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2015 Giro d'Italia - Week One (9th - 15th May)
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| cio93 |
Posted on 09-05-2015 16:17
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Wait, FDJ was faster than Sky?! 
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| wogsrus |
Posted on 09-05-2015 16:21
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Great ride from OGE. Could be another very big first week for them |
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| murao22 |
Posted on 09-05-2015 16:23
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Congratulations for Orica, middling ride by CCC Sprandi. |
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| Malkael |
Posted on 09-05-2015 16:59
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Stage 2: Albenga - Genova (177km)
(Click image to enlarge)
There's no rest for the wicked as Il Giro continues with a 177 kilometre-long stage from Albenga to Genova. Following much of the Ligurian coastline in the process, the stage honours should, on paper, be fiercely contested by the sprinters.
With the privilege of claiming the first Maglia Azzurra of the 2015 Giro d'Italia held over until today's second stage the breakaway should be fiercely contested by attention hungry teams. The inclusion of just one Category 4 climb means that the first rider to cross the summit will claim the honour of wearing the blue jersey of the Mountains classification.
(Click image to enlarge)
The inner city streets of Genova will be the setting for today's finale, with the peloton scheduled to complete two laps of a 9.5 kilometre-long circuit. A technical finishing circuit, the ability to skilfully navigate your way through some technical corners and at least one roundabout's worth of road furniture could prove vital.
Thankfully for the sprinters the last two kilometres of the circuit should be largely bereft of troubles with just two corners, roughly 700-800 metres apart, complicating matters. Finishing on the Via XX Settembre, the peloton will have almost an entire kilometre, an estimated ~800 metres, to get up to speed before the finishing line.
The Favourite
With his two major rivals absent Andre Greipel will be expected to dominate the competition during Il Giro's sprint stages. Whether Greipel and his Lotto Soudal team mates can achieve this remains to be seen, but with a win under his belt after the Tour of Turkey and much of his regular sprint train around him the odds are in the German's favour.
A whole host of Italian sprinters will be hoping to snatch the stage honours out from under the nose of Lotto Soudal and Andre Greipel. Italian sprinters registered to ride the race include Manuel Belletti or Alessandro Petacchi for Southeast, Sacha Modolo for Lampre – Merida, Daniele Colli for Nippo – Vini Fantini; Nicola Ruffoni of Bardiani – CSF; Davide Appollonio of Androni Giocattoli and Italian stage favourite Elia Viviani of Team Sky.
While both Marcel Kittel and John Degenkolb will be absent from the 2015 Giro d'Italia the Giant – Alpecin team have the luxury of sending Luka Mezgec to Italy as their dedicated sprinter. The 26 year-old Slovenian will be looking to prove himself at Il Giro and hoping to show the team that they can trust him to deliver results at other important races on the calendar.
Trek Factory have brought what appears to be a rather sprint orientated team to Il Giro with the inclusion of Marco Coledan, Boy Van Poppel, Eugenio Alafaci, Fabio Felline and Giacomo Nizzolo. Italian sprinter Giacomo Nizzolo will likely lead the squad in the sprints, but the American outfit have options to change it up should circumstances dictate it.
Three riders to keep an eye on as outsiders for the stage victory, and certain to strongly contest the top five positions, will be Moreno Hofland of LottoNL - Jumbo, J.J. Lobato of Team Movistar and Heinrich Haussler of IAM Cycling. We can expect FDJ's Kevin Reza and CCC Sprandi – Polkowice's Grega Bole to also be involved; with BMC's Rick Zabel and Etixx – Quick-Step's Tom Boonen or Gianni Meersman also possibilities to contest the finale.
Will Michael Matthews be involved in the predicted sprint finish? Up against the likes of Andre Greipel it isn't the Australian's best chance at victory so the Australian outfit may, if necessary, prioritise protecting the Maglia Rosa ahead of wholeheartedly chasing a second consecutive stage victory.
.......
Also, while I like some of the things RCS Sport do with their Giro d'Italia material not uploading a map or profile of the final three kilometres of most stages is definitely not one of them. Damn it RCS, it is already in the road book!... 
Edited by Malkael on 10-05-2015 20:33
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| cio93 |
Posted on 09-05-2015 17:10
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I'd love to see Rick in the mix for a Top 10 in his first GT road stage.
Apart from that, I do think Matthews will contest so he can switch his maglia rosa for the maglia rosso later.
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 09-05-2015 17:23
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Well Garmin had a terrible ride. not a surprise with all those Italian climbers they have. Well, at least it was better than last year.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 24-11-2024 21:08
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 09-05-2015 17:54
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Ramon Carretero is at it again
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| Riis123 |
Posted on 09-05-2015 18:52
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Some thoughts of todays ITT:
- If a sick (at least not 100% Aru) can lead a flying Astana team over the line like that on a completely flat TTT, he should be more that fine. Not worried for him at all.
- Orica will be able to simply dominate the TTTs the next many years with young studs like Hepburn, Bewley, Lancaster etc. Especially since the Vuelta and Giro more or less always start with that nowadays. Chaves should benefit from that and is likely to grab the Maglia Rosa on Abetone and be right up there until the ITT.
- Cannondale Garmin is a trainwreck. I simply cannot explain how a decent team on paper like team can produce this little. Formolo and Hesjedal can maybe make up for that in the mountains, but....
- Without any TT'ers and specialists, Movistar did very well today. I was sceptic about Ion in the Giro and his GC chances, but the latest rumblings I have heard is he and Intxausti both attempt a top-10. Also interested in how they approach the following days - all in for Lobato, or more opportunistic? Would prefer the latter.
- Tinkoff Saxo is likely to prove to be the strongest squad, but after going through the teams, especially Astana is also hella strong. Movistar and Sky also have plenty of climbers and it will be a close race for the team competition |
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 09-05-2015 18:54
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Replace sick with doped for Aru for 100% accuracy.
Lancaster is 35, certainly not a young stud!
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| cio93 |
Posted on 09-05-2015 18:56
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Riis123 wrote:
- Without any TT'ers and specialists, Movistar did very well today.
Amador: 9th in TA, 16th in Romandie
Intxausti: 6th in Andalucia, 5th in PV
Izagirre: 12th in Algarve, 3rd in PV
Herrada: 6th in Sarthe
Those are TT results from this year only.
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| Riis123 |
Posted on 09-05-2015 19:39
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cio93 wrote:
Riis123 wrote:
- Without any TT'ers and specialists, Movistar did very well today.
Amador: 9th in TA, 16th in Romandie
Intxausti: 6th in Andalucia, 5th in PV
Izagirre: 12th in Algarve, 3rd in PV
Herrada: 6th in Sarthe
Those are TT results from this year only.
Well, im not implying that those riders cant ride ITT's by any means, just that it isnt their force, allthough Izaguirre is very stabile, especially on hilly parcours. Those you have mentioned are all good allrounders (including Fernandez as well), but they were lacking Malori and Castroviejo which is why I find it a very good result. Should also be taken into consideration that they basically have 2 riders that were completely deadweight, Quintana and Antón.
TMM: Uuh, yeah, my bad. He def isnt young. I dno about Aru, I dont wanna get too involved in that since i dont know jackshit about it, so imma just call him sick or whatever. Everyone knows what i mean
Edited by Riis123 on 09-05-2015 19:40
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| Kirchen_75 |
Posted on 10-05-2015 12:53
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Possible echelons? Tommeke to win? |
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| Guido Mukk |
Posted on 10-05-2015 13:38
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TheManxMissile wrote:
Replace sick with doped for Aru for 100% accuracy.
Lancaster is 35, certainly not a young stud!
just shut up..
this is like .. Ladys at sauna told you something talk.
Ex sky rider speculation..who should first comment Sky team 2014 spring season.
Edited by Guido Mukk on 10-05-2015 13:41
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| Kirchen_75 |
Posted on 10-05-2015 14:00
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These conditions certainly don't look like echelons. SUN AT THE GIRO. DRINK
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| Malkael |
Posted on 10-05-2015 14:03
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I had a quick glance at the weather prediction for today and unless Neptune himself has a change of mind they should be in for a fairly pleasant day despite going along the coast. Bit of a shame from a viewer's point of view, but I'm sure a lot of riders are thankful this isn't a stage dominated by Mistrals.
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 10-05-2015 14:04
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Riis123 wrote:
Some thoughts of todays ITT:
- If a sick (at least not 100% Aru) can lead a flying Astana team over the line like that on a completely flat TTT, he should be more that fine. Not worried for him at all.
- Orica will be able to simply dominate the TTTs the next many years with young studs like Hepburn, Bewley, Lancaster etc. Especially since the Vuelta and Giro more or less always start with that nowadays. Chaves should benefit from that and is likely to grab the Maglia Rosa on Abetone and be right up there until the ITT.
- Cannondale Garmin is a trainwreck. I simply cannot explain how a decent team on paper like team can produce this little. Formolo and Hesjedal can maybe make up for that in the mountains, but....
- Without any TT'ers and specialists, Movistar did very well today. I was sceptic about Ion in the Giro and his GC chances, but the latest rumblings I have heard is he and Intxausti both attempt a top-10. Also interested in how they approach the following days - all in for Lobato, or more opportunistic? Would prefer the latter.
- Tinkoff Saxo is likely to prove to be the strongest squad, but after going through the teams, especially Astana is also hella strong. Movistar and Sky also have plenty of climbers and it will be a close race for the team competition
I think Garmin just have a deathly phobia of TTT's now honestly.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| Malkael |
Posted on 10-05-2015 14:19
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Quite the turn around from their earlier days when at least at the Tour de France they were usually quite competitive at the TTT, or that's how I remember it anyway. Maybe a little bit of an irony when your management company is called Slipstream Sports.
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| Riis123 |
Posted on 10-05-2015 14:26
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Malkael wrote:
Quite the turn around from their earlier days when at least at the Tour de France they were usually quite competitive at the TTT, or that's how I remember it anyway. Maybe a little bit of an irony when your management company is called Slipstream Sports.
They indeed were with the likes of Zabriskie, Millar, Hushovd etc. Now its just pathetic |
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 10-05-2015 14:38
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uhmm... what is happening?
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 10-05-2015 14:51
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Lindeman!
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![imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg](https://imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg)
