diphthong

wow...carapaz. bleep. hope he doesn’t go backwards a la zakarin tomorrow and yates back from the dead. roglic’s in a race now. let’s see how he responds.

diphthong

stage 15...ahead of the rest day...does team movistar send landa from approx 60 km from the finish and force all the gc leaders to chase? thinking landa, nibbles or battaglin here.
going with battaglin.

slcbob

Isn't it time for Landa to have another follow-team-orders moment?

Breakaway takes the glory today! de Gendt? the long suffering Masnada? - Jean Dixon sends.

P.S. RIP Gavia. First Gaviria, now you, you magnificent cima Coppi.

diphthong

if team orders are to launch landa the panda, i'm down. if team orders are to cocoon-style shepherd carapaz...not down. movistar is/has creating/ed waves and motion by effecting change.
keep mushin and pushin. fortune favors the bold. either landa or carapaz will need to take 2+ minutes out of roglic before the final stage to have a fighting chance of winning the overall.
bad news for cycling fans about the gavia but good news for the cyclists and their marginal gains against the money grubbing race protagonists. methinx the giro is usually the wurst re: rider safety.
there's some old tour de eff quote about the riders making the race vs the other way round but feeling too laconic to actively research + post said supposed quote.

mas (que) nada and jeane dixon...there's a name i haven't heard/contemplated for a lengthy tiempo. i think she rode a 53cm cinelli...or olmo. it's a cool samba beat and danceable twere i 20 years younger.

diphthong

putting the cat(s) amongst the pigeons... happy to say the carapaz/yates one-two punch yielded the desired "i love it when a plan comes together."

really just wanted to say it once in 2019. so many bleepy predictions yet to come.

that now said...i fully expect a plunge into the netherregions (sp?) of the giro league (pokingthebear).

dstrong 

They better rest up tomorrow...the rest of the week is a doozy!

Are there points for being the "Lanterna rossa"?

diphthong

no points for being the maglia nera of the fantasy league but it is a badge of honor. it would be quite the change of pace from your usual virtual podium trophies.

slcbob

Call for predictions:

Which brand catheter is Roglic's sports directeur going to use on Tuesday?

Is it still possible for me to grab the maglia nera? (get with the Italian program, dstrong ) X Merckx the Spot has a bit of a points buffer right now on the two teams in back, particularly the VERY Blind Pig, but one has Roglic and one Nibali. Perhaps enough to Nibbles away on me and our Simon.

Can anyone catch the (s)pokes? And will ooga booga find the shift key on his keyboard? Ed. comment: no evidence of either to date!

I will have an awesome prediction for Tuesday later on Monday. An even better one late Tuesday. While you may be crushing my spirit in the Veloleague, I am feeling pretty darn smug about some recent prognostications. Almost like the love child of Jean Dixon and Jimmy the Greek!

diphthong

stage 16 horrible prediction-yates ftw by a small margin. roglic will lose another few seconds to a potential podium guy such as carapaz, mollema or nibbles but not too much as to remain in contention
for the final stage (at this point). i think lopez and team astana (hirt, bilbao, cataldo...) go full gas to see what they can carve out in terms of podium placement but end up short
of a stage win. the unfamiliarity of the newly designated and somewhat unreconned stage 16 will be more disruptive than the anticipated inclusion of the gavia. i think landa the panda
has a solid go and is my second fave to win the stage. majka and mollema hang tough as they always seem to, sivakov and carthy slip into another top ten finish, confirming their potential and
nibbles mostly follows wheels for one more day. once we hit stage seventeen, the shark goes on the prowl.

all this or roglic is so full of p*ss and vinegar that he goes and grabs the race by the lapels. line one is on permahold...

diphthong

so stoked to see a guy such as cataldo that's destroyed himself multiple races/tours/years for multiple leaders actually pull off a stage win.
honestly...that's why i follow the sport. it's not for the big names. it's for the quiet, dedicated assassins such as he. very deserved and so awesome.

diphthong

i am not finding the shift feature on the keyboard any time soon this slow duffy 20 25 wpm typist
types faster w o using the shift key and conforming to caps life if it means you read my posts slower
or at all its intentional dont make me go gabriel garcia marquez and pull punctuation as well because
ive thought about it and will at the drop of a hat would probably be a lot more fun and lead to many
many more interwebz shouting matches and hurt feels slcbob deals itslotsmorefunwospaceinbetweenthewords

diphthong

rest days should involve rider inspiration videos for getting into the the sport. what inspired rider x to get into riding? pantani? the rising price of espresso in the fall of 2011?
a desire to color coordinate on days ending in y? groupies? moontans? the desire to both burn and freeze extremities within the span of an hour?

slcbob

e e cummings and o o gabooga are names that will live long in the anals of literature, horrible predictions, and good sport. Not sure I spelled everything right in that sentence.

So our man Ilnur got awarded the Cima Coppi prize on double secret probation? A cherry on top of an astonishing and unpredicted day.

Carnage Tuesday. I predict a brutal first hour or more. Many top riders keep trying to make the break, forcing Jumbo Visma and Bahrain Merida to work extra hard if Landa is one of them. Lots of big guns end up isolated. Roglic on the rivet. Will he come through?

I think he will face the music and come up all present and correct. Even with Carapaz, maybe grabs a few seconds back from Nibali. Total coin flip on Simon.

Gallo

Its why I picked Dario who has had a great career and caused much pain and shaken up races time and time again. I noticed he did not have a Giro win and thought he would go all out to get one. I am glad he did not just for the points but for the perverseness of being so good for so long but not a "star"

diphthong

stage 17 horrible prediction...thinking about a scenario where bora sends formolo up the road to either assist majka into climbing back into podium contention
or formolo stays away for the stage win. actually going to go with one of the three guys from ef education-carthy, dombrowski, kangert-actually winning it.

the shark has been nibbling and will continue to do so. fully expecting nibbles to have another go-or three. he'll put a few riders in the gc top ten into the mixer.

can roglic reverse his recent time losses or does he lose yet more time to another podium contender or two? first week was a dream...this week is turning into a nightmare.
time to apply direct pressure, elevate and stop the bleeding.

de gendt is de due.

diphthong

amen.

slcbob

Oh the shark, babe
Has such teeth, dear
And he shows them
Pearly white

Just a jackknife, has Primoz Roglic....

You Tube

diphthong

a little stingy with your application of the letter "n" but it's like the germans bombing pearl harbor...know thy audience.

diphthong

it would seem that movistar will need to fire the panda cannon to (hopefully for them) derail nibbles on the attack and get another handful of seconds buffer for carapaz in the final tt stage
to hold off roglic. if landa wins the stage, so much the better as he just might jump back into a podium placement. perhaps movistar waits till stage 20 to launch and just follows vincenzo's wheels
till then. i think that would be a mistake as nibbles seems to prefer/respond better dictating terms vs taking them.

just hasn't come together yet for lopez. thought he'd be a little closer to the podium and a little bit more of an agitator. three mountain stages left...one's a doozy.

slcbob

My bad. Vinncennzo Nnibali! And yes, it's not over until he says it's over!

I think he's praying for a Kruijswick snowdrift for Carapaz more than either of them fear a Froomey flyer from Yates, but there is plenty of climbing to go and still that final TT hanging heavily over the top riders not named Roglic.

Who knows what Landa will do? Least of all, the Movistar sports directors. And perhaps Landa. But certainly an interesting animator with the 1-2 punch.

Gallo

Carapaz looks strong

So does Landa

Lopez lacks the legs right now

Nibali seems to only worry about Roglic I find that odd

The TT is short I am not sure how much time especially on day 21 anyone will gain

who knows we might be looking at a Fingon Le Mond moment

Masnada is crushing this tour

Chavez got me some points I thought he might be better than he has so far.

TDG the diesel I think had his last run at a stage today

Peters rode brilliantly

diphthong

stage 18-demare.

slcbob

But who will work to make it a bunch sprint?

I say the break survives.

slcbob

"Oops."
-- FDJ

diphthong

oops indeed.