Giro d'Italia Contest

[Bigwaved]

Originally Posted by j6ppc

Man I forgot next sunday Ouch.

Black Sunday....

[j6ppc]

Two brutal days of climbing in the final 6 days of racing as well.
They have back loaded the mountains this time around for sure.

[Bigwaved]

An interesting shake up of the gc today.

[j6ppc]

Originally Posted by Bigwaved

An interesting shake up of the gc today.

Indeed. Surprised they let a break get away.

General classification after stage 8
1 Marco Pinotti (Ita) T-Mobile Team 34.48.34
2 Andrea Noe' (Ita) Liquigas 0.28
3 Serguei Yakovlev (Kaz) Astana 0.54
4 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Lampre - Fondital 1.06
5 Francisco Javier Vila Errandonea (Spa) Lampre - Fondital 1.10
6 José Luis Rubiera Vigil (Spa) Discovery Channel 1.36
7 David Arroyo Duran (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 1.43
8 Evgeni Petrov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit System 1.51
9 Dario David Cioni (Ita) Predictor - Lotto 2.13
10 Alexandr Arekeev (Rus) Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo 2.17
11 Emanuele Sella (Ita) Ceramica Panaria - Navigare 2.27
12 Mario Aerts (Bel) Predictor - Lotto 2.58
13 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2r Prévoyance 3.04
14 George Hincapie (USA) Discovery Channel -
15 Hubert Schwab (Swi) Quickstep - Innergetic 3.30
16 William Walker (Aus) Rabobank 4.06
17 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas 4.12
18 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas 4.38
19 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 4.47
20 Marco Marzano (Ita) Lampre - Fondital 5.05
21 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team CSC -
22 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre - Fondital 5.06
34 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Discovery Channel 5.55
36 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Saunier Duval - Prodir 6.12
73 Aitor Hernandez Gutierrez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 9.28

[j6ppc]

José Luis Rubiera Vigil rode himself into the top 10 yesterday - if he's on form in the mountains a podium GC finish is not outside the realm of possibility.
As for the CS GC picks - Their gaps are starting to be large enough they'd better have some rocking form in the mountains or else give up GC hopes.

Tomorrow's stage includes a 16.3 km finishing climb. This after a sea level start and ascending an almost 900 M pass. Let the festivities begin.



General classification after stage 9

1 Marco Pinotti (Ita) T-Mobile Team 39.45.42
2 Andrea Noe' (Ita) Liquigas 0.28
3 Serguei Yakovlev (Kaz) Astana 0.54
4 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Lampre - Fondital 1.06
5 Francisco Javier Vila Errandonea (Spa) Lampre - Fondital 1.10
6 José Luis Rubiera Vigil (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 1.36
7 David Arroyo Duran (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 1.43
8 Evgeni Petrov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit System 1.51
9 Dario David Cioni (Ita) Predictor - Lotto 2.13
10 Alexandr Arekeev (Rus) Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo 2.17
11 Emanuele Sella (Ita) Ceramica Panaria - Navigare 2.27
12 Mario Aerts (Bel) Predictor - Lotto 2.58
13 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2r Prévoyance 3.04
14 George Hincapie (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team
15 Hubert Schwab (Swi) Quickstep - Innergetic 3.30
16 William Walker (Aus) Rabobank 4.06
17 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas 4.12
18 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas 4.38
19 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 4.47
20 Marco Marzano (Ita) Lampre - Fondital 5.05
21 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team CSC
22 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre - Fonditalrodir 5.45
34 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 5.55
36 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Saunier Duval - Prodir 6.12
73 Aitor Hernandez Gutierrez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 9.28

[stormin]

My man is just sandbagging. He's got everyone right where he wants them.........



firmly in his sights.......



in front of him........



so he can see them without getting a sore neck from looking behind him all the time.




We'll be separating the men from the boys now and all I can say is that Simoni better stand with the men and not the boys!

[j6ppc]

Is it tomorrow yet?

[Bigwaved]

Originally Posted by j6ppc

Is it tomorrow yet?

somewhere in the world it is...

[j6ppc]

Bring on the climbs

[icehog3]

Originally Posted by j6ppc

Bring on the climbs

I thought you were going to bed?

[Bigwaved]

Originally Posted by icehog3

I thought you were going to bed?

He is like that bad actor that keeps popping up to say one last thing...

[j6ppc]

Today shook up the GC a bit. Of the CS GC picks all but Gutierrez reduced their deficit on GC, with Simoni showing the most improvement.
I think Aitor is oficcialy toast. Tomorrow is a sprinter's stage, Thursday a tough mountain stage Friday is an uphill ITT. Both weekend stages also involve some serious climbing. Let the fireworks begin!


General classification after stage 10
1 Andrea Noe' (Ita) Liquigas 46.06.09
2 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Lampre - Fondital 1.08
3 David Arroyo Duran (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 1.15
4 Francisco Javier Vila Errandonea (Spa) Lampre - Fondital 1.38
5 Evgeni Petrov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit System 1.48
6 Emanuele Sella (Ita) Ceramica Panaria - Navigare 2.04
7 Serguei Yakovlev (Kaz) Astana 2.06
8 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas 2.58
9 Marco Pinotti (Ita) T-Mobile Team 3.11
10 José Luis Rubiera Vigil (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 3.22
11 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas 4.03
12 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 4.04
13 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre - Fondital 4.29
18 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Saunier Duval - Prodir 5.24
19 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 5.27
78 Aitor Hernandez Gutierrez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 25.43

[j6ppc]

Originally Posted by Bigwaved

He is like that bad actor that keeps popping up to say one last thing...

Whatever!

[j6ppc]

Sorry I missed the updates the last couple of days - been busy herfing and stuff. Lots of changes in GC.

General classification after stage 14

1 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas 62.10.40
2 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Lampre - Fondital 0.55
3 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 1.57
4 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre - Fondital 2.40
5 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Saunier Duval - Prodir 2.42

Popovych DNS on Friday's stage after Thursday's crash.
Aitor Hernández DNS on Thursday's stage.

Tomorrow should be epic. Qvarsity, Hockeydad and Stormin are still in the hunt. If today is any indication we could very well see Simoni or Cunego in the maglia rosa tomorrow. I'll go with Simoni.

[j6ppc]

General classification after stage fifteen

1 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas 68.00.55
2 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) Astana 1.51
3 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 2.56
4 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Saunier Duval - Prodir 3.19
5 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre - Fondital 3.23

Tomorrow is a well deserved rest day. As it stands now stormin is in the lead with qvarsity and hockeydad tied for second. Both Simoni and Cunego are good time trialers.

Here's a preview of the final week:

Stage 16 - Tuesday, May 29: Agordo (Dolomiti Stars) - Lienz (Austria), 189 km


Stage 17 - Wednesday, May 30: Lienz (Austria) - Monte Zoncolan, 142 km
looks painful.


Stage 18 - Thursday, May 31: Udine - Riese Pio X, 203 km
A day for any remaining sprinters.


Stage 19 - Friday, June 1: Treviso - Comano Terme, 179 km
A day where the big guns will try to conserve energy for the next day's ITT.


Stage 20 - Saturday, June 2: Bardolino - Verona (TT), 43 km
Look for a decisive day that should consolidate GC once and for all.


Stage 21 - Sunday, June 3: Vestone - Milano, 185 km
A glorious sprint finish in Milano - expect the tifosi to go crazy.