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Giro d'Italia

Ash

Warming-Up
Apr 23, 2006
686
2
Well folks it's Giro time again!

It promises to be an interesting 3 weeks. Firstly of course we have the return of the storied Lance to his first Grand Tour since coming out of retirement, so thats where all the attention will be for sure. Can he win it? And the Tour? Only a handful of riders have done it, the last being Stephen Roache in the '80's. I think it is rather a tall order for the old bugger and he is mainly using the Giro as prep for the tour, but one never knows.

Ivan Basso is back I think, after a 2 year suspension (they should get a life ban in my draconian opinion but...) having perfermed extremely strongly at Trentino so he is, of course a real threat.

I dominiti, the dolomites, are at the start of the race this year, lending the whole event a rather strange parcours this time. Some say it is not as punchy and should favour Lance (some say designed with him in mind?). We do have however the very marvelous stage 18 (19?) being a climb to the summit of Mt. Vesuvius, beloved of history buffs. Should be a smokin' ride! (sorry...)

So here is the place to post your comments as we go. It all starts this weekend.

cheers

Ash
 
Thanks for the thread, Ash. Just got my Velonews today with the stage previews. The Stage 12 ITT (67km, with mucho climbs) looks to be decisive.

Any picks for the win? Really seems to be Leipheimer's to lose, almost by default. Should never discount any of the Italians in this race though... Di Luca, Simoni? Hmmm.

Coverage starts Sat 10pm on J-Sports 1.
 
If Armstorng gets a top 20 placing it's above all expectations for me.

He hasn't done enough racing/training etc. His broken collarbone could come undone with a bump or two....

If he's out there for his foundation then GREAT!
If he is in the top 5.... he's a Superman deserving of a fine look under the microscope.

I like Cunego even though he's not going to be a favorite.
Basso, Di Luca, of the dopers.
 
I for one would like to see Visconti and his new team ISD put in a run for their money.

As far as all the big contenders (Di Luca, Basso, Armstrong, Cunego), seems like it'll be a massive toss-up on whether any teams can get a nice time lead in the team TT's. Liquigas should definitely be a potential threat here.

Armstrong, blah....I think we can basically rule him out of a podium finish.

Finally what would the Giro be without Petacchi in purple, however, I see some bitter crossing of swords between good ol "Ale Jet" and the young Jedi Padawan Mark Cavendish!

Can't wait!
 
My money is behind Leipheimer. Though people are already ruling out Lance because of his collar bone recovery, if you have been tracking his training he actually was doing quite a bit of training in the Rockies. His performance in the Tour of Gila was commendable. Astana, much like Postal and Discovery in years past has fielded an extremely strong team that could possibly deliver Leipheimer the win. If Lance does end the tour in the top 5, why would he need to be placed under a microscope? Maybe I am all alone on this one, but I think the sport needed Lance to return due to its decline in image, granted the collapse of the economy did not help any either.

James
 
I like Cunego even though he's not going to be a favorite.
Basso, Di Luca, of the dopers.

I according to the ever self-effacing Danielo, who the other day humbly remarked 'Iam one of the favorites', he is. At least in his own mind. :eek:

I would not rule Lance off the podium just yet, mainly because Astana have a lot of guns going into this Giro. I dunno about the microscope but I think the French have arranged at the highest levels (one of Berlosconi's young girlfriends) that no one gets to shaft Lance but them.

I am not going to pick a winner but I see the smirking figure of Basso on the podium.... :mad:
 
Live online coverage

Just as an FYI, I was able to watch the entire stage 2 of the Giro last night online via Universal Sports.

A couple things to note. The site says that Firefox has not been working with the video. It recommends Safari or Explorer. I used Explorer, and it worked fine.

Also, the program appears to be blocked to viewers outside the U.S. and Canada. I got around this by downloading software called Hotspot Shield , which "fools" the Interwebs into thinking your computer is not in Japan, or, uh, something.

Hope this helps some TCCers get in some Giro-viewing action!

Deej
 
Just as an FYI, I was able to watch the entire stage 2 of the Giro last night online via Universal Sports.

A couple things to note. The site says that Firefox has not been working with the video. It recommends Safari or Explorer. I used Explorer, and it worked fine.

Also, the program appears to be blocked to viewers outside the U.S. and Canada. I got around this by downloading software called Hotspot Shield , which "fools" the Interwebs into thinking your computer is not in Japan, or, uh, something.

Hope this helps some TCCers get in some Giro-viewing action!

Deej

Will check out the Hotspotshield...

Another way to bypass the ip checking ( proxy servers)
Try this one...

http://www.skrewschool.com/
 
Cheers Deej, great to be able to watch it. I've been looking for it on some torrents sites but it's not up at all. Gotta say though, that commentator was terrible on Universal Sports for stage 2. Could he sound any more disinterested? Sometimes the Italian came on and it sounded so exciting, where are Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwan when you need them?

Anyway dude, just so happy to be able to watch it. many thanks and congrats on the great riding recently. Reckon you'll crack the Otoge 1 hour jinx soon mate!
 
Glad you were able to watch it, Mike. I didn't catch stage three, as I fell asleep after reading "Curious George Makes Pancakes" to my boys.

Funny you should mention the commentator -- While watching stage two, I thought the guy speaking was Ligget. Shows how much I have watched cycling races!

As for Otoge, going sub-1 hour will be hard, but I think it's doable. I think I have to work on my pacing, so I don't get burned out too early. I'm waiting for you to take a crack at it, Mike!

Deej
 
That crash near the end, made what was going to be an interesting battle between Cav and Petacchi a boring event.

Rogers looking good in 3rd?
Lance looking good in 5th.

Was nice watching the vineyards last night...
 
Conked out before an hour before the finish so missed the crash and finish.

Mountain finish today--time to find out who the GC contenders will be...
 
Finally some excitement.
Lance hung on (almost).
DiLuca was on fire.

"mickrogersDamn it! Almost crashed with 500m to go and lost some secs. Came to a complete stop, both feet out of the pedals. Behave yourself Mr. Cunego"
 
The top photo on the WSJ just sent chills down my spine! I certainly wouldnt be caught dead speeding around that bend (unless I learned to grow wings). :eek:
PJ-AP661_SP_DES_F_20090511184751.jpg


There's a good article on this event in the Wall Street Journal.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124209602462609577.html#mod=WSJ_myyahoo_module
 
Good thing Frank Schleck wasn't doing that descent!

Decent stage last night, I got the sense that everyone was conserving their energy for today. Classic Jens ride off the front, fun to watch. Soler managed to fall off his bike again. The guy really should quit this sport while he's still in one piece...
 
Columbia rider Michael Barry on the race so far. He writes a good story

Yeah, I saw that as well. It's a treat to get the view from inside the peloton. Imagine how tired he must be when he writes these!

I really like Barry. He strikes me as a genuinely nice fellow. I've also noticed that his writing has impoved since his book, "On the Postal Bus." I can tell he is choosing his words carefully and trying to add a touch of lyricism to what could be some pretty lumpen text. Good on him.

Deej
 
Anyone else been watching this on Universal sports (thanks Deej, you're a legend bro)? So happy there was a change of commentary for stage 6. Man that guy was so bad! These two new dudes at least have some useful info and sound somewhat interested. Deej you with me on this me man? What a difference good commentators make....enjoying it even when nothing is really happening. Even when they do focus a lot on US riders;)
 
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