Giro Stage 3, Stage 3 (Rapallo - Sestri Levante)

pelevin

Just to have a specific thread though as a review this'll be seriously lacking. First interesting - to me anyway - looking stage. Short, lots of pretty serious climbing though just a long descent & a flat for the final third of the stage. Michael Matthews & his ilk expected to fight for victory, if they survive the climbs. Long preview at Cycling Quotes:
http://cyclingquotes.com/news/2015_giro_ditalia_stage_3_preview/

Darkglasses

Good day for the break maybe?

REBELSAFC

Is there any live tracker for the Giro this year? I had a look on their official website and couldn't find one

Pudsy33

REBELSAFC wrote: »

Is there any live tracker for the Giro this year? I had a look on their official website and couldn't find one

http://live.cyclingnews.com/ best i can find. 25 man break up the road including GC hopeful Esteban Chaves (OGE)

ThisRegard

I was sure I saw a stage 2 thread yesterday but today I can't find it. Did I imagine it ?

Pudsy33

ThisRegard wrote: »

I was sure I saw a stage 2 thread yesterday but today I can't find it. Did I image it ?

Yeah I believe so!

D9Male

This should be a cracking stage; really looking forward to the next four days. It is unusual to get four days as good as this so early in a Grand Tour.

All four could be good for differing reasons. This one is least likely to have a shakeup on GC of the next four days, but it could see the most interesting racing.

Like others, I hope for a strong break today, with riders tough enough to stay out until the end. And also a strong pace up the last climb, enough to put the fast men in trouble.

Of course, there are many scenarios for a dull day, but just as many chances of a scorcher.

D9Male

Actually, just checked, and it has gotten interesting already. Decent breakaway with around 25 riders formed.

Zardini is out in front of this group. Then 40 seconds back is a mini-group of six riders. Notably Clarke, Hansen, Ulissi and Herrada. One minute behind the leader is a large group containing (among others) big names like Gilbert, Boonen, Chaves, Lindeman, Puccio and Atapuma.

The peloton is at 2'51".

D9Male

Actually, from cyclingnews.com ticker.

Finally we have the full make-up of the breakaway group. Here are the men out front.

Branislau Samoilau (CCC Sprandi), Adam Hansen (Lotto-Soudal), Tom Boonen (Etixx-QuickStep), Rubén Fernandez (Movistar), Cedric Pineau (FDJ), Nicola Boem (Bardiani-CSF), Maurilo Fischer (FDJ), Darwin Atapuma (BMC), Maciej Paterski (CCC Sprandi), Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida), Jesus Herrada (Movistar), Marcus Burghardt (BMC), Davide Villella (Cannondale), Manuele Boaro (Tinkoff-Saxo), Philippe Gilbert (BMC), Esteban Chaves (Orica-GreenEdge), Bert-Jan Lindeman (LottoNL-Jumbo), Edoardo Zardini (Bardiani-CSF), Chad Haga (Giant-Alpecin), Davide Malacarne (Astana), Axel Domont (AG2R-La Mondiale), Luca Chirico (Bardiani-CSF), Pavel Kochetkov (Katusha), Salvatore Puccio (Team Sky) and Gianfranco Zilioni (Androni-Giocattoli).

Darkglasses

Tinkoff doing an awful lot of work again today. Burning their reserves a little early I think, not sure this is sustainable

Darkglasses

Kiryienka and Seb Henao both dropped, cor blimey. Very bad sign for sky, they're top helpers for porte.

RobertKK

Looks serious for Pozzovivo.

He looked lifeless, please God he is ok.

wirelessdude01

RobertKK wrote: »

Looks serious for Pozzovivo.

He looked lifeless, please God he is ok.

His team mate looked pretty freaked out about it as well.

death1234567

RobertKK wrote: »

Looks serious for Pozzovivo.

He looked lifeless, please God he is ok.

Hopefully he was just knocked out and hopefully that wasn't blood on the road. Looked a horror crash.

omri

RobertKK wrote: »

Looks serious for Pozzovivo.

He looked lifeless, please God he is ok.

Indeed. Waiting on the edge of the seat for the update that he's ok...

wirelessdude01

Darkglasses wrote: »

Kiryienka and Seb Henao both dropped, cor blimey. Very bad sign for sky, they're top helpers for porte.

Still think Sky have all what they consider their top helper guys kept out of this race.

Darkglasses

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

Still think Sky have all what they consider their top helper guys kept out of this race.

You're probably right, but I would have thought they were the best helpers that Porte was given.

Darkglasses

Rai reporting that Pozzovivo is moving.

Pudsy33

He's moving apparently. I feel sick to my stomach

qwabercd

Jesus would they stop showing it (not Eurosport's fault i know). Good to hear he's moving.

death1234567

Darkglasses wrote: »

Rai reporting that Pozzovivo is moving.

Thank God.

RobertKK

I came across a cyclist who had crashed. He was fighting for his life, the poor man had to wait a little over 10 minutes for the ambulance to arrive. Don't think he ever fully recovered.
Eurosport apologising for the coverage saying things different in France and Italy, what bothers me is the crash and how he is, not the fact it is being shown.

omri

They reported that he's breathing himself

Darkglasses

It'll be a tight finish, the break could get this. Hope tinkoff don't keep chasing

Pudsy33

I want Bling to win so hopefully Orica pick it up

Darkglasses

Great lingering shot of the motos. Wouldn't mind seeing the peloton.

wirelessdude01

Pozzo out of immediate life threatening danger.

pelevin

Have only snatched a few minutes here & there so far in the Giro but Tinkoff Saxo seem to have been strangely prominent in terms of workload from what I've seen.

Darkglasses

Tinkoff still hammering at the front..why..there's a lot more riding to go, and they haven't got a contender for this stage. Is kochetkov going to win the Giro?

pelevin

Darkglasses wrote: »

Tinkoff still hammering at the front..why..there's a lot more riding to go, and they haven't got a contender for this stage. Is kochetkov going to win the Giro?

Is this Oleg Tinkov exercising his tactical nous from the team car?!

Darkglasses

pelevin wrote: »

Is this Oleg Tinkov exercising his tactical nous from the team car?!

I sincerely hope there's some method to the madness that I can't see. I've got 5 bob on Contador, and that's not going to happen if Tinkoff shatter themselves in the first week before the mountains.

neris

RobertKK wrote: »

Looks serious for Pozzovivo.

He looked lifeless, please God he is ok.

what happened Ive only just got onto a computer for the 1st time today

Darkglasses

Onya Bling. OGE are such a quality team these days.

neris wrote: »

what happened Ive only just got onto a computer for the 1st time today

Nasty crash on a technical descent, went down and stayed down. Facial injuries according to Rolf Sorenson.

neris

Darkglasses wrote: »

Nasty crash on a technical descent, went down and stayed down. Facial injuries according to Rolf Sorenson.

Just saw it there. Looks like he went down face first and skided along on his face. nasty.

neris

they really keep the peasants away from the podium for the presentations

mirrormatrix

Who got the stage win?

Darkglasses

mirrormatrix wrote: »

Who got the stage win?

Michael Matthews, it was a really excellent all-around performance by OGE. Tinkoff had been doing basically all the chasing from start to finish, and a large group of 25 got in the break, including Simon Clarke and Esteban Chaves. Tinkoff set a very fast pace over the hills, dropped almost half the peloton. The breakaway group also splintered down over time including a notable escape by Katusha's Kochetkov, but Simon Clarke stayed there or there abouts in the event that the break stayed away. However Tinkoff closed the gap with about 9 km to go IIRC, with a little help from Pieter Weening towards the end. Simon Gerrans lead out a very strong looking Michael Matthews, who's nearest rival was Trek's Fabio Felline after most of the main sprinters had been left behind in the hills.

Darkglasses

On the GC front, there is worrying signs for both supporters of Tinkoff and Sky. It is somewhat worrying to see Tinkoff working so hard at a time when they didn't strictly speaking need to do so. Admittedly the riders did look strong, but for the rest of this week I hope not to see them on the front defeading a lead that they don't actually have.

More worrying for Sky is that Kiryienka and Sebastian Henao were both dropped about half way up the last climb of the day. Tinkoff were setting a very tough pace, but one would imagine Kiryienka and Henao will be heavily depended upon by Porte when the big mountains start this weekend, it's a relatively easy and early day to be showing potential weakness.

Sadly Pozzovivo had a quite serious crash on the last descent of the day, not a lot details out yet but he's conscious and breathing, with significant facial injuries. AG2R's leadership switches over to Carlos Betancur.

REBELSAFC

Darkglasses wrote: »

Michael Matthews, it was a really excellent all-around performance by OGE. Tinkoff had been doing basically all the chasing from start to finish, and a large group of 25 got in the break, including Simon Clarke and Esteban Chaves. Tinkoff set a very fast pace over the hills, dropped almost half the peloton. The breakaway group also splintered down over time including a notable escape by Katusha's Kochetkov, but Simon Clarke stayed there or there abouts in the event that the break stayed away. However Tinkoff closed the gap with about 9 km to go IIRC, with a little help from Pieter Weening towards the end. Simon Gerrans lead out a very strong looking Michael Matthews, who's nearest rival was Trek's Fabio Felline after most of the main sprinters had been left behind in the hills.

I can't understand Tinkoffs tactics over the past two days. I really think that it is Oleg trying to show he has the biggest "appendage" in the playground.He seems to be trying to prove that his team can control the race from start to finish. I don't think they can keep going at this pace for three weeks. Chris Juul Jensen has put in an unbelievable workload

wirelessdude01

Could it also be that Oleg has demanded that they be at the front so that they are constantly on the tv for sponsorship exposure? They will soon need a big sponsorship deal if as expected Saxo Bank finish theiir deal at the end of the season.

pelevin

Darkglasses wrote: »

I sincerely hope there's some method to the madness that I can't see. I've got 5 bob on Contador, and that's not going to happen if Tinkoff shatter themselves in the first week before the mountains.

I'd have a nice win if Contador wins also, & would much rather seeing less of them at the front at this stage. Don't see practically any virtue in this burning of energies before the GC race has even got going.

In terms of the notion they're in the shop window for sponsorhip & 'enjoying' tv air time . . . what people will remember in a positive sense is if they win the race, not that they rode idiotically, got a lot of air time & blew the race.

niceonetom

I see Tinkov-Saxo as riding intelligently and with confidence. And tactically protecting their investment. Eliminating as many variables as possible. In short they're doing what every other team has been doing piecemeal over the last couple of years - taking pages from the Team Sky playbook. It this case they clearly understand that the biggest danger they face in the first week isn't other GC teams, it's luck. And the way to remove that from the calculus is to ride at the front, the very front, always.

It comes at a cost but I guess - Boaro and Jensen won't be much use after a week of this I'd bet - but Tinkov-Saxo must think that is a cost they can afford to pay if it gets Berto to the mountains unscathed. It's a tactic borne of knowing they have firepower in depth for these non-GC days and a leader who can fend for himself when it comes to the mountaintop finishes. Better to use their foot soldiers now, they'll be no use when it really matters anyway.

He's even warming down on the turbo post-stage now. That's very un-Spanish. They'll have him in a motorhome yet.

neris

Bbc commentators take on the pozzavivo coverage today and crash porn


https://m.facebook.com/mattslater1972/posts/1575624109382207:0

Darkglasses

neris wrote: »

Bbc commentators take on the pozzavivo coverage today and crash porn


https://m.facebook.com/mattslater1972/posts/1575624109382207:0

That was very well put.

Brian?

REBELSAFC wrote: »

I can't understand Tinkoffs tactics over the past two days. I really think that it is Oleg trying to show he has the biggest "appendage" in the playground.He seems to be trying to prove that his team can control the race from start to finish. I don't think they can keep going at this pace for three weeks. Chris Juul Jensen has put in an unbelievable workload

I understand yesterday. Get to the front, protect Contador from any splits. The technical nature of the last 20km yesterday meant it was a model for a larger crash which would cause a major split. The smartest thing to do for any GC favourite was to get his team around him on the front and keep him out of danger. Forget about who's in the car, Mick Rogers et al know exactly what they're doing.

I didn't see today's stage, so I don't really know. Maybe they were winding it up to put some teams with GC contenders under pressure because they're in superb shape.

omri

They mentioned today that one of the guys in the break away group is making his own shoes (he had b-day today) but I didn't catch his name - anyone got a clue ?

Darkglasses

omri wrote: »

They mentioned today that one of the guys in the break away group is making his own shoes (he had b-day today) but I didn't catch his name - anyone got a clue ?

Who else but Adam Hansen

Happy to answer questions about them on twitter in my limited experience, but possibly too busy at the moment.

omri

Darkglasses wrote: »

Who else but Adam Hansen

Happy to answer questions about them on twitter in my limited experience, but possibly too busy at the moment.

good god... from €2,000 - €2,500

Darkglasses

omri wrote: »

good god... from €2,000 - €2,500

And it's "sold out".

Yeah right

I think Rob Hatch had it right, he's just ticking the boxes so that he can use the equipment in the race. Has to be available for consumer purchase. Not likely to see them on a club spin near you though!

Koobcam

Anyone see the guy on the fixie who apparently caused the crash with 12km to go? There's a Youtube video but I can't make out anything from that.

Raam

Koobcam wrote: »

Anyone see the guy on the fixie who apparently caused the crash with 12km to go? There's a Youtube video but I can't make out anything from that.

It happens at the far left of the video so not totally clear to make out.