Giro 2017, stage 9: Montenero di Bisaccia - Blockhaus 149 km

MPFGLB

THE BIG ONE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are going to see some changes in GC, I predict ....but who will lose and who will gain

Not everyone will be within seconds of each other after tomorrow








Safe money would say Quintana for the win
But I quite fancy Pinot
With Zakarin my third choice

I think Mollema, SK & Yates will be there or there abouts
Pozzovivo will also hang in there

What about SKY ? Landa or Thomas ? At this stage I think Thomas will be the best of the SKY boys ..to change in last week

Will TJ crack ? Will Dumoulin hang on - he only needs to limit his losses
And what about Jungles ...also a great TTer but will his losses be large ?

And what of Nibali ...Is the shark ready ...em not sure he is

And what about the stage win ...Cannondale finally ...Rolland or Dombroski or Woods

So many questions ...so little time to consider

But it will be a cracker whoever wins

Inquitus

Thanks MPFGLB, at last we should get some shape on the race, we might not know who'll win, but we should definitely see some big names removed from contention now the phony war is over, can't wait!

Gallant_JJ

Had the pleasure of doing the last 60km of this stage yesterday. Blockhaus is spectacular, the scenery is stunning. Middle section is very tough for 5km, 10% generally, rising to 14/15% quite a bit. Hoping for fireworks, but there is a fear amongst people I've spoken to that the preceding KMs are not sufficiently tough, and the climb could be a procession. Really hoping not though.

irishrover99

It looks like the toughest part of the climb is too far from the finish for a long break from a contender and with the last few Kms not looking that hard I wouldn't be surprised with only small gaps if any.

It depends on how tough yesterday was for the GC since the proceeding days were more of a procession for them.

velo.2010

The more you look at the course, the more you see what the organisers want, ie, a group of guys on or near the same time as each other going into the final week. Etna and Blockhaus have come too early with no proceeding climbs to shake up the pack.

The problem with waiting is that you lose interest among viewers with even the commentators openly acknowledging that its been a tough watch for even the hardiest of fans.

Like the Tour which has done similar, the first guy to gain time will usually end up winning. Those races end up becoming processions. That hasn't been the case at the Vuelta recently.

Next stage on Tuesday is iTT no? Going to be an interesting few days I think. Pinot and Quintana maybe today with Yates being up there too perhaps.

irishrover99

The way things have gone so far, it's looking great for tom doumolan for at least a podium place if he climbs as well as he did the vuelta a few years ago.

dastardly00

irishrover99 wrote: »

The way things have gone so far, it's looking great for tom doumolan for at least a podium place if he climbs as well as he did the vuelta a few years ago.

Nobody has really been tested so far though

dragratchet

how long before a segment someplace in ireland gets renamed blockhaus.....

Gallant_JJ

Movistar setting a serious pace, peloton thinning. Promises to be lively

Gallant_JJ

Movistar setting a serious pace, peloton thinning. Promises to be lively

robyntmorton

Team Sky just taken out by police moto. Geraint not expected to continue!

mr spuckler

oh fvcking hell!!

dragratchet

jesus christ.. not good.

WinnyThePoo

Landa down as well?. Such a shame.

robyntmorton

Landa, Thomas & Yates all effectively out?

wanderer 22

Wow,crazy stuff

mr spuckler

thomas, landa and yates all down. incredible.

robyntmorton

(They said today would be a big shake up. Probably not what they had in mind!)

Daroxtar

WTF was the policeman thinking?
GT hurt, Landa hurt, Yates held up....
My velogames team Fkkd

WinnyThePoo

Yates back on.

MPFGLB

Al the sacrifice all the training, everything ...and now for this ....so terrible

Thomas starving himself for what

Major mistake by race organisers

Yates looking the better of those involved.

ednwireland

Half a km up the road loads of room to pull in. What was the motor bike rider thinking

mr spuckler

it's awful that an incident like this rules them out of contention, i was so looking forward to a full on scrap here :mad:

yates at 193bpm and 11km to go :eek:

MPFGLB

Too many moto bikes anyway ...why are there 7 or 8 moto bikes anyway

robyntmorton

Chances are Yates got held up (though he did go down), as opposed to the crash of Sky!

Thomas still looks visibly shook there.

dragratchet

This could effectively nullify the rest of the race with the favs other than quintana way back. desperate stuff.

robyntmorton

Thomas, Landa etc. will be doing well to see the finish line. They look done.

WinnyThePoo

dragratchet wrote: »

This could effectively nullify the rest of the race with the favs other than quintana way back. desperate stuff.

Plenty of other contenders.