2013 season discussion thread!

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Tue 22 Jan 2013, 1:25 pm

First topic message reminder :

Thought I would set up a place where we can discuss the 2013 season!

A good win for Cavendish yesterday in his first race with his new team

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Sun 12 May 2013, 12:33 am

Wiggins is really struggling with the descents. Lost all confidence, and Nibali is taking huge advantage.

All in Nibali's hands now, but I quite like the look of Cadel so far. Nothing spectacular but seems to be in decent shape, and quietly he's there or thereabouts.

by alfie Sun 12 May 2013, 9:06 am

Going to be hard for Wiggins now. He hasn't had the best of luck so far , to be fair.

The race is set up for some very interesting stages now : Nibali in the box seat , but with Evans , who has looked OK , not far behind , and Wiggins and Sky unlikely to throw the towel in , Gesink in the mix and last years winner within a couple of minutes we can expect to see plenty of action...

Well done Dowsett in this one clap

by Big Sun 12 May 2013, 7:47 pm

I do feel a bit for Wiggins as he really hasn't had the best of luck - even if only that it's blinking rare to get this much rain during the Giro. He may also be a little uncomfortable still from his crash, hopefully after the rest day he'll come back stronger. Still, it's quite something to think of a Brit as not doing that well when they are 4th in the GC of a grand tour...

Regardless of how Wiggins does I'm also very pleased for Nibali. He comes across as a decent bloke and I think he is due a good tour.

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Tue 14 May 2013, 3:30 pm

First summit finish of the Giro today....
Should be exciting

by Mad for Chelsea Tue 14 May 2013, 4:01 pm

good move from Sky, Uran making the attack and forcing Astana to do some chasing behind. Setting the stage up for a late move from Sir Brad?

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Tue 14 May 2013, 4:07 pm

Well he's been dropped in the real steep stuff...

Henao having a bad day also

by Mad for Chelsea Tue 14 May 2013, 4:17 pm

more time lost for Wiggins then, while the Uran move by Sky was a good one (and it paid off to an extent) they burnt up too much support for Wiggins in the process. Surprised to see how little work Nibali was made to do on the final climb TBH, everyone seemed happy to share out the work.

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Tue 14 May 2013, 4:22 pm

Evans is looking in decent shape, but this is definately Nibali's to lose, he looked scarily comfortable on that climb.

Maybe Uran can challenge, don't see Wiggins making that time back up on climbs. Disappointed that Henao was dropped, because him and Uran going would've caused a lot of problems for Nibali

by Lowlandbrit Tue 14 May 2013, 6:23 pm

I wonder if Sky hadn't already decided to shift their focus to Uran. Looks a better bet to win than Wiggins at this point.

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Thu 16 May 2013, 5:51 pm

Well if they hadn't before, they definately would have done after today Lowlandbrit.

Wiggins is clearly struggling with illness, despite denying it all last week.

Caught out in a split today, lost 3 minutes and his GC ambitions all but over. Uran the man for Sky now

by JDizzle Thu 16 May 2013, 6:50 pm

Knee trouble apparently for Wiggo today as well. If he was just ill then he could battle through and help Uran come the third week, but if he has a knee injury then I can't help but feel that he should pull out rather than risk further damage.

Cav's (depending on who you believe) 100th career win today though. clap

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Thu 16 May 2013, 6:57 pm

Yeah was a fairly routine win for Cav.

No sprinter in this race can really challenge him greatly bar maybe Bouhani

by Lowlandbrit Thu 16 May 2013, 7:31 pm

Whether Wiggins is fit or not, his main problem now seems to be mental. Losing time going up a mountain is one thing, getting dropped on the way down is quite another. Should probably pull out before he damages himself beyond repair for the Tour.

by whocares Fri 17 May 2013, 8:14 am

Lowlandbrit wrote:Whether Wiggins is fit or not, his main problem now seems to be mental. Losing time going up a mountain is one thing, getting dropped on the way down is quite another. Should probably pull out before he damages himself beyond repair for the Tour.

your wish came true LowlandBrit...Wiggins who is apparently suffering from some sort of chest infection has pulled out this morning.

by Big Fri 17 May 2013, 10:01 am

Olly wrote:Well if they hadn't before, they definately would have done after today Lowlandbrit.

Wiggins is clearly struggling with illness, despite denying it all last week.

Caught out in a split today, lost 3 minutes and his GC ambitions all but over. Uran the man for Sky now

Sadly all very true. Wiggins has on a number of occasions made reference to wanting to defend his Tour title and essentially said that although Froome is the leader at this stage a lot could change between now and then and even during the race. I'm not sure this is how he would want his point to be proven.

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Fri 17 May 2013, 10:20 am

I think it'd be a better idea for Wiggins to concentrate on the Vuelta and the World Championship Time Trial now.

It's fairly obvious Froome will be the leader at the Tour, so I don't see what Wiggins will gain by being there, and in all honesty he'll just be a distraction. Also I don't think he would win it this year anyway.

by Big Fri 17 May 2013, 10:47 am

Olly wrote:I think it'd be a better idea for Wiggins to concentrate on the Vuelta and the World Championship Time Trial now.

It's fairly obvious Froome will be the leader at the Tour, so I don't see what Wiggins will gain by being there, and in all honesty he'll just be a distraction. Also I don't think he would win it this year anyway.

I completely agree with all that. Depending on how long the infection lasts it may well throw off his training enough that he may not even be that helpful to Froome even if he could get over a desire to retain his title. I haven't looked at this year's Vuelta route so don't know how well it would suit him, but ITT world champ would be a very worthy and realistic target whatever the course.

by dummy_half Fri 17 May 2013, 10:51 am

Olly

It would be practically unheard of for a defending Tour champion to not be on the start line of the race provided that he is fit (probably the last active Tour champion to voluntarily not defend his title would be Merckx in 1973, when he chose to race the Tour of Switzerland and the Vuelta instead).

Even if the route appears to favour Froome, and Wiggins preparations have been aimed primarily at this unsuccessful crack at the Giro, Wiggo still offers Sky a good 'plan B' and owes Froome some serious super-domestique services after last year's Tour and the Vuelta of the previous year.

by Mike Selig Fri 17 May 2013, 10:58 am

Doubt Wiggins will be happy to be a domestique though to be honest.

As things stand I have no doubt Wiggins will want to be in the tour to win it. It that means he has to go up against his teammate and team, I think he may well be willing to do so. Which may make for an exciting race, so I'm not against it at all.

by alfie Fri 17 May 2013, 1:25 pm

Not much doubt Wiggins will be lining up , assuming his chest infection clears up OK. In fact pulling out now from the Giro may actually leave him in better shape for the Tour , depending how his health/training goes.

Tend to agree with Mike he will still have ambitions towards defending his title - how could he not ? And as we have seen here , you never know what may befall any of the leading contenders in one of these demanding stage races. Don't think Sky will mind having two strong riders in their ranks , and if Wiggins were to ride well early and blitz the first time trial...

As for this race I 'll be interested to see if Evans can challenge Nibali...he certainly looks to be back in the sort of form he had in 2011 and if he doesn't leave it all in Italy he might be another one to make the 2013 Tour an intriguing event.

by JDizzle Fri 17 May 2013, 4:18 pm

Another win for Cav today! Just held off his challengers on the line. Top ride from OPQS to reel in all tha attacks that came in the final stages today too.

In less good news, there are rumours that the expected summit finishes tomorrow and Sunday on the Galibier may have to be brough down the mountains due to snow. A shame if it has to happen.

by Mad for Chelsea Fri 17 May 2013, 4:24 pm

Cav left himself with quite a lot of work to do today. His team had exhausted themselves in chasing down all the attacks on a long long stage, and Cav was isolated at the finish, but timed it just about right to get his fourth win of the Giro this year. It's been a really good Tour for him, though I think he has very limited chances after today?

by djlovesyou Fri 17 May 2013, 6:15 pm

Oh yuk. More disingenuous, nauseating praise for the team from Cav after another win.

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Fri 17 May 2013, 7:44 pm

Right then lads, name your podium at the end of the race, as we head into the big stages over the weekend!

I think it'll be Nibali, Evans and Uran.

I would say Pozzovivo, but I think he lost too much time in the ITT to make it up on those guys

by JDizzle Fri 17 May 2013, 8:27 pm

Olly wrote:Right then lads, name your podium at the end of the race, as we head into the big stages over the weekend!

I think it'll be Nibali, Evans and Uran.

I would say Pozzovivo, but I think he lost too much time in the ITT to make it up on those guys

I'll go Nibali, Santambrogio (mainly due to me having money on him so have to back my man!) and Uran. Might swap Uran and Santam around.

I'm backing Cadel to crack sometime this weekend, or next week!

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Sat 18 May 2013, 3:45 pm

Tomorrows Giro stage changed due to weather. No Mt Cenis & no Galibier finish but Col du Telegraph still in & finish just above Valloire

Weather playing havoc today as well. Such a shame

by djlovesyou Sat 18 May 2013, 3:54 pm

Tough one today haha, I'm on Santa too for this stage, with Nibali to win me a bit and Betancur to cover my losses.

I actually think they'll catch the break and Betancur will probably win solo with a little group of big favourites a bit behind like the other day.

If Santa wins I can go on holiday, haha.

by JDizzle Sat 18 May 2013, 4:03 pm

Still no pictures on Eurosport today. The weather must be absolutely brutal out there today. Rather them than me.

by djlovesyou Sat 18 May 2013, 4:04 pm

Changed my mind now too, I reckon the break has a chance and the best chance in the break is Pietropolli.

This last climb is going to be double tough in these conditions, particularly for these guys who've been out all day.

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Sat 18 May 2013, 4:10 pm

You got a link DJ?

If so can you PM it my way?

by djlovesyou Sat 18 May 2013, 4:11 pm

Nah, got nothing, just following twitter and the cyclingnews ticker.

Looks like Paolini and Colbrelli have dropped Pietropolli now though, so probably best to ignore any of my predictions, haha.

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Sat 18 May 2013, 4:13 pm

Ah ok same here!

Sounds brutal out there today

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Sat 18 May 2013, 4:33 pm

PICTURES!!

We see Santambrogio taking the stage, looks like your initial bet was right DJ!

by JDizzle Sat 18 May 2013, 4:38 pm

Nibali steals some time off Uran and Cadel (About 30 seconds). I really can't see anyone beating him now, he seems to be in imperious form. Without actually seeing what went on that climb that is. Very Happy

There is a rumour going round that they will have a rest day tomorrow and tackle the Galibier on Monday if the weather is better. Only a rumour at the moment though. Wish I has Santa for the stage and not just for the race!

by djlovesyou Sat 18 May 2013, 4:39 pm

Phew, very pleased with that and very pleased that Nibali decided not to contest too.

Santambrogio has a decent chance of a podium as it seems he's climbing better than the likes of Evans, Uran and a lot better than Scarponi.

by Big Mon 20 May 2013, 3:20 pm

Moving away from the GC, what odds on Mr Marmite Cavendish winning the points classification? Love him or loathe him, completing his set of grand tour points wins would be a significant achievement. I suspect there are enough mountain stages left that a consistent climber will probably win this one, but he is certainly in with a very decent chance.

by dummy_half Mon 20 May 2013, 4:07 pm

Of the remaining 6 stages, the final stage is ideal Cavendish territory and stage 17 is a probable sprint stage.

If OPQS are serious about getting Cav the points jersey they may even try to keep things manageable tomorrow in what is classed as a medium mountain stage - the high mountains are too early in the stage to knock Cav out of the peloton, but the cat 3 climb summitting 18km from the line may be just a bit too hard for him. Probably a day for a random breakaway winner.

Otherwise though, there's a mountain ITT and two properly tough high mountain stages (assuming there isn't too much snow about). Good chance for one of the GC contenders to close the points gap.

by Big Tue 21 May 2013, 9:16 am

To be honest I'd forgotten Stage 17. There is a cat 4 20km from the finish, and in theory other teams could try and drop Cavendish and co. there, but it would take a serious effort to make enough time on a short climb to stay clear. Crashes and other incidents aside that will probably swing things his way in the points classification. Not convinced on today though, they might go for it but it would be a very long shot. It definitely looks like a day for the breakaway to me.

by dummy_half Tue 21 May 2013, 3:58 pm

Bad news for Cav - the GC riders are on the attack in the last few Km of the stage, with no-one ahead of them.

by dummy_half Tue 21 May 2013, 4:17 pm

Not so bad for Cav's points situation in the end - Nibbles and Evans didn't end up contesting the finish, with Intxausti (spelling) winning the stage after 3 riders got away from the small pack of leaders (about 15 riders made the split on the last climb and descent).

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Tue 21 May 2013, 4:19 pm

Good stage that one, Cav still in with a shot of the points jersey

by Big Tue 21 May 2013, 4:37 pm

I've only got 5 live, but that sounded like a rather tasty final few km... didn't expect that at all! Cav still in it, but pressure is on now tomorrow.

by Mad for Chelsea Wed 22 May 2013, 4:29 pm

so Visconti 30 secs up on the Maglia Rosa group, Cav dropped off on the climb but only a minute behind that group with four teammates, 13 km to go, can they catch up?

by Mad for Chelsea Thu 23 May 2013, 10:50 am

Visconti held off the "chase" (which was a bit bizarre in just how disorganised it was, though maybe that's because no one apart from Astana had much presence there and Astana weren't interested in the stage win). Cavendish couldn't get back in, so misses out on crucial points and Evans in fact closed the gap to just four points.

The points competition really does seem heavily skewed towards the GC riders TBH but maybe that's the way it's meant to be. Evans will be there or thereabouts in today's ITT so expect he'll take the lead from Cav for the jersey (I assume there are points on offer). Can't see Cav getting it back TBH unless his team try to control the starts of stages and give him a chance at some early intermediates (not even sure they are any).

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Thu 23 May 2013, 12:23 pm

The Giro does always tend to have more GC contenders in the running for the points jersey, simply because the stages are usually hillier than the Tour for example

by dummy_half Thu 23 May 2013, 4:19 pm

MfC

There are intermediate sprints - Cav was picking up points in these yesterday, and indeed the 4 points he gained appears to be the gap between him and Evans.

Obviously the last stage is flat, so Cav should be favourite there, but it will be interesting to see if he tries something in the next couple of days, whether by getting his team to control things until the intermediate sprints or by getting into the early breaks himself. Obviously he won't be involved at the end of the stages while Evans most likely will (although I can see Cadel cracking on one stage, especially judging from the pasting Nibali is giving him today), so Cadel certainly has a shot at the points jersey.

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Thu 23 May 2013, 4:20 pm

Yeah Cadel not had a good day at the office today, Nibali destroyed him and the field

by Mad for Chelsea Thu 23 May 2013, 4:23 pm

complete domination. Nibbles absolutely smashes the TT to win it by nearly a minute from Sami Sanchez. Evans had a bit of a nightmare, finishing outside the top 20 and his GC hopes go up in smoke surely. He's now 4 minutes down on Nibbles. Uran started (too?) slowly but picked it up in the second half of the race to comfortably hold onto third, and in fact isn't far behind Evans now. We'll surely see him going for it a bit in the high mountains. For Cav it's good news as Evans gains no ground for the points jersey, so a bit of hope there still.

Generally, the stages in the Giro have been pretty interesting (and the crazy weather has helped). However, from a GC viewpoint it hasn't really been that exciting, Nibbles has looked unbeatable throughout, which makes it even more of a shame (IMO) that Wiggins struggled so badly.

by Mad for Chelsea Thu 23 May 2013, 4:26 pm

EDIT: Uran is just 10 secs behind Evans in second place. Been an excellent tour for the Colombian!

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Thu 23 May 2013, 4:28 pm

I don't think Wiggins would have really challenged Nibali whilst he's been on this sort of form. He's blown away the field completely.

Uran would be a good bet to come 2nd now.

Such a shame Santambrogio lost so much time yesterday, if he hadn't, he'd be right in the podium battle, maybe even 2nd.

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