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Due to Popular Demand: 2013 Giro Thread

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Will make the tour leadership interesting again...
 

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Bond.ShaneBond said:
And he shaved off his sideburns.
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worst decision ever. lost his power.


in other news cadel wouldn't pull out due to a sniffle and a cough.

and OH EM GEE what does this mean for the tour leadership? i bet froome express posted a giant pack of soothers to sir wiggo...
 
dart said:
worst decision ever. lost his power.


in other news cadel wouldn't pull out due to a sniffle and a cough.

and OH EM GEE what does this mean for the tour leadership? i bet froome express posted a giant pack of soothers to sir wiggo...
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So true, Cadel rode the Tour with a broken elbow.

Weak from Wiggo and Hesjedal to disrespect the race like this. Wiggo could support Uran, and Hesjedal could gun for a stage like Kreuziger did last year. Never good to see the defending champion put up an effort like this. Hopefully good reasons come out for both of them to have pulled out.
 
Pretty stock standard sprint stage. Nothing too exciting over the 100km that was the telecast, and they group in for a group finish.

Cavendish has a long way to sprint, not as easy as his others have been. And he gets it. He's an unstoppable force on stages like this.
 
Tonight is an epic:

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Last kilometre:

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Wow, what a weird stage. No footage for the majority of it, we only get to see the last 500 metres or so.

Nibali pops up with Santambrogio and they've got away from the other contenders. The latter takes the win, Nibali extends his lead quite impressively. Evans 33 seconds down, Uran 30 down, Scarponi 1.28 down.
 
"With 3km to go, Vincenzo attacked but I felt good so I followed straight away and put in a few turns on the front. We caught the break and then kept going to the finish. I got the stage and he got a time bonus so I think it worked out well for both of us," Santambrogio said at the line.
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As has so often been the case in this Giro, heavy rainfall started shortly after the start of the stage. That didn't stop a group from forming after about 14 kilometers. Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel), Pieter Weening (Orica-GreenEdge), Luca Paolini (Katusha), Peter Stetina (Garmin-Sharp), Daniele Pietropolli (Lampre), Sonny Colbrelli (Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox) and Matteo Trentin (OPQS) started of together.
However, in an odd coincidence, the three non-Italians all soon crashed apparently due to the wet roads, and fell back, leaving Italians Paolii, Pietropolli, Colbrelli and Trentin in the lead. The foursome proved to be speedy, buildingup a 7:10 lead by kilometer 50.

A "brutal" crash, as the Gazzetta called it, took down Alessandro Vanotti (Astana), Enrico Battaglin (Bardiani Valvole-CSF-Inox) and Robinson Chalapud (Colombia). The first two were forced to leave the race.

The gap only increased, as Astana showed little interest in giving serious chase. After 100km, and with 80km left to go, the time difference was nine minutes.

As the gap grew to nearly 10 minutes, Cannondale, Androni Giacattoli and Sky moved to the head of the field. Their work helped the gap come down only slowly, though. Their efforts finally showed effect on the final climb, as the gap had dropped to 5:35 with 25km remaining.

Trentin suffered on the climb but was able to hold on. However, a puncture at 20km to go put an end to his slim hold on the group.

Sky led the charge from behind, apparently hoping to launch their new leader Uran in an attempt to make up time on maglia rosa Nibali.

The closer the finish line climb, the smaller the gap became. A greatly reduced field of 30-40 riders was giving furious chase, with Sky setting a blistering pace. It started getting nip-and-tuck for the three leaders, as the gap hovered around four minutes with 5km to go.

It was not Uran but Henao who was sent up the road for Sky. He was marked by Androni's Diego Rosa, whose teammate Franco Pellizotti had earlier attacked but was unable to sustain his lead.
The fog and mist which had left the finish line returned, of course, in time for the finish. Colbreli was dropped as the finish line - and the maglia rosa group - approached.

The first rider to emerge from the fog with 400 meters to go was Santambrogio, followed closely by Nibali, who had obviously jumped from the chase group. Behind them, a handful of riders including Cadel Evans made their slow way up.
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With snow falling and temperatures close to zero at the 1908m high finish, soigneurs and team helpers waited just past the line, with warm clothes, warm drinks, encouragement and congratulation. The media also waited, in the hope of capturing riders' thoughts on the stage, but most were simply too cold and tired to talk.

Cadel Evans (BMC) came to a stop just after the finish line after giving his all to limit his losses to Nibali to 33 seconds. His orange sunglass lenses were steamed up and he had gone so deep that he didn't seem to know where he was. His soigneur quickly wrapped a towel around his neck, freed him from the media scrum and sent him to the hotel.

Michele Scarponi (Lampre-Merida) lost 1:24 and slipped to fifth overall at 3:53. He was so cold that he could not talk or even pull on a jacket and gloves without help. His hands were frozen and he tried to warm them by stretching them wide open, grimacing in pain. A soigneur poured arm water on them and even put on his own neck in the hope that the warmth of his body would help his rider get some feeling back in his fingers.

The only thing Scarponi said was, "The final kilometres were terrible. There was nothing I could do. That's all I can say, I desperately need to get warm."
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Brutal.
 
alfy! said:
Brutal.
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Yes, definitely incredible stuff. Never get the recognition they deserve.

Shame about Cadel's time loss today. I can't see him beating Nibali in his current form. I certainly hope he can hang on to a podium spot because it would be a fitting reward for his work. That way he would have podiumed all three GT's - a rare feat only achieved by Contador, Menchov and Nibali of active riders.
Uran and Santambrogio are coming fast and have finished ahead of him on the two MTF's we have had so far. He has a cushion of 80 seconds over those guys so still a lot of work to do (I can't see Scarponi (almost 2.5 mins behind Cadel) or anyone further down being a threat for the podium).
I do think Santambrogio and Uran will be highly motivated to make the podium and they will be looking to bring down the old bull Cadel in the process. GO CADEL, GO!
 
It looks like being another awful experience for the riders tonight. Hopefully we get some pictures. Most of the stage has been saved, it will finish at the Pantani monument on the Galibier:

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Cadel has already won one GT on the back of a great ride up the Galibier, can he do it again?
 

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Getting home from work with 10km to go = winning!
 
Wow - those conditions over the weekend were just unreal.

These guys are awesome. I went for a ride on Saturday morning and it was about 5 degrees, and I was freezing. Imagine what it would like riding through snow and sleet. Simply amazing.

Nibali will be next to impossible to beat now, however you do know one thing about Cadel and that is he is tenacious and will never give in. I think a podium is his for the taking.

This friday will be th eone to watch with the Stelvio in the middle....
 

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