Giro d'Italia 2013

[DooooodekNo5]

Anyone else be watching this?

 

Probably the 3 toughest weeks a sportsman can go through, can't wait!

 

Main contenders...

 

 

 

Fighting for this...

 

 

And this thing of beauty...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last years winner Ryder Hejesdal...

 

 

 

 

 

Wiggins and Cav have both previously worn the pink jersey/Maglia Rosa, hopefully and the end of the 3 weeks we can see this...

 

 

 

 

Cavendish has a great chance on todays first stage to get himself into the pink again...

 

 

 

Loads of info about the race here...Giro d'Italia news | Cycling Weekly

 

Anyone fancy an outside each way bet have a look at Santambrogio and Betancur.

[Bjornebye]

I did tough mudder 4 years ago. No fanny at the end. i went back.

[L19red]

Have you seen Santambrogio time trial? After the Trentino performance he is obviously in good nick for a stage but he's getting nowhere near the podium.

 

Cav FTW today and someone from Garmin or Sky to take over the malia rose tomorrow after the Team Time Trial.

[Chocoholic]

 

Magnificent Poster image

 

The stages with climbs

 

 

 

The climbs, time trials and rest days

[DooooodekNo5]

Have you seen Santambrogio time trial? After the Trentino performance he is obviously in good nick for a stage but he's getting nowhere near the podium.

 

Cav FTW today and someone from Garmin or Sky to take over the malia rose tomorrow after the Team Time Trial.

 

I know hes not great at TTs and i did say outsider, checking his odds now hes come right in from when i last looked to 33/50-1 which isn't great either, Betencur to has come right in, he was 250-1 on PPower a few weeks back and 150-1 a week ago and is now 50-1, it ain't worth it that short.

 

As you say they should be good for a stage or 2 especially Santa, he looked very good hanging with Froome in the mountains not to long ago which not many have been able to do this year.

[DooooodekNo5]

 

Magnificent Poster image

 

The stages with climbs

 

 

 

The climbs' date=' time trials and rest days[/quote']

 

Can't wait to watch that last week, pity Froome ain't there, in the form that hes in he would destroy the race.

[Chocoholic]

Can't wait to watch that last week, pity Froome ain't there, in the form that hes in he would destroy the race.

 

You are Marty McFly and I claim my five pounds!

[L19red]

Once again Acquarone delivers a fantastic parcours with loads of opportunities for a selection. Week 1 has a Team Time Trial and an 800m climb to the finish in stage 4, week 2 has an an individual time trial and plenty more medium mountains, week 3 has the really high mountains including Galibier, Stelvio, Gavia, Giau and Tre Cime and a mountain TT.

 

The TdF organisers could learn a lot from the Italians. They've given us the usual boring week 1 for the sprinters, week 2 has 1.5 stages in the Pyrennes and a time trial then everything else lumped into the last week. They've even managed to make the Ventoux stage boring with 200km of flat before the main event. The tour barely makes it over 2000 meters this year.

 

more reasons why the giro is better than the tour (turn the music off)

[YOUTUBE]volcjr33cKI[/YOUTUBE]

 

Warning! The following content is NOT WORK SAFE. Click the Show button to reveal.

bettiniphoto_0039055_1_full_680x474t0_ic.jpg (image)

[L19red]

surprisingly there are some time gaps and as OPQS are a decent TTT sqaud I'll revise my previous forcast and say Cav to hang onto the jersey.

[DooooodekNo5]

You are Marty McFly and I claim my five pounds!

 

[DooooodekNo5]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As expected, great win with all that was going on in that last 1k, had to go close a 10 meter gap in the last 500 odd meters and go around the long way and still smoked them, not to forget his customary swearing on live tv (2nd pic).

Edited May 5, 2013 by DooooodekNo5

[DooooodekNo5]

TTT odds, Hills.

 

7/4

Garmin - Sharp

9/4

Orica Greenedge

7/2

Sky Procycling

9/1

BMC Racing Team

12/1

Blanco Pro Cycling Team

16/1

Astana

40/1

Radioshack Leopard

50/1

Movistar

66/1

Omega Pharma - Quickstep

66/1

Team Saxo - Tinkoff

120/1

Team Katusha

150/1

Lampre

200/1

Team Argos - Shimano

300/1

Vini Fantini

400/1

Cannondale

400/1

FDJ

500/1

Androni Giocatelli

600/1

Lotto - Belisol

800/1

Euskaltel

800/1

Vacansoleil - DCM

1000/1

Bardiani Valvole

2000/1

Ag2r La Mondiale

2000/1

Team Columbia - High Road

 

 

Movistar at 50-1 and BMC at 9s are good value.

[L19red]

Sky won the ttt at trentino. 7/2 is good value for them.

[DooooodekNo5]

The only ttt they have ever won on tt bikes wasn't it?

 

Whatever happens hopefully they can put 30 or 40 seconds into Astana.

[L19red]

True, but they only ride 3 a year. Astana were 13 seconds down on a 14 km course, I doubt the gap will be more than 20 seconds. Bmc were nearly a minute down but if I remember right they only had a 5 man team so a bit of a false result. Garmin were well down too but ryder hesjedal had already abandoned and millar is back as well today. Should be an interesting race.

[DooooodekNo5]

Doesn't sound like a straight forward ride, quite a technical course by the sounds of it and just reading a lot of the riders haven't been out there to check it out before hand so it will definately be interesting to see what happens.

[Chocoholic]

 

New bars on Wiggins' time trial bike. Interesting to see this 'variation' Also notice the brakes behind the forks under the downtube. It may have been like this before but I can't say I noticed it.

[DooooodekNo5]

Sky cost me 150 quid there, though im a plank for not going each way on a 50-1 shot.

[DooooodekNo5]

 

New bars on Wiggins' time trial bike. Interesting to see this 'variation' Also notice the brakes behind the forks under the downtube. It may have been like this before but I can't say I noticed it.

 

Would of been nice to see Wiggins do a competetive TT this year but it hasn't happened, that 55k tt stage is huge in the context of the race.

[L19red]

Good shout on movistar at 50/1 shame you didn't take them for a place.

 

I fancy the breakaway to win today, the two little climbs at the end will mean the sprinters teams won't chase, Sky are unlikely to defend the jersey today so they will let some GC no hopers down the road and only look to regain it after the TT or in the big mountains. Look for the Italian teams like androni and vini to get men in the breakaway.

 

A steep technical descent (12 hairpins in 6kms) is perfect for Nibali to attack and Sky will need to be on their guard. Can't really pick a likely winner until we see who is in the breakaway and if the other teams try to chase but if it comes back together I'll plump for danilo di luca.

 

Edit TT bikes have had concealed front brakes for a while now.

[lifetime fan]

 

 

Is there a better looking trophy in world sport than that.

[DooooodekNo5]

 

 

Is there a better looking trophy in world sport than that.

 

If there is i haven't seen it.

[DooooodekNo5]

Good shout on movistar at 50/1 shame you didn't take them for a place.

 

I fancy the breakaway to win today, the two little climbs at the end will mean the sprinters teams won't chase, Sky are unlikely to defend the jersey today so they will let some GC no hopers down the road and only look to regain it after the TT or in the big mountains. Look for the Italian teams like androni and vini to get men in the breakaway.

 

A steep technical descent (12 hairpins in 6kms) is perfect for Nibali to attack and Sky will need to be on their guard. Can't really pick a likely winner until we see who is in the breakaway and if the other teams try to chase but if it comes back together I'll plump for danilo di luca.

 

Edit TT bikes have had concealed front brakes for a while now.

 

Bouhanni would be my pick, hes favourite with the bookies but not sure that really means anything today, bit of a lottery really, anything could happen.

[DooooodekNo5]

Brailsford has come out today and confirmed Froome as leader for the Tour.

[L19red]

Sky on the front of the peloton, stupid waste of energy.