Giro d'Italia Stage 5 – May 14th, Taranto - Viggiano 203km **Unmasked Spoilers**

gaybeer

Nico far back?

Pudsy33

gaybeer wrote: »

Nico far back?

Doesn't seem like he was far back but I don't know for sure.

Darkglasses

gaybeer wrote: »

Nico far back?

No, he just clung on at the back of the lead group. Won't lose any time

pelevin

Pudsy33 wrote: »

That was strange from Roche, appeared to have nothing left at all when he attacked.

Thing is until you try you really go for it you just mightn't really know what's in the legs.

Darkglasses

GC: Matthews, Weening, Evans, Uran, Majka, EBH, Roche

Pudsy33

He's 7th overall. 3 or 4 behind on the day

godtabh

Darkglasses wrote: »

GC: Matthews, Weening, Evans, Uran, Majka, EBH, Roche

Must have been big splits today. He was 27th starting off wasnt he?

dastardly00

Darkglasses wrote: »

Well that's the shortest attack I've ever seen, Katusha were having none of that.

Haha

I think Nico just attacked at the wrong time. If he had held off his attack, I think he might have come top 5.

dastardly00

godtabh wrote: »

Must have been big splits today. He was 27th starting off wasnt he?

There were still a lot of riders who were high up in GC because of the TTT.

Peterx

Roche up to 7th on GC, same time gap - 37".
It looked a pointless attack but hopefully he will reveal his thinking in the diary in that rumour-rag of a newspaper he writes in tomorrow.
Maybe he was just ensuring the pace stayed high??

Darkglasses

godtabh wrote: »

Must have been big splits today. He was 27th starting off wasnt he?

Yeah the peloton was scattered all over the final climb. Not sure who didn't make it into that lead group, I presume Scarponi and Pozzovivo did not. Possibly Basso and Hesjedal didn't either.

Pudsy33

Pozzovivo made it alright

Darkglasses

Scarponi made it too

GC

1 Michael Matthews (Aus) Orica Greenedge 17:41:23
2 Pieter Weening (Ned) Orica Greenedge 0:00:14
3 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:00:15
4 Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team 0:00:19
5 Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:00:26
6 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Team Sky 0:00:35
7 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:00:37
8 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:00:41
9 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Team Sky 0:00:49
10 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:00:52

Bukman13

Darkglasses wrote: »

Yeah the peloton was scattered all over the final climb. Not sure who didn't make it into that lead group, I presume Scarponi and Pozzovivo did not. Possibly Basso and Hesjedal didn't either.

They all made it.

Biggest losers today:

KISERLOVSKI Robert + 29
DUARTE Fabio +48

Pudsy33

Tomorrow is a similar stage right?

Bukman13

Pudsy33 wrote: »

Tomorrow is a similar stage right?

Tomorrow is a lot harder, the whole peloton will get to the bottom of the climb, but it will thin out pretty quickly, its 8kms so we'll likely see a smaller selection at the finish. Cadel/Uran to go into pink tomorrow I reckon

MPFG

MPFG wrote: »

Dan Moreno or Diego Ulissi are good on this type of finish

You heard it here first

Roche's attack was into a head wind I believe but it was a good start .....needs this to improve form and test legs ...remember he is riding into form. Purito/Moreno who chased also ran out of steam as did Basso ,etc

Evans looked good along with Majka ......... but early days yet

At least 3 in front of Nico I don't expect to be there this time next week

Darkglasses

Pudsy33 wrote: »

Tomorrow is a similar stage right?

Fairly similar, flatter and longer but the finish is quite similar.

MPFG

This just in

Procyclingnews.eu ‏@Procyclingeu 3m
#giro Roche "The finish was great for me and Rafa. I got a little excited with a k to go and tried but they caught me fast. 1/2

Procyclingnews.eu ‏@Procyclingeu 3m
#giro Team was great and did a great job to keep me and Rafa in the front. All the GC contenders finish in the same time so we must see

Procyclingnews.eu ‏@Procyclingeu 2m
#giro Roche "Tomorrow is harder. Today riders like Weening and Mathews was there today.

Bukman13

MPFG wrote: »

This just in

Procyclingnews.eu ‏@Procyclingeu 3m
#giro Roche "The finish was great for me and Rafa. I got a little excited with a k to go and tried but they caught me fast. 1/2

Procyclingnews.eu ‏@Procyclingeu 3m
#giro Team was great and did a great job to keep me and Rafa in the front. All the GC contenders finish in the same time so we must see

Procyclingnews.eu ‏@Procyclingeu 2m
#giro Roche "Tomorrow is harder. Today riders like Weening and Mathews was there today.

He is right, when EBH is 3rd wheel behind Moreno and Jrod you know it wasn't a difficult climb.

Majka is now in the White jersey.

MPFG

Tinkoff Saxo DS ...seems Nico was trying to set up Majka ( who from all reports is their leader)

“It was one those tricky stages where you could lose a lot of time due to the lumpy finish with nasty wet descents and a short steep uphill finish. But we had both Majka and Roche up there and they both did a solid job. Nico tried to set things up for Rafa who finished fifth among the main GC contenders. It proves that Rafa is ready and extremely motivated to do well. Tomorrow, there’s another uphill finish and we have to make sure that we do not lose time,” concludes Michaelsen.

Pudsy33

All their press releases say co-leader so no panic yet.

MPFG

Pudsy33 wrote: »

All their press releases say co-leader so no panic yet.

Nay the language of riders and DS says otherwise
Chris Juul Jensen just interviewed and only mentioned riding for Majka

Mick Rodgers as well.....

Methinks Nico is token leader tbh

Of course you ride for the strongest but who is strong today is very different than who is strongest Sunday week

wirelessdude01

Personally think Nico is only using this to get into shape/form for the tour. That is the ultimate team goal this year and the whole team is centered around only one person.

gordongekko

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

Personally think Nico is only using this to get into shape/form for the tour. That is the ultimate team goal this year and the whole team is centered around only one person.

Surely he will skip the tour and ride the vuelta instead.

MPFG

gordongekko wrote: »

Surely he will skip the tour and ride the vuelta instead.

No he is riding the Tour ....Majka is riding the Vuelta as is Contador

As for only wanting to get into form...no he wants a very good result at the Giro ...its his target main target for the year

wirelessdude01

gordongekko wrote: »

Surely he will skip the tour and ride the vuelta instead.

Contador is the only person the team is about. Tour or bust this year.

Pudsy33

I know what you're saying but they may just be referencing Rafa because he did slightly better today. They'll *hopefully* be working equally for both until one drops a shed load of time.

Bukman13

MPFG wrote: »

Tinkoff Saxo DS ...seems Nico was trying to set up Majka ( who from all reports is their leader)

Pudsy33 wrote: »

All their press releases say co-leader so no panic yet.

Pudsy33 wrote: »

I know what you're saying but they may just be referencing Rafa because he did slightly better today. They'll *hopefully* be working equally for both until one drops a shed load of time.

The final week suits Majka much more, he is a better climber than Roche. Roche's form is still in doubt, he was in top condition in last years Vuelta and there was still 7/8 riders better than him on the long climbs. I can see Roche maybe hanging in there on the 2 mountain stages this week (stage 8 & 9), then a solid TT could keep him in the top 5.

Look at stages 14, 15,16,18,19(TT), and 20. They are all tough climbing days, if you are not on top form you are going to lose minutes on some of those stages. Hopefully he can peak in the final week but I just can't see it at htis moment, He could still get a top 10 but I doubt Tinkoff are too interested in a top 10 if Majka is fighting for a podium.

Dr. Bre

MPFG wrote: »

Dan Moreno or Diego Ulissi are good on this type of finish

good call. Ulissi is very good at these type of finishes