giro d’italia 2021-straight...no fantasy chaser
 

well, well, well...it’s about time for the 2021 giro to blast off. anything and everything giro-related is fair game here-except that tawdry, dirty laundry fantasy game giro nonsense. that madness has it’s own, annexed thread-thank goodness.

ii’ll start...the return of bad boy dylan gee and wunderkind remco after substantial layoffs for both. how much does either figure into the proceedings? team jv looks to be bringing it's least impressive gc squad that we’ve seen from them recently whilst dqs looks to be bringing it’s best. almeida, masquenada and remco? watch out. ineos looks to be somewhere in between.

Where's Bernal at for form? We've seen Martinez outperform Sivakov - an incredible, probable chance for pink and a confirmation of a good buy for Ineos? Can Yates sustain for all three weeks? Masnada just had a fantastic podium result thanks to his TT ability.

That's the big question mark, right there. Even if his back problems are in abeyance, he hasn't competed much this spring, and so his form may not be so great. OTOH, for all we know he's been putting in weeks of training at altitude, in which case he could be sharp.

yes and no. sivakov seems like a steadier performer day in day out whereas you'd def want martinez on the queen stage or anything approximating it.
sivakov apparently likes to up the degree of difficulty with his penchant for pavé surfing in the last year. that strade bianche-styled stage...? gimme sivakov.

bernal or yates...not seeing it. thinking one of the ready going steady eddys or young punks may lay claim to the giro crown. i think i just carbon-dated (action!!) myself...

I'm having a tough time processing the thread duality here. First, because the Giro is, almost by definition, a hot Latin mess of fantasy at its very core. Second, because any predictions we throw out are fantasy bordering on delusion. So what are we supposed to talk about sans fantasy chaser here?

I know. In some fantasies, I wouldn't be such a PITA. Just ask my wife. In this reality, though, that's the stuff of the companion thread along with unicorns and sharks with laser beams or at least ill-tempered sea bass. And viva Velogames.

It's so easy to get lots of pretty consistent opinions on the tippity top names. It's really tough to penetrate all the next tier of who is running well and who is working for whom and who is going to throw a wobbly. So much deception and omerta.

not so interested in the established riders such as a mollema or nibbles. more interested in the young punks such as himdley for instance. was last year a one off? some of the bora and dqs boys...does a younger ineos domestique break out...?

My fantasy will soon very well be the reality!

I have to think Bernal is in good form, or else they would've gone with Sivakov or Geraint? Am I the only one that thinks Geraint would win the Giro this year?

Bahrain-Victorias is the big under dog, huge firepower, experience, form right now. Bilbao will place well. Speaking of form how many guys are just sandbagging, watching the power meter. Waiting for the big prizes.

I think Ewan will contest more stages then he's given credit. His performance at san remo means he could try for Sagan territory.

I wondered that looking at Decker vs Groenenwallen, Goosen vs Gendt :foo:

I don't get Ineos' GC strategy here. Of their GC big guns, only Bernal is riding the Giro, and he has to be a question mark with his back problems. Sivakov looks to be their plan B.

But that leaves Yates, Thomas, Carapaz, and Hart all riding the Tour? That would be Yates and Thomas leading, with Carapaz, Hart, and Dennis, all as domestiques? Or is one of those sitting both out and saving for the Vuelta? If they are saving out (who, Carapaz? Hart?) for the Vuelta, you'd think they'd also send them to the Giro?

Can't remember now where I heard it or exactly how it went - I think it was two announcers talking about teams during some race recently. Anyway it was about sponsorship and how one sponsor, when told of a particular rider winning a stage in The Tour the sponsor then asked if that rider had won the tour. So there's that disconnect between the public and fans - I just got into this maybe 5 years ago and only really knew of the tour de france. With so much money on the line, Brailsford is sweating especially after this recent doping scandal plus last year's calamitous implosion.

So yeah, I think Ineos is going all in take no prisoners. Just look at Porte getting signed - I bet that was some big money. Then Martinez added on.

Maybe so. Last year J-V really was the strongest team in the peloton. So I guess Ineos is going for overwhelming strength this time.

and yeah, I forgot Porte in that list. Another super-domestique

You might be thinking of Vaughters retelling the story of when Dan Martin won LBL, he called the CEO of Garmin and told him the team had won a Monument, to which said CEO asked if it was a qualifier for the TdF. https://www.cyclingnews.com/features...-their-weight/

they are going to reap the whirlwind of overpaying and essentially relegating/subsidizing their own riders (in rotation) into underperforming/not riding.
too many arrows in the quiver but every big rider that takes the grande ineos cashish is one less rider that they have to compete against in the big tours and other races. it’s obvious by now that if you sign with ineos, you’re not gonna reach your full palmares potential. see g. thomas and potentially yatesie and carapaz. some guys, at various stages are going to be okay with that. not seeing the current wave of remco, mvdp and wout going to the dark side. expecting tgh and sivakov to bounce asap. martinez...dunno how long the contract runs there...a total hired climbing gun a la heras with us postal back in the day.

In addition to the GC = Points jersey is always fun at the Giro with all its' mountains. Sometimes, the jersey is almost assured by the end of the 2nd week. It fills the gap until the mountains dominate the GC.

Peter Sagan will have Daniel Oss and Maciej Bodnar as body guards and to get him near the finishing sprints.

For GC - the race seems wide open. Landa, Vlasov, Yates, Buchmann, Carthy, Bernal/Sivakov, Hindley, Soler, Martin.

Weather and health (esp this year) and early luck for the 3rd week GC climbers - usually helps sort the contenders to 2, maybe 3.


Is there a strongest team to dominate this year?
Maybe, the final time trial will determine which climber best recovers after 8 summit stage finishes.

Sometimes there are too many non sprint stage points in the points competition and the maglia ciclimina goes to a non-sprinter. Not just a Sagan / Matthews type but a real GCish all rounder guy. I wouldn't be surprised if that happens this year.

Yes that's got to be it! Interesting article and perspective - in another thread I agreed with Vaughters changing attitude on sponsorship. Morton was more influential to me with his alternative program then on the road. He's done some cool races that I could actually do as well. Him and Stetina, King. I haven't kept up with Phinney's art...
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b6dfa0e8c.jpeg


Speaking of time trials, whoever wins the first TT should be able to hold the pink jersey until stage 6 yes? Six being the first mountains stage.

^dunno...stages 3 & 4 look like potential little barnburners. as they say, the race won’t be won there but it could be lost there.

So let me get this straight. You lunatics actually look ahead and see what the course looks like? And then try to figure out how the riders will race it?

Stage 1 - Will Barta. (No I haven't squeezed him in. He was there for a moment but I relented). Seriously though expect to see him do well.


Also maybe I'll buy my first jersey I dunno. I'm a sucker for this ... modernist look? ...
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...fdb521950.jpeg

Wow first bad pick and it hasn't started. They've exchanged Barta for Van den berg I think.

hold my beer...

remco...the 64k question...does he go eddy 1969 tdf, poach a stage or two or three, crash out/dnf/dns ignominiously, faithfully support almeida with
chutzpah, pizzaz and verve or ride as a relative non-factor?


if he turns in a solid effort on the first (tt) stage, dqs could have the ultimate rabbit to turn loose to spell almeida/pink jersey placeholder if the team finds themselves defending
the maglia rosa early. dqs could play it close to the vest but both they and remco might be a little bit curious to see how he does vs actual competition
in nearly a year in his first grand tour. should be fascinating.

giro stage one...i'll take cavagna. there are nearly a dozen guys that could take it tho.

DQS ... Elegant ... Whatever ... could take three of the top five.

I'm thinking Remco is targeting the Tour but it'll be exciting to see what happens.