fantasy giro 2020 + general giro discussion
10-06-20, 03:48 AM
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At the start of stage 4 in Catania, Ineos Grenadiers set up Thomas’ bike outside the team bus and placed the machine on a set of rollers, indicating that he would warm-up ahead of the stage. However, at 11:30 CET it was confirmed that Thomas would leave the race and not take part in stage 4.
No surprise.
Now the question is 'will Simon Yates have gotten over whatever was affecting his performance in stage 3'?
10-06-20, 04:05 AM
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I have very confidently picked wrongly for stage 4 over in PCS land.
Absolutely, everyone. Come on over and aim for stage wins. That's what I'm doing. Heck, with three days head start I don't have much of a gap on you, unless today bucks the trend.
Our host, on the other hand, is crushing it. This page is the only one where I've found you can see who others picked, and then only for the top 200 on the dayranking. This day will give hime wings in the GC for a while.
https://www.procyclingstats.com/race...ame/dayranking
I wouldn't rule out Pello Bilbao for giving the Shark something to work for. It's looking good for him now that his mom has taken a page out of Andy's mom's book (I hear they're friends) and opened the race up a bit. Caretaker saw it. Pello almost made my team but I figured the surprise call up after le Tour boded poorly. Like much of my logic, that has a certain truthiness to it but remains unencumbered by current reality. It will be interesting to see it evolve. I may be able to claim Jeanne Dixonesque foresight eventually. If not on this idea, then another. Just stand by.
G is out. All of my eyes are now on the powerhouse duo of Ommen and Zakarin, unless our Simon can recover from a jour sans. Oh yeah, I almost forgot my powerhouse sprinter. Phew, I'm good.
I think this will be a great Giro.
Absolutely, everyone. Come on over and aim for stage wins. That's what I'm doing. Heck, with three days head start I don't have much of a gap on you, unless today bucks the trend.
Our host, on the other hand, is crushing it. This page is the only one where I've found you can see who others picked, and then only for the top 200 on the dayranking. This day will give hime wings in the GC for a while.
https://www.procyclingstats.com/race...ame/dayranking
I wouldn't rule out Pello Bilbao for giving the Shark something to work for. It's looking good for him now that his mom has taken a page out of Andy's mom's book (I hear they're friends) and opened the race up a bit. Caretaker saw it. Pello almost made my team but I figured the surprise call up after le Tour boded poorly. Like much of my logic, that has a certain truthiness to it but remains unencumbered by current reality. It will be interesting to see it evolve. I may be able to claim Jeanne Dixonesque foresight eventually. If not on this idea, then another. Just stand by.
G is out. All of my eyes are now on the powerhouse duo of Ommen and Zakarin, unless our Simon can recover from a jour sans. Oh yeah, I almost forgot my powerhouse sprinter. Phew, I'm good.
I think this will be a great Giro.
10-06-20, 04:48 AM
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In the classic squad league, I'm rolling into De Brabantse Pijl with Zizi hot on my heels (and then there were three! 
) and two non-starters, conserving the transfers to days to come. I hope I survive the attack, because I do feel one coming.
For Wednesday, I can't not predict MVDP for the win, and not merely by a bike throw and some bad juju.
Rounding out my roster, I left Teuns out in the cold and came down to a coin flip between Wellens and Trentin. I chose Wellens. That should be a clear sign to empty out the coffee cans, mortgage the back 40, and throw in Hop Tsing's top knot -- Teuns and Trentin duke it out for the win from a late break. You can thank me from the beach of your private island when you cash out on those longshot odds.
) and two non-starters, conserving the transfers to days to come. I hope I survive the attack, because I do feel one coming.For Wednesday, I can't not predict MVDP for the win, and not merely by a bike throw and some bad juju.
Rounding out my roster, I left Teuns out in the cold and came down to a coin flip between Wellens and Trentin. I chose Wellens. That should be a clear sign to empty out the coffee cans, mortgage the back 40, and throw in Hop Tsing's top knot -- Teuns and Trentin duke it out for the win from a late break. You can thank me from the beach of your private island when you cash out on those longshot odds.
10-06-20, 07:53 AM
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https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/ger...-giro-ditalia/
No surprise.
Now the question is 'will Simon Yates have gotten over whatever was affecting his performance in stage 3'?
No surprise.
Now the question is 'will Simon Yates have gotten over whatever was affecting his performance in stage 3'?
10-06-20, 08:46 AM
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What was I thinking by not going with Sagan on my team? My lack of faith is, disturbing. Today though he demurred to Demare.
Stage 5 pick - Castroviejo no duh Geoghegan Hart no wait Narvaez. Narvaez!! with help from the squad while Ganna and Rohan sit in the grupetto. I think Rohan is going to net me some sparse points only two more times till Rome.
Stage 5 pick - C
Last edited by GrainBrain; 10-06-20 at 09:27 AM.
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10-06-20, 10:37 AM
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Big disappointment for Bora, they worked hard to get Sagan in position but he comes 2nd again.
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10-06-20, 11:36 AM
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Yeah you have quite the firepower on tap for tomorrow though!!
That's gotta be interesting to see the discussion on the team bus now. Third time in a row flogging the team for second. Maybe the last time now that Majka could place well on GC?
That's gotta be interesting to see the discussion on the team bus now. Third time in a row flogging the team for second. Maybe the last time now that Majka could place well on GC?
10-06-20, 12:30 PM
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He'd like a 1st for certain, but he really wants the points jersey. Demare is a threat on flat stages, but much less so where there are mountains. Jersey competiton seems destined to come down to either Sagan, or Viviani.
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10-06-20, 02:16 PM
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Hand me a donut as you fly by. It may happen tomorrow.
Just a trio of days ago I was feeling pretty smug and you were in despair. Ah, the fickle winds of velofate.
I have no idea who is going to win tomorrow, but I'm feeling really good about a breakaway's chances. On the PCS game where you just pull names out of a hat, for a moment I loaded up on the GC favs (well, those still standing). Then I figured they'll have a shoot out but not for the stage win. I'm having a real tough time deciding who to throw into the mix to take turns with de Gendt. I don't know who else wants to spend so many km out front.
Just a trio of days ago I was feeling pretty smug and you were in despair. Ah, the fickle winds of velofate.
I have no idea who is going to win tomorrow, but I'm feeling really good about a breakaway's chances. On the PCS game where you just pull names out of a hat, for a moment I loaded up on the GC favs (well, those still standing). Then I figured they'll have a shoot out but not for the stage win. I'm having a real tough time deciding who to throw into the mix to take turns with de Gendt. I don't know who else wants to spend so many km out front.
10-06-20, 08:48 PM
#86
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stage five is interesting. massive climb near the end. bantamweight climbers will need to launch early. climbers with some decent+ tt ability can launch a little later. looks to be roughly 10 downhill km's
from the last summit to the finish. going with nibbles ftw. fuglsang is second choice. potential for this giro to be an absolute hot beautiful ridiculous mess and it's only stage five.
salting the popcorn and holding the butter-for now.
from the last summit to the finish. going with nibbles ftw. fuglsang is second choice. potential for this giro to be an absolute hot beautiful ridiculous mess and it's only stage five.
salting the popcorn and holding the butter-for now.
Last edited by diphthong; 10-06-20 at 11:10 PM.
10-06-20, 08:50 PM
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for team ineos...could be time to cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war. free tgh!
*edit...oh ganna then? that's how it's gonna be? whatevs.*
*edit...oh ganna then? that's how it's gonna be? whatevs.*
Last edited by diphthong; 10-07-20 at 11:02 PM.
10-06-20, 11:13 PM
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Hand me a donut as you fly by. It may happen tomorrow.
Just a trio of days ago I was feeling pretty smug and you were in despair. Ah, the fickle winds of velofate.
I have no idea who is going to win tomorrow, but I'm feeling really good about a breakaway's chances. On the PCS game where you just pull names out of a hat, for a moment I loaded up on the GC favs (well, those still standing). Then I figured they'll have a shoot out but not for the stage win. I'm having a real tough time deciding who to throw into the mix to take turns with de Gendt. I don't know who else wants to spend so many km out front.
Just a trio of days ago I was feeling pretty smug and you were in despair. Ah, the fickle winds of velofate.
I have no idea who is going to win tomorrow, but I'm feeling really good about a breakaway's chances. On the PCS game where you just pull names out of a hat, for a moment I loaded up on the GC favs (well, those still standing). Then I figured they'll have a shoot out but not for the stage win. I'm having a real tough time deciding who to throw into the mix to take turns with de Gendt. I don't know who else wants to spend so many km out front.
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10-07-20, 06:27 AM
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10-07-20, 10:42 AM
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fwiw - I'm much less skeptical about Thomas and Bernal and Carapaz, but I do not trust Brailsford to not give a bit of "extra attention" to certain select riders.
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10-07-20, 11:48 AM
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Top Ganna indeed.
------------
On the anti-Ineos sentiment...
Froome's "transformation" lines up with his treatment for Bilharzia and makes perfect sense to me.
Wiggo's is much more of an intentional resculpting so I can better understand skepticism there but I don't throw it around any more weightily with him than I do with most, Jiffy bag notwithstanding.
After G's bottle incident, my wife and I were discussing just how truly extraordinary Lance Pharmstrong's run was. He doped better than all of them, but he managed the race better, too. It was extraordinary to watch, even if you had a strong sense he wasn't running on regular unleaded.
I can understand some healthy skepticism, but where does it stop? Where do you suspend disbelief? TJV was on a tear in September. Why aren't they on the new Blue Train double secret probation list? Where do you allow credit to accrue to the obvious and meaningful efforts, such as the whole Brailsford incremental gains program?
Mostly rhetorical questions. We all have our levels of tolerance, indulgence, and delusion. Onward!!
------------
On the anti-Ineos sentiment...
Froome's "transformation" lines up with his treatment for Bilharzia and makes perfect sense to me.
Wiggo's is much more of an intentional resculpting so I can better understand skepticism there but I don't throw it around any more weightily with him than I do with most, Jiffy bag notwithstanding.
After G's bottle incident, my wife and I were discussing just how truly extraordinary Lance Pharmstrong's run was. He doped better than all of them, but he managed the race better, too. It was extraordinary to watch, even if you had a strong sense he wasn't running on regular unleaded.
I can understand some healthy skepticism, but where does it stop? Where do you suspend disbelief? TJV was on a tear in September. Why aren't they on the new Blue Train double secret probation list? Where do you allow credit to accrue to the obvious and meaningful efforts, such as the whole Brailsford incremental gains program?
Mostly rhetorical questions. We all have our levels of tolerance, indulgence, and delusion. Onward!!
10-07-20, 01:35 PM
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Top Ganna indeed.
------------
On the anti-Ineos sentiment...
Froome's "transformation" lines up with his treatment for Bilharzia and makes perfect sense to me.
Wiggo's is much more of an intentional resculpting so I can better understand skepticism there but I don't throw it around any more weightily with him than I do with most, Jiffy bag notwithstanding.
After G's bottle incident, my wife and I were discussing just how truly extraordinary Lance Pharmstrong's run was. He doped better than all of them, but he managed the race better, too. It was extraordinary to watch, even if you had a strong sense he wasn't running on regular unleaded.
I can understand some healthy skepticism, but where does it stop? Where do you suspend disbelief? TJV was on a tear in September. Why aren't they on the new Blue Train double secret probation list? Where do you allow credit to accrue to the obvious and meaningful efforts, such as the whole Brailsford incremental gains program?
Mostly rhetorical questions. We all have our levels of tolerance, indulgence, and delusion. Onward!!
------------
On the anti-Ineos sentiment...
Froome's "transformation" lines up with his treatment for Bilharzia and makes perfect sense to me.
Wiggo's is much more of an intentional resculpting so I can better understand skepticism there but I don't throw it around any more weightily with him than I do with most, Jiffy bag notwithstanding.
After G's bottle incident, my wife and I were discussing just how truly extraordinary Lance Pharmstrong's run was. He doped better than all of them, but he managed the race better, too. It was extraordinary to watch, even if you had a strong sense he wasn't running on regular unleaded.
I can understand some healthy skepticism, but where does it stop? Where do you suspend disbelief? TJV was on a tear in September. Why aren't they on the new Blue Train double secret probation list? Where do you allow credit to accrue to the obvious and meaningful efforts, such as the whole Brailsford incremental gains program?
Mostly rhetorical questions. We all have our levels of tolerance, indulgence, and delusion. Onward!!
I focus on Wiggins and Froome and Brailsford because they are the protagonists at the center of it all, and because, frankly, Wiggins and Froome are two of the most boring GC team leaders to watch. I get suspicion and TJV, but after 9 years of seeing the same gorilla, it was refreshing to see a new one.
Today, watching the huge guy on the clown bike ride away from very respectable climbers on the toughest part of the climb seems quite different from seeing Kwiatkowski and Carapaz ride away from the field to take a win on a hard stage in the 3rd week of a difficult Tour. That put one of my antennae up. Seeing it's one of Brailsford's boys put another up.
I admit to being biased and being quicker to question a performance from Ineos from other teams - just as I got to that point with Postal/Discovery/Radio Shack and CSC and Rabobank and Liberty Seguros and Phonak and T-Mobile/Astana. This sure is a tough sport to follow and enjoy.
edit: - Just read an article from Degendt's perspective. Perhaps it was just Ganna's lucky day. I'm down from orange alert to yellow.
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Last edited by USAZorro; 10-07-20 at 02:07 PM. Reason: more information
10-07-20, 06:11 PM
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Stage 6 predictions - or is this too obviously a day for the sprinters? I am thinking sprinters.
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10-07-20, 08:33 PM
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going with the og classics power trio of baker, bruce and clapton...er...tales of brave ulissi, matthews and sagan again. sagan's got to strike paydirt at some point. predicting the hulk smash for stage six.
10-07-20, 08:47 PM
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10-07-20, 08:59 PM
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Understood. We all know about Armstrong and Ulrich and Rasmussen and Basso were pretty obvious, even if they didn't get caught in the same spectacular manner. Riders got more careful then (Contador and the Schleck brothers come to mind). I kind of expected that would be the case, and yeah, it sucks, but... when you have riders on a team that goes to great lengths to pitch how "clean" they are (Garmin - Gerolsteiner - High Road/Columbia, Sky etc.), and then they have riders who register performances that strain credibility - it puts me on edge. Throw in Jiffy bag incidents and competing after proven inhaler abuse gets tossed because of political mumbo-jumbo, and the confluence of suspicion, hypocrisy and lack of transparancy, and it's more than I can bear as a fan of the sport.
I focus on Wiggins and Froome and Brailsford because they are the protagonists at the center of it all, and because, frankly, Wiggins and Froome are two of the most boring GC team leaders to watch. I get suspicion and TJV, but after 9 years of seeing the same gorilla, it was refreshing to see a new one.
Today, watching the huge guy on the clown bike ride away from very respectable climbers on the toughest part of the climb seems quite different from seeing Kwiatkowski and Carapaz ride away from the field to take a win on a hard stage in the 3rd week of a difficult Tour. That put one of my antennae up. Seeing it's one of Brailsford's boys put another up.
I admit to being biased and being quicker to question a performance from Ineos from other teams - just as I got to that point with Postal/Discovery/Radio Shack and CSC and Rabobank and Liberty Seguros and Phonak and T-Mobile/Astana. This sure is a tough sport to follow and enjoy.
edit: - Just read an article from Degendt's perspective. Perhaps it was just Ganna's lucky day. I'm down from orange alert to yellow.
I focus on Wiggins and Froome and Brailsford because they are the protagonists at the center of it all, and because, frankly, Wiggins and Froome are two of the most boring GC team leaders to watch. I get suspicion and TJV, but after 9 years of seeing the same gorilla, it was refreshing to see a new one.
Today, watching the huge guy on the clown bike ride away from very respectable climbers on the toughest part of the climb seems quite different from seeing Kwiatkowski and Carapaz ride away from the field to take a win on a hard stage in the 3rd week of a difficult Tour. That put one of my antennae up. Seeing it's one of Brailsford's boys put another up.
I admit to being biased and being quicker to question a performance from Ineos from other teams - just as I got to that point with Postal/Discovery/Radio Shack and CSC and Rabobank and Liberty Seguros and Phonak and T-Mobile/Astana. This sure is a tough sport to follow and enjoy.
edit: - Just read an article from Degendt's perspective. Perhaps it was just Ganna's lucky day. I'm down from orange alert to yellow.
