surak

Bad day for Sivakov, even worse for Landa and Dombrowski.

diphthong

definite bummer. last week of the giro would be better with all three present.

stage six...looks like a little donnybrook. vlasov...

it would seem to be an opportune time for cepeda to remind us all of the form he showed recently in the tour of the alps.

slcbob

In the mid-Atlantic, we're about to get swarmed by the cicadas of Brood X. They started poking their little head up out of the ground recently and are doing their last festering before they finally come out and do something after 17 years.

It's only been six stages for Cepeda but it's about damn time for him, too.

If Ciccone comes out to play it might rip the brown jersey off canam73 .

GrainBrain

430 some points from Sagan so far, that was a good choice for some!

Sure seems like a good stage for Champousin ... or Goosen ... but yeah Ciccone keeps trying things.

Cycling mole favors Ciccone, but if the GC groups control and everyone stays together it would be neat to see João attack for a stage win. It would let Remco sit on while other GC teams work.

slcbob

Sagan, yeah. Top scoring rider so far? Viviani! ???? !!!!!!!!!! **********?? Really?

Oh well, it's still a long way to [now where are we headed again?].

GrainBrain

Wherever it is apparently we're all drafting behind Bernal!!??

Friggin Taaramäe finished 2 seconds ahead of Bilbao ...

OBoile

I feel like this is either Remco's or Bernal's race to lose. Bernal looks slightly stronger right now, but he, along with pretty much every other GC guy, is going to lose a lot of time in the final TT. If the other GC guys can't even stay with Evenepoel now, they may as well give up and call it a day.

But, both have pretty large question marks. Can Bernal's back hold up? Will Evenepoel be able to last 3 weeks without any prior racing in his legs? Or, going the opposite direction, is he still "racing into shape" and he'll actually be stronger as the race goes on?

Probably the most surprising thing for me is Yates. He was looking good leading up to the race.

surak

Can't tell if Yates is keeping his powder dry or if he peaked too early. Bernal's definitely showing that he's confident enough to be aggressive, while others may be fine with staying cagey and seeing how far he can go with his back.

Lots of suspense in the GC fight, no idea how the 2nd and 3rd week are going to play out. Just hope there's no more contenders losing out due to freak accidents.

Mader is happy that Roglic isn't at the Giro.

MinnMan

attila valter? Who dat?

Bernal looked strong today. And Ineos, no surprise, seems to have the strongest team on the road. Evenpoel is strong, but he doesn't have the same level of team support.

diphthong

yates is respectful of his collapse a few years ago and keeping the powder dry. last week is brutal. losing 5-10 seconds here and there early adds up
but losing chunks of time late is devastating. bernal will get put through the paces, esp now that sivakov is gonzo. bernal has been game so far tho
which is a good sign for him/ineos. got a feeling that some of the other young punks like vlasov and remco are going to pull a few week two hijinks to
see how bernal (and yates) respond(s).

slcbob

Is Ewan really going to ride stages 8-12 just to have a shot at 13?

Perhaps as a bit of a training block. But I would not be surprised to see him won and done after today.

GrainBrain

there's number two - and a really great win. Awesome to see Gaviria try something different, but wow Caleb pulled him back then out sprinted everyone.

What is going on with Groenenvegan? (Lol I like that particular spelling and my phone didn't autocorrect)

Forgot to put a shout-out to Mohoric and Mader. As soon as I saw two Bahrain riders go clear and one was Mohoric I knew the break would stick. Hoping him and De Gendt left some for stage chasing later. Maybe De Gendt will ride for Goosens like Mohoric did for Mader ...

diphthong

tomorrow’s stage nine looks like a hoot. remco.

GrainBrain

Wow that was a scary crash for Mohoric!! Front slid out then snapped back but over corrected and must've hit something on the side of the road. Sent him over the handler bars cart wheeling, snapped the front forks.

Scary part was how he was handed a new bike, but he handed it back and kind of shuffled back and sat down. Looked like he caught the DS or whoever was there by surprise.

GrainBrain

Valter probably relieved in a way to lose pink today. Bernal with an absolute show of force! Are we still assuming other favorites are keeping the powder dry, because I think Bernal (not counting bonus seconds) just put 10 into Remco, 20 into Yates and Carthy. Those small amounts are starting to add up.

slcbob

It's a fine line between keeping your powder dry and not having any powder to burn. We shall see!

MinnMan

Bernal's performance may have been as much about establishing dominance as it was about gaining the time. The GC contenders are all still pretty tightly bunched. Even Yates is still less than a minute back. But Bernal showed them that he's in great form and that he really is one of the best (the best?) climbers in the peloton. Anybody who wants to take the jersey from him on a mountain stage is going to have to dig deep.

MinnMan

Oh, and I did love the uphill gravel finish today.

slcbob

It's a long way to Milano. With plenty more gravel to come. This should be fun! Easier to say if not riding it.

diphthong

stage ten...let's stir the pot...sagan.

OBoile

May be wishful thinking on my part because I'm cheering for Remco, but I think he may have just made a tactical error and got stuck behind too many people when Bernal made his move. The fact that he closed strong makes me think he wasn't so far back due to fatigue.

I think, assuming his back holds up, Bernal has to be the favourite at this point though and Remco, baring a blow up, seems like the only real threat to him. Everyone else has to hope that both of these guys, who are legit question marks wrt their durability, have significant issues going forward.

MinnMan

Yeah, I thought the same thing about Evenpoel's stage 9 finish. He managed to gain some ground once he got free of that little pack, and that's a good sign.
Also, if it's close at the end, you have to think that he'll have the advantage in the TT.

But Bernal seems to be king of the mountains at the moment, and it's Ineos' job to earn him every second so that he's not in danger going into the TT.

OBoile

A lot of people say TTs are boring, but I disagree. At the very least, this forces Bernal to try to attack and take more time rather than ride conservative. He does look really good. I'm excited to see how this plays out.

diphthong

thinking the hulk woulda finished second if there hadn’t been a certain amount of knee pain and abandonment elsewhere. just sayin but congrats to that peter whatshisname.

GrainBrain

Damn near text book win, bravo!!

Gaviria is looking like a solid ciclamino competitor right?