It's in his interest to have as much climbing as possible, but I think that in a climb that they can meter out at their own pace, with nobody sucking wheel/attacking with 2km to go, diesel guys like Rogers, Menchov and Leipheimer will eat him for breakfast.

End of the day tomorrow will see the GC scrambled a bit. I hope Levi takes the jersey and Astana is forced to control the race...this will expose the weakness of the team now that Horner is gone. Basso will win back some time on DiLuca and Liquigas will show themselves to be the best team in this years Giro. I still say Levi is at best 3rd this year at the end of the race.

This is not a Time Trialist's TT. It's a climber/descender TT. Plays into DiLuca's favor. He may not beat the big boys, but he may not lose anywhere near the time he might in a more straightforward TT.

Hell they're not even using TT bikes.

It will be very interesting indeed, but after learning more about the course, I'm far less optimistic about Levi crushing his opponents on this course. We'll see. Perfect course for Lance. He'll do well. Maybe very well.

All signs point to Basso using his TT bike.

What's with the 'all signs'? Are you a Giro witch?

no, just someone who misread a Cyclingnews story.

Read this story BD.

Not a typical TT course. Those descents will kill Levi's chances. He's not a good descender. Lance is great. I really think this course favors Armstrong.

I know Lance and Levi are both using "special" road bikes, but like I said - I misread the CN story as reporting Basso would use his new TT rig on the course.

You keep saying this, but I've never heard it from anyone else.

Did you see yesterday's stage. He didn't look fast at all on the downhill. Could be that he weighs like 130lbs.

could be that Basso was clogging things up in front of him.

I have to agree, I don't think Levi will do nearly as good had it been a more traditional TT. I'm guessing Lace and Levi's times will be very similar.

True.

actually

i'm watching the end of stage 10 now, and Levi isn't following Basso. It's the other way around. I'm going to keep watching to see if that changed.

Here you can see Levi ahead of Basso (click):
Attachment 105481

Apparently Rogers and Cancellara will be as well. I don't think anyone will be riding TT bike tomorrow.

Another shot of Levi ahead of Basso:
Attachment 105482

Basso will, supposedly.

I retracted my previous statement. It's unclear whether or not Basso will ride a TT bike.

Oh, never mind. Disregard my post above. :D

Would the TT course suit a rider like Zabriski?

On that note, where has Garmin been this Giro? After CVV went down you would think they would switch gears and either get in some breaks or at least give their man Farra a leadout.

Thanks for the pic, I now remember seeing that Levi was ahead and that is why I thought he wasn't that great at descending. Then I read how sketchy Basso is and when you mentioned it I figured that is why he looked so bad.

If you had watched yesterday's stage you would have witnessed Levi losing contact on the descent. He's not a good descender compared the the best in the business.

You don't have to hear anybody say it. Simply observe and despair.

Also, it seems like part of what makes Levi such a great time trialist is his position. You have to wonder how riding on a road bike will affect his time trial.

If only we had some kind of TT expert on the forum...

Paging ODonnell!

(And RX)