# Stage 10 Predictions and Chatter (spoilers)



## weltyed (Feb 6, 2004)

After one sanctioned rest day, and what many (including Race Director Angelo Zomegnan) are calling one un-sanctioned rest day, the boys are back on the road racing. The first week was full of action and surprises. Built to be anything but ordinary, the 9 stages brought us sprints, successful breakaways, climbs, crashes, criteriums, and protests. But now it's time to move forward. Hopefully controversy is behind us in this Giro d'Italia. 

So here we are, hitting the queen stage on Stage 10. This 262k stage was originally supposed to follow Fausto Coppi's huge win in 1949. It has since changed due to worries about snow, rock slides and a clash between French and Italian racing rules, er, I mean radio frequencies.










We see some jagged teeth in this stage, so we should be able to get our climb on. Don't be surprised to see the GC hopefuls putting on a show like we saw in Stage 8. While Sastre and Menchov have said they want a piece of the pie, DiLuca, Levi, Rogers will want to keep their top 5 placing. I originally wanted to pick Soler with his chimp-like riding style, but this is not a mountain top finish. If everyone makes it to the top together, a fast-descender could pull this off. So let's leave Armstrong out of this (unless he was faking the past few days). Basso? DiLuca? Simoni? Sastre? Let's give *Basso *a try. Just for fun.


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## muscleendurance (Jan 11, 2009)

It seems alot of people have armstrongs decending skill all wrong, he is actually a DEMON descender (or at least use to be) - one look at his world champ win when he was about 21 should help sway the armstrong bashers!


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## Rolando (Jan 13, 2005)

Looks like this could be an interesting finish....That last little hill should be tempting for someone to break away on.


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## weltyed (Feb 6, 2004)

muscleendurance said:


> It seems alot of people have armstrongs decending skill all wrong, he is actually a DEMON descender (or at least use to be) - one look at his world champ win when he was about 21 should help sway the armstrong bashers!


the LA reference was pointed at his twitter/press statements about the descents being too dangerous.


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## uzziefly (Jul 15, 2006)

Alberto Contador.


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## SRV (Dec 26, 2006)

New announcer for Universal Sports today.....much better than the last guy.


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## Rolando (Jan 13, 2005)

Armstrong will take today's stage.....you heard it here first!


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## weltyed (Feb 6, 2004)

SRV said:


> New announcer for Universal Sports today.....much better than the last guy.


new announcer or color/former rider guy?


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## uzziefly (Jul 15, 2006)

Contador leads!!!


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## harlond (May 30, 2005)

Never mind.


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## hawker12 (Oct 19, 2003)

Sorry, don't care for today's announcer at all. Very slow paced and sounds like he's having trouble keeping the commentary going.


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## Dwayne Barry (Feb 16, 2003)

muscleendurance said:


> It seems alot of people have armstrongs decending skill all wrong, he is actually a DEMON descender (or at least use to be) - one look at his world champ win when he was about 21 should help sway the armstrong bashers!


Armstrong is riding suprisingly strong today but not strong enough. Leipheimer is going to lose time because he can't go downhill.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

avg speed over 40kmh. six and half friggin hours in the saddle, across a couple of bigass mountains.

and DiLuca... well I guess he's for real huh? dayum.


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## gizzard (Oct 5, 2005)

LA is starting to look ominous...and he's still a week underdone. Wait till next week. That clavicle break could well be a blessing in disguise when the Tour comes around.


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## uzziefly (Jul 15, 2006)

Hmm... A little surprised they didn't chase Di Luca down initially and let him go after Pellizotti.

But, Levi did a lot of work chasing the first group down.

Lance a bad descender? Haha. As if. He just showed he's a very good descender as his group worked hard to close in on the Basso/Leipheimer group and finish together with them.

Looks like he's riding into form indeed.

Sastre looks good too. Cracked a little after he tried to chase Di Luca and got caught by Menchov.

Menchov looks very good indeed.

A little disappointed Levi lost that much time today.

Basso isn't as strong as I thought he was perhaps. Pellizotti could be a little stronger. Then again, they let the Di Luca escape happen for a bit first though so... 

Bummer Horner dropped off but he's worked a lot so... Michael Rogers is the biggest loser today perhaps.


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## tom_o (May 6, 2004)

What happened to Leipheimer?


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## weltyed (Feb 6, 2004)

they certainly rebounded from the "two" rest days. cant wait to watch this stage tonight when i get home. sounds like diluca threw down.
what are the odds he can do it again?


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## uzziefly (Jul 15, 2006)

Tomakit said:


> What happened to Leipheimer?


Nothing really.

They let Pellizotti go first.

Then they somehow let Di Luca go (at least, Levi did, probably just wanting to keep the gap within check in view of the TT) and on the descent, he made more time.

That's when Levi really started to do work and Basso and him tried to chase Di Luca down.

I suspect they didn't go all out to close Sastre/Menchov and Di Luca down though.


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## Dwayne Barry (Feb 16, 2003)

Tomakit said:


> What happened to Leipheimer?


Can't go downhill. He let the gap open on the descent and then his group (without Basso working) couldn't get organized to close it to the front group.

Isn't the stage 12 TT suppose to be so technical that riders are considering using roadbikes?

Looking like Di Luca might not have the trouble there that many predict and Leipheimer might not be so good?


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

that descent was really twisty, and DiLuca just rode away from the chasers. Levi let the gap open, maybe for safety, I dunno. 

but that last hill before the finish, Levi was sloggin up it, but DiLuca frickin sprinted up it.


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## JohnHenry (Aug 9, 2006)

I am stunned.._bong_..di luca was plain scary. I mean, this dude is for real??!!?? I still don't think he can hold the lead all the way or take the overall in this field (i'm probably wrong, though). In any event, he may have gone epic today!

LL did good work putting in the effort on the chase.


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## uzziefly (Jul 15, 2006)

Dwayne Barry said:


> Can't go downhill. He let the gap open on the descent and then his group (without Basso working) couldn't get organized to close it to the front group.
> 
> Isn't the stage 12 TT suppose to be so technical that riders are considering using roadbikes?
> 
> Looking like Di Luca might not have the trouble there that many predict and Leipheimer might not be so good?


I'm starting to wonder that about the ITT too.

They are not considering road bikes. Astana IS using road bikes. 

I think he let the gap open up a little with the TT in mind, and also because he didn't want to go all out and take too much risks as well. You could see him working really hard on the non technical parts after that to close the gap.

Basso wasn't working due to Pellizotti being up front I suppose so it's against team camaraderie. But, I wonder why, since he IS going for it after all anyway. Unless he's actually a free role guy working for Franco? Hmm.. :idea:



Creakyknees said:


> that descent was really twisty, and DiLuca just rode away from the chasers. Levi let the gap open, maybe for safety, I dunno.
> 
> but that last hill before the finish, Levi was sloggin up it, but DiLuca frickin sprinted up it.



See above.

But yeah, Levi was suffering a little. But, that's also coz he was working alone for a fair bit to chase Sastre's group down.


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## uzziefly (Jul 15, 2006)

JohnHenry said:


> I am stunned.._bong_..di luca was plain scary. I mean, this dude is for real??!!?? I still don't think he can hold the lead all the way or take the overall in this field (i'm probably wrong, though). In any event, he may have gone epic today!
> 
> LL did good work putting in the effort on the chase.


You said bong... Off to the d()ping forum in.... 

I'm still hoping Levi rides a World Championship winning TT for Stage 12 despite the course profile. 

It would see him take pink IMO but, but but, Di Luca won't lose too much time too. So... Oh boy this is getting very close indeed.


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## zosocane (Aug 29, 2004)

That was fun to watch today. Great stage. Thanks for Universal Sports -- again -- for a terrific, commercial-free, uninterrupted feed.

Lance is definitely looking better. Still has a ways to go but he looked much better today than last week in the Dolomites.

Menchov and Sastre are looking quite good.

Basso is not a good descender, that's where he got gapped. Maybe Levi was behind him in the forest going downhill -- once you get gapped on a twisty descent like that, it's very hard to make it up.

Check this out: http://www.livestrong.com/lance-arm...-10-mov/a75b2bad-99f6-451a-abb3-31c4fd6b1a85/


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## JohnHenry (Aug 9, 2006)

uzziefly said:


> You said bong... Off to the d()ping forum in....
> 
> I'm still hoping Levi rides a World Championship winning TT for Stage 12 despite the course profile.
> 
> It would see him take pink IMO but, but but, Di Luca won't lose too much time too. So... Oh boy this is getting very close indeed.


I am pretty sure LL is really saving himself for the TT. I wonder if he didn't weasel Di Luca today, by goosing him up the last climb? Was he making di luca burn reserves?  

I can see (hope) di luca cracking big time in the TT. It's very long and he'll have no team to shelter him.


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## uzziefly (Jul 15, 2006)

JohnHenry said:


> I am pretty sure LL is really saving himself for the TT. I wonder if he didn't weasel Di Luca today, by goosing him up the last climb? Was he making di luca burn reserves?
> 
> I can see (hope) di luca cracking big time in the TT. It's very long and he'll have no team to shelter him.


But, did Levi let the gap fall too far such that he'd have to work really, really hard to stay on top after the ITT?

That's my worry here. 

Additionally, the ITT is NOT flat. It's about a 1000ft. gain in elevation IIRC so that would limit Di Luca's losses a fair bit too.

Furthermore, if Lance and Levi are using road bikes with aero extensions due to the technicality as well, this would also favor Danilo. 

Now the big question is what I asked above: Did Levi let too big a gap form before chasing?

And one more: Can Danilo recover enough from today's effort. It sure looked like a big effort but did he burn a couple of matches here or did he just burn a single good match to his benefit?

Wow!!! Hot damn!!! Tomorrow should be cool to see another leadout train but the day after is the big one!!


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## uzziefly (Jul 15, 2006)

fornaca68 said:


> That was fun to watch today. Great stage. Thanks for Universal Sports -- again -- for a terrific, commercial-free, uninterrupted feed.
> 
> Lance is definitely looking better. Still has a ways to go but he looked much better today than last week in the Dolomites.
> 
> ...


Yeap saw that on EuroSport during the race coverage.

Lance IS riding much better for sure. The descent also helped him since he caught up on his own early on. He also fought his way back on the climb. Nowhere near his best but hell, if he was in such form last week, he'd not lose any time and this week, he'd have been with Sastre at the very worst IMO. 

Levi was actually ahead of Basso and led the group down. Basso was all over the place following him and dropped one spot back even after a little bit.


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## JohnHenry (Aug 9, 2006)

uzziefly said:


> But, did Levi let the gap fall too far such that he'd have to work really, really hard to stay on top after the ITT?
> 
> That's my worry here.
> 
> ...


I don't think LL allowed too big of a gap. That might make di luca too relaxed going into the TT. 
Again, on the TT, I don't see di luca keeping his strength rolling over the entire length. 
I think the elevation gains suit LL's ocerall riding style. I believe LL can handle the technical portions of the course, also. 

Remember. We are only halfway through the race!!!


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## weltyed (Feb 6, 2004)

i havent really studied the profile/map for the Stage 12 ITT. but if tomorrow is a day fro sprinters (or breakaway), diluca might get some time to rest a bit. LL does well with long, straight TTs, as he is good at ducking outta the wind. but if its as technical as they say, and diluca did what he did today, i can see diluca keeping the pink after that stage.

its once we get into the final mountainous days where it gets tricky. LL could very well have been letting DD go, hoping he burned matches but keeping him nervous for the ITT. getting DD working hard in the ITT will benefit LL in teh following days. and up those climbs.

i was disappointed in what i heard of Basso today. maybe he is holding out for the ITT and third week?


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## coop (Jun 8, 2008)

I think Levi let too much time get away. 1.40 is a lot of time to make up on such a technical course, and chances are Levi (as well as Rogers and Menchov) will lose more time to DiLuca on some other stages. He's (DiLuca) a much more "punchy" rider that's better suited to some of the hilltop finishes on stages 14, 16, and 20. Levi and the others are going to have to work hard to isolate DiLuca on the bigger climbs on stages 17 and 19 (maybe 16) and them use the final short TT to make up any remaining time. So how much time can those 3 make up in rome 40 seconds to a minute?


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## tom_o (May 6, 2004)

Sounds like a lot of fun today. Can't wait to go home and watch it!


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## ronbo613 (Jan 19, 2009)

Great ride by di Luca as the race leader. He knows he has to make some time before the ITT, he did that and won the stage to boot. He still will probably lose time in the time trial but he seems to be riding well and wants this Giro.

Makes me want to go out and ride after work.


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## rollinrob (Dec 8, 2002)

The ITT is about 36 miles and 300 foot elevation gain throughout. I would imagine that Levi will be able to make up a significant amount of time during it.


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## SilasCL (Jun 14, 2004)

uzziefly said:


> Hmm... A little surprised they didn't chase Di Luca down initially and let him go after Pellizotti.
> 
> But, Levi did a lot of work chasing the first group down.
> 
> ...


They were right behind DiLuca until the descent started. Right around the time DiLuca caught Pellizoti, the gaps started to form in the group. Levi was initially on DiLuca's wheel, but was passed by Sastre, Menchov, and Arroyo going downhill.

Any thought that this was strategy on Levi's part is BS. He couldn't stay with DiLuca, who was descending like a madman.


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## SilasCL (Jun 14, 2004)

fornaca68 said:


> That was fun to watch today. Great stage. Thanks for Universal Sports -- again -- for a terrific, commercial-free, uninterrupted feed.
> 
> Lance is definitely looking better. Still has a ways to go but he looked much better today than last week in the Dolomites.
> 
> ...


Basso was behind Levi, as were some of the other riders. I specifically saw Sastre pass Levi on the descent.


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## Einstruzende (Jun 1, 2004)

I might have to eat crow in regards to DiLuca. I had wrote him off before the Giro as a fluke and because of the TT...now I'm not so sure. I wouldn't be surprised if he was top 5 in the TT.


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## weltyed (Feb 6, 2004)

rollinrob said:


> The ITT is about 36 miles and 300 foot elevation gain throughout. I would imagine that Levi will be able to make up a significant amount of time during it.


its not so much teh elevation gain as it is the twistiness of the course. plus, heading out, it looks like they get sent through a lot on tunnels. that will be odd.


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## huez (Mar 15, 2002)

weltyed said:


> its not so much teh elevation gain as it is the twistiness of the course. plus, heading out, it looks like they get sent through a lot on tunnels. that will be odd.



Yes. Levi is not a tunnel specialist by any means. 

Levi is very aero on his TT bike and can get into a good rhythm. Not sure how he'll compare to the others on a standard bike and with a bunch of technical stuff.. I think he'll do well, but not his usual result.


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## zosocane (Aug 29, 2004)

Einstruzende said:


> I might have to eat crow in regards to DiLuca. I had wrote him off before the Giro as a fluke and because of the TT...now I'm not so sure. I wouldn't be surprised if he was top 5 in the TT.


Heck, I almost expect him to win the ITT. Especially if everyone is on regular road bikes and there's no aero crap involved, just good ol' fashioned pedal as fast as you can. The man is on fire.


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## bigpinkt (Jul 20, 2006)

fornaca68 said:


> Heck, I almost expect him to win the ITT. Especially if everyone is on regular road bikes and there's no aero crap involved, just good ol' fashioned pedal as fast as you can. The man is on fire.


Very true. Because of the course the TT could be very good for an explosive rider like Deluca


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## wiles (Apr 17, 2005)

*the way racing should be*

The last 20 K today were as good as it gets. The climb, the decent, the attack, the narrow rolling windy roads, the crowds. Italian racing at its best. The highest level of riding and racing skill.

The only other sequence I can remember that was as exciting as today's was the year Simoni scared everyone when he jumped off the front on slick rainy roads, risked a death defying decent and won the stage. He went on to win his first Giro.

Bravo. Bravo.

More. More.


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## thechriswebb (Nov 21, 2008)

I'm not writing Basso off yet. There haven't been any fireworks yet, but I expect to see a little more out of him in the coming stages. 
Time trial. Levi is always fast against the clock even when he can't use his aero advantage. Stage 20 of last years Vuelta was not as long as this one, but it was a 1st cat. climb with an uphill finish. Levi crushed the climbers, finishing 31 seconds ahead of Contador and Valverde, and over a minute ahead of Sastre. There's something about time trials, whatever type they are, that changes Levi's attitude; he goes crazy. Just before one of the time trials in the ToC this year, Levi was visibly vibrating. If Levi doesn't destroy stage 12, it will be because he either drops the ball or somebody else pulls out something heroic (DiLuca?).


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## moabbiker (Sep 11, 2002)

It's still anyone's game but I'd say Levi's chances are slipping away. Stages 14, 16, 17 are not favoring him as he will lose a lot of cumulative time when the very late attacks come on the hilltop finishes. I'm not sure the ITT will distance enough time even he outclasses everyone by a good margin.


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## thechriswebb (Nov 21, 2008)

moabbiker said:


> It's still anyone's game but I'd say Levi's chances are slipping away. Stages 14, 16, 17 are not favoring him as he will lose a lot of cumulative time when the very late attacks come on the hilltop finishes. I'm not sure the ITT will distance enough time even he outclasses everyone by a good margin.


I really want him to win, but what you are saying is very possible. Levi's ability to produce huge efforts and maximum watts for long periods of time will keep him finishing in the top 10 on all of the important stages, and it makes him very dangerous on long difficult stages that allow him to basically wear everybody else out. I am worried about the short and steep ones like Blockhaus and Vesuvius.......the 20 seconds here and 10 seconds there that he will lose on those to guys like Sastre and Menchov may be his demise. He showed us that he can wear out and drop Sastre on a long tortuous climb on Angliru, but if Sastre (or DiLuca, Menchov, maybe Basso) decide to go on Blockhaus.......

He will have to dig deep.


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## pacificaslim (Sep 10, 2008)

Bummer about Horner crashing and losing some time today, but hopefully he'll be full strength for the rest of the Giro.


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## Sojourneyman (Jun 22, 2007)

If I were Garzelli today, I'd have asked my DS to pump some tunes through my radio...

very exciting stage. I woke up too late to see DiLucas attack, but he was flying going up that last little hill. Going back and watching the coverage, he descended so much better than everyone else, probably why he could drop them (sastre, menchov & co) when things got uphill since he didn't have to work so hard to catch up to himself.

Anyone else think that he looks to have an odd appearance on the flat parts I think it might be the high cadence he had today, but it was odd looking.


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## gray8110 (Dec 11, 2001)

Regarding Leipheimer's chances relative to DiLuca... Levi has two TT's... a very long one with two long power climbs and technical descents and a shortish flat one. 

Levi mucked up the final descent today as did Basso. Basso has a history of being skittish on the descents - the whole Simoni/Basso riff started when Basso told Simoni he'd give Simoni a win if Simoni didn't drop him on the descent off the Mortirolo... and Basso had several stages that year where he lost a time on a descent. Leipheimer, I'm not so sure that today is indicative of his technical prowess. The descents in Sonoma County make some of these Italian roads look easy. I can't think of another time where he was dropped on the descent...I think DiLuca just took some risks that Leipheimer wasn't willing to take and then Basso was playing the good teammate and didn't help chase down Pelizotti once the road straightened out.

Long story short, I think it'll be very close but I think DiLuca will lose enough time in those two TTs that he won't be able to make it up in the time bonuses he's built his lead on up 'til now... I think Basso probably rode himself out of contention -- I don't expect him to be competitive with Leipheimer in the TTs. I think Rogers is sitting better than Basso right now. Menchov is the guy who is really sitting pretty right now. The difference is only 20 seconds to Leipheimer right now, but I think not sticking with Menchov on that descent today will be more troublesome than not sticking with DiLuca for Leipheimer.


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## uzziefly (Jul 15, 2006)

moabbiker said:


> It's still anyone's game but I'd say Levi's chances are slipping away. Stages 14, 16, 17 are not favoring him as he will lose a lot of cumulative time when the very late attacks come on the hilltop finishes. I'm not sure the ITT will distance enough time even he outclasses everyone by a good margin.


Well.. Horner would have an easy day today and tomorrow.

Popo, Horner and Lance, yes, Lance Armstrong will do some work on those stages.

Armstrong could be the first to burn the match for his team. Then Horner. Then Popo.

Early on, Chechu could do some work as well so it's still not too hard for Leipheimer. They can try and distance Di Luca or at least, push the pace hard enough that he can't fly away.

Tomorrow's stage will undoubtedly be the key stage.


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## uzziefly (Jul 15, 2006)

pacificaslim said:


> Bummer about Horner crashing and losing some time today, but hopefully he'll be full strength for the rest of the Giro.


Wait he crashed?

No wonder he was dropped. Damn.

But he is riding in support of Levi anyway so the crash could be enough reason for him to not burn a match to catch up to the group ahead.

He is definitely needed on the stages after the TT. Stage 13 is flat too right?

If so, I predict today, tomorrow and Stage 13 as easy days for him where he loses time here and there so he could even get in a break on the mountain stages to help Levi out.


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## uzziefly (Jul 15, 2006)

gray8110 said:


> Regarding Leipheimer's chances relative to DiLuca... Levi has two TT's... a very long one with two long power climbs and technical descents and a shortish flat one.
> 
> Levi mucked up the final descent today as did Basso. Basso has a history of being skittish on the descents - the whole Simoni/Basso riff started when Basso told Simoni he'd give Simoni a win if Simoni didn't drop him on the descent off the Mortirolo... and Basso had several stages that year where he lost a time on a descent. Leipheimer, I'm not so sure that today is indicative of his technical prowess. The descents in Sonoma County make some of these Italian roads look easy. I can't think of another time where he was dropped on the descent...I think DiLuca just took some risks that Leipheimer wasn't willing to take and then Basso was playing the good teammate and didn't help chase down Pelizotti once the road straightened out.
> 
> Long story short, I think it'll be very close but I think DiLuca will lose enough time in those two TTs that he won't be able to make it up in the time bonuses he's built his lead on up 'til now... I think Basso probably rode himself out of contention -- I don't expect him to be competitive with Leipheimer in the TTs. I think Rogers is sitting better than Basso right now. Menchov is the guy who is really sitting pretty right now. The difference is only 20 seconds to Leipheimer right now, but I think not sticking with Menchov on that descent today will be more troublesome than not sticking with DiLuca for Leipheimer.



Very plausible scenario indeed. Menchov is the real dark horse here. But let's also not forget that Levi can TT better than him and both of them climb rather similarly too.


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## rocco (Apr 30, 2005)

fornaca68 said:


> The man is on fire.



He had the Bernard Hinault "rage to win" face working today.


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## pacificaslim (Sep 10, 2008)

uzziefly said:


> Wait he crashed?
> 
> No wonder he was dropped. Damn.
> 
> But he is riding in support of Levi anyway so the crash could be enough reason for him to not burn a match to catch up to the group ahead


Yeah, here's what he said about it in his blog (read it all here: http://blog.oregonlive.com/horner/2009/05/tour_of_italy_diary_stage_10_n.html)

_"I was having a great day at that point. My legs felt great after the rest day, and I was excited to be part of such a cool stage. Things soon changed for me, unfortunately. When we hit the top of the climb, I was in great position, sitting in about the 20th spot as we started the descent, and feeling pretty good about life.

That abruptly changed in the first turn when two riders went down in the corner, leaving me with nowhere to go but down. I rode straight into the hillside. Thankfully, I managed to just avoid a tree, but I hit the hill with my head and shoulder. Luckily the leaves and dirt were thick enough to help absorb some of the impact, but I hit my already-sore right shoulder. Since it has only been five and a half weeks since I broke it, it definitely hurt more than a little. I also hit my left knee when I went down.

As I jumped back on my bike and tried to pedal my left knee wouldn't turn the pedals. It felt like a charlie horse that took at least five minutes to loosen up. Unfortunately, it left me pedaling with 70 percent of my right leg for the rest of the stage, which still had another 115 miles of hard racing to go.

Bummer..."_


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## BAi9302010 (Mar 7, 2002)

DiLuca has never been a great time trialist, he can do a good ride every once in a while in a Giro tt, but 60km's is a lot. There's a big difference between sprinting up a couple of km's on a final climb during a road stage for 5-10 minutes and a 90 minute time trial effort, no matter how technical the course is. In a normal Giro tt he usually finishes outside of the top 10-15, a couple of minutes back, whether it's a flat or technical course. Basso, Leipheimer, Menchov, Sastre, etc. are proven time trialists and should be able to take a couple of minutes out of him if they're actually trying to win this thing.


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## uzziefly (Jul 15, 2006)

Damn! Very unfortunate. But, had he not crashed, I would think he'd still start to take it easy a little bit today and tomorrow so he could get in the break and help Levi out.

But then again, he'd have been with Levi on the descent to chase Sastre and Menchov. 

Bummer.


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## CHL (Jun 24, 2005)

Some of the major contenders are sitting at just over a minute out from Di Luca. That should be sufficient for them to take over the Maglia Rosa but this Giro has proven unpredictable. Analysts were saying that Cadel would over take Sastre last year on the final time trial and we all saw the result 

We were all betting on Basso and at this point in the race, Di Luca has made the opposition look ridiculous. Not only has his form surpassed others, his mental awareness of the situation has allowed him to pick up a lot of time bonuses. 

It's disgraceful of Basso & Leipheimer to get dropped on the descent and not even attempt to bridge back to Di Luca. You have two individuals who are better at time trialing than Di Luca, yet he rode away from them after he cleared the descent. I'm happy to see such aggressive riding from Di Luca, yet I'm rather dismayed by the lack of reaction from the other pre-race contenders.

CHL


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## uzziefly (Jul 15, 2006)

BAi9302010 said:


> DiLuca has never been a great time trialist, he can do a good ride every once in a while in a Giro tt, but 60km's is a lot. There's a big difference between sprinting up a couple of km's on a final climb during a road stage for 5-10 minutes and a 90 minute time trial effort, no matter how technical the course is. In a normal Giro tt he usually finishes outside of the top 10-15, a couple of minutes back, whether it's a flat or technical course. Basso, Leipheimer, Menchov, Sastre, etc. are proven time trialists and should be able to take a couple of minutes out of him if they're actually trying to win this thing.


The big question is whether Di Luca would lose enough time for Leipheimer or Menchov to be able to hold onto the lead come the big mountain stages. 

My prediction: It will be very close once the mountains come up. 

Rabbo or Astana would have to do a LOT of harrrrrdddd work indeed nonetheless. Liquigas too. 

Interesting few days coming up for sure.


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## uzziefly (Jul 15, 2006)

CHL said:


> Some of the major contenders are sitting at just over a minute out from Di Luca. That should be sufficient for them to take over the Maglia Rosa but this Giro has proven unpredictable. Analysts were saying that Cadel would over take Sastre last year on the final time trial and we all saw the result
> 
> We were all betting on Basso and at this point in the race, Di Luca has made the opposition look ridiculous. Not only has his form surpassed others, his mental awareness of the situation has allowed him to pick up a lot of time bonuses.
> 
> ...


Ummm...

Di Luca got away because he is a great descender compared to Basso and Leipheimer. Basso did practically NO work because Pelizotti was out front with Di Luca anyway.

Leipheimer was practically working alone to bridge the gap to Sastre and Menchov.

While it might be argued that Leipheimer played it a little safe on the descent, in which the post race video with Lance suggested he did to a small extent, you can't doubt the fact he worked really hard to chase the front group down after that. Basso was practically a spectator so he's got no blame in this since he didn't want to chase his teammate down apparently.


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## iliveonnitro (Feb 19, 2006)

Di Luca predicted he needs 2 minutes going into the TT to retain his lead. Maybe the maglia rosa will make him ride extra well (among other things), or maybe he will screw it up.

Either way, it's going to be a damn close race for the next ~2wks!


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