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Giro d'Italia Discussion
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| Fabianski |
Posted on 01-01-2025 11:23
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Looks like the boring part of the race has startet in terms of stage winners - if the break doesn't take any of the next two, it's hard to see Herklotz not getting them as well. Congrats to cio, and as ember said, Pink should be safe now.
Good stage by Stüssi, 13th is about where I can expect him to finish in the mountains. Top 10 here or there would be nice to get some additional points, but as long as he stays in the front group I'm fine. Errazkin apparently did a great job protecting him, and still is well positioned, hoping for a Top 50 finish by him.
Still no breakaway attempts sucks though, as we definitely don't have a stage favourite in the mountains so no excuse to do nothing. But well, it hasn't been a good race for breaks anyway...
Thanks for the report.
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| redordead |
Posted on 01-01-2025 12:29
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Since we failed TGH in the TTT it's cool to see him take matters into his own hands. That's a very nice 3rd place finish for some bonus seconds in his quest for a top 10 finish. Also good to get some points on the board since this projects to be a low scoring GT for us.
"I am a cyclist, I may not be the best, but that is what I strive to be. I may never get there, but I will never quit trying." - Tadej Pogačar
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 01-01-2025 14:11
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I'm not complaining at this point, but the fact that the game sees Carthy as our unequivocal GC leader in the actual mountains just makes our first week strategy even more annoying. Seeing him thrive today makes me feel like we'd be competing for a top 5 if he didn't lose random chunks of time in the first week for no reason.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| DubbelDekker |
Posted on 01-01-2025 14:19
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Stage 9, 10 and 11 was another crazy trio of stages for us. It starts with Lutsenko straight up winning a pan flat mass sprint and ends with him finishing a proper mountain stage in the first group. Incredible. How long can he keep this up?
Losing pink was of course inevitable because of Herklotz being here. But I'm very curious what Lutsenko can do in the fight for ciclamino. The upcoming two hilly stages will be crucial for that.
And of course this stage 11 performance also brings up the question whether he can hold on to a relatively high GC spot. But I think it is hard to predict that until we've see how he deals with the Zoncolan.
Either way I'm glad that my gamble on this being a relatively puncheur friendly Giro is vindicated.
And we should not forget the rest of the team. Carboni is doing a great job so far and is still well positioned in the fight for top 10. And Senni, Aleotti and Leknessund are putting up a good struggle for top 30 spots, with the latter two also leading the U25.
Nothing to complain so far.
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| Luis Leon Sanchez |
Posted on 01-01-2025 19:39
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No big gaps so far leaves the GC quite tight. Choi with a fairly strong performance for 7th with Conci also in the main GC group. Still occupying 7th & 8th in the GC but expect the coming stages will see a bit more of a shake up.
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| OlegTinkov |
Posted on 02-01-2025 12:59
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Finally back online, have a lot of reading up to do but for now I just want to wish everybody a happy new year!
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 02-01-2025 15:59
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Nothing for us. Aranburu uninvolved but every just in the pack. Wouldn't be so bad if we weren't out of the GC.
Quite the coup by Olivier to gain time there. Could pay off big time.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| knockout |
Posted on 02-01-2025 16:10
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This stage changed nothing but once again I'm fairly unhappy about our breakaway behaviour. Either we dont join breaks at all or we send completely nonsensical choices in there. Definitely has to improve in the remainder of the race...
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 02-01-2025 19:58
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Disappointed on the last couple of stages with Formolo. There were stages where he could have improved his points tally for both the points classification and the MG classification outright. He should have been in both stages in the top 5 at the very least.
The podium in the 10th stage was nice though.
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 04-01-2025 22:10
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| Fabianski |
Posted on 02-01-2025 20:21
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Congrats to cycleYorkshire, I'm pretty surprised Yates could keep the GC riders behind on such a long climb.
Stüssi once again safe in the pack, sucks to lose time to Olivier though. One of the riders I was hoping he might keep in check with TTT plus ITT, but I'm afraid he's too strong.
Wish we'd join breakaways in these stages, if Errazkin is simply too bad to be useful. But if Stüssi keeps holding on and we keep doing well in flat stages, that's not the worst scenario, either.
Thanks for the report once again.
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| ember |
Posted on 02-01-2025 21:17
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You can't fault Laporte for trying! Very cool to see him be all in to defend the jersey for as long as possible. Admittedly he hasn't been able to get any points in the last couple of stages, but I enjoy to see him trying. Hopefully it will also give AHJ the needed rest before the mountains in the final week, as I really had hoped to see him more active in breakaways here due to his no GC ride. Curious to see how we play it from here. Can't ask for more than continuing to try for breakaways!
Well done Yates keeping all other stage favourites and GC riders behind, congratulations, ryant!
Also thank you for the reports and the consistency they come with, kb. A nice highlight every day! |
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| ryant |
Posted on 02-01-2025 23:04
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Three stage wins so far so we've matched the Tour de France performance from last season which is good. Only complaint I can have is Yates not being a big factor at all in the pure sprint stages in the same way he was in the Tour so it means we won't be a factor in winning the Points jersey which is a slight shame - you could argue Lutsenko is having the race I thought Yates would have by winning a sprint stage himself!
Tomorrow's stage is rated as hilly/medium mountain stage but the finale may be a little too tough for Yates to crack, I hope not as this will be one of the few chances we will have in this race as we move into the final week...
 John St Ledger in Team Bunzl-Centrica and Team U25Red Bull Driver in RFactor
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| DubbelDekker |
Posted on 03-01-2025 18:21
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Lutsenko should have gone with Yates and Mohoric, but it seems like he didn't have the legs this time. Can't fault him for that, but I hope he improves in stage 13.
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| ember |
Posted on 03-01-2025 20:32
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Laporte really is doing his best! A pity it hasn't given him any more KoM points 
Encouraging to see AHJ finish inside the top 20, we take it as a first positive sign from him this Giro 
The Herklotz show is definitely on. Super convincing to beat Lutsenko and Yates on such a finish. Congratulations again, cio! |
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| Fabianski |
Posted on 03-01-2025 20:49
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Wow, Stüssi has woken up just in time it seems! Very anonymous so far - and then he does what I expected to see from Errazkin during these two weeks. 5th place on a hilly stage is a great result for him, and we'll happily take these couple of seconds he gained on some others.
Congrats to Puma once again, Herklotz is really in beast mode now. We should see a good race for 2nd, though
Thanks for the report.
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 03-01-2025 22:49
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God I hate Herklotz 
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 04-01-2025 02:02
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I simply don't understand how the AI is now all in on Carthy, to the extent Aranburu is dropped early on punchuer stages, when in the exact same race Carthy already worked for Aranburu and destroyed his GC chances. They know this is the same race, right? This is the same race?
Spinning the roulette wheel to decide what your new GT strategy is every stage isn't the best way to score.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| Luis Leon Sanchez |
Posted on 04-01-2025 05:27
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Disappointing stage for us in all honesty. Choi did alright to not lose much time to main favourites but he still didn't do well. Conci being dropped on such a stage is very disappointing given the kind of riders finishing ahead and around him. Could do with a strong final week!
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 04-01-2025 12:10
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Today was one we would have had earmarked all race to join the breakaway and I really had hope of Fouche gaining a stage win here once I saw he joined. Still, moving up the KoM in a solid way and still in a great GC position for a few more attacks in the final week - I've got a lot of faith!
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant."
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| knockout |
Posted on 04-01-2025 13:36
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Not sure what to think of this stage. Foss losing time sucks but Plapp limits his losses quite well for the first time and climbs backs into U25 jersey contention and his gc position is now good enough that he will hopefully be treated slightly better than previously. And Bellan is finally a very reasonable shout for a break appearance. Wasnt meant to be and didnt have the legs to stay with the top guys from the break but it was a worthy attempt. I think i can live with him not going for any kom points as he is the wrong rider type for it and its too late for him to properly start collecting points with stronger riders likely soon to enter the break game...
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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