Giro d'Italia 2016

Always smart to have two options in the GC for as long as possible. Fuglsang has looked extremely sharp lately, and should stay in the running if he can, especially considering the rest day.

Also, watch out for Pozzovivo tomorrow.
 
Red Stone said:
Always smart to have two options in the GC for as long as possible. Fuglsang has looked extremely sharp lately, and should stay in the running if he can, especially considering the rest day.

Also, watch out for Pozzovivo tomorrow.
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You're right there - I do rate Fulgsang highly (in the same bracket as Majka). Got a feeling Chavez might surprise a few too.
 
Kruijswijk is riding like a man possessed. Insane start to the mountain TT.

Uran Uran not hungry like the wolf, though. Very disappointed in him.
 
Kruijswijk looks so strong this whole Giro. Hasn't been in trouble for a moment, was able to follow every attack with ease in the earlier mountain stages and beasted this MTT. Great riding by him. His team isn't too strong so I won't say a win for Kruijswijk is a foregone conclusion but he certainly has a great chance with his current lead and his fantastic form. The last week should be fun.

Good riding by Chavez too. I can see him challenging for the GC still too. He is an excellent climber.
 
How has it been this year? Been sometime since i saw this. Last I saw was when nibali won
 
These stages look absolutely marvellous, me and the boys are doing the Pyranees this summer, next month actually, but I may have to start looking towards Italy for cycling holidays in the summer. Some brutal climbs though....not sure it's remotely possibly to go steady up Mortirolo or half of these 10% average climbs.
 
Goddamn work has meant I missed the majority of this last week....Gutted for Landa, especially given his unexpected ITT. Still, the Giro is as much about surviving the first 2 weeks, to be able to launch a challenge in the final one. Got to admit I had completely overlooked Kruijswijk who looks like strongest rider, and now hot favourite for the overall. Going to catch up with stage 14 on Friday (day off) and can't wait to see the beauty of the riders racing against the backdrop of the Dolomites.

Great to see Kanstantsin Siutsou doing well, like a few riders who didn't quite do themselves justice at Sky (Boassen Hagen springs to mind). Also looking it up on google it's been 18 years since Bianchi have scored a GT victory, long overdue, and what better chance than for Krujswijk to become a Dutch hero and part of Italian folklore.
 
Zen said:
These stages look absolutely marvellous, me and the boys are doing the Pyranees this summer, next month actually, but I may have to start looking towards Italy for cycling holidays in the summer. Some brutal climbs though....not sure it's remotely possibly to go steady up Mortirolo or half of these 10% average climbs.
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Good choice, one day I'll do a cycling holiday in Italy!!!
 
prath92 said:
How has it been this year? Been sometime since i saw this. Last I saw was when nibali won
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Missed the last week and still catching up, but listening to the stage reviews on the Telegraph podcast (truly excellent btw). Far less processional at least than when the Astana team dominated that Giro won by Nibali. Mind you, it always was far less predictable than the other GT's. My favourite in many ways......
 
Gotten used to seeing Nibali implode in Grand Tours now. Not been a great couple of years for him lately.

I reckon Kruijswijk has this. He doesn't look like he's going to crack, and you just don't lose three minutes in a stage race without having a really bad day on the bike.
 
Red Stone said:
Gotten used to seeing Nibali implode in Grand Tours now. Not been a great couple of years for him lately.

I reckon Kruijswijk has this. He doesn't look like he's going to crack, and you just don't lose three minutes in a stage race without having a really bad day on the bike.
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Yeah, need to catch up like I said, but saw today's highlights and he just looks strong.......Doesn't look like he'll do a Van Gaarderen or a Porte and suffer a really bad day..

Got to hand it to Nibali for trying though, he didn't win all 3 GT's without having the heart of a lion. Loved his attacks, all be it futile. Reminded me a bit of Bertie lol
 
We saw with Landa that it can happen to anyone.

The next two stages will be won by breakaways. Kittel, Demare and Greipel are out, so the big sprinter teams have no reason to reel in the escapees. De Marchi, Hansen and Txurruka are definite candidates to be in the breakaway group, and Cunego will probably want to clean up the available KoM points. Wouldn't be surprised to see Navardauskas or Colbrelli pick up a stage win either.

Valverde and Chaves might have to try something at the end of Thursday's stage, but 20km of downhill after the climb makes it extremely difficult. Both stages will probably go by with no time splits between the favourites, barring mechanicals or accidents. In other words, if Kruijswijk is going to lose this he'll have to get absolutely dominated by Chaves or Valverde on both stage 19 and 20. Extremely unlikely.
 
Kruijswijk just swatted attacks aside with such ease today. Maybe it's just his riding style but he wasn't even breathing hard, it looked absurd. Super impressive from him this far and I really hope he makes it. He's pretty much completely solo too. His entire team was dropped nearly right off the bat.
 
Nibali takes the stage and 2nd in GC 44 secs back from Chavez who is now in the Maglia Rosa going into tomorrows Mountain stage. Kruijswijk finishes almost 5 mins back. Will be one hell of a stage tomorrow!
 
The always unpredictable Giro weather strikes again. Nibali and Nieve are kings in shite weather.

All set up for a massive attack fest tomorrow.
 
Horrific for Kruijswijk. The only thing that could have kept him from the Giro was a bad crash and that's precisely what happened. It's a shame for him but it was a bad error. Descending is a skill as well.
 
Reckon Kruijswik will win it tomorrow if he isn't too badly hurt. He was by far the strongest here. Nibali (very suspicious performance IMO) will take it otherwise since Chaves seems to be fading
 
Never mind. He said he is in pain and has essentially given up.
 
I think he is mentally broken but who knows, maybe he can recover before tomorrow if he isn't physically injured.
 
I hope Nibali won't wait for the Lombada but tries something on the Bonette or during its descend but it'll probably come down to the last col. 10km descend before the final hill of 3kms as well, Nibali will go all out, I think he'll win it, Chaves looked very tired today.
 
Picking Nibali to take his 4th Grand Tour victory today. Can't see past him today. Half-expecting Kruijswik to drop out, after yesterday's horrid day - Still, hope he manages to ride it out and claim a podium finish.
 
Astana perform tests and suddenly nubali is superman. Cycling :lol:
 
NM said:
Astana perform tests and suddenly nubali is superman. Cycling :lol:
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Not really superman. He rode well the last two days but if Kruijswijk hadn't crashed I don't think he would have even troubled him.

It's unfortunate for Kruijswijk to not get even a stage win or a podium after what was a truly dominant performance for him this Giro. He was far and away the strongest rider here but it goes to show you that there is more to winning the grand tours then pure riding ability. You also need to be able to stay on your bike, ride strategically, and of course not give up mentally. I've hardly ever been really impressed with Nibali as a consistently dominant rider, he's not, but he has everything else in spades which is why he has won as much as he has. If a chance presents itself, he takes it. A lot of riders would throw in the towel when they are as far back as he was after the MTT and the route to Andalo but he didn't. Now he's got another pretty remarkable Giro win to his name. Congratulations to him.
 
Man, you have to love Nibali. Such a gutsy rider. Will be 4 GT's to his name and he deserves it IMO. Unlucky for Kruijswsik admittedly, but Nibali, not at his best throughout this Giro, had the superior mental fortitude to win through sheer will. Respect to him!
 
I don't get these insinuations about Nibali, to me he's one of the most believable grand tour riders out there. He was riding around like a beaten man before stage 19 but was still 3rd in the GC, not too far behind Chaves. He got a massive mental boost when Kruijswijk fell away and found his usual grit and determination again. I didn't think there was anything suspicious about that. If you're going to argue Nibali was suspicious, than surely Kruijswijk was even more suspicous. Looking back I don't think this was Nibali at his best and Kruijswijk probably would've won had he not crashed. So Nibali had a bit of luck on his side but he still had to beat everyone else, he's a real fighter and I love watching him compete. Let's not forget he's one of a select group of riders who've won all 3 grand tours. The guy is class.
 
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