Giro d'Italia 2014 - no discussion of current day stage, see spoiler rules in Charter

Dr. Bre

of to swords to watch the giro!

hullabulloo

Dr. Bre wrote: »

of to swords to watch the giro!

Living in Swords and eager to watch the giro, I assume its coming up the bypass at the Fingallians roundabout and then turning left at the woodies roundabout to head for malahide from what I can make out on the maps, any idea of a timeframe? They seem to be quite a distance away still from the eurosport coverage

manafana

the roads will be closed now so you will know your in right place no worries about crowds people are out in force today

ThisRegard

How is the caravan getting to Italy, is there a special ferry organised or are the drivers heading via UK ?

manafana

ThisRegard wrote: »

How is the caravan getting to Italy, is there a special ferry organised or are the drivers heading via UK ?

most of the caravan seemed to be local businesses some small italian giro sponsors then too. This was at the TTT

ThisRegard

So how a how about the team and commissioner cars? Some of the officials cars are NI registered but the rest?

manafana

ThisRegard wrote: »

So how a how about the team and commissioner cars? Some of the officials cars are NI registered but the rest?

as far as i know alot of team cars are being trucked to italy but some teams with lots of cars or who just brought two to france have cars ready in italy (ag2r told me this). some of italian cars will make way over to italy. The NI registered cars provided by a local sponsor were used to plug the gap, few teams had vans from them. the buses will get boat to france and drive down or for teams who have two buses the 2nd one will be in italy already

nc6000

ThisRegard wrote: »

How is the caravan getting to Italy, is there a special ferry organised or are the drivers heading via UK ?

I was wondering this too, no way they could everything to the far side of Italy in time for Tuesday by sea.

It's all going by air according to this route map.

delly

There are three charter planes heading out in the morning, two passenger, one cargo, or at least that's what I heard.

godtabh

Sky and Saxo tweeted that there second buses are already in Italy. Some support staff will only do Dublin. Some are in Italy etc.

Other equipment is been driven over night/tomorrow

A_Sober_Paddy

godtabh wrote: »

Sky and Saxo tweeted that there second buses are already in Italy. Some support staff will only do Dublin. Some are in Italy etc.

Other equipment is been driven over night/tomorrow

Really shows the kind of money behind those teams

Shedite27

Could really have done with more publicity really. The route looked like a ghost town today. Disgraceful by Bord Failte, Government, Dublin City Council etc etc.

neris

is it just me or is paul kimmage been really quiet the last while?

Doc07

Shedite27 wrote: »

Could really have done with more publicity really. The route looked like a ghost town today. Disgraceful by Bord Failte, Government, Dublin City Council etc etc.

What part of the route were you looking at. The finish was packed and the highlights on the news showed plenty of spectators. Considering it wasn't the warmest day and the premiership it was a decent turnout especially as most spectators would not be able to pick Ben Swift or Kittel out of a lineup.

furiousox

Anyone else getting withdrawal symptoms already?
I want a Grand Tour passing by my house EVERY weekend!

Weepsie

I had a thought on all the lamppost adverts along the quays and what will happen to them. One may be kept for a museum I imagine for posterity, but what about the rest? Who owns them, DCC or the Giro organisers. They could be given to clubs, or folks organising charity cycles or something such as the LPB auction on here. They'll go to people who would really appreciate them, and raise money for good causes. This came into my head as I thought I'd quite like one, jazz up the room and all that.

I saw one woman ripping off one of the sponsor signs from the barriers on the quays and stuffing it into her bag.

furiousox wrote: »

Anyone else getting withdrawal symptoms already?
I want a Grand Tour passing by my house EVERY weekend!

Not a grand tour, but the guy who had a big big hand in getting it over here and N. Ireland hinted very heavily that a revived Tour of Ireland was in the works. This came on the back of Roche's comments a few days earlier too.
He was speaking to BBC.

michael196

Shedite27 wrote: »

Could really have done with more publicity really. The route looked like a ghost town today. Disgraceful by Bord Failte, Government, Dublin City Council etc etc.

I think shedite 27 has a point. Belfast left you in no doubt a major tour was coming through. Also the Coast road residents did a magnificent job in decoration all up along the coast.

TBH it was kinda hard to spot the pink in Dublin. Was in Belfast, Armagh and Drogheda over the few days.

Stood at an obscure round about near Armagh, as arrived too late to enter the city. Even this obscure roundabout was fully decked.

The motor ways announced a cycle event was closing the R132 from the M1. Belfast told us the Giro D' Italia was causing traffic diversions.

manafana

my other moment of the weekend was meeting and chating with one of the greats of cycling



topic of discussion his run of grand tour completions which he attempts to keep going by doing all 3 this year.

MPFG

manafana wrote: »

my other moment of the weekend was meeting and chating with one of the greats of cycling



topic of discussion his run of grand tour completions which he attempts to keep going by doing all 3 this year.

Sooooooooooooooo jealous ...one of my favs

drogdub

As ever, despite some people thinking it would be a disaster, when hosting a big international event we did ourselves proud. Great crowds and the atmosphere seemed to be as good everywhere along the route as it was where I saw it.

On a personal level had an amazing weekend. Went up Friday morning on first train with the young fella (7). First thing I saw was one of the teams cycling the route with 3 or 4 club riders with them and not a bother on the pros and thought this is going to be good. Enjoyed watching the practise seeing the stars in the flesh.

Then went to start for the race. Its a credit to the riders and teams how close and so much access you get to them. Some of the biggest stars of the sport cycled passed me within inches. At one stage one Omega rider wooshed past my son making him jump and laugh, he could feel the wind from the bike and the team circled around us, like a school of sharks, on the way to the start. He also got a great kick off seeing his hero Dan Martin and also Team Sky. Its also a credit to cycling fans that they can that close and give all due respect to the ridersv and not bothering them. Great atmosphere on the train home and we had great chat with a lad and his daughter from Newry.

This morning I did some of the route between Drogheda. Then watched them come through down the end of my road. It really is great seeing them cycle down your training road and comparing your Strava times to theirs. Any yes, furiosox defo getting withdrawal symptoms. Brilliant, brilliant weekend

John_Rambo

Big crowd of locals (non cycling and cycling enthusiasts) cheering the cyclists on in Raheny by St. Anne's park on the coast road in Dublin, amazing to see the speed and how close they are to each other! Fantastic spectacle, great to see top athletes do what they do best.

el tel

Weepsie wrote: »

I had a thought on all the lamppost adverts along the quays and what will happen to them. One may be kept for a museum I imagine for posterity, but what about the rest? Who owns them, DCC or the Giro organisers. They could be given to clubs, or folks organising charity cycles or something such as the LPB auction on here. They'll go to people who would really appreciate them, and raise money for good causes. This came into my head as I thought I'd quite like one, jazz up the room and all that.

I saw one woman ripping off one of the sponsor signs from the barriers on the quays and stuffing it into her bag.

In thr North, Oxfam have been given the right to sell the roadside Giro road closing times signs. They are asking fot a £10 min donation. I think there were either 1700or 7000 signs put up.

ThisRegard

neris wrote: »

is it just me or is paul kimmage been really quiet the last while?

He was on Today FM this morning lamenting the fact the field is not made up of the best cyclists in the world.

MPFG

ThisRegard wrote: »

He was on Today FM this morning lamenting the fact the field is not made up of the best cyclists in the world.

Did he mean Froome & Contador who he implies all kind of things about on twiitter...if only they were in Ireland he could continue to have a go ...

A_Sober_Paddy

ThisRegard wrote: »

He was on Today FM this morning lamenting the fact the field is not made up of the best cyclists in the world.

Since when has the Giro been made up of the best...I'm a relative noob and all, but I always thought a lot of guys and teams would value the Tour way ahead of d'Giro and Vuelta

manafana

MPFG wrote: »

Did he mean Froome & Contador who he implies all kind of things about on twiitter...if only they were in Ireland he could continue to have a go ...

have agree he is rarely ever positive pretty impressive giro field what does he want riders to ride all 3 grand tours so he can accuse them of doping to do so.

greenmat

Weepsie wrote: »

I had a thought on all the lamppost adverts along the quays and what will happen to them. One may be kept for a museum I imagine for posterity, but what about the rest? Who owns them, DCC or the Giro organisers. They could be given to clubs, or folks organising charity cycles or something such as the LPB auction on here. They'll go to people who would really appreciate them, and raise money for good causes. This came into my head as I thought I'd quite like one, jazz up the room and all that.

I saw one woman ripping off one of the sponsor signs from the barriers on the quays and stuffing it into her bag.



Not a grand tour, but the guy who had a big big hand in getting it over here and N. Ireland hinted very heavily that a revived Tour of Ireland was in the works. This came on the back of Roche's comments a few days earlier too.
He was speaking to BBC.

https://twitter.com/DubCityCouncil/status/465547780703154176

Idleater

greenmat wrote: »

https://twitter.com/DubCityCouncil/status/465547780703154176

I spoke to the oxfam people in their tent at the bike show and complimented them on the idea of the charitable donations up north.

sheepfield

Magical atmosphere on the barriers inside the final 1km; saw the bulging eyeballs of the lead out men and I just cannot believe how Kittel won as he was about 10th wheel passing me at 450m to go; on another note, it never ceases to amaze me why some Irish people link every event to the GAA in some form or another, i.e. I saw a number of GAA "county" flags being waved by spectators. I cannot for the life of me understand why, for example, you would wave a Mayo flag at the Giro d'Italia - nothing against Mayo but for God sake, the event is characterised by the maglia rosa or "pink" jersey. We don't have any pink county colours? Why not fly an Irish flag if nothing else, sure hell, didn't the country have 3 riders entered. And does it really really really matter in the world of pro cycling what "county" each riders parent's decided to live in when their son was born???? (I might get devoured by the Donegal crew here, oooops!)
But anyway, I think "a good day was had by all" regardless.

Jawgap

Saw the Orica-GreenEdge bus coming out of the airport this morning - presumably dropping people off for flights......

......it managed not to get stuck on anything....

ThisRegard

MPFG wrote: »

Did he mean Froome & Contador who he implies all kind of things about on twiitter...if only they were in Ireland he could continue to have a go ...

Not sure, I was listening in the shower after a run and he seemed more miserable than normal so I had no interest in listening to him when I got out.

Gavb

Big thanks to Darkglasses for meeting me in Belfast and giving me a wristband for the team presentation.
Hope you had a great weekend - I know I did!

Gavb

neris wrote: »

is it just me or is paul kimmage been really quiet the last while?

Saw him hanging around the finish line yesterday - he actually had a smile on his face

Beasty

sheepfield wrote: »

Magical atmosphere on the barriers inside the final 1km; saw the bulging eyeballs of the lead out men and I just cannot believe how Kittel won...

Not a spoiler as it relates to yesterday's stage, but can we keep this thread to general discussion (including what they get up to on rest days!!) - this sort of stuff is more suited to the stage specific thread

Thanks

REBELSAFC

Any media reports from Italy as to what they thought of the "Irish Giro" ???

postitnote

Well looking at gazzetta website on google translate, their first story is about the bomb found in Dublin...

nolinejudge

Beasty wrote: »

Not a spoiler as it relates to yesterday's stage, but can we keep this thread to general discussion (including what they get up to on rest days!!) - this sort of stuff is more suited to the stage specific thread

Thanks

Devastated carefully avoided everything so I could watch it as live today. Thought I was safe here.

Darkglasses

nolinejudge wrote: »

Devastated carefully avoided everything so I could watch it as live today. Thought I was safe here.

Spoilers are only prohibited in the forum until midnight on the day of the stage. Any time after that, and it's not safe to be on the forum.

buffalo

nolinejudge wrote: »

Devastated carefully avoided everything so I could watch it as live today. Thought I was safe here.

Why would you click into a Giro thread while trying to avoid news about the Giro?

greenspurs

I was in skerries to watch it.... Bloody great to see it....
Caravan wasnt a patch on Le Tour's one in 98 though .....

nc6000

I can't remember ever seeing so many punctures while watching cycling.

Shedite27

greenspurs wrote: »

Caravan wasnt a patch on Le Tour's one in 98 though .....

YEah think we got short-changed on that one.

Left all the good stuff in Italy.

I suppose a lot of it would be adertising Italian products

slowcyclist

Shedite27 wrote: »

YEah think we got short-changed on that one.

Left all the good stuff in Italy.

I suppose a lot of it would be adertising Italian products

Agreed, caravan was disappointing.

nolinejudge

Darkglasses wrote: »

Spoilers are only prohibited in the forum until midnight on the day of the stage. Any time after that, and it's not safe to be on the forum.

Lesson learned just assumed I'd be safe. Ignoring boards and the giro!!
Heaven forbid:-))

bazermc

Interesting article on how the transfer back to Italy worked. Teams actually went Monday morning instead.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/giro-ditalia-back-on-home-soil-with-first-of-three-rest-days

TheBlaaMan

An interesting tweet from Dan Martin this morning suggests that Garmin had no option but to seek surgery for Dan & Koldo Fernandez in Dublin - pretty poor show by RCS, but then again, rider welfare has never been high on the list of promoter concerns. I wonder where it was performed............Blackrock, Beacon?

Dan Martin ‏@DanMartin86 ·21m
Feel very lucky to have such great family/friends who visited and organised surgery for me and Koldo in Dublin. NHS/RCS left us high and dry

Valentine1

TheBlaaMan wrote: »

An interesting tweet from Dan Martin this morning suggests that Garmin had no option but to seek surgery for Dan & Koldo Fernandez in Dublin - pretty poor show by RCS, but then again, rider welfare has never been high on the list of promoter concerns. I wonder where it was performed............Blackrock, Beacon?

Dan Martin ‏@DanMartin86 ·21m
Feel very lucky to have such great family/friends who visited and organised surgery for me and Koldo in Dublin. NHS/RCS left us high and dry

Saw an interview with the head of RCS where he said that the hospitals in Belfast were fully booked, could not perform Dan's surgery and would not prioritize them and "nor should they" he also commented.

I'd agree that ordinary people shouldn't be bumped for a professional cyclist but it does show a lack of contingency planning by RCS that the surgery couldn't be performed in Belfast.

Shedite27

TheBlaaMan wrote: »

An interesting tweet from Dan Martin this morning suggests that Garmin had no option but to seek surgery for Dan & Koldo Fernandez in Dublin - pretty poor show by RCS, but then again, rider welfare has never been high on the list of promoter concerns. I wonder where it was performed............Blackrock, Beacon?

Sports Surgery Clinic in Santry I'd have thought. Best place in the country for athlete injurues

Jawgap

From David Tanner's blog......

Bonjourno from Italy! I’m saying that with a big smile on my face as I’m really happy to be back in the sunshine. The hospitality of Ireland was absolutely fantastic, but the weather didn’t exactly make the racing so much fun. Even the Italians had a grin from ear to ear with a 6:30am departure from the hotel yesterday morning!

I do have to say though, I was really impressed with the reception the whole race received. Ireland really got behind the whole event and I was amazed at the number of spectators braving the wet and windy conditions.

godtabh

Jawgap wrote: »

From David Tanner's blog......

Roche just twitted a photo of pissing rain in bari