Tactics meeting
It can't get flatter than this. Stage 11 looks like a pure sprint stage, which will be welcome after the tough time trial yesterday. This flatness will go on for three stages, before the real Giro starts on stage 14.
David Millar found his way into the 14 man break of the day. Maybe he wanted to show some strength after being far away from the leaderboard in the time trial yesterday.
Even though the break looked like it would be caught long before the line, they somehow managed to cling on to the lead. Millar in particular was determined, but he was caught at last when passing under the red kite.
For the second sprint in a row, Ginanni was a close second. This time behind Heinrich Haussler, who finally enjoys some success in this race. Before yesterday's time trial, all stage winners were Italian. The last two have been German. Is that going to be the trend for the second half of the Giro?
Tactics meeting
Still flat. Still cat and mouse between peloton and breakaway. Still a bit boring for us, lacking sprinters as we are.
The break of the day was more successful than Millar's yesterday. Unfortunately we didn't have anyone in it. The seven leaders had extended their lead to 18 minutes (!) with 20km remaining. The old sprinter Robbie McEwen showed himself in a break for once. The best placed rider overall was Fabio Negri (LPR), who was 25 mins behind in 111th place.
And said Negri was the main aggressor of the breakaway. He tried to get away on his own 16km from the line.
Under the 10km banner, he was 30 seconds ahead. It wasn't a big gap, but the others had trouble closing it...
...because they couldn't work very well together. Nobody wanted to spend their energy chasing Negri, if they were sure to lose a sprint anyway.
So Fabio Negri took the win! Another breakaway win for the LPR team, who also won stage 7 with Bernucci. The peloton came home 10 minutes later. The breakaway's playing around with tactics had seen them lose 8 minutes of their advantage in 20kms. Not that it mattered one bit.
Tactics meeting
The last of the three pancakes takes us further north, dangerously close to the mighty Dolomites. The only thing mighty about this stage though, will probably be the sprinter's watt output over the last couple of hundred meters.
After seing Negri succeed yesterday, David Millar decided 'hey, I want some of that too' and joined the breakaway again. He had 12 other adventurous riders for company.
The peloton was a bit more careful today. The gap had come down to one minute with 7km remaining. Millar decided to go on his own as the scary, dark shadow of the peloton approached in the distance.
But the sprinters' teams timed it to perfection. Millar came a few meters closer to the finishing line than he had done two days ago, but he was doomed as the sprinters charged towards the white line.
Ginanni got back to winning ways again today! After two 2nd places in the last two mass sprints, the points jersey wearer could raise his arms in victory salute for the third time in this Giro. That's enough sprinting for now. Tomorrow: The Dolomites!
Tactics meeting
This is the first proper mountain stage. The stage 5 climb to Montevergine was merely an uphill finish by Giro standards. We've finally reached the Dolomites. Two serious climbs spices up the profile before the difficult Passo Duran. The final climb has sections of 15%. Today we'll learn if Klöden is a serious candidate. He needs all help he can get, so we'll try to send a man up the road in the breakaway.
The always breakaway-happy Egoi Martinez was our man for the job. He was with four others, including handy climbers like Osella (Androni) and Dupont (AG2R).
Martinez was the handiest though. After coming 2nd over the first mountain, he took maximum points on the next.
Liquigas gave everybody a hard time today. At the foot of the final climb to Passo Duran, only a very small group containing the main favourites was left of the peloton. Martinez' breakaway was 1'30 in front at this point.
As soon as we hit some gradients on the last climb, Basso rode away. That's the way a Maglia Rosa should act! Vincenzo Nibali (Acqua&Sapone) followed his former mentor.
The two Italians were joined by Soler, and they quickly blew past the remnants of the brekaway, including Martinez.
But Martinez wasn't completely dead. When Armstrong and Klöden reached him, he was able to use his last ounce of energy to pull them up the mountain for a while.
The incredible Egoi actually managed to bring our two climbers all the way up to Basso and his two companions! Cheula (Barloworld) and Sanchez (Caisse) were tagged on to the wheels of Klöden and Armstrong. 4km were left before the top of the climb.
Ivan Basso didn't like company, so he instantly attacked again! Just like the first time, he couldn't shake Nibali & Soler.
This put Armstrong and Klöden in a spot of bother. Martinez was long gone, so Armstrong had to take over the pacemaking. Gesink, Pellizotti and Gerdemann had made it up to this group as well. Lance couldn't match the pace of the three leaders, as they rapidly gained time over our riders.
Inside the last kilometer, Basso, in his usual style, just rode Soler and Nibali off his wheel. The winner of the '06 and '09 editions is obviously on top of his game again, which means untouchable!
Basso won his third stage of the Giro d'Italia 2011, and is anybody now doubting that he will win it overall?
LL Sanchez, who had followed wheels during most of the climb, got away from Klöden's group in the closing meters to grab 4th on the stage, behind Soler and Nibali.
Our two leaders finished almost 2 minutes behind Basso, together with Ten Dam and Pellizotti. Time trial sensation Linus Gerdemann climbed fairly well, and finished 9th. Gesink lost time again. Andreas Klöden drops one place to 4th overall, being passed by Nibali. The first Dolomite stage caused a lot of damage, but if you thought this was a tough stage, wait until tomorrow!
Finally a non-flat stage! I was hoping Gerdemann could keep his place in the GC though. Still good ride by your team, knowing that none of them have really prepared for the Giro that much.
Nice stage for Discovery, with 2 riders in Top 10 considering they haven't got the best fitness right now. Basso looks like to win this one again easily, but Kloden looks strong for a GC Top 5.
I think Nibali and Basso won`t get caught by you, but Klöden will become 3rd as Gerdemman struggles in the mountains.
Also Armstrong should be able to get something in between the 4th and 6th.
Tactics meeting
A shark's jaw has less teeth than the profile of stage 15. 227km are needed to cram all those mountains into one day of racing. This is the queen stage. Eight climbs of various difficulty is found en route to the Case Bortot, which has a gradient of 15% in its last two kms. We will adopt our successful tactic from yesterday, which was getting Martinez in the breakaway. This stage will sort the men from the boys. Let's hope Klöden ends up amongst the men!
Martinez was part of a very interesting breakaway. Solari (Katusha) wasn't very interesting, but Pellizotti was! The Saunier Duval leader was 10th overall, and on the move! Pellizotti summited first over most of the climbs, with Martinez 2nd. This gave Pellizotti the KoM jersey by the end of the day. Maybe that's his new goal?
Tactically, it didn't work very well, as Martinez ran out of gas and was brought back by the peloton on the last of the tallest mountains, 126km in. He collected a lot of KoM points though. Maybe he can challenge Pellizotti later? Speaking of Pellizotti, he was now all alone 2 min in front, with one major mountain left.
5km from the summit of the last mountain pass, Forcella Cibiana, Soler attacked the favourite group! He was 2nd to Basso yesterday, so the Colombian is climbing well at the moment!
Three climbers, Basso, Soler and Nibali, are way above the rest in the Giro, and showed their strength again today. The two Italians were the only ones who could go with Soler. This trio caught Pellizotti on top of the mountain.
Soler couldn't follow Nibali on the last descent, only Pellizotti and Basso could. As a result, the original aggressor was reeled in by the chasegroup behind, including Klöden, Armstrong and the other second-tier climbers.
As soon as they hit the flatter parts after the last mountain pass, Basso and Nibali got rid of Pellizotti, who was completely dead. Pellizotti would go straight through the chasegroup as well, but at least he got himself the KoM jersey. The leading duo had a lead of 40 seconds back to Klöden & co and 30km left until the finish.
A 40 seconds deficit was no match for J.I.Gutierrez, who bridged the gap up to Basso & Nibali on his own. His time trial strength worked well on these flat roads.
10kms from the uphill finish, the chasegroup was still 40 seconds behind Basso, Nibali and now also Gutierrez. Unfortunately for us, Lance Armstrong couldn't keep up with Soler, Klöden & co, and had recently been dropped. Andreas was on his own now.
As the leaders approached the early parts of the Case Bortot, Gutierrez started going backwards. No surprise, as the non-climber must have been tired after all the mountains and also riding across the gap on his own.
With the finishing climb in sight, Soler and LL Sanchez attacked out of the Klöden chasegroup. Andreas, who had been on his own for quite a few kilometers, was feeling the pressure.
Klöden was in pain, as he chased towards the climb together with Quickstep duo Gesink and Cataldo. By the way, Gesink really hasn't shown anything since the promising 2nd place on the first mountain top finish.
When he got onto the 15% parts inside the last 2kms, Ivan the Terrible put his companion Nibali in all sorts of trouble! He just sat on his bike while calmly turning around the pedals with brute power! What a rider!
Nibali was cooked! Soler, who had attacked out of Klöden's group earlier, was a lot fresher, and blew past the Acqua & Sapone man. LL Sanchez wasn't far behind either.
Juan Mauricio Soler absolutely flew up the last two kilometers, but was just too late to steal the victory from Basso. Soler's time on the climb was a lot faster than Ivan's. Not that it mattered for Basso. He got his fourth stage win, and has equaled his amount from 2009.
LL Sanchez passed Nibali to complete the stage podium, while Gutierrez also hung on to finish in front of Klöden's group. Andreas had a bit of a bad day today, but limited his losses well. A bit surprising to see Gerdemann finish in the same time as Klöden, so our leader remains 4th overall.
Lance Armstrong, who had been dropped by the Klöden group many kilometers from the finish, came home as 13th on the stage, 3 minutes behind Basso. Brajkovic disappears from the top ten as he finished 23rd, 8 minutes down. It's no surprise. Brajkovic is always struggling when faced with many mountains in a row. Speaking of mountains, tomorrow brings more of them!
I've been catching up these last days... Great Giro, even with Basso's total domination. Hope the lower REC stat of Gerdemann eventually plays on Klöden's favor.
Nice going, its been a good Giro for you considering you lost your leader just before the race. Is there another time trial to come? If so Kloden has a chance to get 3rd. If not Soler could pass you as hes climbing extremely well. Good luck
@ Tuco the Ugly: Thanks a lot! I appreciate that my photo efforts are recognized, as I always look for good pictures. I'm pleased with the two pictures you've selected. I also like the first picture from stage 14.
I try to follow a few "rules" when taking screenshots. First, not too many things in one shot, just what I want to tell. A lot of stories have pictures of half the peloton or just helicopter views, where you can't really tell what's happening. I also look for scenic backgrounds, and try to mix between different angles and close-up and not so close. One of the challenges is finding interesting celebration pictures, as they can be quite similar.
@valverde: Yes, indeed. Remember Haussler also won a stage
@zambeaux, luigi, LaMagliaRosa: I'm expecting to overtake Gerdemann, but Soler is indeed scary. He sprints up mountains at the moment. There is one TT left, but that is an uphill one on the Ghisallo (the Lombardia climb).
With Soler there's always the possibility that he's peaking right now and will go down a notch on the final week. even that way he'll be a dangerous threat, and so will be Luisle, who's really close, but even if things don't go your way Gerdemann should be overtaken. Good luck!
P.D. I also noticed the superb Basso pic, one can tell that the choice of screenshots isn't random, and it's very much appreciated
Tactics meeting
Compared to yesterday, stage 16 is a walk in the park. But it is still a very mountainous park in the border region towards Austria. We will cross into Austria on today's stage, before we return to Italy on top of the last climb, the Passo Stalle (Staller Sattel). The descent is fairly tricky, so anyone with a gap over the mountain can manage to hold on courtesy of fearless descending. Is this a day for Nibali?
Now that Egoi Martinez was just behind Pellizotti in the KoM classification, he joined the breakaway for the third day in a row. He carried out his mission perfectly by being 1st across the first two climbs. And guess what, he's now in the climber's jersey! If he holds on to it, he will have won the jersey in all three GTs, only the third rider in history to have done that.
Back in the peloton, Liquigas were doing their duty as race leaders. World Champion Fabian Cancellara is a great domestique for Ivan Basso, and kept Martinez close all the time. Was Ivan looking for his 5th stage?
Igniting the action on Passo Stalle was Laurens Ten Dam (10th GC) and best young rider Robert Gesink (8th GC). The Dutch duo attacked 12km from the top.
It didn't take long for them to catch Martinez, who was the last remaining escapee. We weren't sad about it, as he would never have been able to stay away anyhow, being in his third breakaway in as many days.
The peloton was obviously prepared to let the two Dutchies go, as they quickly gained a minute, but Soler wasn't! The in-form climber is keen on a stage win, and went after them!
It took him a couple of kilometers to bridge the gap. He made contact with Gesink & Ten Dam with 5km left to the top of the climb.
Even though Soler was six-and-a-half minute down on him in the overall, Basso refused to let the Barloworld rider fly away. He powered away in pursuit!
Soler cracked Ten Dam & Gesink, and summited the Passo Stalle on his own, 40 seconds ahead of Basso.
Basso had caught and passed the Dutch duo on his way up. After the summit he found himself 2nd on the road behind Soler, but unable to cut into his lead! Would this be the first time Basso was beaten in the mountains?
The larger favourites group, summiting 50 seconds behind Basso, picked up Ten Dam & Gesink. In the group were four Discovery riders! Klöden, Armstrong, Brajkovic, Rovny. A great day for us so far, after yesterday's semi-collapse. We hadn't been able to shake many of the top guns though.
The Klöden group descended well, but Soler was still heading for the win and Basso was still ahead in 2nd place. A couple of kilometers from the line, Klöden jumped out of the group! He was trying to gain time on Gerdemann!
After two consecutive days of being 2nd to Ivan Basso, Mauricio Soler finally got his stage win! He did it in true Colombian fashion: Attacking in the mountains. It's the fourth Giro stage win of his career, and it does him a world of good in the GC. He goes from 6th to 3rd, moving above Klöden.
Basso is better at going uphill than downhill, so he came in 49 seconds behind Soler. Ivan the Terrible is beatable afterall, at least as long as the stage doesn't finish on a mountain top. But what was happening behind with Klöden?
Andreas got a small lead, but Gerdemann worked hard to bring the group back to our leader, so everybody got the same time. Bah, nice try anyway, and 8 bonus seconds as consolation. Tomorrow's the last rest day, before the last week will see a mighty scrap for the last podium place. Four riders are within 31 seconds of each other!
