Giro d’Italia!

[Dickie]

The BeIn commentary has been just horrible…. worse than Americans commentating Premier League. In the second stage I learned more about the commentator’s dinners and bowel movements than the actual race… I finally turned off the sound and enjoyed the images. I thought Pozz’s accident was one of the more brutal images in a long time…. that was until I saw Daniele Colli’s forearm facing in the wrong direction after the sprint carnage today! My breakfast didn’t stand a chance. SPOILER ALERT – looks like a big contender might be out due to the accident as well.

[PotomacCyclist]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWZIOGJ_-OY

Today’s Stage 6 sprint finish.

The last image, shown shortly after the finish, might be upsetting to some. It’s a shot of one of the riders who crashed near the finish.

Some SPOILERS below, but not major ones.

>
>
>
>
>

The rider is on the ground with one arm that appears to be twisted back at an unnatural angle. I don’t know who went down but it appeared to be quite a few of them, including some well-known names. If you have to look and you aren’t bothered by such images, it’s at the 13:16 mark, just before the end of the video.

[Powerful Pete]

Yikes on the crash and the potential contender being… potentially out of the race. Apparently no fractures after the x-rays and he intends to start tomorrow… hoping he can and remains competitive.

Again, another video not for viewers who can be easily upset, but it appears that the crash was caused by a spectator trying to get a picture with an outstretched arm…

http://www.gazzetta.it/Ciclismo/giroditalia/14-05-2015/giro-italia-sesta-tappa-castiglione-contador-caduta-colli-ospedale-110820725115.shtml (video on the page with the Gazzetta article)

[PotomacCyclist]

Sounds similar to what has happened to him and others at past races. Even though he might start tomorrow, I wouldn’t count on him lasting too long.

Tomorrow’s stage will be 264 kilometers, or ~164 miles. That would be brutal on an injured arm, I would think. His knee might be banged up too. If your arm and your knee aren’t really working, I don’t know. He tried to gut it out with injuries at last year’s TdF (I think) but eventually he had to accept the fact that he was too banged up to continue.

However, if he does drop out and he is able to recover in a few weeks, this would actually put him in a better position to compete at the Tour de France. He would have only raced in 6 or 7 stages of the Giro and he would have seven full weeks to recover from the injuries and the fatigue of his brief stint in this year’s Giro. I still have misgivings about him racing, but if he drops out of the Giro now, he will be a more realistic GC competitor for the TdF.

[PotomacCyclist]

I think the rider in the videos is Daniele Colli. He has a compound fracture of the left humerus.

The GC contender suffered two shoulder dislocations, one in the crash and another before the post-stage ceremonies. Wow. They need to be more careful about those ceremonies, especially for someone that just dislocated a shoulder minutes before. Hard to see how you can ride for 164 miles the next day after shoulder dislocations. Even if he can ride, will he be competitive at all? Or will he drop out the back and lose 10 minutes or more? Or be forced to abandon the Giro altogether?

[Rockford10]

Can’t unsee that. Wow.

[PotomacCyclist]

We warned you it was unpleasant. Of course that might have induced you to take a look.

[Bruno Moore]

Stephens called tomorrow’s stage “the most boring of the Giro.” It was the one I wanted to see, if only because my ex girlfriend used to live in Viterbo, and the route they’re taking runs along the rail lines I’d take to visit her from Rome, along with a few places we took as day trips. Boring countryside? Yes, I’ll grant that, but I still occasionally buy bottles of wine from Montefiascone when I’m at Litteri’s just on general principle.

As for Sky…they don’t have the depth to deliver Porte to a GC win. They’ve already had people crash out, and they’re saving their firepower for Froome and the Tour. I don’t know if Contador is going to have the support he’ll need in the Tour—after all, he’ll likely have Sagan and a sprint squad as well as his domestiques there—which should add something extra to the mix. Will even the overendowed T-S squad be able to support both Contador’s GC hopes and Sagan’s green jersey defense at the same time? Can you buy two Tour jerseys if your pockets are deep enough? Will Lotto NL-Jumbo please stop stinking up the joint in Italy, or at least realize their potential in California?

The drama continues.

[Powerful Pete]

LOL Brünø, I am from Lazio, so I don’t consider it to be a boring part of the country (then again, I might be biased). Mind you, Fiuggi (where the stage ended today) is most probably the most boring town in the universe, and I am beginning to prefer shorter, punchier stages at the Giro.

Good riding in parts… I love these stages with plenty of rolling hills. Nice sprint finish today, and nice to see that Contador has made it through the stage. Tomorrow things get a bit more challenging, will be interesting to see what happens.

[Powerful Pete]

Another great stage. And today’s stage winner is the oldest ever winner of a stage at the Giro. 37 y.o. – so remember guys, its not your age!

[PotomacCyclist]

Richie Porte of Team Sky had a flat tire with just 7 km to go in yesterday’s stage. Fellow Australian Simon Clarke of Orica-GreenEdge helped out his buddy by giving him his wheel. Clarke is not a contender for the GC win, so he wanted to help a fellow Australian.

However, there is a rule against teams providing technical assistance to other teams. Race rules are not always enforced consistently (such as the frequent “sticky bottle” scenario we see often on TV coverage), but they enforced this rule. Porte had only lost 47 seconds on the stage. But the race jury handed down a minor fine and a 2-minute time penalty to Porte. That might have put the Giro out of reach for Porte.

http://velonews.competitor.com/2015/05/news/commentary-cycling-shoots-itself-in-the-foot-again_370969

[ShawnoftheDread]

@Powerful Pete 116178 wrote:

Another great stage. And today’s stage winner is the oldest ever winner of a stage at the Giro. 37 y.o. – so remember guys, its not your age!

Well, it’s not his age.

[Dirt]

@PotomacCyclist 116399 wrote:

Richie Porte of Team Sky had a flat tire with just 7 km to go in yesterday’s stage. Fellow Australian Simon Clarke of Orica-GreenEdge helped out his buddy by giving him his wheel. Clarke is not a contender for the GC win, so he wanted to help a fellow Australian.

It was a calculated risk that Porte took. If he waited for his team car, he knew that he was screwed. If he took the wheel, there was a chance it might not have been enforced. He had the second best outcome out of that situation.

I will say that I like to see a few days when the breakaway stays away. Nice, gutsy finish to the stage today.

[Powerful Pete]

@PotomacCyclist 116399 wrote:

Richie Porte of Team Sky had a flat tire with just 7 km to go in yesterday’s stage. Fellow Australian Simon Clarke of Orica-GreenEdge helped out his buddy by giving him his wheel. Clarke is not a contender for the GC win, so he wanted to help a fellow Australian.

http://velonews.competitor.com/2015/05/news/commentary-cycling-shoots-itself-in-the-foot-again_370969

Well, beyond the national “marketing” bits (he’s a mate, we’re both from Oz, we antipodeans are all-round nice folks who help one another out) , a favor is now owed by one team to another. And it is not unheard of that the benefitting team may provide a… monetary thank you for these favors.

Just to be the cynical southern European here…

[Powerful Pete]

@Dirt 116417 wrote:

It was a calculated risk that Porte took. If he waited for his team car, he knew that he was screwed. If he took the wheel, there was a chance it might not have been enforced. He had the second best outcome out of that situation.

I will say that I like to see a few days when the breakaway stays away. Nice, gutsy finish to the stage today.

Fair enough, although in the age of youtube and internet videos, he was going to get caught. And yes, Zakarin (sp?) is certainly impressive. Nice to see so many non-group finishes.

[Author]

Posts