Wow! What a stage. I thought Simoni was going to make a grand attack, but the man (or should I say boy) who won the day was Damiano Cunego, who absolutely flew up the last climb and dropped everybody, with the second place finisher coming in at 1'16" behind him and Popovych finishing 3'50" behind Cunego. Simoni finished 2'40" to Cunego as well, I believe.

Cunego wins the stage and has a considerable lead over everyone else as he takes the Maglia Rosa into tomorrow's rest day.

At what point does Simoni concede GC victory to Cunego? He is about 2:20 behind now. If Cunego continues to chase down the breaks in the mountains, Simoni won't be able to put any time into him. Will they make him sit up?

I honestly don't know if Simoni has it in his legs to contest the race leadership.

I doubt Simoni will pull a Hinault and make Cunego slow down so Simoni can win. Early on Gibo said that if Cunego had the legs to attack him, then he had all the right in the world to do so. He also said what matters most is not that he wins the Giro, but that a red jersey (ie Saeco rider) does.

Cunego had amazing legs. I think he stole the race here. (and still two harder stages to come)

I think that, since the Drug Years are over, Garzelli's time is up.

Stage 18 and 19 will both be quite different races though. Far different structure than today's stage 16. Maybe Cunego won't have it in him.

On the OLN coverage, I was getting annoyed about how they kept blaming Popovych's crack on his team. Yeah, he had no team to chase down Cunego on the breakaway. But Simoni, Cunego, and Popovych all spent equal time in the wind the whole stage, and on the final climb, it was Popovych who cracked, while Simoni and Cunego both flew away with no help. A strong team does nothing if the leader(s) isn't the strongest man.

I just hope Cunego has not burned all his matches with an impressive ride today. He is only 22, young for a grand tour rider and an age that lends itself to possible over exuberance. There are still a couple of hard climbing days. Simoni has years more experience and possibly resistance in his legs; I'm not counting him out just yet. I'm also not speculating one way or the other right now, just voicing a concern.

Yep, how about Dario Cioni finishing ahead of Popovych, when all 7 of his other teammates finished with Petacchi.

But, that was fun to watch, I'd had enough of the sprinter's stages. More, bigger mountains coming up...

didn't get to watch it, just watched the ticker on velonews... here's my question on the race strategy:

saeco sent riders back to help out cunego once he broke away from the maglia rosa group... they helped pull him to the last climb, where he blew away the stage leaders... is it an indication that saeco has changed their leader because they didn't also wait for simoni (who was about a minute behind cunego at that point, i believe)? on did they not want to get in a position where they might help out popovych and others?

in any case, that kid was pretty impressive in the last 50k or so... made for an exciting stage. wish i could have watched it.

Did you try watching the live feed on Gazetta's website?
I watched it Saturday and Sunday, although I couldn't connect to it today.

I think cyclingnews had a quote on simoni saying something to the effect that it is only important that a saeco rider wins, like devil said. I think simoni might be trying to save too much of himself for the tour. Now look at what has happened. He isnt dominating the giro, I wont say he's lost it because there is plenty of climbing to do and simoni can get away from almost anyone in the giro when he's in peak form. His attack towards the end, I didnt see it, stupid VCR screwed up, but I heard that it didnt shatter the group and he didnt fly away like he normally does. Might the crash have been a little more serious than I think? He did go down pretty hard at a good speed but I dont think anyone has said simoni is hurting. He did attack and get away a little bit. Im with chiefcatchacold, the sprinters have had their turn so let the road go UP UP UP!!

Yes, his attack wasn't all that strong, for being Simoni on a %10 grade. He just dropped a few riders, and a few others stayed on his wheel easily. And after the attack, when he was pacing, he didn't look to be in very good shape (you know, of course he was one of the strongest, but not dominating at all)... not as smooth as he normally does, and not as smooth as Cunego looked.

I was glad to see Julio Perez come out of the woodwork to place 6th. I enjoy seeing him up there. Panaria made a strategic error last year having him ride for gc. He is a gutsy little climber who is good for a stage here and there, but he is no gc man in a grand tour.

haha.. yeah, right. good one!