2016 Giro d' Italia - Page 2
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palexhur
Colombia730 Posts
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KobraKay
Portugal4012 Posts
Kruijswijk seems to finally get back into proper form display in his first year (iirc). Still my bet was on Nibali (my main contender on my velogames team) and I'm standing behind him in support. Let's go nibs! (must be the first time I'm actually rooting for him). | ||
L_Master
United States7946 Posts
Fingers crossed he keeps it going. | ||
palexhur
Colombia730 Posts
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Gjhc
Portugal161 Posts
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L_Master
United States7946 Posts
On May 23 2016 00:24 Gjhc wrote: Damn these last 2 stages. And what a beast Kruijswijk was, going the fastest while looking the slowest. Really wanna see his power data for today, I'd say 400+ for the whole time no? I'm going to guess right about there. Somewhere between 390w-410w average for the TT assuming his weight is 66kg as listed, and that there weren't any crazy winds (doesn't seem to be because they weren't mentioned, and other pros like strava data lines up nicely). | ||
L_Master
United States7946 Posts
NibalI just hasnt been the same since winning yellow in 2014. Obviously he is still good, but 2014 Nibali was a terrifying monster. Jungels continues to impress for me, as does Chaves. I didn't see Chaves as a serious high mountain threar coming in...but obviously I was wrong there. Valverde has been about as expected. Zakarin has looked good...but wayyy to much bad luck to know how good. | ||
Gjhc
Portugal161 Posts
And Zakarin's crash looked terrible, hopefully it wasn't so bad as it looked. | ||
DaCruise
Denmark2457 Posts
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L_Master
United States7946 Posts
On May 28 2016 00:53 Gjhc wrote: I'm speechless. Kruijswijk being the strongest (even today) but with the worst luck possible now only 3rd overall, sometimes cycling can make me mad. And Zakarin's crash looked terrible, hopefully it wasn't so bad as it looked. Yea it sucks. I'm super bummed out right now. I realize it's a part of the sport, and can happen to anyone, anywhere; but it still doesn't make it any less crappy when it happens to someone at a time like that, especially when it's someone you happen to be rooting for. Kruijswijk was clearly the strongest rider of this race, and certainly more than deserving of winning the Giro. Fractured rib for Kruijswijk, so who knows if he will even start tomorrow...and if he does I can't seem him being in particularly good form. It would be hard enough to come out in good spirits after a day like that even totally unscathed, but given the significant injury...meh. Hoping he pulls a rabbit out of a hat and takes a win for the ages, but I can't see it. Vincenzo looked really good today. 44 seconds is a big ask to take back on Chaves, but if he managed that it would also be one heck of a Giro win. Should be a good fight tomorrow, but I'll be watching it a bit numb tomorrow. | ||
L_Master
United States7946 Posts
On May 28 2016 05:32 DaCruise wrote: Todays stage was epic. Now we can actually have a grand tour where the top 3 are within seconds of eachother after 3 weeks and 80+ hours in the saddle. Nah, not epic overall. Just disappointing. Never anything epic about stages with major crashes, Zakarin is out; and given the fractured rib there is no guarantee Kruijswijk even starts tomorrow. The one thing I would consider epic is Nibali's ride. Came a little out of nowhere and managed to do serious damage to Chaves, who has been a definite 2nd strongest this whole race. Tomorrow's stage will be interesting to see who wins...sadly for all the wrong reasons. | ||
DaCruise
Denmark2457 Posts
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Ghostcom
Denmark4776 Posts
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Gjhc
Portugal161 Posts
Also I don't think Nibali was risking that much on that part of the descent, he seemed to be descending very normal for those circumstances. Again, a moment like that doesn't the strongest and most consistent rider undeserving of the win. | ||
L_Master
United States7946 Posts
On May 28 2016 17:16 Ghostcom wrote: I really dislike the mentality that a rider is only deserving of winning if he out climbs his opponents. If you go up, you also have to go down and if you can't stay on the bike you aren't deserving of winning. Kruijswijk had plenty of time, he could have taken safer lanes but instead chose to risk it by following what he should have known was the riskier lines as it was Nibalis only hope. He screwed up. Fortunately nobody is advocating that mentality. Kruijswijk made a major mistake and obviously paid hard for it. What I did say is that overall Kruijswijk rode well enough that he would have been a deserved winner. I still feel Kruijswijk rode the best Giro. I could see that sounding as saying he deserved to win, but there is subtle difference. To me, a 3 second lapse of concentration with an unlucky landing on the back doesn't wipe out the quality of riding over 18.5 other days of racing. Basically its down the the luck aspect for me. Kruijswijk could have crashed a thousand different ways, he just happened to get dealt a particularly horrific tumble that ended his race. He could just as easily have come to a gentle stop in the snowbank, taken the rest of the descent with care, and won the Giro by 2'. If everybody crashed the same, I'd have no problems, but sometimes you land good, sometimes you land not so good. Kruijswijk had to set himself up for it by making a significant mistake, which makes his loss a reasonable thing, but the fact remains he lost the Giro because of a very unlucky landing/crash permutation. I also said that even if it's a part of bike racing, it's still always a crappy situation when someone crashes. To me that isn't drama or compelling. People getting hurt just doesn't fall into that category, and is never something I want to see. I will go on the record as saying I do dislike the luck aspect of racing. Crashing on a descent doesnt fall into that category. Getting a flat with 10km to go before the sprint or at the base of the final climb definitely does. There isn't a solution, but it's just stupid when Marcel Kittle misses out on the stage 8 sprint or like last year Porte loses 2' because his flat timing sucks. Unfortunately, any attempt at a solution is either unfair or generally ridiculous. I will say the crashes yesterday up a very interesting stage 20 though. That was a nail biter to watch the whole way, especially when it looked like he might have been tying up on the final short climb. The way Kruijswijk rode with a fractured rib was fantastic as well. Didn't give up and still fought for a respectable final stage despite that. FYI: Kruijswijks crash wasn't from being risky. They were taking that corner quite relaxed. He was thinking about eating something, deviated off his line, realized he could no longer make the corner and did his best to control the miscue. | ||
FiWiFaKi
Canada9858 Posts
Poor Kruiswijk will be forgotten as quickly as he became somewhat famous, even though barring that incident, he would have been the overwhelming favorite. I don't care much for Zakarin since he tested for anabolic steroids, so I was not upset about his crash. If it wasn't for the viewership of the sport, everyone who has ever been caught doping or abusing substances should receive a lifetime ban. I was impressed with Atapuma, I think we will be seeing a lot more of him (Columbians are taking over). Bob Jungels also impressed me, big things ahead for him. Kruiswijk, I wish you could perform like this during my TdF fantasy last year T_T. Rafal Majka seems to have stagnated in his career, so good news for Tinkoff that Contador is on form. What I'm super excited about Peter Sagan in Astana though, they will have such an insane team. Nibali, Aru, Sagan, Kangert, Scarponi, Boom Lars, Fuglsang, absolutely insane. Too bad Sky snagged up Landa. | ||
L_Master
United States7946 Posts
Not so excited about Sagan at Astana. I don't think Astana will give the exposure and publicity in such a way as to really show Sagan off the world as well as they could. Then the fact that Astana, though not quite as bad as Sky, just has this image as a workaholic team that's all about results and not fun. Just seems like an odd marriage for a true character like Sagan. That and the doping suspiscions and talk that surround Astana makes me bummed Sagan is potentially headed there. Jungles was hugely impressive. He continued to do respectable even in the high mountains all the way through to the finish. Guy certainly has a bright future. Agree also about Majka. He seemed like the next star after some breakout performances in 2014 and his monstrous climb of the Tourmalet to get the stage win last year in the TdF. He's quite good, but he definitely isn't materializing into a potential grand tour winner yet. Kruijswijk I'm still bullish on. He is decently young, and seems to be better each year. He showed some signs in 2014, then last year at the Giro he was a beast once he started ocusing for himself the last week and a half. He might have been the best besides potentially Landa. Then this year he shows up and is clearly the strongest rider. He needs to bounce back mentally, but he strikes me as a guy that has a few years now to be among the better GT riders. Probably not a Quintana/Froome/Contador, but certainly in that Nibali/Landa/Aru type group. Yea, Kruijswijk didn't do anything at the tour last year, but thats because he did it off the back of the Giro. That's next to impossible (just look how bad Bertie was), especially when the Giro was like last year. The Giro last year was INSANE. Comparing files, the hardest day this year was literally not even in the top half of stages last year. It was suicide pace all the way. Trying to recovery from that and get back for the Tour was just not happening. I'd love to see Kruijswijk come back and give the Vuelta a crack though. MTA: Everyone who has ever been caught doping absolutely should be given a lifetime ban. No doubt. | ||
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