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EPIC - Giro d'Italia 2013
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| Bikex |
Posted on 21-04-2014 13:39
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Team Leader
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Great report Shonak! 
Nice attempt by Caruso with an early attack, also happy that Trofimov moved into the top15. I don't think he will reach our goal of a top 10 but it could get close. |
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| Jesleyh |
Posted on 21-04-2014 14:02
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Tour de France Champion
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Ollfardh wrote:
Brouwer still not looking good. Still hoping he recovers for the next flat stages 
Yeah, didn't spot him yet, wow, nearly last.
Well, this can't take weeks I suppose, hope he'll be allright.
@Cycleman Told you 
Weening would've pulled it off 
Feyenoord(football) and Kelderman fanboy
PCMdaily Awards: 12x nomination, 9x runner-up, 0x win.
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| knockout |
Posted on 21-04-2014 14:11
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Grand Tour Champion
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I really enjoyed reading. It was not only a great report but i also liked the work and the tactic of the Movistar guys. Nice to see capecchi in the break and then fantastic work of Quintanan who is already in beast mode.
As bad the first week was for Quintana, it could be a good thing for the neutral viewer as we have to try on every stage to pull out a Landis.
Watch out Nibbles, nothing is over yet and if you show a weakness at some points then we will be there. We still fight for the GC win!
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 25-11-2024 10:00
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| brewers90 |
Posted on 21-04-2014 14:21
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The inevitable march to sixth place has begun. Great ride by Cadel and Ivan, who seems to want the KoM jersey.
And, of course, nice report. Not that we'd ever get anything else from Lord Shonak. 
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| Shonak |
Posted on 21-04-2014 16:52
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Tour de France Champion
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Thanks guys once more. I noticed that there are quite some typos. Sorry for that. I was in a hurry today and some sentences got messed up.
@knockout, Ollfardh: Yup, anybody who wants to see an exciting race should be cheering for Quintana by now. We'll be interesting to see what else Movistar will come up in the coming stages.
@brewers90: Hehe, I don't need such titles of nobility. Evans did real good today, I was genuinely surprised.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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| Dippofix |
Posted on 21-04-2014 17:23
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So now, at last i've caught up with the Giro. My thoughts: Tom O'Callaghan becoming the first EPIC rider to lead a classification at a GT sure was sweet. Ryder Hesjedal is also riding strongly, though he cracked a bit on that last stage. Still hanging on to third though, which leaves me wondering what might have been possible had i sent along strong mountain support, maybe even Talansky or so. Then again, leaving Talansky in California sure was the right decision.
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| Shonak |
Posted on 21-04-2014 20:14
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Tour de France Champion
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You missed half the fun, but it's good to have you finally on board.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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| Shonak |
Posted on 21-04-2014 21:26
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Tour de France Champion
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Stage 11
Yesterday kicked off the tough days ahead of the peloton, today continues easily in this tradition as the Sella Ciampigotto and the climb up to Vajont are waiting. This stage may not see the huge gaps of yesterday but don’t treat it lightly. If it’s raced dangerously, one or two GT contenders may come into trouble. And who’s to say that Quintana (or any other rider) isn’t eager for a long-range attack after getting a first impression of the opposition in the mountains?
Euskaltel managers weren’t pleased with Vrecer’s attack yesterday, time to step it up a notch then? Gorka Verdugo attacks as the first rider of today. It’s Euskaltel’s third breakaway in three days. That’s what they are known and loved for. For a while, he is only accompanied by Pirazzi. Sella (AND) eventually catches up quite a while later, and the three of them hold around 4 minutes after just roughly 50 kilometers. All of them are good climbers, so they may have a shot at gaining enough time up to Sella Ciampigotto if the peloton treat lightly today.
Of course, the three of them pay no attention to the intermediate sprint. However they may care about the lead with which they are going into the first climb, and it’s about 5’30 by now. Decent, but will they need more for the next 90 kilometers?
He’s out of GT contention by now, but a bad fall by Simon Gerrans (OGE) still causes a moment of shock in the OGE team car. Fortunately he can continue, although he hangs around at the end of the peloton for a while.
A steady pace keeps them ahead of the peloton by roughly 4 minutes. The break needs to do more than that if they are to succeed. Right now, it seems like a good attack from behind could destroy all their efforts in an instant.
Bardiani have still set their eyes on the Maglia Azzura and this shows by Pirazzi eagerly claiming the KoM sprint ahead of Sella and Verdugo, while a little bit later Johnny Hoogerland (VCD) gets some points too for the blue dream. Michael Albasini (OGE) also put down an attack and will be hoping to get back into those Top 15 with a long-range attack. He at least knows what his manager demands from him here. However, neither of them is a great descender and the long road which leads down, will make it easy for the experienced Astana squad to keep them in check.
It finally starts to look good. With Albasini and Hoogerland caught, the peloton decreases its speed a little bit. At around 40 kilometers left, they have 4 minutes lead. You know what they say, 1 minute per 10 kilometer. Let’s cross finger for the break that it holds up today.
Despite Astana’s chasing, the break keeps it lead and as they hit the 20 mark, they can start dreaming of the stage win. However, it’s more important to keep aware. Pirazzi is the first to attack, with Verdugo following. Sella seems to be unresponsive so far.
And then, Verdugo goes. In the descent. Arguably the best climber of the group, he could wait for the mountaintopfinish, but he seems to prefer to rock the downhill first. Sella takes over, while Pirazzi clearly needs to recover a bit after two successive attacks.
12 kilometer to go and Gorka Verdugo throws in all his experience here. This man has never won a stage, never won a race. So many domestique duties, so many times closely missed. Make it count, Gorka. Can he finally take this last step, and of all the races, does he manage here at the Giro d’Italia 2013? Gora Gorka!
Right up there, push it over. 6 kilometers left. 20 seconds on his former companions. 4 minutes onto the peloton. We stay with Gorka of course, since there are no attacks from the peloton so far.
The two Italians lose time onto the basque. More and more. He sets clear for the stage win?
#198 is clearly the strongest today as he put by now a minute into his two rivals. Back in the peloton, Astana are still holding a tight, fast grip over the peloton, where no attacks have happened so far. Disappointing to say the least, but at least Gorka Verdugo performs here today!
And then finally something happens some may say: Scarponi attacked and all of them are following. Well, except for Kelderman and Kiserlovski and Pellizotti but don’t worry those are coming up from behind.
While Gorka Verdugo is presumably beginning the longest and most joyful kilometer of his career, but looks thereby incredbily exhausted, Ryder Hesjedal attacks from outside the leader group and gets some distance. Evans, Porte, Kiserlovski and Kreuziger have lost contact to Group Nibali though.
Gora Gorka! Gora Euskadi!
It's Gorka Verdugo who takes his first stage win of his career here today. The first of his career and maybe the only one, but when you win a stage at the Giro d'Italia you can be happy right? No matter what comes. A flawless performance him brings the just reward for the ever-fighting Euskaltel squad. A hint of history as Gorka Verdugo mastered this finale climb. Pirazzi and Sella take 2nd and 3rd.
The GC contenders arrive with some gap onto Verdugo. Evans, Porte and Kreuziger had to take another blow for their podium ambitions, while Hesjedal was narrowly caught at the line by the other contenders. A good last 5 kilometers of the contenders with much action.
Okay, so weirdly enough I couldn't press "Next" when the newspaper appeared. Therefor no exported results. The stage is valid though and the results are here too in the stage results screen, so no worries. Hopefully this won't come up again. Top 10 largely stays the same, although Kelderman loses a bit of time if I'm right. (I can post the Top 10 ahead of the next race from the rankings)
Edited by Shonak on 21-04-2014 21:30
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 21-04-2014 21:30
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World Champion
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Gora Gorka!
Too bad about Kelderman, really hope he can keep the top 10.
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| brewers90 |
Posted on 21-04-2014 21:37
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Well, you can't expect the old man to be good two days in a row. Another top ten though. He's finally building up some momentum. It only took him about 40 racedays.
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| Shonak |
Posted on 21-04-2014 21:38
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Tour de France Champion
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Ollfardh wrote:
Too bad about Kelderman, really hope he can keep the top 10.
It was just a little bit. He's still 7th.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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| Luis Leon Sanchez |
Posted on 21-04-2014 21:45
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Where is Pellizotti now? However, still a good podium for Sella here on stage 11.
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| nacho63 |
Posted on 21-04-2014 21:46
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Quintana gradually moving up the GC every stage
Bit disappointed to see no Argos in the frame today, could have been perfect and it was for Euskaltel.
Edited by nacho63 on 21-04-2014 21:48
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| Silvio Herklotz |
Posted on 21-04-2014 21:50
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Shonak wrote:
You know what they say, 1 minute per 10 kilometer.
You didn't mention the two exceptions that always apply:
1. It's not flat (so that means that a breakaway win would have been improbable if they had really chased)
2. It's Tony Martin (or Cancellara, but I like Martin much better, so it will just count for him )
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| Cycleman123 |
Posted on 21-04-2014 22:02
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Hopefully Gerrans is fine. At least Alba isn't invisible anymore, but...
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| The Rider |
Posted on 21-04-2014 22:28
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-- That stage was had breakaway win written all over it, Zubeldia definitely should have got himself into it.... Still a nice result from Kiserlosvki after missing the earlier move, holding on to the top 10 for him would be a good result. |
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| Bikex |
Posted on 21-04-2014 23:00
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It's a bit a shame that never someone of Katusha gets into the break, I wonder why it's not like Trofimov is one of the big race favourites.. |
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| knockout |
Posted on 22-04-2014 00:28
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Was propably the right decision of Quintana to take a rest day today and wait for a better chance to attack the leaders. With such a long downhill Nibbles would surely be capable of rejoining him and therefore such an eventless stage is okay today.
@Dippo: You missed the bad part. Now the good part with Quintana making an epic comeback to win the Giro d'Italia after having a disadvantage of 9 minutes earlier on the road begins.
And i agree with The Rider. The profile looks like a very safe breakaway win.
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| nacho63 |
Posted on 22-04-2014 01:04
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If Quintana wins I will cycle naked around my town! |
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 22-04-2014 05:47
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Another great report with an even better result
 Gora Gorka
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