot on Bod Thanks. I actually get enjoyment from cycling as opposed to watching us! Stage 6 and it was the best and worst of cycling today. It should have been a sprint day. With 40km to go, the break looked good. 30km a little less so, but still possible. 20km, losing time but OK. 10km, break should have it in the bag. 700m, break has a winning gap if they don’t start finessing. Thus they start finessing and get swept up by the bunch and Pedersen takes the sprint. Clarke and De Marchi are old hands at breakaway riding. They are Norman Stanley Fletcher level of experience, and race craft. They fucking blew it. A guaranteed first or second place (which carries great points in a GT) was there for them. They finished 88th and 89th. A team like IPT needs all the points it can get and I thought it was brainless riding after the two of them combining so well and strongly. Pedersen bided his time and finished the job perfectly, Milan did well once again and Ackerman rounded out the podium. Gaviria went so early that he ran out of gas and Groves was an odd one, not getting Alpecin to help with the chase at all. Unless he didn’t have it in his legs today and didn’t want to knacker his teammates? Roglic took a tumble for the second day in a row and the camerawork which tracked his chase to rejoin the bunch was stellar. All done from a moto rather than a helicopter and was about as immersive as you could get. The manoeuvring in and out of team cars always amazes me. The mutual trust is obviously paramount. Leknessund stays in pink for another day, but tomorrow… Tomorrow is a 1st cat finish at the end of a final 50km which all drags uphill. The final climb is sort of split into mini climbs, with a false flat section in the middle and then the steepest gradients at the end, with the final 4.5km at around 8%. I hope it pisses down… If a team or teams decide to absolutely drill it, it could be a brutal couple of hours at the end. The sprinters are currently writing letters to their loved ones asking to be kept in their prayers. Edited to add that Cav crashed again today. Came in 18 minutes down in a little group. Interestingly Ben Healy lost 14 minutes and is now 26 mins down on GC which I think is smart riding. He will have leeway now as I don’t think his job is to support Carthy and so stage hunting should be on the cards, or maybe a challenge for the mountains jersey… I also must thank you for what you do for us Bod. Beautiful wordsmithery as always. ‘Norman Stanley Fletcher level of experience’ has won the interweb for me today.
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Post by salopstick on May 12, 2023 7:39:51 GMT
Your daily reviews are spot on BodThanks. I actually get enjoyment from cycling as opposed to watching us! Stage 6 and it was the best and worst of cycling today. It should have been a sprint day. With 40km to go, the break looked good. 30km a little less so, but still possible. 20km, losing time but OK. 10km, break should have it in the bag. 700m, break has a winning gap if they don’t start finessing. Thus they start finessing and get swept up by the bunch and Pedersen takes the sprint. Clarke and De Marchi are old hands at breakaway riding. They are Norman Stanley Fletcher level of experience, and race craft. They fucking blew it. A guaranteed first or second place (which carries great points in a GT) was there for them. They finished 88th and 89th. A team like IPT needs all the points it can get and I thought it was brainless riding after the two of them combining so well and strongly. Pedersen bided his time and finished the job perfectly, Milan did well once again and Ackerman rounded out the podium. Gaviria went so early that he ran out of gas and Groves was an odd one, not getting Alpecin to help with the chase at all. Unless he didn’t have it in his legs today and didn’t want to knacker his teammates? Roglic took a tumble for the second day in a row and the camerawork which tracked his chase to rejoin the bunch was stellar. All done from a moto rather than a helicopter and was about as immersive as you could get. The manoeuvring in and out of team cars always amazes me. The mutual trust is obviously paramount. Leknessund stays in pink for another day, but tomorrow… Tomorrow is a 1st cat finish at the end of a final 50km which all drags uphill. The final climb is sort of split into mini climbs, with a false flat section in the middle and then the steepest gradients at the end, with the final 4.5km at around 8%. I hope it pisses down… If a team or teams decide to absolutely drill it, it could be a brutal couple of hours at the end. The sprinters are currently writing letters to their loved ones asking to be kept in their prayers. Edited to add that Cav crashed again today. Came in 18 minutes down in a little group. Interestingly Ben Healy lost 14 minutes and is now 26 mins down on GC which I think is smart riding. He will have leeway now as I don’t think his job is to support Carthy and so stage hunting should be on the cards, or maybe a challenge for the mountains jersey… Tbh mate I am too busy in work or on my own bike to watch much of it. I'm off to Bedoin again next Friday for a week up and down Ventoux
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Post by Bod on May 12, 2023 20:35:32 GMT
Stage 7.
Breakaway gets a maximum of 12 minutes and everyone is happy. The script is being followed and the main players can hide away, like John Darwin. If ever a day was a cycling ABC day, this was it. The three riders in the lead have never won a pro race. ‘Will they make it? Will the dream become a reality? This could be the day that they become legends’ they cried. The answers were no and no, and no they didn’t, naturally. Blythe on commentary said at 35km to go that the trio would make it. Death. Of. The. Kiss. But wait, this is the Giro and the the peloton decided that doing fuck all was a better bet and came out in solidarity with ASLEF. 40km to go and the peloton is together and the break at 11 minutes. Cav begins to yo-yo off the back a little and his erstwhile team mate Batistella decides that this is the time to take a fistful of lamb kebabs from someone at the roadside. He proceeds to eat some, offer some to Cav (who declined and may have called him a cvnt,) another to someone from Corratec and as the coup de grace, thus guaranteeing himself lots of coverage in future, handed out others to the camera bikes. Chapeau. It was like the good old days of the Giro when they only used to start racing when they saw the TV helicopter overhead and so stages were filled with people eating Italian pastries and kissing babies at the roadside. I guess that is preferable to eating Italian babies and kissing pastries, but hey, live and let live.
The gap doesn’t come down, the bunch don’t care. 4km to go and the leaders have a 6 minute gap. They must have thought all their Christmases had come at once. The stage was just so damn long at 218km that none of the big hitters would commit riders or excess energy and so it turned into a procession to an extent. Davide Bais took the stage after doing over his companions with a burst at 300m to go with the main group still 1km behind. Leknessund keeps the jersey and that was an absolute stinker of a stage. Pleased that the break got it but outside of that and the lamb kebabs it was pure shite.
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Post by Bod on May 13, 2023 9:40:45 GMT
Stage 8 early news is that Ganna is out due to COViD, which is the third (I think) withdrawal for that reason. If this starts to really sweep through the peloton… The TdF lost close to 40 riders to COViD last year and I hope this is not the case in the Giro.
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Post by Bod on May 13, 2023 22:36:20 GMT
Stage 8, lumpy and a hilly circuit in the final 50km.
Healy’s intention to get in the break was so clear that Helen Keller said ‘That was a bit on the nose.’ Fast start, breaks, mini-breaks, riders going out of the back after 5km.Trying to explain how a break forms to a non-cycling friend is a thankless task that would require some ‘Beautiful Mind’ level complexity.
Peloton would not let the four(and then five) man group get away. Dangled them in front for 70km. Fascinating to watch as there were little lulls and then someone else would try to bridge, repeat, repeat, repeat. First hour was 50km/h on hard roads. Break were turning themselves inside out until finally a seven strong ‘Fighting force’ (copyright Carlton Kirby) was assembled and the peloton was happy and stopped for natural breaks. I didn’t see any evidence of anyone having a turn out, but I’m not discounting it. The break grew to 13 (I think) riders and thus the race settled down and I decided it was time for a nap. Most notable feature about the leading group was that two of the riders have brothers in the race and those two brothers have won stages in the Giro this year (Davide Bais yesterday and Aurelien Paret-Peintre on stage four.) I imagine that their families have said ‘Well, your brother has won one and what have you done? Nothing! You should have never have given up the gear.’
Five and half minute lead at 50km to go and then the chase was on as they hit the 3km climb which had a dash of 19% in it! Healy attacks from the break, possibly too strongly as no-one could go with him and he needed company IMO. Back in the peloton INEOS and TJV alternated making the pace to weaken Remco. It didn’t work.
A stage that was so much more interesting than yesterday and the circuit with the climbs in the final 50km made for some decent racing. Healy was so damn strong and I was completely wrong about him needing company. He kept the remnants of the break at bay easily and actually distanced them. Cap doffed. He took the stage, the remnants of the peloton came in almost five minutes minutes later and Healy had actually put time into the main bunch too. Weird moment at 11km to go when the peloton had been riding hard and then Roglic needed a piss and so it was agreed that they would slow down. Bizarre really. If the race is on, the race is on. In the end, Roglic attacked on the final 3km climb and distanced everyone but Thomas and TGH and the three of them descended like fiends and put 14 seconds into Remco and other GC contenders. Was Remco giving it everything in pursuit or saving it for the TT tomorrow? Hard to gauge but Leknessund kept pink by 8 seconds, Remco second on GC and Roglic a further thirty seconds behind Evenepoel.
Healy won’t become a superstar in cycling because he already is one. Not just based on today, but look at his season, his power numbers and his race awareness and he is just bloody good. However, that EF jersey? Damn. It looks like a London marathon charity runner’s vest.
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Post by Bod on May 14, 2023 20:45:22 GMT
Stage 9 - Time trial.
Thomas opened his curtains, saw the deluge and contemplated throwing himself down the stairs to shortcut the inevitable crash that was sure to befall (pardon the pun) him. Well, the joke was on us, as he stayed upright and probably would have won the damn thing if he didn’t take a few of the cobbled corners at a pace so pedestrian that a banner flashed up on the screen to say that there was not an error with the picture, he really was going so slowly. The TJV and SQS teams clearly had their orders ‘Unless your name is Primoz or Remco, you’re riding this at a pace which Miss Daisy would approve of.’ Both teams clearly didn’t want any heroics and loss of team members heading into week two which is understandable and rational but I did feel a little sorry for Hirt and Cerny who must have been muttering under their breath a little.
As time trials go, it was an exciting one as generally they aren’t exactly a great spectacle. The wet weather clearly helped as there was a tentative element to it. Remco made back the time he lost yesterday, won the TT, barely (1 second ahead of Thomas and 2 ahead of TGH) and the stage is set after great performances by Thomas, TGH and Roglic who had a poor start and made back time in the second half. The top five on the stage were separated by 8 seconds, with Roglic in sixth at 17 seconds.
STOP THE PRESSES!!!
Evenepoel is out of the race. Positive COViD test. This worried me the other day as it has a domino effect and Uran also out too.
This puts Thomas in pink by 2 seconds from Roglic, with TGH 3 seconds behind Roglic. INEOS have five riders in the top 13 on GC. They are not five riders who are there by a fluke either, with Sivakov and Arensman GC specialists in their own right. Well, there we are, that was quite the day!
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Post by Bod on May 16, 2023 20:20:50 GMT
Rest day is done and all aboard the Giro train for stage 10. The Giro train is bloody brilliant by the way, what a fantastic idea 👍
More COViD withdrawals, the horrendous weather continues (are arks UCI approved?) and rumours that the stage would be shortened as some teams were unhappy with the conditions. However, other teams gave no shits and there was no rider unity. Thus, De Marchi and Gee (who are powerhouses) said ‘Fuck em’ all’ and formed a two-man break and any ideas that there would be some sort of rider strike were dust. Magnus Cort joined them and a strong trio were away.
Matthews looks like he is going to go all the way to Rome as he’s sprinting for minor points in intermediate sprints, but the wardrobe that is Jonathan Milan is also up for that too, as is Pedersen.
The weather was so bloody bad that riders were wearing the fullest wet weather gear that I’ve ever seen. They were stopping completely to get into more clothes rather than do it on the move which is a real rarity. I feel robbed that Remco wasn’t there as his clothing choices would have been next level. . I enjoy hard racing but I really felt for the riders today. It was a matter of getting over the big climb in the middle unscathed (and It was bloody looong climb at 33km) and upright as that’s where the worst of the weather was located. Unfortunately, it was a long way to get to the climb and a long descent, so it was hours of simply foul conditions.
Bizarre scenes at 53km to go when there was a crash and then one of the race organisers went to help one of the fallen riders, didn’t watch where he was going, got ridden into by Bettiol, who then crashed himself.
If you only watched the final hour or so you’d have no clue what the weather had been like for the majority of the stage as it looked like a totally different race with clearer skies, less wind, etc.
Break held a 2 and a half minute lead for km after km and the bunch just couldn’t close them down. They got to within a minute but Cort took the stage from Gee. Felt a bit for De Marchi as his legs went at the end but he has worked his arse off as all the break did.
Vlasov was a DNF and Vine lost 12 minutes. Cav rode well after being dropped and Astana did a lot of pulling to try and get him position to challenge for the stage, but the break was just too powerful and the main bunch looked leggy after all the chasing and the impact of the weather.
If you left the weather out of the mix, it was a pretty standard breakaway stage, but entertaining enough. Cort has a nose for a break and also knows how to finish first so a bit of a blessing and a curse to be away with him.
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Post by salopstick on May 16, 2023 21:03:35 GMT
And G surprisingly still there
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Post by Bod on May 16, 2023 21:13:07 GMT
And G surprisingly still there Some idiot on the first page of this thread said that his legs had gone for the big tours…
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Post by Bod on May 17, 2023 21:40:50 GMT
Stage 11. 218km. Ouch.
Nothing happened for 150km. A six-man break was away from the gun pretty much, but at least the scenery was good in places. Then in rained a bit and there was a descent…I put down my food and paid attention. Boom! Roglic down but up quickly. For INEOS though, no such luck. G down too but got back on quickly. Sivakov down and lost 14 minutes. However, TGH down and out and in the back of an ambulance with a fractured hip. Given that another 9 riders DNS today, with Soudal QS down to three riders (who must be hoping they get COVID so they can go home) if the dropouts continue at this rate, I predict Simone Velasco as the winner overall 😂
The race was on though and Trek (for Pedersen) and Movistar (for Gaviria) did the pulling as the break disintegrated and one lone rider, Laurens Rex, tried to hold the peloton at bay. He didn’t. Groves was dropped long ago so that was one key sprinter out, with a few other peripheral fast men dropped too. Crash at 1.7km to go meant that a small group contested the sprint and Ackerman took it by a tyre width from Milan with Cav in a creditable third. Milan though? Bloody hell, that guy has some wheels! His sprint was insane. Needs to be seen to be believed. He appeared from nowhere, didn’t follow wheels, criss-crossed (‘Jump, Jump’) the road and finished so quickly, ridiculously so. He wasn’t even in the overhead shot at 150m to go. What happened to Gaviria asked no-one? Well, Movistar worked hard so Gaviria, naturally, crashes at 1.7km to go.
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Post by salopstick on May 17, 2023 22:27:14 GMT
Stage 11. 218km. Ouch. Nothing happened for 150km. A six-man break was away from the gun pretty much, but at least the scenery was good in places. Then in rained a bit and there was a descent…I put down my food and paid attention. Boom! Roglic down but up quickly. For INEOS though, no such luck. G down too but got back on quickly. Sivakov down and lost 14 minutes. However, TGH down and out and in the back of an ambulance with a fractured hip. Given that another 9 riders DNS today, with Soudal QS down to three riders (who must be hoping they get COVID so they can go home) if the dropouts continue at this rate, I predict Simone Velasco as the winner overall 😂 The race was on though and Trek (for Pedersen) and Movistar (for Gaviria) did the pulling as the break disintegrated and one lone rider, Laurens Rex, tried to hold the peloton at bay. He didn’t. Groves was dropped long ago so that was one key sprinter out, with a few other peripheral fast men dropped too. Crash at 1.7km to go meant that a small group contested the sprint and Ackerman took it by a tyre width from Milan with Cav in a creditable third. Milan though? Bloody hell, that guy has some wheels! His sprint was insane. Needs to be seen to be believed. He appeared from nowhere, didn’t follow wheels, criss-crossed (‘Jump, Jump’) the road and finished so quickly, ridiculously so. He wasn’t even in the overhead shot at 150m to go. What happened to Gaviria asked no-one? Well, Movistar worked hard so Gaviria, naturally, crashes at 1.7km to go. G crashes. Now it’s a Grand Tour
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Post by Bod on May 19, 2023 21:35:58 GMT
Stage 13. ‘The Queen stage.*’ *If the queen was decapitated. Stage is now only 75km after safety concerns from riders. Thus, massively shortened, uphill immediately and it was from the gun, baby!! Vacek attacked straight away, snapped his chain and had to stand at the roadside and wait. And wait. Wait. Wait a bit longer. And then wait for a replacement bike because Corratec are so far back in the convoy. Would have been funny if it wasn’t so cruel. Sprinters out the back after 2km, Pedersen has gone home and only 135 riders remain. Kelly on commentary is only 5 minutes into his stint and uses the phrase ‘Big legs’ and I remember once again why I love him. Bais in the mountains jersey is dropped very early and Pinot sees his chance and gets in the break and takes the first climbing points of the day. Descent was arse-tightening viewing. Wet, poor surface, nerves galore. A day for the break and the GC saw no upheaval and raced conservatively and controlled by INEOS. Carthy had a few digs but nothing of real note happened in the overall standings really. The break was an OK one, but started to get fractious at 15km to go which seemed very very early but it did give the opportunity to see a cornucopia of hand gestures and posturing and lack of cooperation. Pinot decides that enough was enough, the break implodes and Pinot, Rubio and Cepeda then get away. ‘Hilariously’ they then started pissing and moaning at each other about not working. Pinot is comfortably the strongest at this point, 10km to go, but he seems to have switched off his brain. Pinot makes the big efforts, Cepeda grinds away. Pinot attacked countless times until Cepeda bided his time and went for it with 5km to go. Pinot was talking absolute smack to him as he attacked, a full on mouthful but Pinot couldn’t match him. Pinot then becomes the grinder and catches Cepeda. Rubio, is a limpet, doesn’t do a turn and mugs Pinot and Cepeda for the stage in the final 300m Shithousery? A tad perhaps. Funny? Bloody side-splitting. Pinot is in the mountains jersey though so I’m sure that is consolation for him riding like a complete amateur. It was embarrassing seeing him lose his composure and not trust his legs.
Fun stage within the break but the GC battle was conservative and dull until 2km to go and even then it just sort of fizzled out.
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Post by salopstick on May 20, 2023 19:50:53 GMT
Stage 13. ‘The Queen stage.*’ *If the queen was decapitated. Stage is now only 75km after safety concerns from riders. Thus, massively shortened, uphill immediately and it was from the gun, baby!! Vacek attacked straight away, snapped his chain and had to stand at the roadside and wait. And wait. Wait. Wait a bit longer. And then wait for a replacement bike because Corratec are so far back in the convoy. Would have been funny if it wasn’t so cruel. Sprinters out the back after 2km, Pedersen has gone home and only 135 riders remain. Kelly on commentary is only 5 minutes into his stint and uses the phrase ‘Big legs’ and I remember once again why I love him. Bais in the mountains jersey is dropped very early and Pinot sees his chance and gets in the break and takes the first climbing points of the day. Descent was arse-tightening viewing. Wet, poor surface, nerves galore. A day for the break and the GC saw no upheaval and raced conservatively and controlled by INEOS. Carthy had a few digs but nothing of real note happened in the overall standings really. The break was an OK one, but started to get fractious at 15km to go which seemed very very early but it did give the opportunity to see a cornucopia of hand gestures and posturing and lack of cooperation. Pinot decides that enough was enough, the break implodes and Pinot, Rubio and Cepeda then get away. ‘Hilariously’ they then started pissing and moaning at each other about not working. Pinot is comfortably the strongest at this point, 10km to go, but he seems to have switched off his brain. Pinot makes the big efforts, Cepeda grinds away. Pinot attacked countless times until Cepeda bided his time and went for it with 5km to go. Pinot was talking absolute smack to him as he attacked, a full on mouthful but Pinot couldn’t match him. Pinot then becomes the grinder and catches Cepeda. Rubio, is a limpet, doesn’t do a turn and mugs Pinot and Cepeda for the stage in the final 300m Shithousery? A tad perhaps. Funny? Bloody side-splitting. Pinot is in the mountains jersey though so I’m sure that is consolation for him riding like a complete amateur. It was embarrassing seeing him lose his composure and not trust his legs. Fun stage within the break but the GC battle was conservative and dull until 2km to go and even then it just sort of fizzled out. On a day on which sunshine arrives in Shropshire I arrive in Bedoin. Fucking pissing it down. Managed an up and down of the Bedoin ventoux climb and knocked 2 minutes off my PB. Fucking freezing
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Post by Bod on May 21, 2023 22:22:20 GMT
Stage 15.
On what could have been an interesting course in GC teams if it came nearer the end of the race, it was a day for the break as the GC had another day where they did as little as possible. In GC terms this is a close race but exceptionally dull. The breakaway has some horses it, the most notable being Healy, McNulty, Skuijns, Mollema, Rubio, Albanese and Frigo. Healy was probably the strongest, taking a host of mountain points and now sits 4th in that competition. It’s clear that Rubio and Bais fancy it too and Rubio and Healy had a little elbow exchange sprinting for some mountain points which was slightly odd. Pinot had done himself over for the mountains prize as he no longer has the time deficit on GC so he is going to be restricted in opportunities to get in a decent break, similar for Rubio. Both probably hoping for top 10 overall. Healy, and Bais should be the contenders at the end of the race unless some GC guys go summit crazy*
*Erm, nope.
Healy blew the break apart on the penultimate little circuit but possibly used too much energy and was caught by McNulty (who Healy couldn’t drop) and Frigo (who they both dropped.) However, Frigo descended like a fiend and caught them in the final km, opened the sprint early and looked like he might take it. Healy responded and McNulty sat and sat and then rounded them both for the win. No changes in GC of note and a rest day tom. Hoping for an exciting final week but may come down to just two days where it is competitive.
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Post by Bod on May 21, 2023 22:34:46 GMT
Stage 13. ‘The Queen stage.*’ *If the queen was decapitated. Stage is now only 75km after safety concerns from riders. Thus, massively shortened, uphill immediately and it was from the gun, baby!! Vacek attacked straight away, snapped his chain and had to stand at the roadside and wait. And wait. Wait. Wait a bit longer. And then wait for a replacement bike because Corratec are so far back in the convoy. Would have been funny if it wasn’t so cruel. Sprinters out the back after 2km, Pedersen has gone home and only 135 riders remain. Kelly on commentary is only 5 minutes into his stint and uses the phrase ‘Big legs’ and I remember once again why I love him. Bais in the mountains jersey is dropped very early and Pinot sees his chance and gets in the break and takes the first climbing points of the day. Descent was arse-tightening viewing. Wet, poor surface, nerves galore. A day for the break and the GC saw no upheaval and raced conservatively and controlled by INEOS. Carthy had a few digs but nothing of real note happened in the overall standings really. The break was an OK one, but started to get fractious at 15km to go which seemed very very early but it did give the opportunity to see a cornucopia of hand gestures and posturing and lack of cooperation. Pinot decides that enough was enough, the break implodes and Pinot, Rubio and Cepeda then get away. ‘Hilariously’ they then started pissing and moaning at each other about not working. Pinot is comfortably the strongest at this point, 10km to go, but he seems to have switched off his brain. Pinot makes the big efforts, Cepeda grinds away. Pinot attacked countless times until Cepeda bided his time and went for it with 5km to go. Pinot was talking absolute smack to him as he attacked, a full on mouthful but Pinot couldn’t match him. Pinot then becomes the grinder and catches Cepeda. Rubio, is a limpet, doesn’t do a turn and mugs Pinot and Cepeda for the stage in the final 300m Shithousery? A tad perhaps. Funny? Bloody side-splitting. Pinot is in the mountains jersey though so I’m sure that is consolation for him riding like a complete amateur. It was embarrassing seeing him lose his composure and not trust his legs. Fun stage within the break but the GC battle was conservative and dull until 2km to go and even then it just sort of fizzled out. On a day on which sunshine arrives in Shropshire I arrive in Bedoin. Fucking pissing it down. Managed an up and down of the Bedoin ventoux climb and knocked 2 minutes off my PB. Fucking freezing You’ve done more in one day than Froome has done in years… (Just for clarity, I’m a big Froome fan.)
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Post by salopstick on May 22, 2023 5:04:33 GMT
On a day on which sunshine arrives in Shropshire I arrive in Bedoin. Fucking pissing it down. Managed an up and down of the Bedoin ventoux climb and knocked 2 minutes off my PB. Fucking freezing You’ve done more in one day than Froome has done in years… (Just for clarity, I’m a big Froome fan.) The weather has seriously affected our trip. Drove to gap yesterday to tackle the Col Du Noyer. But ventoux is my love 2018 I did cingles the three different ascents 2019 failed bicingles only completed 5 ascents 2022 I did bicingles the three different ascents twice Tomorrow I attempt Galerien cingles plus the forest ascent. I’m 85kg and hate climbing. www.clubcinglesventoux.org/
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Post by str8outtahampton on May 22, 2023 8:56:05 GMT
Stage 13. ‘The Queen stage.*’ *If the queen was decapitated. Stage is now only 75km after safety concerns from riders. Thus, massively shortened, uphill immediately and it was from the gun, baby!! Vacek attacked straight away, snapped his chain and had to stand at the roadside and wait. And wait. Wait. Wait a bit longer. And then wait for a replacement bike because Corratec are so far back in the convoy. Would have been funny if it wasn’t so cruel. Sprinters out the back after 2km, Pedersen has gone home and only 135 riders remain. Kelly on commentary is only 5 minutes into his stint and uses the phrase ‘Big legs’ and I remember once again why I love him. Bais in the mountains jersey is dropped very early and Pinot sees his chance and gets in the break and takes the first climbing points of the day. Descent was arse-tightening viewing. Wet, poor surface, nerves galore. A day for the break and the GC saw no upheaval and raced conservatively and controlled by INEOS. Carthy had a few digs but nothing of real note happened in the overall standings really. The break was an OK one, but started to get fractious at 15km to go which seemed very very early but it did give the opportunity to see a cornucopia of hand gestures and posturing and lack of cooperation. Pinot decides that enough was enough, the break implodes and Pinot, Rubio and Cepeda then get away. ‘Hilariously’ they then started pissing and moaning at each other about not working. Pinot is comfortably the strongest at this point, 10km to go, but he seems to have switched off his brain. Pinot makes the big efforts, Cepeda grinds away. Pinot attacked countless times until Cepeda bided his time and went for it with 5km to go. Pinot was talking absolute smack to him as he attacked, a full on mouthful but Pinot couldn’t match him. Pinot then becomes the grinder and catches Cepeda. Rubio, is a limpet, doesn’t do a turn and mugs Pinot and Cepeda for the stage in the final 300m Shithousery? A tad perhaps. Funny? Bloody side-splitting. Pinot is in the mountains jersey though so I’m sure that is consolation for him riding like a complete amateur. It was embarrassing seeing him lose his composure and not trust his legs. Fun stage within the break but the GC battle was conservative and dull until 2km to go and even then it just sort of fizzled out. On a day on which sunshine arrives in Shropshire I arrive in Bedoin. Fucking pissing it down. Managed an up and down of the Bedoin ventoux climb and knocked 2 minutes off my PB. Fucking freezing Blimey, amazing. I joined a local cycling club the other day and did a "gentle" introductory ride on Saturday. For you it would have been barely a warm-up. About 20 miles and largely flat. But the pace (I would guess 12/13 mph on average) was a real stretch for me. I almost needed oxygen by the end. The coffee afterwards (with the very friendly and supportive group) was comfortably the most enjoyable bit. Pease tell me it gets easier.
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Post by Bod on May 22, 2023 16:13:13 GMT
On a day on which sunshine arrives in Shropshire I arrive in Bedoin. Fucking pissing it down. Managed an up and down of the Bedoin ventoux climb and knocked 2 minutes off my PB. Fucking freezing Blimey, amazing. I joined a local cycling club the other day and did a "gentle" introductory ride on Saturday. For you it would have been barely a warm-up. About 20 miles and largely flat. But the pace (I would guess 12/13 mph on average) was a real stretch for me. I almost needed oxygen by the end. The coffee afterwards (with the very friendly and supportive group) was comfortably the most enjoyable bit. Pease tell me it gets easier. Fantastic mate. Yes, it gets easier but then you want to get quicker so it hurts in a different way but the freedom of being out on a bike in summer for hours is worth it. Stick with it 👍
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Post by salopstick on May 22, 2023 16:31:38 GMT
On a day on which sunshine arrives in Shropshire I arrive in Bedoin. Fucking pissing it down. Managed an up and down of the Bedoin ventoux climb and knocked 2 minutes off my PB. Fucking freezing Blimey, amazing. I joined a local cycling club the other day and did a "gentle" introductory ride on Saturday. For you it would have been barely a warm-up. About 20 miles and largely flat. But the pace (I would guess 12/13 mph on average) was a real stretch for me. I almost needed oxygen by the end. The coffee afterwards (with the very friendly and supportive group) was comfortably the most enjoyable bit. Pease tell me it gets easier. Well done pal. It doesn’t get easier you just get faster
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Post by stokeuk474 on May 23, 2023 8:25:13 GMT
A word for Cav.
A quite remarkable sprinter, glittering career and a fantastic man. His palmares really is quite something. It'll be a while until there is another rider of his ilk, able to match those achievements. I suppose the new breed of rider that is most similar is like Van Aert or MVDP, but they aren't pure sprinters and simply won't win the amount of sprints Cav did.
He mentioned in his presser, this years Tour will be his last too so sounds like he's had the nod to do the Tour as well? Would love to see him win one last stage. He's done amazingly just to hang on in this Giro with lots of climbing and horrendous weather to contend with.
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Post by Bod on May 23, 2023 20:53:30 GMT
A word for Cav. A quite remarkable sprinter, glittering career and a fantastic man. His palmares really is quite something. It'll be a while until there is another rider of his ilk, able to match those achievements. I suppose the new breed of rider that is most similar is like Van Aert or MVDP, but they aren't pure sprinters and simply won't win the amount of sprints Cav did. He mentioned in his presser, this years Tour will be his last too so sounds like he's had the nod to do the Tour as well? Would love to see him win one last stage. He's done amazingly just to hang on in this Giro with lots of climbing and horrendous weather to contend with. Unfortunately, to win one he’s going to have to beat WVA (if he contests them,) Philipsen, Groenewegen, Demare, Jakobsen, Bennett, Pedersen, etc. Even if there are reduced sprints due to crashes and other external factors I don’t think he quite has the speed or the double kick anymore. He has the race craft though which is what I’m holding out hope for.
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Post by Bod on May 23, 2023 21:04:19 GMT
Stage 16.
Ahoy there, them be big mountains in the distance captain.
Big mountains, much climbing, weeping sprinters.
Today was a good day of racing. A ridiculous amount of elevation gain but GC guys on fresh legs made it a proper race. The break (with Healy in it yet again) was never given anywhere near enough time (hovering at three minutes) as the GC contenders had their race heads on today. The break was reeled in comfortably on the last climb and probably the most notable features of it were both Paret-Peintre brothers being in it and Healy being worked over by riders from Green Project-Bardiani for mountain points for no other reason than to fuck with him and get a tiny bit of TV exposure.
The GC group had the usual suspects, TJV did the drilling and then UAE and suddenly Caruso went backwards, as did Kamna and Carthy and the pink jersey was out the back too. Up front it was Almeida who made his move, Thomas followed and Roglic couldn’t hold the wheels which surprised me given how much work his team had done. Unless it was some type of double-bluff? Almeida was revelation here as he is usually (not always) a follower but he committed completely and just took it on the line from Thomas. Roglic limited his losses pretty well thanks to some monumental pulling by Kuss, and Dunbar came in with Roglic for fourth. GC battle is on now, with G in pink by 18 seconds from Almeida and Roglic at 29 seconds. A flat day tomorrow but set up well for Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
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Post by salopstick on May 24, 2023 3:36:15 GMT
Stage 16. Ahoy there, them be big mountains in the distance captain. Big mountains, much climbing, weeping sprinters. Today was a good day of racing. A ridiculous amount of elevation gain but GC guys on fresh legs made it a proper race. The break (with Healy in it yet again) was never given anywhere near enough time (hovering at three minutes) as the GC contenders had their race heads on today. The break was reeled in comfortably on the last climb and probably the most notable features of it were both Paret-Peintre brothers being in it and Healy being worked over by riders from Green Project-Bardiani for mountain points for no other reason than to fuck with him and get a tiny bit of TV exposure. The GC group had the usual suspects, TJV did the drilling and then UAE and suddenly Caruso went backwards, as did Kamna and Carthy and the pink jersey was out the back too. Up front it was Almeida who made his move, Thomas followed and Roglic couldn’t hold the wheels which surprised me given how much work his team had done. Unless it was some type of double-bluff? Almeida was revelation here as he is usually (not always) a follower but he committed completely and just took it on the line from Thomas. Roglic limited his losses pretty well thanks to some monumental pulling by Kuss, and Dunbar came in with Roglic for fourth. GC battle is on now, with G in pink by 18 seconds from Almeida and Roglic at 29 seconds. A flat day tomorrow but set up well for Thursday, Friday and Saturday. G should be able to hold that now. I never want to see a bike again. Up the ventoux from Bedoin for about 5 miles then turn off the mountain continuously ascending through the forest for about 7 miles and you rejoin the road 4 miles short of the summit on the Malaucene road. Tough. That was straight after three ascents from Bedoin Malaucene and Sault. A 115 mile 20,000 ft day
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Post by Bod on May 24, 2023 21:38:50 GMT
Stage 16. Ahoy there, them be big mountains in the distance captain. Big mountains, much climbing, weeping sprinters. Today was a good day of racing. A ridiculous amount of elevation gain but GC guys on fresh legs made it a proper race. The break (with Healy in it yet again) was never given anywhere near enough time (hovering at three minutes) as the GC contenders had their race heads on today. The break was reeled in comfortably on the last climb and probably the most notable features of it were both Paret-Peintre brothers being in it and Healy being worked over by riders from Green Project-Bardiani for mountain points for no other reason than to fuck with him and get a tiny bit of TV exposure. The GC group had the usual suspects, TJV did the drilling and then UAE and suddenly Caruso went backwards, as did Kamna and Carthy and the pink jersey was out the back too. Up front it was Almeida who made his move, Thomas followed and Roglic couldn’t hold the wheels which surprised me given how much work his team had done. Unless it was some type of double-bluff? Almeida was revelation here as he is usually (not always) a follower but he committed completely and just took it on the line from Thomas. Roglic limited his losses pretty well thanks to some monumental pulling by Kuss, and Dunbar came in with Roglic for fourth. GC battle is on now, with G in pink by 18 seconds from Almeida and Roglic at 29 seconds. A flat day tomorrow but set up well for Thursday, Friday and Saturday. G should be able to hold that now. I never want to see a bike again. Up the ventoux from Bedoin for about 5 miles then turn off the mountain continuously ascending through the forest for about 7 miles and you rejoin the road 4 miles short of the summit on the Malaucene road. Tough. That was straight after three ascents from Bedoin Malaucene and Sault. A 115 mile 20,000 ft day Yes, that’s all well and good but when are you going to put some real miles in? Top effort there mate, very impressive.
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Post by Bod on May 24, 2023 21:50:20 GMT
Stage 17.
If ever a stage was played out exactly on the road as it looked on paper, it was this one. A breakaway went away very early and on this pancake flat/descending course there was only ever going to be one outcome. The final rider from the break was away for 192km of the 197km stage and at no point was there even the vaguest bit of intrigue as to whether it would be anything other than a bunch sprint. It was 4 hours 26 minutes of nothing and then 39 seconds of action at the end. If it was a film, it would have been Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. The break was never given a lead of over 2 mins 25 which is a cruel, cruel way to spend the day for them. Like a cat pawing at a mouse, with one eye open as it does so, before becoming bored and then removing its throat, that was the stage today. It was so futile that even the ghost of Private Frazer refused to label it as doomed.
The sprint was actually a really good one though. Matthews opened it up very early and was in a great position coming out of the final corner as was Dainese. It looked like Matthews would just hold on but he faded very slightly and Milan, looming from a long way back again finished the quickest. Alas, not quite quickly enough though as Dainese, who has had a real kicking in the race so far on a lot of stages nipped on the barrier side and took it by a tyre from Milan, with Matthews in third. DSM did a great job of piloting Dainese to 700m or so, so it was just reward for them. Cav was well placed until around 1200m and then just lost his place and sat up.
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Post by str8outtahampton on May 24, 2023 22:59:09 GMT
Stage 17. If ever a stage was played out exactly on the road as it looked on paper, it was this one. A breakaway went away very early and on this pancake flat/descending course there was only ever going to be one outcome. The final rider from the break was away for 192km of the 197km stage and at no point was there even the vaguest bit of intrigue as to whether it would be anything other than a bunch sprint. It was 4 hours 26 minutes of nothing and then 39 seconds of action at the end. If it was a film, it would have been Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. The break was never given a lead of over 2 mins 25 which is a cruel, cruel way to spend the day for them. Like a cat pawing at a mouse, with one eye open as it does so, before becoming bored and then removing its throat, that was the stage today. It was so futile that even the ghost of Private Frazer refused to label it as doomed. The sprint was actually a really good one though. Matthews opened it up very early and was in a great position coming out of the final corner as was Dainese. It looked like Matthews would just hold on but he faded very slightly and Milan, looming from a long way back again finished the quickest. Alas, not quite quickly enough though as Dainese, who has had a real kicking in the race so far on a lot of stages nipped on the barrier side and took it by a tyre from Milan, with Matthews in third. DSM did a great job of piloting Dainese to 700m or so, so it was just reward for them. Cav was well placed until around 1200m and then just lost his place and sat up. I think you missed your vocation. Lovely turn of phrase. Or perhaps you didn't, and you are in fact a cycling journo. As for me, I did a slightly longer ride this evening. Still painful, but perhaps slightly less so than the other day. And a drink at the end. However, the real "win" was that I was called a cnut by some nincompoop boy racer - BMW I think. For making a right turn on a narrow road - the shame! Simply for raising the poor wretch's BP, I feel I have arrived.
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Post by salopstick on May 25, 2023 22:04:52 GMT
G should be able to hold that now. I never want to see a bike again. Up the ventoux from Bedoin for about 5 miles then turn off the mountain continuously ascending through the forest for about 7 miles and you rejoin the road 4 miles short of the summit on the Malaucene road. Tough. That was straight after three ascents from Bedoin Malaucene and Sault. A 115 mile 20,000 ft day Yes, that’s all well and good but when are you going to put some real miles in? Top effort there mate, very impressive. Cheers pal. I hate climbing I’m shit at it. But I enjoy suffering. Couple of days left to get a few more ascents in before three massive sportives in June July and august are just ride and enjoy it months
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Post by Bod on May 25, 2023 22:41:09 GMT
Stage 18.
A bit of a crazy first hour all leading into a second half stuffed with climbing. The inevitable breakaway goes and Pinot is in it along with hardcore break specialists of this race like Gee, Paret-Peintre (A) and Frigo. If I had been in the break I think the temptation to tell Pinot to fuck off would have been high. He was a (sort of/but not really) GC contender and so getting 10-12 minutes for the attackers was never going to happen. Pinot wanted the mountains points which he duly took and now has a decent lead over Healy in that classification, but my point stands. I did have a wry smile when he and Zana stayed away and Zana did him over for the stage win though. Never change Thibaut! Meanwhile, Gee has shown that riding for IPT is not necessarily the equivalent of playing in the Chinese Super League. He seemingly has no fear whatsoever and given his engine in breaks, he could be a very useful teammate for a lot of squads.
In main bunch, it was thinned down by a metronomic INEOS pace until fewer than 10 riders remained. At 8km to go I wrote on a piece of paper ‘Roglic is toast/mega bluff???.’ It turns out that it was bluff and Kuss upped the pace and we ended up with a group of Kuss, Roglic, Almeida, Dunbar and Thomas. Roglic then attacked at 6.5km remaining and only Thomas can go with him. The pattern for the next 5km was Almeida and Dunbar trying to get back, with Vine for UAE doing monumental work and they got to 10 metres behind the front two before Roglic and Thomas accelerated again. In the end, Almeida lost 20 seconds to Thomas and Roglic, Dunbar dropped 26 seconds and Caruso a minute.
Big mountain day tomorrow. Big. GC has Thomas, Roglic at 29 secs, Almeida at 39 secs and Dunbar at 3 mins 39 secs. If you are Caruso, Kamna, and Dunbar, tomorrow is the day if you have the legs. The top two look out of reach but a podium spot is in the balance. I’m intrigued by what Roglic has in the tank. Thomas should beat him in the very hard mountain TT, so can he be softened up tomorrow somehow? I just hope it doesn’t end up as a damp squib as is often the case. I wonder if Buitrago can get in a break tomorrow? My head says no, but my fantasy team says ‘Yes please.’
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Post by Bod on May 25, 2023 22:54:17 GMT
Yes, that’s all well and good but when are you going to put some real miles in? Top effort there mate, very impressive. Cheers pal. I hate climbing I’m shit at it. But I enjoy suffering. Couple of days left to get a few more ascents in before three massive sportives in June July and august are just ride and enjoy it months I doubt that you are Pantani or Contador but you most definitely aren’t a shit climber. You’re eating up miles and vertical metres like a boss. Maximum respect.
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