Stage List
ITT - 2
Flat - 2
Hilly - 1 (1 HT)
Mountain - 1 (1 MT)
Stage 1
A very short ITT starts us off in this race. A chance for one the TT specialists to wear the leader's jersey.
Stage 2
A flat stage follows up the ITT. Should be a good day for the sprinters. A small uphill at the end might see an unlikely winner though.
Stage 3
A few climbs dot the landscape but the stage should be decided by a sprint. The potential GC winners will have a relatively quiet tour till this stage.
Stage 4
The first of two consecutive stages which should decide the outcome of the race. A flat first half of the stage leads to two incrementally higher climbs before the huge climb to the finish. The climbers need to be in good shape and form to come out on top here.
Stage 5
Categorised as a hilly stage, the profile here offers difficulty with two short but steep climbs in the first half. Things settle down for a bit before the ultimate pair of climbs take the peloton to the finish line. Another stage which is set to be pivotal in deciding the GC.
Stage 6
The ITT at end will provide a stiff challenge to the riders after two tough days of climbing. The start is on an upward slope but then stage flattens out. It is expected to see some fast times here.
Overall Assessment
A balanced course with plenty in it for everyone. The fight for the GC will be fought over the final three stages. A strong field is slated to show up here, and it will give an indication of what one can expect going into the Giro.
Movistar Starting List
Mikel Landa
Dayer Quintana
Juan Jose Lobato
Alex Dowsett
Jasha Sutterlin
Pello Bilbao
Jesus Herrada
Isidro Pintassilgo
The last race of consequence before the Giro. Mikel Landa would lead Movistar with Dayer Quintana playing the second lead. Two of the Giro favourites were here, with Froome and Kelderman using this race as their final preparation. Also in the mix was Rigoberto Uran, Ilnur Zakarin, Rafal Majka and Tejay van Garderen, the last also poised to start in Italy. The race profile would suit the big names and they'd be looking to get to the Giro with their confidence high.
The following is a summary of stages...
Stage 1 - Individual Time Trial - Flat - 4 km
The first stage played into the hands of the TT specialists. In this case, it was the GC favourites taking advantage of the profile to start off on the front foot. Tom Dumoulin continued his domination of TTs over the past couple of years, winning this stage. Froome and Kelderman was took the other places on the podium.
Stage winner - Tom Dumoulin Movistar - Dowsett 13th, losing 16", Dayer Quintana lost 33", Mikel Landa lost 37" Other important results - Chris Froome 2nd, losing 6", Wilco Kelderman 3rd, losing 7", Tejay van Garderen 6th, losing 11", Ilnur Zakarin 8th, losing 13"
Stage 2 - Flat with 2 minor intermediate climbs
The first early breakaway was chased down but only for another four man break to form. The next incident worth reporting was Mikel Landa's fall with 80 km to go. There was no damage done as he recovered. The breakaway was caught some way before the finish. There was a pack split with 5 km to go. Movistar set the pace in the front. Diego Ulissi launched the sprint but was caught and overtaken by Lobato won took the stage win, his first after a long gap in WT races. All riders were given the same time.
Stage winner - J J Lobato
Stage 3 - Hilly with flat finish, including 3 major intermediate climbs
The short sprint at the end of the last uphill section ensured the pack crossed the line with everyone getting the same time. Sacha Modolo was the strongest in the sprint and took the win.
Stage winner - Sacha Modolo Movistar - J J Lobato 6th, Dayer Quintana 7th, Jesus Herrada 8th, Pello Bilbao 9th
Stage 4 - Mountain with mountain top finish, including 2 major intermediate climbs
Thomas Voeckler was the famous face in the stage's breakaway. Rafal Majka fell in the pack but recovered. The lead group was down to 25 riders on the second intermediate climb. The break was caught on the second descent. A group of four GC candidates attacked at the start of the climb to the finish. Three of the four were caught but Zakarin stayed out in front. Froome and Kelderman finished behind Zakarin. Movistar's best was Dayer with a 4th place while Landa struggled to stay in contention.
Stage winner - Ilnur Zakarin. Took the lead in the GC too Movistar - Dayer Quintana 4th, 1'26" behind, Mikel Landa 10th, 1'50" Other important results - Chris Froome 2nd, 8" behind, Wilco Kelderman 3rd, 14" behind, Warren Barguil 5th, Rigobert Uran 6th, Tejay van Garderen 7th, 1'26" behind, Diego Ulissi 8th, Rafal Majka 9th, 1'50"
Stage 5 - Hilly with hill top finish, including 3 major intermediate climbs
The peloton split on the second climb of the day in their chase of the breakaway. At the start of the third climb, Majka, Fuglsang and Landa placed an attack. Majka stayed away in front but the other two were caught with 6 km left. Landa was eventually left behind by the other leaders but Dayer did manage to hang on to their group. Majka took the win.
Stage winner - Rafal Majka Movistar - Dayer Quintana 3rd, 25" behind, Mikel Landa 10th, 1'37" behind Other important results - Chris Froome 2nd, Jakob Fuglsang 4th, Diego Ulissi 5th, 25" behind, Ilnur Zakarin 6th, 46" behind, Wilco Kelderman 7th, 56" behind, Rigoberto Uran 8th, 1'3" behind
Stage 6 - Individual Time Trial - Flat - 19.9 km
Another ITT to finish off this race. The GC favourites once again enjoyed a good outing with Kelderman taking the win here. The top of the GC saw one major change with Kelderman leap-frogging Zakarin into 2nd place, while Froome hung on for the win. Dayer managed to keep his 5th position intact.
Stage winner - Wilco Kelderman Movistar - Dayer Quintana lost 56" Other important results - Jakob Fuglsang 4th, losing 14", Tejay van Garderen 5th, losing 22", Chris Froome 6th, losing 22", Ilnur Zakarin 8th, losing 34" , Rigoberto Uran lost 40", Diego Ulissi lost 46", Rafal Majka lost 50"
With two ITTs and an out of form Landa, Movistar were never in contention for this race. Dayer showed some promise as he manged to get into the top 5 on both the climbing stages as well as the overall classification. He enjoys the race at Romandie; last year, he had finished 4th overall. A long overdue stage win for Lobato on stage 2 was the high point of Movistar's race. Pintassilgo getting 2nd on the Young Riders' classification was another positive. Focus shifts to the Giro now...
Dayer's been developing well over the past couple of years
I think Landa's a bit rusty having not been on the start list for some time now. Let's hope he gets his groove back in races after the Giro. The Criterium Dauphine will be his next race...
This race brought Movistar a couple of stage wins via Benoot in stage 3 and Luis Leon Sanchez in the ITT on stage 4. Both of them finished high the classification with Benoot on the middle step of the podium.
The team time trial will see the teams of the favourites try to get their leaders an early advantage. A pan flat stage should see fast times, but not much drama.
Stage 2
A tough climb before the end of the stage could well see time gaps appearing at this early stage itself. It would be interesting to see how the favourites approach this stage.
Stage 3
Three consecutive short climbs lead to the finish line on this stage. This might prove tricky once again for the favourites as they need to decide whether to push for a win at this early stage or hold back and look for opportunities in later stages.
Stage 4
The small climb at the start leads to an otherwise absolutely flat stage. The sprinters get their first opportunity to flourish.
Stage 5
A mirror image of the last stage, a perfectly flat profile leads to a small climb just before the end of the stage. Will it be enough to put off the sprinters, or will they take the stage again?
Stage 6
The first stage through the mountain passes comes in the first week itself. Four tough climbs lead to a downhill finish, and there should be time gaps opening up here.
Stage 7
A milder stage it terms of the overall profile, but there are enough climbs to keep everyone on their toes. The climb to the finish should once again see the GC leaders battle each other.
Stage 8
This stage acts as a sort of transition between the climbs previous to this and the ITT coming up next. The long flat portions in between the climbs should ensure the pack finishing as a group and the sprinters taking the stage.
Stage 9
The all important ITT comes a day before the first rest day of the race. This stage will set the tone for this race, going into the harder climbing stages in the second and third weeks.
Stage 10
The stage profile here sees two climbing sections separated by a long flat portion in the middle. The descent to the finish is preceded by a steep climb, which should be action packed.
Stage 11
A weird looking stage profile greets us on stage 11. Flat for most of the stage, the profile goes up and up in the final third. The GC leaders would want to take advantage of their strengths here.
Stage 12
A flat stage should give the riders a chance to cool down after the tough climb in the previous stage. The small climb before the line should not hamper the chances of a bunch sprint finish.
Stage 13
Another one for the sprinters. This profile leads the riders to the bottom of the mountain passes coming up in the next two stages.
Stage 14
Two tough climbs to start with is followed by two absolute monsters on this stage. One of two stages where the climbers will covet the stage win, given the hard profiles on offer. Should see the leaders go shoulder to shoulder up the steep slopes.
Stage 15
There is no respite for the peloton as possibly and even tougher stage follows the last one. A total of 6 climbs, 4 extremely tough, including the climb to the finish await the riders on this stage.
Stage 16
Uphill for a portion of the first half, and downhill for most of the second half, this stage would come as a welcome reprieve from all the climbing the riders would've already done. Expect a breakaway to really try their luck here.
Stage 17
The organizers' love affair with the mountains and downhill finishes continues with this stage. Coming into the business end of the race, the leaders would be desperate to hold on to their positions now.
Stage 18
A mostly flat stage with a climb just before the finish would still favour the sprinters. Another stage where the breakaway might fancy their chances of a victory.
Stage 19
A scary looking Mountain Time Trial awaits the riders on stage 19. It will be each man against the mountains on this one and the GC might still be up for grabs. Another pivotal stage in the race.
Stage 20
There won't be any excitement if the penultimate stage of a GC did not involve tough climbing! A lull in the middle of the stage will provide the GC leaders the chance to rejuvenate before they launch their final assaults in the closing sections. If the GC is still close going into this stage, it might just turn out to be an epic.
Stage 21
The traditional Tour ending procession takes us to Milan where the race ends. The sprinters, happy to have overcome the mountains, would be setting their sights on a stage win here to go home happy.
Overall Assessment
The profiles at the Giro this year would ensure there is very little chance of an outsider taking the win. Some incredibly tough stages, highlighted by the successive stages 14 and 15, will throw a spectacle of climbing high mountains. With Froome going for a hat-trick, and Nairo going for his third Giro overall, this might just be battle royale!
Movistar Starting List
Nairo Quintana
Leopold Konig
Elia Viviani
Adriano Malori
Juan Jose Lobato
Rafael Valls
Gorkha Izagirre
Ruben Fernandez
Isidro Pintassilgo
Movistar come into the first GT of the year with the challenge of overturning last year's disappontment. They were looking to Nairo Quintana again to lead. Leopold Konig and Rafael Valls would be his lieutenants. The team itself was not the strongest but was likely challenge on all formats of racing here. A first start in a GT also for Isidro Pintassilgo; it was a big moment for him. The main contenders for this race would be Chris Froome, Wilco Kelderman and Froome's Astana team-mate, Fabio Aru. The other teams were not as strong and it looked like it would come down to these four riders. Could Froome get his hattrick? Or will someone else, break his run?
Number of starters: 198 Number of finishers: 158
The following is a summary of important stages...
Part 1: New Challenges
Stage 1 - Tean Time Trial - Flat - 15.8 km
Giant-Alpecin put Kelderman into pole position with their 1st place finish on the time trial. None of the favourites lost too much ground, the most being 18 seconds.
Stage 2 - Hilly with 1 major intermediate climb
The early breakaway's lead at the front kept yo-yo-ing back and forth as the peloton chased through the changing terrain. Another group of four riders attacked with 45 km left. The break was caught at the top of the climb with 30 km to go. The lead group was down to a mere 20 riders after the climb. Thibaut Pinot launched an attack with 8 km to go but was caught again with just 3 km to go. The stage finished in a sprint amongst the reduced group, with Adam Yates winning from Nairo. None of the favourites lost time.
Stage winner - Adam Yates Movistar - Nairo Quintana 2nd, same time. Nairo also wore the KOM jersey at the end of the day
Stage 3 - Hilly with 2 major and 2 minor intermediate climbs
Movistar flirted with disaster as Nairo and Konig both got caught up on the wrong end of a pack split. A lot of chasing later, the chasing groups were all back together with a little over 50 km to go in the stage. Movistar then set the pace as the pack chased the breakaway riders. Valls set a blistering pace and dragged Nairo away from the group for a few kilometres. They were caught and Kelderman launched an attack at the top of the last climb. He did his best to catch the lone breakaway survivor but it wasn't enough. Alesasndro de Marchi won from the breakaway while Kelderman got the same time in 2nd place. Nairo and Froome were in the next group, losing almost a minute.
Stage winner - Alesasndro de Marchi from breakaway Movistar - Nairo Quintana 6th, 48" behind, Leopold Konig 15th, 2'5" behind. Nairo lost the KOM jersey Other important results - Wilco Kelderman 2nd, same time, Chris Froome 7th, 48" behind, Thibaut Pinot 8th, 1'22" behind
Stage 7 - Hilly with 4 minor intermediate climbs
Viviani and Mathias Frank tangled early on and fell, but both recovered back to the peloton. The breakaway was not allowed a big lead as the peloton were more focussed here. Aru attacked on the last climb. Konig, Kelderman and Pinot followed him. Konig then dropped back to the peloton to support Nairo while the others stayed out in front. Aru won, pulling out almost a minute to Kelderman and more than a minute to his other rivals.
Stage winner - Fabio Aru Movistar - Nairo and Konig finished in pack, 1'13" behind Other important results - Wilco Kelderman 2nd, 52" behind, Thibaut Pinot 3rd, Julian Arredondo 4th, both 1'6" behind
The GC after stage 7...
Spoiler
To be continued...
Edited by AbhishekLFC on 29-02-2016 16:09
DiCyc wrote:
Not the best start, but let's see how it goes
Well...
Part 2: Old Adversaries
Stage 9 - Individual Time Trial - Flat - 49.2 km
It happened again! The curse of the long time trial comes back to haunt Movistar again. Finishing more than four minutes down from the stage winner is not a good way to enhance your GC chances. Especially when the stage winner is your biggest rival in the race. Froome won the stage. He dominated his rivals. With the exception of Kelderman, he more or less rode everyone else out of contention here.
The GC reflecting the dominance of Froome on this stage...
Spoiler
Stage winner - Chris Froome Movistar - Nairo Quintana lost 4'1", Leopold Konig lost 4'44" Other important results - Wilco Kelderman 4th, losing 2'51"
Stage 11 - Mountain with mountain top finish
Thomas de Gendt and Rein Taaramae were the famous names in the seven man break. The peloton allowed them to build up only a 5 minute lead. Adam Yates and Chris Froome launched the first attacks 30 km from the finish. They were caught by a group of 8 riders having Nairo, Konig and Kelderman. Kelderman was dropped before the lead group of 11 riders reached the 10 km marker. Froome was once again too strong for the rest of the pack and took 1st place followed by Nairo.
Stage winner - Chris Froome Movistar - Nairo Quintana 2nd, 29" behind, Leopold Konig 6th, 2' behind Other important results - John Darwin Atapuma 5th, 1'49", Francesco Bongiorno 7th, 2' behind, Adam Yates 10th, 2'26" behind, Wilco Kelderamn 2'59" behind
The GC after this stage...
Spoiler
Stage 14 - Mountain with downhill finish, including 3 major and 1 minor intermediate climbs
The pack split in the first climb itslef behind the breakaway. Nairo, Kangert and Barguil fell on the first descent. Malori did a superb job pulling Nairo back to the front group. Kelderman lost his support staff going up the third ascent but he managed to hang on to his rivals' tails. The leaders attacked with 20 km to go, while the breakaway stayed away and won; Julian Arredondo taking 1st place. In the end, the top 3 finished with the same time, after Nairo successfully made the gap to the others.
Stage winner - Julian Arredondo from breakaway Movistar - Nairo Quintana 4th, 3'34" behind, Leopold Konig 8th, 5'59" behind Other important results - Wilco Kelderman 2nd, Chris Froome 3rd, both 3'34" behind, Thibaut Pinot 5th, Francesco Bongiorno 6th, Adam Yates 7th, all 5'12" behind
Stage 15 - Mountain with mountain top finish, including 4 major 1 minor intermediate climbs
A 6 man breakaway pulled to a 21 minute lead over the pack. After the first climb, the leading group was down to 60 riders. They stayed together until Froome, Aru, Kelderman and Frank attacked on the 4th climb. Nairo tried his best but lost over a minute to his rivals. Ben King won from the breakaway. Froome further extended his lead by taking some time over Kelderman as well. Isidro Pintassilgo had to retire from the race with an injury. Disappointing for Movistar, as he was placed 2nd in the Young Riders' standings, just 20 seconds behind first place.
Stage winner - Ben King from breakaway Movistar - Nairo Quintana 10th, 5'52" behind. Konig lost a lot of time and fell out of the top 10 for the first time since stage 2. Other important results - Chris Froome 4th, 4'29", Mathias Frank 5th, Wilco Kelderman 6th, Adam Yates 7th, Fabio Aru 8th, 4'53" behind
The GC after the second week...
Spoiler
To be continued...
Edited by AbhishekLFC on 29-02-2016 16:12
Stage 17 - Mountain with mountain top finish, including 3 major and 1 minor intermediate climbs
After Viviani managed a good 2nd place on stage 16, Movistar were in slightly better spirits coming into this stage. The early breakaway built up a lead of 11 minutes. The lead group behind them was down to about 50 riders on the second intermediate climb. Movistar and Astana managed to drop Kelderman, who was severely short of support. The breakaway was caught at this juncture too. Astana used their super-super-domestiques Bardet and Aru(!!) to pull drag Froome well away from his rivals. No one came close to the trio again as the pack fought for scraps behind. Aru won the sprint up the mountain, although Froome didn't really put in 100%. Nairo was the best of the rest, finishing a solo 4th, well ahead of his other rivals.
Stage winner - Fabio Aru Movistar - Nairo Quintana 4th, 2'46" behind Other important results - Chris Froome 2nd, same time, Romain Bardet 3rd, 58" behind, Julian Arredondo 5th, A.Yates 7th, Thibaut Pinot 8th, Wilco Kelderman 9th, Mathias Frank 10th, all 3'38" behind
Stage 19 - Individual Time Trial - Mountain - 24 km
The mountain time trial has traditionally been good for Movistar; in complete contrast to the flat ones! Andrew Talansky held the fastest time for a while before Konig obliterated it. His was the fastest till Nairo came along for the ride. He destroyed the field; barring Konig, there were none within a minute of his time when he crossed the line. Kelderman got 3rd best, but it wasn't enough to hang on to 2nd in the GC. Froome was well down, but he was surely managing his effort at this point. Finally some reason to cheer for Movistar with a 1-2 finish on this stage.
Stage winner - Nairo Quintana Movistar - Leopold Konig 2nd, losing 53" Other important results - Wilco Kelderman 3rd, losing 1'26", Fabio Aru 4th, losing 1'42", Thibaut Pinot 5th, losing 2'3", Chris Froome 10th, losing 2'23"
The change in the GC after this stage...
Spoiler
Stage 20 - Mountain with mountain top finish, including 3 major and 1 minor intermediate climbs
The early 8 man break had a 20 minute lead at one stage. Starting from the third ascent, Movistar set a blistering pace, which broke up the peloton and started making huge in-roads into the breakaway's lead. The group of GC leaders was down to less than 40 riders after the third climb. There were multiple attacks then from the leaders. Froome and Adam Yates launched the first, but were quickly caught. Froome and Kelderman then built up a 2 minute lead over the group having Nairo. They were chased down eventually. Kelderman attacked again at the base of the climb to the finish, but this time Nairo was ready, The latter attacked next, leaving Kelderman behind, but Froome was too strong to be dropped. The last remaining breakaway rider - Janier Acevedo - was caught on the line by Froome, but the former won. Nairo lost a few seconds to them.
Stage winner - Janier Acevedo from breakaway Movistar - Nairo Quintana 3rd, losing 13", Leopold Konig 9th, 3'53" behind Other important results - Chris Froome 2nd, same time, Romain Bardet 4th, Wilco Kelderman 5th, 45" behind, Fabio Aru 6th, 1'57" behind, Mathias Frank 7th, 2'40" behind
Stage 21 - Flat
The last stage into Milan saw the customary bunch sprint. The breakaway were not strong enough. Nacer Bouhanni, though, was the strongest in the pack and won his third stage of the race. Movistar sprinters got two top 10 finishes, with Viviani highest in 5th place. There were no mishaps to report.
A salute to Chris Froome for a hat-trick of Giro wins! This year, the team management has no reason to complain. The better rider won. Talking about the positives for Movistar, Nairo completely aced the MTT. He was the second best rider through most of the race, although Kelderman did get the better of him in the early punchy stage finishes. Isidro Pintassilgo did well for the first two weeks before he had to retire with an injury. He's going to be out for a few weeks, but the future looks bright. Viviani did quite well in the sprints. The team has to move on from this and concentrate on the next races. To time to ponder on the bygones...
