TD is a big winner here. Yates is spooky fresh.

TD is a big winner here. Yates is spooky fresh.

In any case, 1985 got me hooked on the Giro. Since then, that's the part of year that I really get into my cycling overdose....this year the final week of Giro coincides with the Champion's league finals. I will be completely useless on the weekend of May 26/27!!!!

My fantasy team is big winner again! 1-2-3 on finish and GC.

Good bye asthma boy

indeed

Pinot kept burning matches in the last km. I bet he'd have given Yates a run for the latter's money had he taken a few more chill pills.

I think Yates will ship ~2:00-2:30 to Dumoulin in the time trial. What would hamper Dumoulin is the cumulative fatigue from the few days before, so if they really put him under pressure, he may not recover in time to really put the hurt on the willowy climbers. Were the TT scheduled for this week or early next week, he'd have extracted more.

This is shaping up to be an intriguing battle. Orica's team advantage may very well give them the title when Dumoulin burns one too many matches following attacks.




Champion's League? what sort of effete European BS is that? ;)

Jest aside, I hope the Scousers sock one on Madrid; and if Ramos gets a literal socking, that wouldn't be half bad either. I do wonder for whom Xabi Alonso will be cheering? He's seems to be a bigger Scousers at heart, and admittedly, that final in Istanbul was nothing short of magical. Rafa most certainly would cheer for Liverpool.

So what's the odds of Froome packing in his Giro training camp middle of next week, and getting back on the regular plan, showing up at the Dauphine and then the TdF in A form?

great...wonder what your world ranking is now..i got 2-3...........really messed up not taking Yates, I'd be giving you a run for it

TD didn’t necessarily follow every attack last year and conceded little bits of time here and there. When he stays steady—which he does as well or better than any GC guys there— it could almost be in energy conservation mode.

Sort of looks like he’s holding back a bit or might not be on same form at Yates, Pinot and Chavez yet, saving for 3rd week.

TD is sitting pretty, the ITT is 34.2 long, which means Yates will lose about 2 to 2.5 minutes.
There are only 4 montain stages left after today.
F

TD is not in the danger zone yet, but those times bonuses, at some point, start to add up to real time.

Plus, as noted, Yates and Chaves look scary. You get the feeling they haven't thrown their haymaker yet. At some point you have to think they're going to go all-in to isolate TD with Yates and Chaves and just start tag-teaming him. And I have to think there'll be no agenda between those two. If Chaves gets up the road, Yates will absolutely sit on TD and let Chaves win GC if that's what it takes.

I was actually a bit surprised that they didn't really try anything today (other then the last 500 meters).
Was todays climb to easy to really try a serious attack?

+1 on both points. Those pesky time bonuses might end up what does Dumoulin in. Time bonuses really don't favor the diesel types.

And I would love to see Chaves and Yates work over TD

+1 on both points. Those pesky time bonuses might end up what does Dumoulin in. Time bonuses really don't favor the diesel types.

And I would love to see Chaves and Yates work over TD

In and of itself, the climb wasn't killer but it's length after a 200k day and a long week of work and then the final pitch up made for a very tough finish. I think that since it's only a third of the way through and the GC still tight, no one was going to go for a kill shot. I think Yates and Chavez were pleasantly surprised to be able to go 1-3. I think TD has to be quite pleased. I too am looking for him to battle those two. And as much as I like the M Scott guys, I'd like to see TD hang steady and tough and maybe even swat them back a bit.

I think Kreuziger moving to the front after Astana shot their wad was big. That's a hell of a teammate to have in that situation.

EF got great rides from Carthy, Woods, and Joe D. Bodes well if the keep recovering.

It's still very early and the mountains get bigger and the weather gets crazier. The Giro is the best.

agreed, however TD is not so vulnerable to attacks on finishing climbs even 2-pronged ones. because he typically takes the steady pace approach rather than chasing after moves all the MS guys get is one of them sitting on which doesn't make much difference on a climb steep enough to favour them in the first place. in order to gain big time (ie the 2 minutes+ they need to account for the TT) they need to attack and isolate TD on a prior climb, force him to lead a chase group to the bottom of the finishing climb. that may be easier said than done. st14 only has cat 2&3 climbs leading to the zoncolan; st18 is just a finishing climb; st19 with the finestre mid-stage is a prime opportunity; maybe st20 with 3 cat 1s in a row and most domestiques fried by that point of the race.

i'm not counting froome out yet either - he hasn't looked good but if he's peaking in the 3rd week then the TT and mountains could see him right back in it - i hope so anyway, not that i want him to win but i want him in the battle

Just watched the last 4km replay again. Do you think that Pinot was actually the strongest in the lead group and just kept burning all kinds of energy for no good reason. Meanwhile Yates just sat and marked patiently and saved his one real attack for when it counted?

might not be the strongest, but certainly 2nd or 3rd strongest.

It was a headwind in the final, so takes a lot of energy to get free, but not as much to follow. After he tired himself from all those accelerations, Yates put in a decisive one to go over the top, and Pinot still had enough to follow for the most part.

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As for how one works over Dumoulin, I'm thinking of the way Nibali worked over Chaves in 2016. Or alternatively, send a teammate up the road (Kreuziger or Nieve), attack the penultimate climb (or even earlier), link up with a teammate in the valley, make Dumoulin work. He got worked over in the last stage of the 2015 Vuelta

Lot of racing left in this one, way too soon to crown a victor. It’s gonna come down to third week and who is hitting form versus gassing. That’s the big question in my mind for TD or Yates.

In other news, much to ST’s dismay, Gaviria somehow managed a W on disc bike. Lucky for him Sagan was uncharacteristicly too far back when it went down.