wow that's a royal cluterf***

Porte just can't catch a break. It's over for him...you could tell how he was rolling to the line that seconds no longer matter for him.

Eta: just caught up a little further on my dvr and noticed Aru gained 36 seconds and the jersey on Contador. Crazy. Cluster fuck indeed

At least Porte has a nice bike...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56uusN5QCa0

the commentator of ther german eurosport just mentioned that Porte was back in the pool (he was a swimmer before starting cycling) this winter doing 25k per week.

So I guess if pro cycling isn't working out for him he can always switch to triathlon /s

He talks about it in this article, from March after he won Paris-nice.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/...ortes-return-to-form

Also won the Aussie national TT champs after an off-season full of swimming.

He was a triathlete before turning to pro cycling.

With the rain today and being a swimmer you might think would be doing better but he is currently being killed in the ITT.

He might want to go back to swimming after that one.

I can't think of a more brutal TT. Wet, long, climb near end and technical. You know it's nasty when they're coming in at ~45kph.

Anyhow, baring more bad luck for Contador, this one's over. He looks resolved and Aru looks beaten. I wouldn't be surprised for AC to put it on everyone tomorrow as an exclamation point.

Likely true about tomorrow. Contador is in great form and back to time trialing like he was a few years ago. Aru did about what was expected but over the last few days he seems to be weakening.

Wow I was expecting porte and uran to get some time today. Barring any crashes or surprises, looks like AC can just cover any attacks and ease off or turn it to a training race for the TdF. I do hope he pulls off the double, and why not the vuelta too then he can retire.

Wouldn't be surprised to see Porte drop out in order to be full strength for TdF. Not much to be gained in Giro after Sky grabbed stage today.

It is a nice bike but I could swear he kept shifting from the pursuits rather than the aeros. I wonder what that was about.

Three grand tours is pretty tough to pull of even as a domestique when you don't have to be on everyday. To win all three in the same year would be insane, even if you were lucky enough to avoid the pitfalls of crashing, illness, flats, etc. I agree that fitness wise, it looks like AC has got this one in the bag, but we'll see how those legs transfer over to the TdF where his main competition (Froome, Quintana, etc) are specifically targeting that race with their training and recovery right now. If he does pull off the Giro/TdF double, he would still hold all three GT titles at the same time as he won the Vuelta last year. Sort of like the Contador Slam to Wood's "Tiger Slam" in 2000. If AC pulls that off, it would be an excellent way to ride out into retirement...rather than risk a poor showing at the Vuelta because he's human. Or I suppose if he did win all three GTs in one year, his legacy might be "tainted" even more as most would assume he's back on the beef. Sad that we would come to conclusions that way without a shred of proof, but it is what it is.

I'm not really a Contador fan, but I can at least admire his tenacity in grand tours.

so does Koenig now get to live in the motor home now?

I'm not really an Astana fan and nor is Contador my favourite rider. But with such a strong Team shouldn't Astana race more cleverly. They could attack before the second climb and then Contador had to do lot's of work. But no, they just keep the pace up (what isn't really painfull for Contador). Couldn't they drain Contador more during the short transition before the final climb. I know that sounds easier than it is, but still better to try than watch a fresh Contador destroying the whole bunch at will.

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10k - 30:48 / half - 1:06:40

I've just watched the stage and all I can think is -

Does NO ONE want 3rd? Porte, Uran etc. can't be bothered it seems! Surely 3rd is still worth playing for, it's a major tour!

It looks like Porte has just given up, and that is a big mistake. He will be looking for a new contract, maybe his last contract, in August. A top five after his problems would increase his value. As it is now he looks mentally weak when things don't go his way.

Uran does not look like he came into this Giro in top form.

Didn't Contador have most of his team before the 2nd climb? He just needed to mark Aru so not easy to make him work on the flat sections.

During the flat section before the final climb, I just saw a train of Astana riders, Contador and a few other guys but no other fellow Saxo. The Astana train just kept the pace up. Now, what when the second fastest Astana rider (in the GC) just went ahead? Contador had to chase him down and lose energy, or he would sit with Aru and lose time.

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10k - 30:48 / half - 1:06:40

I was referring to the 2nd of 3 climbs. Before the final climb all Contador needed to do was mark Aru. It wouldn't make sense for Aru, who was ahead of Landa to sit back and let him take time out of Contador and himself. Contador chased down Landa because he was feeling good and wanted to distance himself from Aru.

Personally, I think Contador told Landa to go for it near the end of the climb. I think he wanted Astana to get something after all the work they did.

Looked like he was glad to let Landa (also Spanish) take it but was not going to let Aru win. Also appeared that AC had Aru on ropes a couple times and it was surprising he didn't push on.

I think he only wanted to put out that effort if he could also go on to win the stage, but each time he was marked by Landa.

Agreed it was surprising, but really not necessary either. If his goal is to do The Double, he'll need to contain his normally aggressive riding style and just mark Aru for the remainder of the Giro. There is zero need for him to punch it right now.....especially since the TdF has Quintana written all over it. He is gonna need every bit of energy he can preserve.

That said, it is time to stick a fork in the idea of Porte being a GC contender.....he simply doesn't have the constitution / recovery capabilities for 3 weeks of racing at the front.

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good point. what do they have to lose? Put Landa in the early break and make it interesting


both of you make good points re: 3rd place, though Uran is still hurting from the infection. I never really like Porte, and now he's just showing himself to be even less likable.

Saxo would just ride tempo to keep break in check, like they did today. Tuesday's stage could be the one that's worth rolling the dice on something like that as it could be difficult for any team to control.

But, part of the other tactic is that if Landa goes up the road then at some point AC will throttle it. If Aru is not good then he could snap and lose loads of time. That keeps AC in check, so to speak.