No....still not happening for me.

Go party with Luca Paolini for a while then try again.

On the brighter side at least Yates easily passed my "Panzerwagen test"

if he were racing in Spain, he'd have gotten a 2-minute penalty (or possibly DQ'ed). But as he wears il tricolore on the road...

Yes. I would definitely like to see the footage of Aru drafting, because that should really be on the race organisers for not having this happen. The racer can pick whatever line he wants on the road. It's on the person on the MC to get as far in front as to not cause drafting to occur, not on the racer to avoid the line of the MC. I could perhaps see the problem if the MC continues to change line to try and not have Aru get draft, but Aru keeps changing lines to get draft. I can then see it's bad faith on Aru, but I would still say it's ultimately the MC at fault because it should just get further out in front. And if for some reason the MC can't do that then something is wrong with the route, barriers, organisation, or the like.

When this happens it's really a lose/lose situation, because I think the organisers know that it's relly their fault, but the blowback from other riders and the media/fan probably requires them to give him some kind of penalty.

I have tried in TT's that you get to a faster section (e.g. tailwind or down a hill) and the MC is asleep at the wheel and I almost catch the MC around a faster bend. I sure as hell am not hitting my brakes to avoid either catching the MC or to ride a slower line to avoid getting up behind it. So you can either choose to get illegal draft or hit the brakes and stay legal, but lose time due to a fault on the MC/organiser. No good option and when I have been in those situations I get quite annoyed, especially becuase I then wonder how many times this happens for the other competitors and how this might skew the result.

Now for Ulissi and Conti, no excuse for that. That's just bad form and I wouldn't mind them getting thrown all the way to the back in the results for the TT.

Loved Paolini. Not a good way to exit, though. I was very impressed that he could party like that in the middle of a tour. I was thinking he should have been given points or something. But then it turns out he brought the marching powder to the start line. At that point, not recreational.

I think you're right. The ethic seems to be, get away with what you can get away with. Carlton Kirby just said, "Aru is moving to the fore. There must be a motorbike up there or something. "

Can anyone else weigh in on this? The TT pros all had their arm pads raised up substantially higher than I usually see, especially compared to a triathlete's.

Sky is harshing my mellow again with Pouls in the break. I want Ben Hermans to get a stage win.

Interesting to get first-hand perspective, thanks for sharing.

Let the madness begin. Tomorrow's stage is pretty mellow for the first 175k or so, but ends with a 13 km climb averaging 7.2%. Coming off the rest day and the TT, which some guys may have sandbagged, there may be quite a few guys feeling fresh. It will be interesting to see who is allowed into the break and how big that group is.

My guess is that the break gets a long leash and stays away. Unless Froome is feeling good and sends Sky to the front early on the climb, I think all the GC guys will be too fresh to create any time gaps. They'll also be weary of burning matches unnecessarily leading into tomorrow's stage especially if all the time bonuses are taken up.

I loved the fake crash by the CCC rider at the Tour of Norway (inside the last 3K so he could get the same time as the field)

(He's the last guy to "lay down", right in the middle away from everyone else.)

LOL. Not only does he look like an idiot faking a crash. He also looks like an idiot for not understanding how the 3 km rule really works.

Maybe he was watching replays of the UEFA Champion's league for FIFA World cup qualifying and took a page out of the soccer player book!!!

I'm calling my shot now, Froome is about to blow this thing apart. Yates will crack in the next couple of days and the Sky train will be in position to pick up the pieces with Froome delivering the knockout attack and winning the Giro. I'm not a Froome fan by any means, but I think there's a reason he stuck this thing out to this point. Think Stage 10 in the 2015 TDF....something like that awaits.

Can you enlighten me? I always thought if you were in the main pack inside the last 3km then everybody got given the same time even if you had a crash or the pack split.

Or rather, there’s a stipulation in his contract stating that he’d get nothing iF he abandones due to issues other than injury and illness

SO cynical. I like it.

My boy Maxie Schachmann is in the break and Aru is not. Emirates called for more moto traffic and didn't get it.
Break has 13 minutes. I think it sticks and there's a GC war behind on the climb.

Where's that block button again?

Break has this one. Makes for better viewing, like watching two races

Well that was interesting!

Edit: And, man, what a year Quick-Step is having. Win after win after win.

Giro delivers again; as does QS
next two days will be fun

Yates showed weakness today......what happens tomorrow??

the other twin shows up

Shots of Jack Daniel's?

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"Human existence is based upon two pillars: Compassion and knowledge. Compassion without knowledge is ineffective; Knowledge without compassion is inhuman." Victor Weisskopf.

I predict he'll hang on.

Gotta love Pozzovivo. Not the most exciting rider, but fun to pull for the little guy (both metaphorically and literally). I hope he holds off Froome.

Pinot is now officially "disappointing".