WCroadie

PG always comes to race, he's not afraid to lose a race if his tactics don't work. Always been a fan of PG>

I thought someone before me posted an example, tho I can't find it now.

So making a rule that everyone have a level saddle isn't a stupid rule?

Leinster

He loves those short sharp uphill finishes. I thought they'd left it too late with the size of gap with 3km to go, but there's nobody like him for blasting up a steep grade.


Sky gave Gianni Meersman a wheel earlier in this same race. And Meersman thanked them on twitter. https://twitter.com/GianniMeersman/s...29780256460800

Now, obviously that had no bearing on GC as Meersman was never going to win the Giro, but why enforce it only when the high profile occasion happens? If the jury had fined Meersman 2 minutes and 200f, everyone would have said "that's a stupid rule," but would have at least been forewarned; so then a week later when Clarke popped his wheel out for Porte, he would have known to say, "Oh hey, thanks but no thanks Clarkie, I'm 22s off the Maglia Rosa, I can't afford a 2min penalty, and here's Eisel coming back with a wheel for me anyway."

WCroadie

Ha thanks, I knew I saw it somewhere before. I agree, why only enforce it for GC contenders? It's a joke.

cthenn

I'm not trying to be argumentative for the sake of it, but what does a saddle have to do with Richie Porte's wheel change? I don't know anything about that rule, but would a rider not want to ride with a level saddle? Maybe that's why Armstrong needed "saddle cream" LOL!

Leinster

I think the level saddle rule came in in order to outlaw stupid-looking things like the one modelled here by Luc Leblanc, that some Castorama riders tried out in the 90s;


The UCI have banned plenty of things that they thought just "looked stupid," like monocoque frames, Graeme Obree's tt position, and aerodynamic fairings.

Borrowing a wheel from another team really doesn't fall into that bracket, though.

patrickgm60

Lol. You may well be right, as to UCI's rationale, but it still sounds like a Monty Python skit. ("We, the Committee to Eliminate the Stupid-Looking, have determined that the jumping of curbs by cyclists, at roundabouts, shall be banned.")

cthenn

LOL does that saddle have a back rest? What could that possibly provide as an advantage? I guess maybe it gives you something to push against with your back and you pedal?

Leinster

A backrest, and tapers to a point. IIRC it was designed to give the rider something to push back against, and reduce drag at the back end. I don't know how well it did either of those things, and the UCI stepped in and told them to chuck it pretty much straight away, so I doubt anyone got around to wind tunnel testing it.

WCroadie

Yeah I am not trying to be argumentative either, I enjoy a good discussion, I don't take it personal, you are entitled to your opinion. You asked if there was a case where wheels were swapped and the rider not penalized, and there clearly was, in this exact giro. But whatever, we can move on.

I just watched the highlights from today's stage, the Eurosport announcers really put old Phil and Paul to shame.

Leinster

Heard pointed out on a podcast today. Simon Clarke got fined nearly as much for taking his wheel out and putting it on Richie Porte's bike, as Carlos Barredo got fined for taking his wheel out and hitting Rui Costa over the head with it at the Tour in 2010.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5uy3IRrmw0

Does the I in UCI stand for Inconsistency?

hueyhoolihan

hardly seems fair does it?

wonder if it would have made any difference if Clark had hit Porte over the head with his wheel, THEN helped him put it on the bike.

jyl

Bravo Gilbert for showing a peloton of stage racers how a real hardman does it in the pouring rain! Aru looked like he was going to cry. Contador is swaggering. Could have been a dull stage but wasn't, well, not entirely. Tomorrow is, I fear, another story.

jyl

Velonews has a quote from Astana's DS that sounds kind of downbeat:

" It’s not only difficult to beat Contador, it’s all but impossible,” Martinelli told VeloNews. “What Fabio should do is improve on his third place from last year, and a second place overall right now, I’d take that.” "
Read more at One more squeeze: Contador tightening grip on pink jersey - VeloNews.com

Bluffing ahead of an Aru riposte? Or getting ready to put another Astana rider into the lead?

WCroadie

Ouch

jyl

Can anyone be unluckier than Porte? Not so great for Contador either.

PepeM

Aru got lucky there, but I don't think he'll hold on to this lead. Contador looks the much stronger rider. As for Porte, time to think of the next race.

Leinster

And so it came to pass. Porte looks like Sky's focus now is doing the best for Konig.

PepeM

Yes, can't see Contador losing this one. Unless he crashes a few more times I guess.

jyl

Contador really crushed that TT. Finished 3rd, gained ~2:30 on Uran, ~2:45 on Aru. Let's not even talk about poor Porte. Apparently, he told team his knee was "fkd" right after the crash yesterday. Oh, wait, I just talked about him. So Contador is solidly in pink.

If not for a wind change during the stage, Contador probably would have won the TT, as he was just 14 sec behind. For a guy who was supposedly no longer a very good TT'er, he smoked it.

So, was he bluffing about having to raise and widen his TT arm position? I didn't see much widening, but haven't really compared to older pics. Was this a reward for his careful recons (pre-race, he rode it twice or thrice?), or the result of an unusual parcours? He did appear to dig really, really deep.

The Giro starts into the Dolomites tomorrow with a MTF. Aru is 2nd at 2:28 down, his teammates are, at best, over 4 min down. Amador is 3rd at 3:36. Uran is 4th at 4:14 and still in striking distance of the podium.

So, I don't mean to be ungrateful after an action packed Giro to date, but the greedy spectator in me wishes the lead were more like 1 min. Well, I'm sure the race organizers have planted more long lenses and waiting crashes to keep things constantly upending.

jyl

Meanwhile, sprinters have started abandoning, including Griepel. So maybe Viviani can get the Milan stage?

And since most of the remaining climbers are hunting stages without GC hopes, I'm rooting for lots of attacks and mountain breakaways. I'll be especially pleased if Betancur can win a stage for Ag2R.

Jakedatc

AC at last year's Vuelta
https://www.steephill.tv/2014/vuelta-...C491349158.jpg

AC today
https://www.steephill.tv/2015/giro-d-...C538840991.jpg

Looks pretty close.

B. Carfree

I guess it's time to eat those words (from an earlier thread). I'd love to plead unexpected crashes, but AC has had at least his share and still roars out into the lead.

Contador really makes grand tours fun. Remember his stealing of the Vuelta from Purito, then the battles with Froome (even the losing effort in the 2013 TdF was great viewing and a gallant, never-say-die effort) and now this Giro. He simply cannot be allowed to retire; no one fights like him. Beautiful rider.

rousseau

Kind of a hoser homer here, but I've been pulling for Ryder Hesjedal, the GC winner in 2012. He's been riding well and mostly keeping up with the main contenders in every stage except for stage 4, where he came across the line about 5 minutes behind the big names.

So now he's stuck 8 minutes behind Contador. Realistically he doesn't have a chance, of course. It's just such a shame that he had that one bad day. The grand tours are so daunting in how you can drop out of contention from just one day where you're out of sync or not feeling your best. "You can't win the Tour/Giro/Vuelta in the first few days, but you can certainly lose it," someone somewhere once said.

Then again, probably nobody else was really going to challenge Contador this year. He's on a mission, and, barring anymore bad luck, wouldn't surprise anyone if he did the Double.

Jakedatc

Not sure why Porte is still riding when he is hurt and way off the lead. Could be at home getting healed up for the Tour instead of slogging around italy

jyl

Ryder probably moved up the board with his ride today. He seems to be doing better as the race goes on, better recovery perhaps. Maybe a top 10 this year? Other riders currently ahead of him seem to be deteriorating faster than Ryder is.

Astana has the Sky mountain train thing down cold, except that their domestiques are so strong that they win the stage too.

Contador didn't look too bothered, did he? I'm sure he was miffed that a domestique came between him and a stage win, but Aru never seemed to trouble him.

So, do we count the 2015 Giro as a stage race in which Porte was dropped out of contention by a jour sans? Clearly he's had one or two such days in stages 15 and/or 14. You could argue he wasn't dropped out of contention since he was already out of contention by the end of stage 13, being, what, 4 minutes behind?

Disappointed to see Betancur dropped from the lead group.