# Il Lombardia



## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

My favorite of all the Classics. New route again this year with a new climb... 2k @16% with spikes to 27%!

Race preview:
http://inrng.com/2012/09/lombardia-preview/

Coverage / internet stream links:
http://www.steephill.tv/classics/giro-di-lombardia/

Gilbert and Contador have to be the favorites. But, this is Italy. So I'm going with an Italian for my pick:

Luca Paolini.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

btw, whatever happened to Oliver Zaugg?


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## TerminatorX91 (Mar 27, 2011)

Gilbert


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## LostViking (Jul 18, 2008)

Conti


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

...it sure would be cool to see Gilbert win, alone, in the rainbow stripes...


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## foto (Feb 7, 2005)

Boonen. Cause that would be so awesome.


er...except he is not on the startlist.

Ok, lets go with JRod as a hungry puncheur. Although 2 tightly contested GTs may have taken the pep out of his step?

although Nibali would be awesome too.


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## foto (Feb 7, 2005)

Creakyknees said:


> btw, whatever happened to Oliver Zaugg?


Oliver Zaugg is a worker bee that slipped under the radar last year because he is a worker bee that never wins anything.


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## Dan Gerous (Mar 28, 2005)

Contador.... But I'd prefer to see Nibali win, a gift to his Liquigas-Cannondale team before they part ways.


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## LostViking (Jul 18, 2008)

My Prediction - Vacansoleil will be the best dressed team:

News Story | Bianchi USA

But the winner will be wearing Blue, Black and Yellow.


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## foto (Feb 7, 2005)

Hideous kit, but I like their style on the bike.

De Gendt doing some awesome **** would also be awesome.

ok, finally settled on a prediction...

duh duh duhhhhhh

Bart De Clercq will win the Giro Lombardia 2012!

You heard it here first (and only here).

in all seriousness though, Quintana would be awesome too. He looked really good in the vuelta, it'd be good for him to score big this year.

I like rooting for the columbians, since they are so talented yet still seem like underdogs amongst all those euros


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## foto (Feb 7, 2005)

er...there is a whole columbian team at lombardia. I hope they get in there and mix it up, never heard of any of those riders though...


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## burgrat (Nov 18, 2005)

Here's a video of the Muro di Sormano that they added on this year. 

Muro di Sormano on Vimeo

It is going to be crazy good to see this. According to the video, the Muro is 1.7km, 17% average gradient(!), 25% max. gradient. I can't wait. I'd like to see Contador, Gilbert, or Nibali take this one. My pick is Gilbert.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

Start time: Saturday 10:35 CET (4:35:00 AM CDT); Current Weather in Bergamo
Earliest live video: 14:30 CET (7:30:00 AM CDT);
Approximate finish: 17:10 CET (10:10:00 AM CDT); Current Weather in Lecco

2012 Giro di Lombardia Live Video, Route, Teams, Results, Photos, TV


media source	tv or internet	comments/restrictions
live video (italian)	Italy; worldwide unrestricted live video at 14:30 CET
live video (restricted)
live video (italian)
tv schedule	Italy; live coverage starting at 14:00 CET
live video (restricted)
live video (unrestricted)
tv schedule	Italy; live coverage starting at 15:05 CET on RAI Tre
live video (english)
live video (english)
live video (english)
live video (english)
tv schedule (british)
tv schedule (int'l/cet)
live ticker (english)
Europe; live coverage and rebroadcasts in 59 countries; starts at 15:00 BST / 16:00 CET
live video (restricted)
live video (Dutch)
live video (Dutch)
tv schedule	Dutch; Ronde van Lombardije is live on Sporza at 14:30 CEST; likely restricted to Belgium/Europe
live video (french)
RTBF; Belgium; French commentary at 14:10 CET
live video (english)
tv schedule (see comments)	United States; Online streaming only for those that subscribe to a cable, satellite or telco video tier, or package, that includes Universal Sports Network
live text (italian)
live text (english trans.)
occasional updates from Gazzetta dello Sport
live text updates	live text updates
live ticker (german)
German text updates
steephill text updates
#lombardia twitter group	short text updates from any and everyone


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## kbwh (May 28, 2010)

The Muro is the shortcut to the top of the Sormano. The descent is where Nibali crashed out of contention in the wet 2010 edition. Plenty steep, 20% in places, switchback galore. Probably not so many _foglie morte_ to lock up your front wheel on this year, but Gilbert should be wise and choose black shorts with his new jersey:

Weather forecast.


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## foto (Feb 7, 2005)

um, if its gonna rain, my jrod pick is not so smart...


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## Salsa_Lover (Jul 6, 2008)

Will watch it on RAI Sport Due


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## LostViking (Jul 18, 2008)

Looking forward to it...Forza Celeste!


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

watching the sporza.be stream now, Dutch commentary is my favorite


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## Salsa_Lover (Jul 6, 2008)

Ballan and Gilbert crashed on the descent


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## Salsa_Lover (Jul 6, 2008)

Gilbert is out


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## LostViking (Jul 18, 2008)

Pity about Gilbert - hope he's okay.


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## Salsa_Lover (Jul 6, 2008)

Had a bleeding elbow and looked scared according to Savoldelli, he was descending fast trying to catch the lead group.


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## Salsa_Lover (Jul 6, 2008)

Ballan, Paolini and Dany Moreno also crashed,

Ballan's bike was all broken and the wheels twisted, he looked ok though.


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## LostViking (Jul 18, 2008)

Where's Conti?


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## den bakker (Nov 13, 2004)

Salsa_Lover said:


> Gilbert is out


so much for him looking forward to the rain....


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

still a big group after the Ghisallo.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

crash on the descent... Nibali and Tiralongo


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## Salsa_Lover (Jul 6, 2008)

Nibali crashes too on the descent


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

and now DeWeert, solo


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

30 k to go, Basso's been spending a lot of time on / near the front.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

Nibali's back in contact but not looking happy.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

God what a beautiful place.


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## foto (Feb 7, 2005)

aball's fork fell off???


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

foto said:


> aball's fork fell off???


my guess is he fell then his bike got ran over


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## foto (Feb 7, 2005)

Nice little select group.


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## foto (Feb 7, 2005)

nice bit of motopacing.


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## foto (Feb 7, 2005)

argh! no images! What's going on???


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

nice win by J-Rod to win the race and the World Tour ranking


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

six and a half hours in the rain. yikes.


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## burgrat (Nov 18, 2005)

J Rod deserved that one. Great end to a great year for him. I don't envy those guys riding in that crap, but that is why I love this sport! That was a mess out there.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

Oliver Zaugg in 8th place.


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## shoegazer (Nov 2, 2007)

super race - truly a classic! nice way to wrap the last of the monuments for 2012


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## foto (Feb 7, 2005)

I guess I shouldn't be a fair weather fan...that was awesome!


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## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

Giro di Lombardia - Race of the Falling Rain !!


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## kbwh (May 28, 2010)

foto said:


> aball's fork fell off???


Yeah, he probably wallet it. Gilbert must have gone down at the same time.
TV moment of the day when the camera zoomed in on half a BMC fork leg on the wet asphalt.

Told you all that racing down the Sormano in the wet is dicey.


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## Salsa_Lover (Jul 6, 2008)

Congratulations to Purito for a great and well deserved season closing win


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## harlond (May 30, 2005)

foto said:


> um, if its gonna rain, my jrod pick is not so smart...


I'd say nice pick but . . . .


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## foto (Feb 7, 2005)

harlond said:


> I'd say nice pick but . . . .


yeah...I don't really know much about pro cycling. I should just go with my gut and stick with it.


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## LostViking (Jul 18, 2008)

J-Rod is a hard-man! Yeah he deserves to be the leader of the World Tour - and not just for today's result.
First Spaniard to win at Lombardia - Near miss in Spain - stages in all three Grand Tours - in the mix throughout the year.

Purito has rocked it this season. Fitting that he should finish like this.

P.S. I was right about Vacans - best dressed team. :thumbsup:


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## foto (Feb 7, 2005)

JRod seemed really hungry this year. And he got a lot of good results. He is a fun rider to watch, and he has a likable personality.

Gonna have to go ahead and disagree about vacansolei though. The old kit looks a lot better then the celeste mess...


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## den bakker (Nov 13, 2004)

LostViking said:


> J-Rod is a hard-man! Yeah he deserves to be the leader of the World Tour - and not just for today's result.
> First Spaniard to win at Lombardia - Near miss in Spain - stages in all three Grand Tours - in the mix throughout the year.
> 
> Purito has rocked it this season. Fitting that he should finish like this.
> ...


I'd probably focus more on the Fleche Wallone victory over a fictional Tour de france stage  
but yes, an impressive season.


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## vismitananda (Jan 16, 2011)

Mike T. said:


> Giro di Lombardia - Race of the Falling Rain !!


Or you mean Race of the Falling Riders 

Great win by JRod. This really is his season, come close into winning a GT. :thumbsup:


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## burgrat (Nov 18, 2005)

vismitananda said:


> Great win by JRod. This really is his season, come close into winning *2* GT's. :thumbsup:


FIFY. I agree, great season for him!


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

highlights:

2012 Giro di Lombardia Highlights (2012/giro-di-lombardia)


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

Great photo gallery here:

2012 giro-di-lombardia photos page-01

The organizers painted the altitude on the new road so the riders could see each meter of vertical gain go by. Cruel, if you ask me. But, still awesome.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

Caption: "Luca Paolini (Katusha) bloodied and glaring at the camera"


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

"Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) has had a big year, but he called this the biggest win of his career"


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## vismitananda (Jan 16, 2011)

burgrat said:


> FIFY. I agree, great season for him!


Oh yes, that's what I mean.  2 GT's.


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## Cinelli 82220 (Dec 2, 2010)

Did the forks break and cause a crash, or break because he hit the rock wall? No video?
Note the extremely clean break at the same point on both sides of the fork!
Also, one moment Gilbert is off the front, then he's shown sitting in a car with no explanation. As noted above there is a flash of something on the road that looks like a fork blade. If claims are true that his forks broke too there's really something rotten in Denmark...err..Switzerland.
A very frustrating race to watch, all the action was where the cameras were not.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

Gilbert was not off the front; he was gapped on the Muro di Sormano and crashed while chasing on the descent.


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## Cinelli 82220 (Dec 2, 2010)

Sorry my bad, I was trying to watch it and work! Missed everything important.


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## burgrat (Nov 18, 2005)

Creakyknees said:


> Caption: "Luca Paolini (Katusha) bloodied and glaring at the camera"


Jesus, it looks like he wants to attack the cameraman! And where is his bike? Run!!!!


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## ultimobici (Jul 16, 2005)

Creakyknees said:


> The organizers painted the altitude on the new road so the riders could see each meter of vertical gain go by. Cruel, if you ask me. But, still awesome.


Not the organisers doing at all. Il Muro di Sormano was renovated a few years ago by the local council, making it a sort of living art installation.


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## kbwh (May 28, 2010)

It's great. 
And Saturday's race showed that its possible to get up it now. It's getting down again that is the tricky part it seems.


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