slcbob

For stage 1, my prediction is that Sagan surfs his way in on someone's sprint train (Stewart? Viviani?), maybe bowls over Colbrelli for good measure as he makes his move, and crosses the line first. Lots of jinks in the road and lots of non-sprinters in this sprint, so there may be hijinks. I wonder if the commissaires will be down with the whole program.

diphthong

going with sagan on stage one as well. 20+ km from the top of the last climb to the finish through flatlands allows too much time for those that
fancy themselves sprinters to catch back on. colbrellli would be my second choice. thinking either ulissi or hirschi snatches third. finishing route
not technical enough and if there's a partial or full headwind on the last 20k, escapees will be brought back.

slcbob

I think Colbrelli may be leading out Bauhaus.

GrainBrain

A reduced bunch over the last climb? I wonder how Magnus Cort will do, he's looking in great form. Another outside thought is Owain Doull.

slcbob

O Doull is not on my radar. If he wins, you're a genius GrainBrain

It looks like Ulissi made the break that will stick, and now it's time for me to walk the dogs. I'm curious which team(s) will be chasing when I get back. Who will help Ineos?

The typical fast men that need to be shed in the Cat 3 hill aren't around this race. So that's one less reason for some teams to want to make it a hard race. I have no idea how this will play out. Though, honestly, you can say that about every race.

slcbob

Did Ulissi actively seek to avoid sweeping any mountain or intermediate sprint points? Grrrr.

GrainBrain

It would've been 100CHF fine if he'd piped the Swiss rider Sutter for those points. Little quote from cycling news about that reduced bunch sprint:
Pouring one out for froomie...

Colbrelli looked POed he went too early, saw him let off then back on once sagan was alongside. Cort was boxed in and didn't have the legs to follow, but he was smiles. Funny to see riders congratulate sagan - is he the underdog now or something?

Further confirmation I am of questionably average intelligence with another day of Rohan in yellow and Doull finishing way back. I thought maybe it would be neat if Ineos would try stage hunting but that train won't run itself. Gee gotta make sure Porte and G know how to follow them wheels. Really gonna bug me throughout this week that I had been talking up Porte (looked awesome in the '20 Tour) and Rohan but then snub 'em.

Doull is actually part of me trying to use PCS - I dropped the ball with not trying specifically for a mountains classification rider. My Giro prep is starting to look precarious. Good news is Hugh is sticking around, love his attitude at altitude. Dani come back, any kind of fool could see ... I wouldn't turn down that Ineos moneeey ...

slcbob

This cracks me up. Our wacky sport. Can you imagine the guys in the booth calling an NFL game wondering about who is under center or who just ran the ball? All day long I thought I had done some nickel grabbing with Ulissi in the break and was curious why he only produced 2 velopoints when I went to look at it.

diphthong

stage two-hirschi. second choice? cavagna.

slcbob

I'll go with Lutsenko alt Masnada.

The old Ineos would defend the jersey. I'd love to see new swashbuckling Ineos put someone in the break and disappear from the front of the peloton. Would that be bold or stupid? Hmm. Seems I've asked myself that question before.

I can't see them going slowly up that last Cat 1. Can Hirschi hang or catch up on the less-hairy-than-he'd-like descent?

diphthong

^i've trotted out lutsenko faithfully in the last year as a very capable, mid-level dude w/o any success. he's definitely guaranteed to win stage two now. grrr.

excellent start to the race for slcbob. nice overall placing mark...er...number for MTBrider...kudos to both!?

predicted a bit of overlapping for the teams and Grain Brain and myself share seven SEVEN riders. the most overlap i've ever had in any game here.
the rest of y'all in place for a big hurting or wild accolades...that perennial, burn all the ships guy is the ever contrarian and it seems to work often enuff...

diphthong

ganna or amador would seem to be the likely suspects with the nod to ganna for the tt abilities with that last 20km stretch...hence my picks of hirschi or cavagna
(both with tt ability as well) going solo or with a small break into a possible finishing headwind. only didn't pick ganna because ineos is still leading the gc but if
they weren't, he'd be right there. maybe ganna or dennis goes to keep it archie bunker styled with edith, meathead and gloria. gawd i feel old.

the last two stages are the best hirschi's looked in 2021 unless i missed a result or two somewhere which is entirely likely.

slcbob

I see a lot of folks invested in Sepp Kuss. It doesn't look like Krjuiswjijck is running very wjell, so that may give our Sepp licjense to fljy and be frjee. That may bode well for America and poorly for my VG team in the upcoming mountaintop finish.

7 of 9. With 86 points each from your 2 variables. That's a lot of symmetry for a Thursday morning.

diphthong

mr. holy grail is dun. seppuku will make a decent mark or two along the way but keep a little in reserve for whichever gt he hits.

diphthong

i'll go with my uae crew on days ending in y. bring it. silver horses run down moonbeams in your dark eyes.

GrainBrain

Lutsenko a DNS today ... interesting decision, he won't be riding the Giro so I assume some illness? He was in my thoughts for this stage. You know who else I thought of, Neilson Powless, he's flying under the radar and quite capable. So many are so close in GC it will be tough for Ineos to control - but the Rohan has turned into a fearsome mountain machine. Ganna also had a KOM point yesterday so should not be counted out.

I feel like there won't be a break at the finish today - so my money is on Mike Woods. Gotta put some time into Ineos before the final TT. I think Froome was sandbagging a bit yesterday and saving up to help.

Seven riders shared between us, ooga. Who is more swiss in a swiss race? Swiss love Chrono - the nod then to my Bisseger over your Hirschi. A risky move waiting for the final TT, but I don't think Hirschi will be able to pull off a result with this short of a race and this much talent around. That leaves Ulissi vs Haig - which after today I'll know whether to order my big bag of chocolate for the podium presentation in my garage.

diphthong

go ahead and order it.

slcbob

Yesterday's preview from David Hunter:

The wise and often prophetic words of David St Hubbins:

James T Kirk:

Me with Lutsenko and GrainBrain with these needles he keeps pulling out of haystacks:



Go ahead. Buy the chocolate!

GrainBrain

Hirschi, Kelderman, Ulissi in the top 6 today!?

Canam with Rui, Thomas and Rohan?



Seriously I watched Dennis the menace reel in woods and kuss then nab the kom on that cat 1

What kind of chocolate should I send over to ya'll? I like the kind with spicy chilis myself.
​​​​​​

slcbob

D'oh! Yup. You cramped up like your boy Vliegen did at LBL. It was the mention of Meintjes that did it. Kinda surprised here that you didn't pick Tejay.

slcbob

Stage 3, since Lutsenko is out of the race and GrainBrain already locked up the pick for Fawn Lebowitz in another obscure gem from the margin, I'll just have to go with another boring dose of resurgence from Sagan.

I'm hoping that Kung steps up and makes me stop second guessing picking him instead of Bevin. Or Tejay. Or Meintjes.

GrainBrain

Stage 3 lumpy but all cat 3? TJ could do something ... ... ... thinking Bora or Bahrain could control this, would it be possible for a bunch sprint? I watched Horner explain about Rohan riding to keep the final a bunch sprint - someone dangerous gets in the break the strongmen will get a free ride. Finally looked to Mr. Hunter, rainy with a tailwind at 7km huh?

I'll give the nod to Reichenbach ... keep things spicy. Though Cort is looking great and he seems to do ok in foul weather
Ah beautiful ... I'm engaged to be engaged at the Giro ​​​​​​​

MinnMan

Rohan Dennis was a beast today.

And while I'mm on the subject, about Team Ineos....

I've written here before that I like them more than the Sky team lead by Froome. They ride more aggressively, show up with strength to the classics and 1 weekers, instead of only being GC hogs, and evince behavior that I imagine to reflect personality.

But dear lord, maybe there should be some rules about just how much talent there can be on one team? Here they are at Romandie with Dennis, Port, and Thomas, a completely separate power trio from the Liege Bastion Liege super trio of Yates, Carapaz, and Hart,

And look what those guys did in Catalunya.

and if you eliminated ALL 6 you'd still have a super strong team - Pidcock, Bernal (if his back ever recovers), Kwiakowtski, Sivakov, Ganna, Moscon.....

jeez.

diphthong

"i'll get my coat."

yah...going with the hulk smash/that peter guy again as well for stage three. that little uphill finish...

i like kung. he may impress on that final stage.

diphthong

like them more than the froomie/wiggins daze as well. and yes, the talent is off the charts...one has to question tho...when your team has that much
talent and there's not one or two go-to guys but a bunch, depth is good but it's got to be difficult to juggle everyone's desires to ride particular races
and keep them happy. paying out $$$ solves a lot of problems but may curtail the career ambitions/development of a few guys for a spell. tgh may
have gotten lucky last year in seizing an opportunity at the giro. does he get the chance to lead at the giro again or is carapaz or yates or thomas
or bernal or dennis...? what happens to sivakov?