Calibandar Posted April 5, 2022 Share Posted April 5, 2022 Phenomenal performance from van der Poel and Pogacar both. If you saw the performances of them on strava afterwards, truly insane, 2 of the most talented riders in many decades, born in the same generation. Awesome race. 50 km from the end the best rode away, Pedersen, Asgreen etc all got dropped and only 5 guys remained, and then on the Kwaremont Pogacar and Vd Poel were again the best. 13 hours ago, lmanion said: Flanders was a great watch, Pogacar was the strongest with the road going up but MVDP managed to hang with him just enough and then Pogacar kind of rode himself off the podium. Shame Wout was out hopefully he is healthy and ready to go for Roubaix which I think is in 2? weeks 2 weeks yeah, first the Amstel Gold Race. BTW I dont think Pogacar would have beaten vd Poel in that sprint, thats one of the areas where MvP is very rarely beaten and when you see the replay from the air...yes Pogacar got closed in but he didnt look to have the pace of MvP anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmanion Posted April 5, 2022 Share Posted April 5, 2022 8 hours ago, Calibandar said: Phenomenal performance from van der Poel and Pogacar both. If you saw the performances of them on strava afterwards, truly insane, 2 of the most talented riders in many decades, born in the same generation. Awesome race. 50 km from the end the best rode away, Pedersen, Asgreen etc all got dropped and only 5 guys remained, and then on the Kwaremont Pogacar and Vd Poel were again the best. 2 weeks yeah, first the Amstel Gold Race. BTW I dont think Pogacar would have beaten vd Poel in that sprint, thats one of the areas where MvP is very rarely beaten and when you see the replay from the air...yes Pogacar got closed in but he didnt look to have the pace of MvP anyway. Never thought he was a chance of winning but it was him not riding in the final km that allowed the other 2 to come back MVDP was always going to have the sprint to beat all of them anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFatCoward Posted May 7, 2022 Author Share Posted May 7, 2022 It's the best Grand Tour of the year. And probably the most open since Pog and Rog aren't involved. Carapaz is obvious favourite since he is very consistent and has a very strong team, but Yates, Landa, Lopez and Dumoulin all probably have at least as high a top end, but can they deliver. Almeida and Dumoulin both hampered by the absurd lack of TT. Caveat, it Depends on Dumoulin being back both physically and mentally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFatCoward Posted May 8, 2022 Author Share Posted May 8, 2022 Yates yesterday, CAV today. Excellent couple of days to be a British cycling fan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmanion Posted May 10, 2022 Share Posted May 10, 2022 That cav win was awesome to watch and he went from a long way out. Etna about to happen. Can't be won here but already lost superman from the race and can probably expect to see one bigger name drop out of a favourites list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFatCoward Posted May 10, 2022 Author Share Posted May 10, 2022 (edited) 5 hours ago, lmanion said: That cav win was awesome to watch and he went from a long way out. Etna about to happen. Can't be won here but already lost superman from the race and can probably expect to see one bigger name drop out of a favourites list. Well that was a crushing disappointment. Other than Nibali and Dumoulin dropping it was a big nothing burger. Tomorrow finishes where Nibali is from. Wonder if he will be allowed to go in a break? Edited May 10, 2022 by BigFatCoward lmanion 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calibandar Posted May 12, 2022 Share Posted May 12, 2022 Personal highlight for me was vd Poel's great win uphill in stage 1 and the pink jersey that followed. Then he finished 2nd in the TT with an incredibly powerful effort, beaten only by an explosion from Simon Yates. Disappointing to see Dumoulin like this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmanion Posted May 16, 2022 Share Posted May 16, 2022 So the race kind of exploded but also didn't. I thought when Porte pulled off and Carapaz went we were seeing the inevitable end of real competition at the giro. Bardet and Landa were very impressive and then Almeida especially but also Hindley and Pozzovivo seem in good form as well with Hindley managing to hang on in the sprint for a win. As an Aussie that almost made it worth staying up till 130 am. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFatCoward Posted May 16, 2022 Author Share Posted May 16, 2022 I don't know why Yates keeps trying at the Giro, his style is far better suited to the vuelta though obviously bad luck hasn't helped. He should sack it off and go the the tour, he already has a stage win. At his best he is one of only 3 people who can/could maybe trouble the slovenians (Bernal and Vingegaard being the others). 3 minutes ago, lmanion said: Hindley managing to hang on in the sprint for a win. As an Aussie that almost made it worth staying up till 130 am. Good for him, he had a couple of crap years since his breakthrough. Good that he proved he can back it up. I have no idea who wins, but having 10 people barely separated by more than a minute should make the rest of the race exciting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calibandar Posted May 16, 2022 Share Posted May 16, 2022 Its interesting that Hindley is back in it. Whats also interesting is that on this beautiful long climb, we see Valverde at age 42 still competing with the best when many other younger classification riders have to fold. Likewise, Nibali (37) was suddenly back yesterday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmanion Posted May 18, 2022 Share Posted May 18, 2022 https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/girmay-taken-to-hospital-after-capturing-historic-victory-at-the-giro-ditalia/ Huge win for Girmay, guy is looking like a real superstar in the making. Hopefully the champagne cork doesn't put him out for the rest of the Giro. He posted the other day about getting 5th for the 3rd or 4th time in the Giro after the stage De Gent won. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmanion Posted May 28, 2022 Share Posted May 28, 2022 That last climb finally lit up after a pretty dull stage and Hindley cracked Carapaz to the point Landa was able to ride past him and gain time as well. Fingers crossed for a clean run in the TT tonight for Hindley and we will have a first Aussie winner of the Giro. Great work by Bora to get Kamna up the road and use him at the perfect time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFatCoward Posted May 29, 2022 Author Share Posted May 29, 2022 About time something happened. This is the worst Giro in living memory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calibandar Posted May 29, 2022 Share Posted May 29, 2022 Well it was interesting how incredibly well matched Carapaz and Hindley were in every single stage. Extremely tight, only on the final day did Carapaz break. Landa finished 3rd, he gave it what he had and this is his ceiling. Shame about Bardet going out , he looked to be in peak form. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFatCoward Posted June 29, 2022 Author Share Posted June 29, 2022 (edited) So it's pretty much the Slovenians or Vingegaard (Roglic has the much stronger team, but Pogacar looks like his team is 100% committed to him, Jumbo have already said that Van aert will ride for green). First week has a short TT, cobbles and likely cross winds so Thomas after his recent showing might fare well. Ineos also have Martinez who could be a wildcard, and Vlasov has been pretty good this year. But really it's Pogacar's to lose. He is an immense talent. I'm sick to death of Froome being shit. He should just retire, it's embarrassing for his legacy. No Cav is a shame. Edited June 29, 2022 by BigFatCoward Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maltaran Posted June 29, 2022 Share Posted June 29, 2022 58 minutes ago, BigFatCoward said: No Cav is a shame. True, although it was kind of expected with Jakobsen in the team. I hope Bardet does well, he was looking on form at the Giro before he had to withdraw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmanion Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 Even last year before the Vuelta Quickstep were saying jakobsen was the man for the tour. Stage 2 could be wild if there are cross winds on that bridge for the last 20km. Going off form so far jumbo probably need to put time into Pogacar in this first week. Hopefully Sagan is back on form and can give WVA a challenge for the green jersey. Can't wait for stage 1 to get under way and get basically no sleep for the next 3 weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFatCoward Posted July 1, 2022 Author Share Posted July 1, 2022 Pogacar is kicking arse. Thomas forgetting to take his gillet off is unforgiveable. I bet that cost him at least 15 seconds in aero drag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calibandar Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 (edited) Pogacar looking very fit already yes. Gonna be great to see him uphill vs 2 Jumbo guys , I dont think anyone else can keep up. Bardet also with a good TT, perhaps he has retained that Giro form. Mas, Uran and Froome with a deplorably bad opener. Edited July 1, 2022 by Calibandar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFatCoward Posted July 2, 2022 Author Share Posted July 2, 2022 The potential for wind on that 20km bridge could shred the peleton. I hope Jumbo drill it because they don't look like they have the beating of Pog, TbF i don't know who would? Prime Indurain, super doped Lance, 1999 Giro Pantani maybe. I don't think 2013 Froome or 2009 Contador could live with him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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