Giro d’Italia 2024

Paddigol

JOOOOOLIIIIEEENNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

lissard

A mesmerising performance from Allaphillipe. Great stage.

mewso

A dead stage comes to life. Probably won't last though.

mewso

Trek have to be the best leadout in the peleton at the moment.

at1withmyself

An Ineos podium today, I think they might take all 3 spots?

Would like to see Thomas take a some seconds back today and see him going back into second, hopefully Martinez doesn't lose too much as he looks like he might be attacking next week.

odyssey06

Ryan Mullen in no hurry... guess team orders to be fresh for tomorrow.

odyssey06

Pog is now being nicknamed… Poggie? Or am I mis-hearing?

Dodge

he’s been called that for years to be fair. Could be Pogi, could be Poggie but it’s been widely used by loads

dastardly00

Delighted for Ganna. He's under so much pressure to win. Great camaraderie between Pog & Ganna at the end.

Super TT by Ben O'Connor

dastardly00

Ganna & his dog 🥹

mewso

Amazing to think of the numbers in professional racing. I'm only really comprehending it since I got a cheapo bike computer and can properly see my average speed in general vs the likes of Ganna. Not that you'd ever hope or expect to be anywhere near but it's nice to see the difference. Makes you appreciate it more. Roughly speaking for every 2 kilometres I do Ganna would do 5.

Brian?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122153539#Comment_122153539

It’s the power that is really awe inspiring. Spend depends on wind and hills. Power is always power.

I can maintain Ganna’s 20min ftp for about 2mins.

Brian?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122154403#Comment_122154403

I’m being generous to myself. Ganna’s 20min ftp is 525w. **** me.

breezy1985

In terms of raw animal power he really is the new Indurain. It's only the changed landscape of cycling stops him from being a GC contender in the same way.

With the similarly naturally big Dumoulin you could see he had to choose one or the other in terms of his body.

CantGetNoSleep

Tomorrow's stage will be even worse in making us realise how far away we are. 5000m elevation. I did 2000m in 100km a few weeks ago and barely made it home

eagle eye

We'll go the Carlton route with the preview again.

A monster, an absolute brute, the Queen stage. Not only the toughest test in this Giro but also the longest. We could lose some of the sprinters on this stage as the time gaps could be huge.

The stage starts in Manerba del Garda. There are neolithic ruins which suggests a settlement in the area in 4000 BC or earlier.

The name Manerba is believed to have been used in devotion to the goddess Minerva.

The first climb of note on the day is the Mortirolo pass after about 145km which connects the ancient area of Val Comonica, where people are believed to have resided 15000 years ago and left a large collection of rock art behind them, and Mazzo do Valtellina, another ancient area which at one stage was conquered by the Roman Empire and then somewhere around 489 AD became part of the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Theodoric the great.

The Mortirolo Pass has been used many times in the tour, the first time was 1990 when the Venezuelan Leonardo Sierra won, the legendary Marco Pantani won in 1994 and the two great Ivans, Gotti and Basso, both twice winners of the Tour, won stages when using this climb twice.

The climb is a very even and tough 7.6% gradient for most of its 12.6 km but hits 16% near the top.

After descending this climb it's pretty much up hill for the rest of the stage, about 50 km. With about 25 km left they get the Passo Di Foscagno which runs for about 15 km with a more friendly 6.4% gradient and it's toughest part is 11%, then after a short downhill the last 4.6 km averages just over 7.7% but hits a brutal 19% section as we reach Passo di Eira.

At the finish line the riders will hop off their bikes some 7250 feet above sea level.

Yes we all think this will be Pogs stage but there are question marks due to the thin air at the heights they will reach towards the end of the stage.

It could be a stage for a South American.

But Pog is not human so I'll pick him to win it.

Morris Garren

This reminds me of those older epic 7-hour stages of yesterear; Martin Earley won a stage like this in his heyday and perhaps it's finally a day to let a breakaway get 10 minutes up the road and leave them to it. With that in mind however, the list of possibilities is fairly huge. Geschke will surely be in the break once again and would like to see him succeed

at1withmyself

Calmajare not in a good mood, shouting at the Astana car and now shouting at his own team car.

He has a chance to go into second in the mountains classification so wonder what's wrong with him?

retalivity

Nairoman to roll back the years today

mewso

Pog goes with 13k to go. Blimey.

retalivity

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122156913#Comment_122156913

He's going to catch him and win by 2-3 mins!

breezy1985

Im getting sick of all these "cannibal" style riders. Even the ones I like I'm starting to dislike.

mewso

Well this is one of those performances that gets tongues wagging in certain quarters if you know what I mean.

Dodge

The gap in quality between him and the others here can’t be overstated either to be fair. He’s an alien, but he doesn’t that do to Remco, Roglic or Jonas. They’re the only ones in the same world as him really

mewso

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122157110#Comment_122157110

Peak Jonas maybe but I think in his current form peak Remco and Roglic would still struggle. Maybe not as much as G and Martinez.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122157110#Comment_122157110

There has been a huge problem all season with none of the big riders meeting across any of the various specialities in the big races .

MangleBadger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122157133#Comment_122157133

except for Basque Country and they all crashed out together.

Dodge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122157123#Comment_122157123

I think he’d beat them, but not by 3 minutes like he did today. That’s all I’m saying. Hopefully they’re all at peak for the Tour

andyd12

Hard not to see Pogacar winning the TdF.

Vingegaard and Remco missed alot of time through injury.

Roglic is another year older, he just about beat Thomas last year in the Giro. Look what Pog is doing to Thomas

G1032

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122158376#Comment_122158376

Remco, even in top form, wouldn't win The Tour I think. Not a hope IMO with either or both of Pog or Ving there. He's not in their league for a Grand Tour 3 weeker

dahat

Remco will try & fail for GC then win 2 stages in week 3 for the adoration as usual.

Brian?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122157742#Comment_122157742

I actually think he’d lose a minute to Vingegaard on stage with 5400 meters of climbing. Vingegaard is one of the greatest pure climbers I’ve ever seen.

The hyperbole needs to stop. This is like Contador winning the Giro with no Purrito, Schleck brothers or Froome etc riding. Thomas is over the hill. .

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122159376#Comment_122159376

A multi TdF champion is always gonna blitz the Giro. The disappointing part from a neutral viewpoint is that he bothered to go.

Mefistofelino

Whether or not you're a fan of his Merckxian style, as least Pog has attacked. Thomas has done feck all the last two weeks and just Menchov'd his way into second place.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122159507#Comment_122159507

I have no sympathy for the rest of the GC. I just wish he wouldn't Pantani all the breakaways.

Macy0161

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122157742#Comment_122157742

It's hard to say with on form Jonas and on form Visma. Visma have exposed Pog on these sort of days by making the whole day hard, which it wasn't really today, rather than a w/kg test on the last climb only.

Dodge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122159463#Comment_122159463

I’m not disappointed at all. This Giro is about a million times better than last years

Paddigol

Gimme Pog devouring the mortals with a smile on his face over the Skytrain style robo-superdoms suffocating the life out of races any day of the week.

I'd love to have seen Pog race Contador… two riders who can't resist an attack. Shame they were a decade apart.

Brian?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122159770#Comment_122159770

Pog would have lost time to Contador in stages like yesterday. But beaten him overall due to his better TT performance and his ability to finish in the mountains.

It really can’t be underestimated how hard yesterday was. They were essentially climbing 70km to the top of the Mortirolo. One of the most epic climbs there is. A real lightweight climber like Vingegaard or Contador would have the advantage over Pogacar. Martinez and Thomas don’t.

retalivity

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122159507#Comment_122159507

Heard on a podcast (LRCP?) that the only GC person other than Pog who has attacked in the 2 weeks to date has been Tibieri, and that was to try and shake Uijtdebroeks for the white jersey. O'Connor & Martinez got burrned trying to follow Pog, whereas Thomas just hasn't bothered.

thebourke

Thomas is 38 in 5 days time…second on gc….pog is 25…

Mefistofelino

Chris Horner was about 103 when he won the Vuelta

dahat

Thomas ( and a few others) knows he can't compete with Podgi unless he has a bad day so why blow your GC podium on the off chance?

MangleBadger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122161338#Comment_122161338

Luke Rowe was saying yesterday that Thomas has already got 2nd and that as unlikely as it is he is there to win and is not against sacrificing a podium spot.

Although saying that is one thing. I'm sure it is very different when you are climbing up the Mortirolo and Pog just breezes away. What can you do to counter that? Some very un-Ineos thinking would be needed. Ben O'Connor's bad first mountain shows what happens when you try to stay with Pog when he attacks.

Macy0161

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122161197#Comment_122161197

That was just the width of his handlebars.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122161405#Comment_122161405

In interview Thomas was saying he didn't think he was on a good day, as an explanation of the passive tactics.

Brian?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122162069#Comment_122162069

it’s hyperbole calling him an Alien etc., in my opinion anyway. He’s beating a pretty weak field.

Brian?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122162441#Comment_122162441

yeah, but he never looks phased until he cracks.

eagle eye

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122162534#Comment_122162534

Who cracked him besides Vingegaard?

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122163058#Comment_122163058

Van der Poel.

retalivity

Forecast looks absolutely horrific for the stage start tmoro morning, some of the teams apparently trying to get the first 50k & the umbrailpass removed