Perfectly on target for Relegation! Though i imagine we have used less race days than those WT teams ahead of us, and with Demare, Bouhanni and Pinot all having loads of race days left, that things don't look as bad as they seem.
Relegate, cut the dead weight *eyes Cervero*, and bounce back stronger than even Sky
Hanzen adding a boost to Sky, great stuff. AG2R doing great and Hinault has his best races just around the corner. Overall things are pretty good for TMM Sports Management
Ollfardh wrote:
(...)while Argos and Euskaltel pay for not sending their leaders to the Giro, they're in danger of losing their WT status in the future, but for now they're still good at 15th and 16th.
Well, Samuel doesn't quite have 200 race days, so he can't go everywhere
We just don't have the depth to challenge everywhere (as shown by the fact that we had 17 eligible riders for the Domestique series), but on paper De las Campos is actually one of our strongest climbers...
Anyway it wouldn't be the end of the world for us to relegate as I hope/expect the rules to allow us to keep most of the team while we need to get rid of some of the useless foreigners anyway...
Edit: The rankings goal is to do better than the 19th place EUS got in the CQ ranking IRL 2013 so we're on target for that...
Edited by Atlantius on 06-05-2014 14:00
do I just suck a making rankings or did a miss something (like top 20 GC get points), because the teams that are in the spoiler are the ones that aren't corrected (challenge, find the teams that are right ). in both ways, (too many points, too few points) massive and small. I know that some of these are to blame because of penalties but still this makes me sad
Top 20 got points, and there are a few punishments along the way as well. Plus I can't guarantee my rankings are 100% accurate. Feel free to PM me with your differences
Another person to watch is Alejandro Valverde at 8, but with a lot of racedays left.
Good point there. For those who are interested in statistics: He has scored over 100 points per race day. I doubt that anybody else (even Sagan) has such a brilliant PPRD.
This might not stay like that for a long time as he will most likely be a super domestique for Quintana in Le Tour. Curious to see how PCM can handle that and if that will be enough to chase all Froome attacks down. At least we will have an option B in TDF if Quintana manage to fall again
Things been going pretty well for Saxo recently and the Giro went fairly well for us, but we're nevertheless behind Team Sagan Expect to hopefully go up the rankings in the fairly near future, the Dauphine/Suisse double header should go well for us with good climbing depth and we've saved up a pretty good squad for the Tour
The last week has been raced and every kilometer is behind us, every action is taken: But not every word is yet spoken. Note that this is only a bonus, something like a post-race reportage. There is no new wisdom found here, it's only for fun.
Parts included: Week 3 Summary, Analysis of Classification and some other factors, list of Classifications & list of Stages & Stage Winners, Team Ratings (one or two senteces about each team) and an opinion of various team managers. Last but not least, I collected some rage quotes during the Giro from you guys.
Week 3 Summary
The third week started with a breakaway and the crossing over to France. Out of the group, Robert Gesink proved to be the strongest and climbed ahead of the GT contenders to the top of Col du Galibier. With Nibali, Porte, Quintana and Betancur all arriving at the same time, we had a clear confirmation early on that things weren’t likely to change, compared to the previous two weeks.
Bardiani Valvole hasnn’t change either and they continued to be very active, and their attacking attitude finally led to their first stage win in form of Enrico Battaghlin. In the hilly stage to Ivrea, he distanced Cancellara and his other fellow breakawayees. With a time gain of over 40 seconds onto Betancur and even more onto other riders, Vincenzo Nibali finally ended all speculation about the overall triumph of the Giro d’Italia.
A breakaway win also came on the next day in form of Pierrick Fedrigo. The french rider from the rather anonymous Team FDJ.fr has done his manager proud by cleverly snatching the wheel of the impatiently ever-attacking Gorka Izagirre and sprinted clear and confidently to the stage win. The GT contenders hadn’t been very active due to the next day’s Mountain Time Trial, however Nairo Quintana lost once again time.
The young Colombian took revenge onto the peloton by destroying everybody in the Mountain Time Trial and claiming his second stage win. Nibali was the only one close with 7 seconds behind. For Quintana, this was the last call for his spectacular hunt for a better placing. He was ranked 6th afterwards, still 3 minutes behind Ryder Hesjedal and two behind Kreuziger.
Quintana’s chase continued up Val Martello. The stage was won by Stefano Pirazzi, taking the second one for Bardiani Valvole. Over 9 minutes later, the first favourite finally arrived on the top of the climb and it was Quintana, who had distanced Nibali and Zubeldia by a small margin. He took more time onto Hesjedal and Kreuziger though, and also Michele Scarponi finally steered clear for a solid 7th overall result by crucially distancing Kiservloski and Evans.
The road up to Tre Cime di Lavaredo saw then the big clash once and for all. Several decisions for the Top 10 and sponsor goals were pushed onto this day. Hesjedal on 4th, Quintana 5th, Kreuziger 6th – they all could switch their places as they were within a minute. Also there was a duel for the tenth spot between Kelderman and Pellizotti, which was clearly decided by a brave early attack by Pellizotti. This move exploded the race and with Nibali and Quintana up the road, the rest of the favourites were fighting for the remaining crumbs. Betancur completely lost ground for the first time, his only really weak day in 3 weeks. He was helped over the finish by Scarponi. Kreuziger was left on the chasing side of things throughout the day but took things in his own hand eventually. His own reward was the 5th place. Meanwhile, Hesjedal lost crucial time. Too much. After being in the Top 5 almost all the time, today saw him crack. The stage win went to the Shark of Messina in a duel against Quintana.
On the last day, stage 21 to Brescia, Johnny Hoogerland, one of the most active riders throughout the past 3 weeks, took his reward by winning the stage narrowly ahead of the peloton. His companions from the breakaway got swallowed but he stayed ahead of the bunch by a late-move. Carlos Betancur, who came in third, stole the points jersey from Vincenzo Nibali by one point on the last day.
With Nibali, Betancur and Porte, we had three man on the top step who basically allowed themselves to have the least weak days. Nibali did rarely lose time and when he did, it was in a fashion that granted him a time lead on other competitors. No matter how the stage panned out, Nibali somehow always came out on top. It was similar executed by Carlos Betancur. The Colombian took two stage wins and the points jersey but coming in 2nd, is something few would have probably believed for the young gun. Richie Porte in third was riding an anonymous race at times, but his staggering performance up Monte Jafferau saw him take the third spot with ease. Also, after missing the attacks on stage 20, he put in another great solo-ride.
While the fight for the podium was somehow basically decided after week 2, the next three ranks were hard fought out. There’s no doubt that Quintana would had podium’ed if it hadn’t be for the crash in week 1. But since the crash has happened and Quintana did lose time on some stages, like the first Time Trial or particularly two hilly stages, it was for the Colombian a fight for stage wins and remaining glory. In competition with Ryder Hesjedal and Roman Kreuziger, whom both were often times tingled together and switched their rankings throughout the race, Quintana eventually came out on top thanks to his superior climbing. Both Hesjedal and Kreuziger havn’t ridden a perfect Grand Tour, as they lost time on several accounts where it would have been easily possible to cut loses. Still, both of them also rode a very active Grand Tour at times, with Hesjedal being a danger to Nibali in the first two weeks and Kreuziger especially taking things in his own hands later on in week 3.
For the next 3 riders, Scarponi, Kiserlovski and Evans, the situation was hardly the same, but still at some point, they had all shared one fate: Their ranks were earlier than usual relatively set and secure. Scarponi was by far the best rider of the so-called “Oldie Generation”. He started off abysmal and lost big time onto his competition from the get-go, however Scarponi and his Lampre Team fought themselves back. From the background up ahead. They missed out on a stage win and generally speaking, they have invested too much into the General Classification for a mere 7th place, but Scarponi had the fans on his seat with him being a featured main-protagonist in the most important stages of the Giro. Robert Kiserlovski enjoyed a fantastic first half of the Giro but he lost ground in the second one. Certainly the Radioshack goal of two stage wins hasn’t really helped his cause since much of the energy was invested into breakaways. Though the team close, it wasn’t quite meant to be. And it wasn’t meant to be either for Cadel Evans, who may been put under the value considerably (looking at his rather low stats in comparison to other lesser riders). Evans had his moments of glory but those were so rare and just glimpses, hardly anything was gained from them except for the false hope that things might just turn around one of those days. It didn’t, and Evans finishes on a secure, but disappointing 9th place.
A whole other story was the fight for 10th. While the ranks 7 to 9 were around week 3, relatively clear, two guys fought it out until stage 20. Kelderman eventually lost against Pellizotti. Italy’s National Champion put in some brave attacks, the biggest probably on that 20th day. Quite a day to celebrate since Androni had Top 10 as a goal.
Going deeper in the rankings, there follows Basso alone in no man’s land. Some gap onto the 11th, quite a lead onto the 13th. It wasn’t the Giro meant for Ivan and Cannondale’s manager does right when he questions the overall performance of his team, who barely have shown themselves in the course of the past 3 weeks.
Following Basso, we see Trofimov, who had his great days but overall, didn’t have the quality to achieve a Top 10 here. Against a lesser competition, the plan might have had worked but for now, Katusha’s manager Vodkakov played it too easy and missed out on the Top 10 goal. Up then follows Col du Galibier winner, Robert Gesink, who repeatedly has been called an idiot by his manager. Considering the mental torture and mobbing he had to endure, he rode quite a good Giro himself.
Domenico Pozzovivo, Przemyslaw Niemiec, Giovanni Visconti and Diego Ulissi then have all been great helpers and might had a shot for a stage win now and then, but they certainly were needed by their captains. Weirdly enough, the third AG2R La Mondiale rider John Gadret ranks 19th, still ahead of Haimar Zubeldia from Radioshack, who thus claimed the last GC UCI points. It’s obvious that Radioshack profited quite a lot from the generous approach towards breakaways and thus took the team ranking.
Noticeable riders: Rafal Majka came in 21 after an awful first week, Rigoberto Uran recovered from his crash and climbed onto a 37th rank Evegeny Shalunov is the best ranked EPIC rider in the GC at 29th.
The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
-Vincenzo, Vincenzo, Vincenzo! (Video)
The town square was Vincenzo’s for the taking. His excellent performance brings the joy back to the cycling-tormented Italy. The Italians had their hard-times and much enthusiasm has been lost in the last years, but Vincenzo is here to bring it back, and with his first Giro triumph, he has made a huge step towards it.
-Sprinters, sprinter… no sprinters left?
No sprinter has taken more than a stage win. All sprinters combined, they have only achieved a total of 3 stages! One for Goss, one for Brouwer, one for Cavendish. That has been it. Two times Goss missed out closely to the last breakaway riders. On other occasions, the GT contenders claimed the win or the breakaway got too far away. How can this be explained? Were the sprinter teams generally too weak to accomplish more, was the field too equal so nobody wanted to do too much work for the opposition? Are the sprinters just generally lacking form (like apparently Cavendish) or aren’t really there yet to be consistent at a Grand Tour, because they are maybe too young? Whatever the reason is, we can be sure, that the sprinter equips will want to prove their worth at le Tour.
-Attack is the best defense
Viewers certainly couldn’t complain about stages being dull. Though the high-mountains were fought out harshly, the battle started and continued especially on hilly stages. There the first decisive time gaps were recorded and eventually, those were the stages that made or broke the riders. With time gaps sometimes not recorded, it was still a bit of a gamble and there was plenty to be furious about. At the end of the day, every stage provided at least some action thanks to a very active bunch of Overall Contenders.
-Most aggressive rider of the Giro 2013: Johnny Hoogerland
There has been some tough competiton. Many riders have been featured frequently in a breakaway, but the winner has been the most consistent with stirring up the race and causing excitement. Thus, this award goes rightly to Johnny Hoogerland. The Dutch has been featured in so many breakaways, and always ended up on the losing side. He went for the King of the Mountain jersey, he went for the stage wins, he was active and willing to work… and it’s bittersweet as he took the desired stage win on the last stage. There in Brescia, he got the change to stand on the podium and enjoy his spell in the sun. There in Brescia, he took a stage win that shouldn't have been even possible.
-Most aggressive team of the Giro 2013: Euskaltel – Euskadi
It has been certainly between Bardiani Valvole and Euskaltel – Euskadi, but Bardiani had a bit of a dry spell between their very active first week and their two late stage wins. However, more impressively, Euskaltel – Euskadi attacked an outstanding total of 11 times in 12 stages. There has been one off-day for the basque team, except for that the motto was: All attack! And with the first professional win in Gorka Verdugo’s career, they might just had the right person celebrating their stage win!
On the paper, I didn’t expect too much. Sestriere seemd to be too long of a climb to truly matter and I wasn’t sure that Jafferau was enough to cause serious selection. Given, Altopiano might have been more brutal in the selection and Tre Cime more important, but stage 14 had it all. Sestriere with the fog and the snow surprised me and the Giro got really giro-esque up there for a while. I was positively surprised then when Pellizotti and Nibali attacked in the downhill from Sestriere and caused some mayhem in the fog & rain. Later on, in Jafferau it was then a true sufferfeast, with various top contender struggling and everybody just riding some on to the finish line. Also, there were some great tactics for once, for example by Team SKY who had Uran upfront and who helped later on Porte to the stage win.
Based upon a RCS jury, viewership feedback and a commentator jury, consisting all of myself, here’s a point scale from 1 to 5, 5 being the best. This is only a subjective ranking. It’s based upon the squad strength, the general team roster, the goals, the contributions during the past 3 weeks, performances and of course… other subjective stuff:
Radioshack – Leopard: Cancellara’s win was a strong individual performance, the Team Time Trial should have meant the second stage win but it wasn't enough. Strong: Kiserlovski on 8th and first in the team rankings! 4 out of 5
AG2R La Mondiale: Two stage wins, 2nd in Podium. A squad selection that could have achieved breakaway wins in case of Betancur’s failure as back-up plan. With Pozzovivo probably one the strongest helper on the squad. Additionally the point’s jersey and second in the team rankings.. Almost perfectly played by this squad. 5 out 5
SKY Procycling: Early on, the sponsor goal was basically secure already, but they also lost Uran in the first week. The Colombian recovered though just in time to help Porte to his great stage win. Also, Hanzen was a consistetn point scorer and Team SKY won the TTT. 5 out 5
Team Saxo – Tinkoff: Achieved sponsor goal but missing a stage although Bennati came close twice or three times. Kreuziger with some great support from Majka, who secured Kreuziger’s Top 5 in the last week. 4 out of 5
Lampre – Merida: Way more should have been expected of that squad of Scarponi, Cunego, Ulissi and Niemiec. Not active in breakaways, cautious in the mountains. Only Scarponi on 7th and - to some lesser extend - Niemiec have performed, but Lampre seemed to be too comfortable in their mid-region. 3 out 5
Astana: They got what they wanted and they did it great. Nibali was the champ and he had the team to support him. By all means a flawless team performance, really strong without any really weak day. 5 out 5
Androni Giocattoli – Venezuela: Pellizotti had Italy’s support and a great bang for the buck for the Italian team. The team was featured in various breakaways, but misses a stage win. Pellizotti leading out Felline and Calzone was probably one of the best AI mess-ups in the Giro. 4 out 5
Movistar Team: Three stage wins, Mountain jersey, and basically all the coverage in the world. Movistar has been at the forefront of Media attention and even other team managers pressed their thumbs for Quintana. Still, Quintana was one of the main favourites right from the start and the team hasn’t achieved its sponsor goal. 4 out 5
Belkin Pro Cycling Team: Achieved sponsor goal, two stage wins and some good media coverage. In another world, Kelderman might have had the Top 10. Bad luck with Brouwer’s weakness in week 2. 4 out 5
Euskaltel – Euskadi: First week hardly any good, but an amazing comeback. The basque showed where their strengths lay and what they can be proud for. A stage win is probably what they wanted when they went into this Grand Tour. De Las Campos may have been disappointing, but considering his weak Time Trial skills, it’s hardly surprising. 4 out 5
Katusha Team: Good active team, with both ambitions for breakaways and General Classification. Unfortuantely for them both failed. Still, some good media coverage ensures a 2 out 5.
BMC Racing Team: Evans in Top 10, but hardly that’s enough. There should have been far more possible. BMC team manager can rightly be angry with his squad. Only rider to perform were Evans and Santamorita, while Bookwalter tried at least. 2 out 5
FDJ.fr: Stage win, not much more was asked from the team manager. He got what he wanted. Team wasn’t particularly active but tried its luck sometimes. 3 out 5
Cannondale Pro Cycling: Disappointing for the manager and for Basso. It was just not enough, especially considering this was their Home Grand Tour. Hardly any breakaway action, Basso missing out on Top 10 early on and thus missing out on later media coverage. The team had potential but the riders' neglicence didn't produce anything worthwhile unfortunately. 1 out 5
Vacansoleil – DCM Pro Cycling Team: Very active team with a late consolation prize for Hoogerland. Westra and Hoogerland were featured often in breaks and snatched some much, much needed points for UCI World Tour status, which seems still out of reach for now. 3 out 5
Team Argos – Shimano: The team has achieved a stage win early on with Simon Geschke, then they kept themselves a bit more in the background. Some action from Josh Burton to be seen in the mountains but team and the rider are missing quality for a Grand Tour for now. 3 out 5
Garmin – Sharp: Hesjedal is one of the tragic figures and they closely missed the sponsor goal. But there’s a stage win and some great action from the team during the past 3 weeks. 3 out 5
Bardiani Valvole – CSF Inox: Very active team, two stage wins in the late week. Probably rescuing the Italian team’s attacking team reputation all by themselves. 5 out 5
Omega Pharma – Quick Step Cycling Team: Only one stage win for the Manx Missile, and thus he secured the sponsor goal. But that's too little and there should have been far more possible. Disappointing on all fronts otherwise, although Brambilla came close to winning the KoM jersey. Additionally they are losing the lead in the UCI Team Ranking. 3 out 5
Orica GreenEdge: Strong first week with OGE being everywhere over the place, but then faded in the continuing two weeks. However, Goss was still very active and came in close 2nd various times. Probably the strongest sprinter in the bunch at the Giro. Missed out on their goal though. 3 out 5
Lotto Belisol: They didn’t want anything from this Giro, and nothing is what they got. Though Jelle Vanendert was sometimes featured in the breakaway, the team manager will be happy to finally see an end to this Grand Tour. Surely, le Tour will go more in their favour. 1 out 5
Team manager review
Knockout, Manager of Team Movistar:
This year's Giro was marked by a better TV coverage than ever. With all stages shown in Free TV right from the start it was a brilliant way to follow the action in TV all over the world. The commentator was better than ever and the pictures were broadcasted in HD all over the world. It was a pleasure to follow it.
And the race itself was a good race, too. With several riders capable of beating themself it was a open race for the stage wins at any day. The magglia rosa went fully deserved to Nibali who was the most consistent rider. Unfortunatelly, Quintana crashed so early so that he could not prove how good he could perform if it wasnt for the crash.
This caused our team tactics to change quite a lot as Quintana had to attack way earlier than usual and with a bigger concentration on the stage wins. After this crash we can be quite happy with three stage wins and the KoM classification. But we hoped for more and are also hit hard by the ranking point allocation as the difference between 4th and 3th is 200p but the difference between 4th and 10th there isnt a difference. But we will not complain too much about that.
Favourite other riders: All shitty BMC riders for sure. Always fun to see them failing. If it is one single rider then propably Kelderman. It is always fun to see fans or manager support a rider (Jesleyh, you own me something ) ....
Favourite moment: The moment when Quintana attacked. (cant be more specific)
Pierre Neilly, DS of AG2R:
'It's been a really fantastic race for us. To get Carlos onto the podium was better than we could have expected. He rode a flawless race across the 3 weeks, and we couldn't have asked for anymore.'
'Taking the points jersey really was the icing on the cake. We were slightly disappointed that he lost it on the penultimate stage, but to come back and reclaim it is such a way, by 1 point on the final day. Truly outstanding!'
Carlos Betancur:
'Well first of all I've got to thank the team, they did a really top notch job for me these past few weeks. The fact that we've got 3 riders in the top 20 says a lot about how good this squad is.
I'm absolutely extatic for finishing on the podium. Of course I wanted to win, and I rode to win, but when you're beaten by a better rider, you've just got to be happy with where you end up. I think I'm quite fortunate to end up where I am. Nairo showed just how strong he was in the mountains, and without the bad luck he had, he probably would have been challenging for top spot. But hey, that's how cycling goes, and I've certainly benefitted from it.'
Davide Appollonio:
'It's been a really hard 3 weeks for me personally. Phoenominal for the team, but for myself, having to drag myself up those climbs alone it was very tough. There were a couple of days when I wasn't sure if I'd be able to make it back in time, so I'm really glad that I've been able to finish this race. To be able to last to the end of any GT is an achievement, and I'm certainly pleased that I was able to this time'
Atlantius, Euskaltel - Euskadi:
In our evaluation we refuse to acknowledge the first week so instead I will praise our riders for their amazing attacking spirit resulting in us only missing one breakaway in the last two weeks!
The fact that it resulted in a win and several other good results makes this race an overall success for us.
De las Campos proved that he has a great GT-future by only losing 30 mins to the GC lead in the real mountains of the last two weeks, which would have made him a real contender for a top 15-20 without the bad luck of week 1.
Dippofix, Garmin-Sharp:
First of all, I'm very proud of our team here. We didn't send a top team, and still we performed. A stage win and a constant fight in the mountains are not things every team can boast of. Personally, I was very happy with Ryder. He didn't have any support, and people were already writing him off, and yet he put up a great fight to reach our goal of a Top 5, eventually falling short on stage 20 by mere seconds. Of course that's bitter, but he gave his best, put up a fight, and was narrowly beaten. I was positively surprised by Jakob Rathe, he showed great tactics getting that win from the break, producing Garmins best single moment. I was negativlely surprised by Nicklas Strömberg, who hardly did anything in the sprints. Of course we're far from transfers, but he might do good looking for a new team.
-ALL YOUR FRUSTRATION BELONGS TO US!-
Some of the ragiest posts during the past 3 weeks, right out of the team cars into our living rooms!
Spoiler
Nacho63 wrote:
Mezgec you are shocking...
brewers90 wrote:
Well, at least it can't get any worse. Please.
kubys wrote:
Cav, you moron.
brewers90 wrote:
*Insert comment about frustration and fury*
Yes, Cadel, go and get your own bottles when your lieutenant is still in the group.
mvhoogdalem wrote:
This. Basso only gets mentioned when getting his own bottles, even though Salerno is still there... No wonder only Sagan is scoring points for me.
Atlantius wrote:
After reading the stage 3 report: How the **** did all my boys end up losing more than 4 minutes after being very present near the front of the peloton on the climbs???
brewers90 wrote:
Cadel's obsession with 11th place finishes has got to be dealt with.
Atlantius wrote:
As a guy depending on break I hate the PCM AI when it makes the GC favourites go for every single bloody stage with the slightest hills
brewers90 wrote:
This race is horseshit. The old man revs up his legs, gets a clear gap and the organisers ruin his pension plan.
mvhoogdalem wrote:
Just caught up with this, but nothing to cheer about. As usual.
brewers90 wrote:
As for Cadel, more of the same from him. One step forward, two steps back all the time.
Marcovdw wrote:
Of course, Lotto dead second-a-last in the teams ranking
Cycleman123 wrote:
That stage destroyed my whole Giro...
mvhoogdalem wrote:
Basso should just crash out or something, because this is just embarrassing.
brewers90 wrote:
BMC are just pointless. Can I sack riders mid-race?
knockout wrote:
On which terrain did Quintana NOT lose time yet?
Luis Leon Sanchez wrote:
Pellizotti. Why are you not joining attacks or creating them.
20 seconds!!!!!!!! 20 fricking seconds!!!!!
Ollfardh wrote:
Nordhaug, consider your ass fired! All deciding stage to protect Wilco and you go in the attack!
Marcovdw wrote:
Ohh ffs
Ollfardh wrote:
PS, Gesink is an idiot.
Ollfardh wrote:
Seems like Gesink went back to idiot mode. The victory went to his head and he doesn't help Wilco anymore.
Ollfardh wrote:
And Gesink is only pretending to be a complete retard! We can do this!
…and ever classic:
knockout wrote:
A little bit later, Hoogerland wins the riders sprint, while Quintana arrives with some lead onto Group Nibali at the finish but gets awarded the same time. Movistar officials are...not happy about that.
These fucking motherfuckers from the new UCI. They are absolutely worthless. If that wasnt a fucking clear gap than I eat my fucking hat. It's enough now. The old UCI was already bad with all their fucking doping participation and protection but the new one is thousand time worse. The riders dont dope anymore but they just give some fucking dollars to these shitty squintwillies and they are giving fucking Nibbles the same time. It is completely surprising that fucking Harald Totschnig does not lead the point classification because of some new rule. But perhaps the Austrians are just not rich enough to pay those dumb as sausage sandwich idiots called UCI. Thisrace is fucking ended for me. No shit races I have. You can give me punishment anytime you want or ban us please. Dont want to race which ended for me.
Lastly, thanks to everyone who read this little summary piece and the others, especially if you're not active in EPIC itself. I'd like to thank of course everybody who commented and followed the EPIC Giro, and kept me motivated.
Looking forward to the other EPIC Grand Tours,
Shonak
Edited by Shonak on 07-05-2014 18:20
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
This was an absolutely amazing read Shonak - thank you very much for all the hard work you have put in over the past few weeks it's been a great Giro d'Italia!
Really nice features to take a look at, and nice to see what some of the managers thought of the Giro as well. And of course the collection of rage posts Surprised only 27% were Brewers
Damn.. amazing summary. Shonak for Tour and Vuelta.
Really generous with the 1/5 for Cannondale.
If anyone is interested, you can get Basso for cheap next season. Don't even want the guy as a domestique. (although he is quite good at getting bottles. )
![imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg](https://imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg)
We're looking solid now, just got to keep this push on 
). in both ways, (too many points, too few points) massive and small. I know that some of these are to blame because of penalties but still this makes me sad 
