Giro 2018 - cracker event again ?

[RonK]

Dennis agrees with you that he is not in the GC hunt

my real ambition is to take it one day at a time. Between my coach, myself and the team, we've decided not going to look at an overall result; it's more about trying to look at potential weaknesses and how to resolve them.

Whether I'm one hour behind or not, I'm still going to race as if I'm trying to win. Mentally it's the best way.

Not what he said after stage 2.

Now with the pink jersey in the bag, the next question is how Dennis sees the rest of the race play out, regarding his own GC ambitions, given his early lead.

"The first thing is to try and keep the lead tomorrow [stage 3], so I can wear it in Italy," Dennis said later. "I'm sure at some stage I will lose it, but I won't stop fighting for it until we finish in Rome."

Which makes it plain he is very much in the GC hunt.

[MichaelB]

Watched most of the stage, and wanted UAE to go on with it when they put the hammer down, as it created some splits, but that didn't eventuate.

Watched with 70km to go and called it a night.

Interesting end result and makes the GC a bit more interesting.

Was it bad positioning that caught Froome out, or that he just doesn't have the legs this time round ?

[tcdev]

I stupidly started the Foxtel Now free trial 2 weeks before the Giro started. At least I got to watch a few of The Monuments, which I've never watched before!

Anyway, I've been downloading the ESPN Brazil highlights (I'm extremely time poor and can only watch the highlights) and have to say that it is, hands down, the most rubbish highlights package I have ever seen! Granted I can't understand a word of it, but the telemetry is absolutely hopeless. Time gap information disappears when groups close in, distance data disappears under a km. Stage 3 only showed the stage winner on the podium and didn't show the GC standings at all (so I had no idea who was leading), and Stage 4 didn't have any podium coverage, and no stage or GC standings so again, I had no idea who was leading the race. After watching the Stage 4 highlights I had to Google for the results! Oh how I yearn for the SBS highlights package...

That aside, happy to see Dennis in pink - I like him. Not convinced it was a bad move to take it so early if it was there for the taking. Just hope he doesn't jeopardise a top 5 place trying to hang onto it if that was his original game plan. It's hard for me to have much of an opinion on how the rest of it is playing out as, for example, I'm not sure EPSN know that Froome is riding in the Giro this year...

[MichaelB]

...the ESPN Brazil highlights (I'm extremely time poor and can only watch the highlights) and have to say that it is, hands down, the most rubbish highlights package I have ever seen! .....

Maybe I'm missing something here, but what does ESPN Brazil have to do with the Giro ?

Back to the race.

Will try and watch till the end tonight, but will probably fail again. Will 'hopefully' provide some good racing and attacking, especially as some of the good climbers are at a deficit to some of the other GC guys.

I wonder who will be in Pink tonight

My tip is that Froome will bomb. Hasn't looked convincing yet.

[RonK]

I stupidly started the Foxtel Now free trial 2 weeks before the Giro started. At least I got to watch a few of The Monuments, which I've never watched before!

Why don't you just sign up for Foxtel Now. There is no contract, so you can cancel after the Giro is over. You only need to pay for the Sports pack and one starter pack - $44 for a month.

ESDN is the worst sports channel on Foxtel. Crap presentation and loaded with ads. Watch cycling on Eurosport.

[fat and old]

Oh yeah, that's what I wanna see if an Aussie can't be in pink. Aussie team, and sportsmanship.

[Arbuckle23]

What a great stage. No spoilers in case anyone wants to watch the highlights.

[AUbicycles]

Interesting result over the finish line - again, no spoilers if you haven't watched it. Certainly felt like a good overall result but the big question is whether this decision will have consequences further along.


Got a Team Sky newsletter with a pic of Froome - they are still backing him but in my case, the persistence promotion is doing the Sky brand more harm than good. The right strategy is to gracefully pull back from promotion of this personality for now.

[MichaelB]

Absolute great stage. Was fading near the end, but glad I made it through.

It wasn't quite what I was expecting, but super happy with the result.

[MichaelB]

So will Frome finally crack tonight ?

Who of the real GC contenders will have their bad day tonight ?

[Alex Simmons/RST]

FuboTV Cycling

[MichaelB]

Frome looked a bit buggered at the finished and his riding style was a bit ragged.
Maybe the Salbutamol case is starting to weigh on him ?

Time will tell.

Riding that last climb in the rain would have been !! BAN ME NOW FOR SWEARING !! and then to descend it later for the next transfer would have been even worse !!

[Alex Simmons/RST]

Frome looked a bit buggered at the finished and his riding style was a bit ragged.
Maybe the Salbutamol case is starting to weigh on him ?

Time will tell.

Riding that last climb in the rain would have been !! BAN ME NOW FOR SWEARING !! and then to descend it later for the next transfer would have been even worse !!

He's crashed twice, that doesn't help. Plus his priority is still July.

[RonK]

Frome looked a bit buggered at the finished and his riding style was a bit ragged.
Maybe the Salbutamol case is starting to weigh on him ?

Time will tell.

Riding that last climb in the rain would have been !! BAN ME NOW FOR SWEARING !! and then to descend it later for the next transfer would have been even worse !!

I noticed he was coughing as he crossed the line. Afraid to use his puffer perhaps?

[AndrewCowley]

Over recent years, Froome has always coughed a lot. You'd see it especially when he is being interviewed.

[tcdev]

Maybe I'm missing something here, but what does ESPN Brazil have to do with the Giro ?

It's the only "highlights package" available on cyclingtorrents... aside from the GCN wrap-up which is way too brief and shows little of the race itself.

I'm starting to (quite seriously) suspect that the "highlights" provided on the above-mentioned site aren't actually a package put together by ESPN, but rather a few choice minutes plus the last 10km spliced together by a Brazilian cycling fan with an EPSN subscription. I honestly think I could do a better job!

[tcdev]

Why don't you just sign up for Foxtel Now. There is no contract, so you can cancel after the Giro is over. You only need to pay for the Sports pack and one starter pack - $44 for a month.

Well I have actually, lifestyle and kids packs - just not the sports pack. Financial Controller didn't approve it, though I didn't actually suggest a single month for the Giro, mainly because it didn't occur to me. I will next time...

ESDN is the worst sports channel on Foxtel. Crap presentation and loaded with ads. Watch cycling on Eurosport.

Agreed. Was watching The Monuments on Eurosport during the free trial period...

[Arbuckle23]

Another great stage!
Gunna struggle today though, these late nights are killing me.
Glad it's a rest day

[MichaelB]

Another great stage!
Gunna struggle today though, these late nights are killing me.
Glad it's a rest day

I managed to last till the last 35km. I could have lasted a bit longer, but not till the end, sadly. Would have been going nuts like a few nights before.

Looking fwd to seeing the highlights if I get a chance tonight.

Telling that Froome even got gapped by his last helper !! Haig, and the rest of the team are doing a great job, hoping that it lasts longer than many predict. Great to see both Yates & Chaves working well together and going brilliantly.

And Ben O'Conner - he's doing really well too !! Dennis hanging in as well.

Lots of mountains to still come.

[MichaelB]

Seems like the week days this week will be one to catch up on sleep with a bunch of transition type stages that are either sprinters targets or opportunists that get in the break and the peloton eases off before the action on Sat.

Will be interesting to see if anything happens to main GC guys or whether those that are struggling a bit, have a crack or recover what they have been missing.

St 14 will be a definite stay up and watch at all costs and try to repeat for St15, before recharging the batteries for the final trip of 18, 19 & 20 !!

Roll on Zoncolan !!!!

[AndrewCowley]

Starting to wonder if Froome may abandon.

[Alex Simmons/RST]

Starting to wonder if Froome may abandon.

Depends on his appearance fee contract I guess.

[MichaelB]

Well it just goes to show, history repeats. A somewhat benign climb at the start can blow things away if tackled properly. Same thing happened to Sky a few years ago.

Bugger for Chaves, but once they dropped him, they weren't gonna let him back on. They almost got there, but I saw that just after the feed zone, the peloton obviously got work they were getting a bit too close and the hammer went down again, and then QS realised it was a losing fight and sat up. Went to bed then

Then read about the time gap this morning And TD falling

Oh dear, fireworks on Zoncolan hopefully.

[biker jk]

Perhaps no TUE for a powerful corticosteroid to deal with Chaves' pollen allergy?

[MichaelB]

Perhaps no TUE for a powerful corticosteroid to deal with Chaves' pollen allergy?

Maybe they race clean ... and honestly ....

Oops , that's a bit infammitory, so will stick with the racing comments.

Maybe that was just his jour sans ?