# Giro 2012 Wrap Up



## weltyed (Feb 6, 2004)

Pretty good Giro, eh?

I had a nice long post with lots of content. It covered Taylor Phinney, Cavendish, Ferrari, Garmin winning the ITT and putting a rider in pink, JRod clawing to win and then keep the Maglia Rosa, Ryder taking it, giving it back, then taking it again. It talked about the last few mountain stages. How Ryder was so much better than anyone dreamed. How everyone was gutting it out. I even started to get ito how I didn't think it was great Giro until I strated re-reading the stages. But that post disappeared.

So, 
*Winners*:
Ryder
Canada
Garmin
JRod
Katusha
Cavendish
Phinney
North American Racing Fans
Italy

*Losers*:
Basso
Farrar
Frank Schleck
RadioShack
Phinney

Wait...Phinney a loser? I gotta say, how many times have we seen a promising rider saddled with bad luck? I just hope this does not happen to Mini Phinney. After the opening time trial, while he was able to keep the jersey for a few days, he was not able to stay upright. Even after making it through the mountains bad luck followed him on the final stage. 

So, what do you all have to say?


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## Sasquatch (Feb 3, 2004)

Great day for Canada...does the country know about it yet?


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## cyclusaddictus (Dec 8, 2011)

Dude, we're all over this up here. This is an EPIC day for Canadian sports and Canadian cycling. The Prime Minister was issuing a congratulations just minutes after the official results. Not many cyclists didn't know about it this morning; I'm sure most had it live on Eurosport.com. I celebrated with a good ride and can tell you the highways were littered with roadies...cycling is alive and well in the cold north.


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## JonF (Apr 7, 2012)

Such a great Giro! I would also add De Gendt on the Winners list as well!


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## cyclusaddictus (Dec 8, 2011)

Losers - John Gadret? Maybe should go back to 'cross...


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## moonmoth (Nov 8, 2008)

I guess José Rujano was a loser. Androni Giocattoli gave him one more chance to revive his career but he never made it to the Dolomite's.


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## paredown (Oct 18, 2006)

cyclusaddictus said:


> Losers - John Gadret? Maybe should go back to 'cross...


Maybe Gadret should have collaborated with Ryder on Stage 20 instead of those freelance blasts off the front. He's strong though...


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## robdamanii (Feb 13, 2006)

Androni grossly underperformed this year.
Cav did not win the points classification which is what he set out to do.
Sky confirmed their young talent (that's a HUGE positive for them.)
De Ghent is confirmed as being a great race closer.
Basso's career is over.
Kreutziger never will be a grand tour contender.

Edited to add:
Frank Schleck is a p***y.


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## paredown (Oct 18, 2006)

That was some kinda racing, especially Stages 19 & 20. What a suffer-fest on that last climb. Chapeau to CvV for that incredible performance pacing the 'grouppo Maglia Rosa' up that last climb-- Jens Voight would approve.

Bad luck for Phinney on the TT--sh!t happens. 

Very impressive TTs by Ryder and J-Rod--amazing how fast you can go when it is all on the line.

And I felt sorry for Cav--especially getting crashed out like that. He was absolutely correct that if he had caused it, he would have been heading home. And I was glad to see them boot the guys who were being towed by team cars, but methinks they should have cracked down earlier.

Someone else commented on the fun of watching races where it all seems up for grabs; no absolutely dominant riders, but nail-biter finishes, changing GC results, heroic rides--couldn't agree more. It is wonderful that some of these guys are just hitting their prime, so we have some more years to watch them duke it out.

Thanks W'Ed for doing your thing with the daily posts.


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## thechriswebb (Nov 21, 2008)

We could add Thor to the list of losers as well. There is something wrong with him though; he is having tests done to figure out why he never got over his illness. 

Ferarri? I don't know of he is a winner or a loser. On one hand, he won a great sprint finish in the Giro; on the other hand, he caused a terrible crash that changed the course of the Giro with irregular springing. Cav would have won the points jersey, I'm sure. 

Garmin. Big winner here. TTT victory, the overall, and a brutal performance by Christian VDV on Stelvio. 

Tyler Farrar was a disappointment though; I wanted to see him win a stage. I'm about to go see him at Nats today though; maybe he'll redeem himself there.


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## tazzmacd (Feb 24, 2012)

Another possible looser, cycling fans, we now have to wait another full year to get a race like this was.....one for the ages!!

I don't think there is a cycling fan in Canada that isn't excited about Ryder's win. I was at a Crit race on Sunday and that was all the talk, I think 90% of the riders there had the DVR recording the race in order to go home and watch it with a nice cold beer.

I think I might be going through withdrawal after a race like that. I guess we can only hope that the next grand tour is just as exciting to watch


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## Kneedragon (Jul 27, 2010)

Also add De Gendt in the list of winners. Great comeback on the Stelvio and ITT to put himself on the podium.

Additional losers:
Italian cycling - First Giro podium without an Italian since '95.
Kreuziger - Just didn't have it.
Scarponi/Lampre - Should have led the chase for De Gendt to save their podium position, but left the work for Garmin.


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## XLNC (Feb 6, 2012)

JonF said:


> Such a great Giro! I would also add De Gendt on the Winners list as well!


+1

He really made up a ton of time in the last two days but it was overshadowed by how great Ryder was when push came to shove.


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## Dan Gerous (Mar 28, 2005)

I really liked Rabottini's stage win, maybe my favorite moment of the Giro. In the break, approaching the finish solo with an almost empty tank only to be caught by Purito... then he jumped on his wheel and passed him for the line! I think he did it on guts alone!


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## MG537 (Jul 25, 2006)

*Could've been the costliest mistake ever, for 4 teams*



Kneedragon said:


> Also add De Gendt in the list of winners. Great comeback on the Stelvio and ITT to put himself on the podium.
> 
> Additional losers:
> ...
> Scarponi/Lampre - Should have led the chase for De Gendt to save their podium position, but left the work for Garmin.


Katusha, Liquigas, Garmin, Lampre 
How can they let De Gendt break out of the main group? A rider only 5:39 down? That was mistake no. 1.

Mistake number 2 was not collaborating with Ryder, especially Basso and Scarponi. Lesser of a mistake since tactics came into play. Both of them let someone else steal a podium spot.


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## wilki (Jun 9, 2004)

Additional winners:
Pro Continental teams - winning multiple stages, strong & successful breakaways, they really added some additional flare to the tour.


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## moonmoth (Nov 8, 2008)

MG537 said:


> Katusha, Liquigas, Garmin, Lampre
> How can they let De Gendt break out of the main group? A rider only 5:39 down? That was mistake no. 1


In hindsight, Katusha and Garmin played that ok although it was scary for a while. Liquigas and especially Lampre were asleep at the wheel. You gotta protect your position on the podium, especially on day n-1 of a GT! Perhaps they were valuing a potential Cunego stage win more but that would be plain wrong.


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## CalgaryDave (Jan 7, 2002)

Thanks weltyed for your well written daily posts, a nice pre-race read for us all. And yes, Canadian cycling was definitely one of the winners. It will be interesting to see how much influence Ryder's victory has in both shifting some federal sport funding towards cycling and getting more people, especially the younger ones, off the couch and onto the saddle. 

:thumbsup:


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## nate (Jun 20, 2004)

Shouldn't Team Saxo Bank be added to the loser column? Sure, it wasn't a surprise but they still fall squarely into that category compared to what people would have thought immediately after last year's Giro.

In all the stages I watched on Eurosport (which was not every stage), I don't recall Saxo Bank being mentioned even once.


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## den bakker (Nov 13, 2004)

nate said:


> Shouldn't Team Saxo Bank be added to the loser column? Sure, it wasn't a surprise but they still fall squarely into that category compared to what people would have thought immediately after last year's Giro.
> 
> In all the stages I watched on Eurosport (which was not every stage), I don't recall Saxo Bank being mentioned even once.


boaro made some breakaways. and a good first stage (fourth)
L. Haedo took out another rider in the back of the peleton once  
second place to Haedo after most other sprinters crashed out. 
A few "sprinter trains" that blew up solidly with 2km to go. 
that's about it. 
One could argue a continental team would have added more to the race. 
For the year so far 2-3 riders have actually tried something from saxobank. The rest has been pretty sad to watch.


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## Dan Gerous (Mar 28, 2005)

What else can we expect from Saxo? The team was built around Alberto... except maybe Nick Nuyens but he crashed out early in the season. It will be interesting to see what Riis does in the rider-for-points shopping season. I bet a few Leopard-RadioSchleck riders wished they stayed at Saxo right now...


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## Salsa_Lover (Jul 6, 2008)

[SARCASM] So Ryder is now the Canadian Lance ? [/ SARCASM]


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## nettles503 (Dec 11, 2011)

Salsa_Lover said:


> [SARCASM] So Ryder is now the Canadian Lance ? [/ SARCASM]


More like the Canadian LeMond. First Canuck to win a Grand Tour.


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## MG537 (Jul 25, 2006)

Speaking of, winners and losers, was Jonathan Vaughters present, at least for his team's finest ever moment to date? I don't recall seeing him during the TV coverage.


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## bottecchia_eja (Jul 18, 2010)

So a Canadian wins the Giro, eh?

Now I know Hell is gonna freeze over!

Good luck to you guys out on the frozen tundra


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## foto (Feb 7, 2005)

I don't know, I am happy for Ryder, since that was a well deserved win, but I wouldn't say it was a great giro for the ages. Many of the stages were pretty boring, there were some good individual rides and gutsy stage wins by non-gc guys. But there wasn't much animation amongst the GC guys at all, and until De Gendt forced himself into the picture on 20, there wasn't even much happening as far as time gaps. Considering how close everyone was right until the end, I would have thought there would have been more action.

It was an ok giro, I would say.


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## atpjunkie (Mar 23, 2002)

*stupid Italians*



MG537 said:


> Katusha, Liquigas, Garmin, Lampre
> How can they let De Gendt break out of the main group? A rider only 5:39 down? That was mistake no. 1.
> 
> Mistake number 2 was not collaborating with Ryder, especially Basso and Scarponi. Lesser of a mistake since tactics came into play. Both of them let someone else steal a podium spot.


making a Canadian chase a Belgian

oh well, no wonder they have no one on the podium of their home race


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## weltyed (Feb 6, 2004)

foto said:


> I don't know, I am happy for Ryder, since that was a well deserved win, but I wouldn't say it was a great giro for the ages. Many of the stages were pretty boring, there were some good individual rides and gutsy stage wins by non-gc guys. But there wasn't much animation amongst the GC guys at all, and until De Gendt forced himself into the picture on 20, there wasn't even much happening as far as time gaps. Considering how close everyone was right until the end, I would have thought there would have been more action.
> 
> It was an ok giro, I would say.


in my original post that disappeared i started goin into this. there were some gutsy performances, but it just didnt feel like a nailbiting race until the final three mountain stages. even though last year was dominated by contador, i enjoyed it a lil bit more. bassos win was pretty exciting. before that we had the thrill of a denis menchov battle. i think there was an ITT through the Cinque Terre. there were moments, but not the fireworks i had hoped. Also, seeing thor and others leave relatively early was sad. cav stuck it out, which was good to see.

but there was still something...missing. reminds me of the superbowl. for many years they were blowouts. then they started to get really close. the day after people would talk about how it was the greatest superbowl ever. for a 3-4 year stretch they were excting games. then it started to cool off again. but on monday people still talked about it being one of the top five of all time...


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## 55x11 (Apr 24, 2006)

weltyed said:


> Pretty good Giro, eh?
> 
> I had a nice long post with lots of content. It covered Taylor Phinney, Cavendish, Ferrari, Garmin winning the ITT and putting a rider in pink, JRod clawing to win and then keep the Maglia Rosa, Ryder taking it, giving it back, then taking it again. It talked about the last few mountain stages. How Ryder was so much better than anyone dreamed. How everyone was gutting it out. I even started to get ito how I didn't think it was great Giro until I strated re-reading the stages. But that post disappeared.
> 
> ...


it was a fantastic Giro!

I think Pozzovivo was one of the winners. He really made a name for himself. Duran Duran too. 

I don't think Phinney was a loser just for crashes and mechanicals. It happens. He wore pink and won a stage, that's more than most riders can claim.

Scarponi was one of the losers. Along with Basso and Cunego. All past winners, all italians and couldn't do a thing this time.

J-Rod was a winner, despite losing it to Ryder. I like him. He is not afraid to attack and the way he bridged up to Rabbotini in the final 1K to go, it was unreal!!! He made up more than a minute in no time - this was super-slow finish. He also took two stages and a very close second place.

Cav was a winner, even if he lost red jersey in the end - not his fault, the way points were setup, J-Rod was a favorite. He had some bad luck but showed again and again how dominant sprinter he is.

Kreuziger (who won a stage - can't be a loser!) and Gardet didn't have a good race but they will be back. They are not "over". Neither is Basso. But ever since his suspension, he is umm.... lacking something.

Giralongo's win was impressive to me. So was Bak, Pinotti, De Gent. Those were memorable wins.


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## Mapei (Feb 3, 2004)

Yes, I saw Jonathan, CEO of Garmin Barracuda, in all his sideburned, hipster glory, near Ryder's side as the time trial stage ended.


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## cyclusaddictus (Dec 8, 2011)

Winner - Canada
Loser - the average Canadian sports fan ("oh, did he win the Tour de France?" "is it a best of 7 series?" "did he beat Lance Armstrong?" "there's TEAMS in that??")

Winner - De Gandt (stage 20 and 21 - what an ITT)
Loser - pretty much the entire Italian pro squad

Winner - JRod (sheer guts)
Loser - Cav (whiner)

Winner - Italy (another excellently organized Giro)
Loser - France (the TdF will have a tough time competing with the excitement of the Giro this year)

Winner - weltyed (for his daily commentary)
Another Winner - Gianni Bugno (for getting to fly the camera chopper!!)


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## Dan Gerous (Mar 28, 2005)

weltyed said:


> in my original post that disappeared i started goin into this. there were some gutsy performances, but it just didnt feel like a nailbiting race until the final three mountain stages. even though last year was dominated by contador, i enjoyed it a lil bit more. bassos win was pretty exciting. before that we had the thrill of a denis menchov battle. i think there was an ITT through the Cinque Terre. there were moments, but not the fireworks i had hoped. Also, seeing thor and others leave relatively early was sad. cav stuck it out, which was good to see.
> 
> but there was still something...missing. reminds me of the superbowl. for many years they were blowouts. then they started to get really close. the day after people would talk about how it was the greatest superbowl ever. for a 3-4 year stretch they were excting games. then it started to cool off again. but on monday people still talked about it being one of the top five of all time...


You're right, on the GC side. I actually enjoyed the three weeks, but I did so as if it was a succession of one day races, many stages were great, with worthy winners, some drama, successful attacks and breaks... But the GC fight didn't take off until the last few days. Gaps were made in the prologue and TTT but then, except a few seconds here and there exchanged between Purito and Ryder, everyone waited for the last week's mountains. Of course, the route kinda pushed it that way, I think the organizers wanted too much to make sure the overall winner wasn't obvious too soon...


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## The Weasel (Jul 20, 2006)

thechriswebb said:


> Tyler Farrar was a disappointment though; I wanted to see him win a stage. I'm about to go see him at Nats today though; maybe he'll redeem himself there.


At what point does it go from disappointing to the norm?
The upside is pleasant surprises.
Maybe our expectations (or hopes) are just to high.

On the flip side, Garmin Barrikuda has every reason to be ecstatic with the overall.


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## den bakker (Nov 13, 2004)

The Weasel said:


> At what point does it go from disappointing to the norm?
> The upside is pleasant surprises.
> Maybe our expectations (or hopes) are just to high.
> /QUOTE]
> why? he has won stages in all three grand tours in the last few years. Surely the expectations are to do better not worse for each year?


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## thechriswebb (Nov 21, 2008)

As far as Hesjedal having to do all of the work, I think that he was the strongest and the others were just holding on. The Italians had basically given up and Lampre was putting their efforts into a Cunego stage win. The only rider remotely on Hesjedal's form was Purito and the tactic he played was the best for him. He is not a diesel engine and probably couldn't make a long solo attack stick. He held on until the end and launched an explosive attack close to the finish to get as much time as he could to defend pink and hope for a time trial miracle. It was the correct move for him, as he rode the best time trial he had ever ridden and made the distance between 1st and 2nd closer than expected and was literally a dropped chain or overcooked corner by Hesjedal away from winning the overall. 

If anything, the Italians may have just given up before the stage even started. I still think they were just holding on for dear life. Christian VDV completely neutralized that group for most of the climb and Ryder was just stronger than them for the rest of it. I'm reminded a little bit of the Tour last year when Evans had to chase down Andy Schleck all by himself.


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## foto (Feb 7, 2005)

thechriswebb said:


> As far as Hesjedal having to do all of the work, I think that he was the strongest and the others were just holding on. The Italians had basically given up and Lampre was putting their efforts into a Cunego stage win. The only rider remotely on Hesjedal's form was Purito and the tactic he played was the best for him. He is not a diesel engine and probably couldn't make a long solo attack stick. He held on until the end and launched an explosive attack close to the finish to get as much time as he could to defend pink and hope for a time trial miracle. It was the correct move for him, as he rode the best time trial he had ever ridden and made the distance between 1st and 2nd closer than expected and was literally a dropped chain or overcooked corner by Hesjedal away from winning the overall.
> 
> If anything, the Italians may have just given up before the stage even started. I still think they were just holding on for dear life. Christian VDV completely neutralized that group for most of the climb and Ryder was just stronger than them for the rest of it. I'm reminded a little bit of the Tour last year when Evans had to chase down Andy Schleck all by himself.


In hindsight, it is easy to see that Rodriguez was too conservative, and could easily have made those 16 seconds in the mountains. I bet he went through a few scenarios in his head, thinking about where he could have made some time.


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## slimjw (Jul 30, 2008)

foto said:


> In hindsight, it is easy to see that Rodriguez was too conservative, and could easily have made those 16 seconds in the mountains. I bet he went through a few scenarios in his head, thinking about where he could have made some time.


Hard to say if JRod missed opportunities to take that time or he just didn't have the legs towards the end but they all underestimated Ryder until the last couple days and then sat on him up the Stelvio instead of working together to bring back De Gent, who was a threat to everyone on GC. Of all those guys it is understandable that the pink jersey would ride defensively but Basso and Scarponi in particular paid for their tactics by ultimately losing their shots at the podium.


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## BCSaltchucker (Jul 20, 2011)

Sasquatch said:


> Great day for Canada...does the country know about it yet?


The Giro has been headlined in the papers and the TV sports and news for weeks now. But then, I live in Victoria which is Canada's cycling capital and Ryder Hesjedal's home town (as well as a plethora of other great cycling and tri champions). The city is just as giddy as when hometown boy Steve Nash took his team to the top of the NBA, maybe moreso with Ryder.


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## ohvrolla (Aug 2, 2009)

Don't know what to think of Lampre's performance. Scarponi 4th and Cunego 6th, but they're racing their own race instead of being all in for team leader and defending champion Scarponi.

Nice to see Rodriguez put in decent time trial, and hopefully those improvements will land him a GT victory one day.

Expect to see Hesjedal at next year's tour will GC ambitions after this year's performance in the Giro.


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## The Weasel (Jul 20, 2006)

den bakker said:


> why? he has won stages in all three grand tours in the last few years. Surely the expectations are to do better not worse for each year?


I guess we will have to see, but I believe most would agree that the expectations were, to date, larger (much larger) than the results.


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## paredown (Oct 18, 2006)

The Weasel said:


> I guess we will have to see, but I believe most would agree that the expectations were, to date, larger (much larger) than the results.


To be kind, he has also come of age when there is very dominant sprinter Cavendish) and some other stiff competition.

To win bunch sprints takes all the bio-mechanical stuff--and *lots* of experience to get to the right spot, at the right time. And it takes some degree of luck on top of that. 

The trouble with hype, is that it is just that--and it burdens a young rider because if he doesn't live up to it, he is failing to live up to expectations.


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