Giro stage 1, F^HF^HH ;48º Rønneberg 0:51"
A bad race.
I did not select a hills-helper and Rønneberg wasted a lot of energy in s1 + s2, because the s3 group was enormous with 127 cyclists.
What had as advantage that ( to my big surprise ) the sprinter and the flatcobble specialist could return in s3 and do the helper's job.
But still, Rønneberg should have saved more energy for s5. Now an unnecessary time loss of at least 0:13" or probably
0:21"If I knew in advance how this race would go, he could finish even 0:31" faster.
But after the race it is easy how the tactics should be, and I assume more GC contenders used too many energy in s1 and/or s2.
Giro stage 2, FMDMM, 1x wind ;12º
Kummer ( helper )
13º
Beckham ( helper )
23º
Rønneberg 2:25"
Again a bad race.
Rønneberg had 2 superhelpers at his disposal, who were riding in different helper's tactics so that at least one would be the s4 helper.
But a dissapointing s4 ; Kummer went suddenly 7 sec. too fast and Beckham was 21 sec. too slow.
The already in s4 isolated Rønneberg finished unlucky as 1st of a big group of 13, what is never good and costed 0:09"
But the real damage was done by the tactical mistake of not having the important s4 helper. Most likely this costed
0:43", that is a lot.
Giro stage 3, FFFFF ;46º Rønneberg 0:23"
Best helper Myller had a complete off-day by a sudden s2 drop and he never returned.
Luckily back-up helper Hummeslby did a great job by keeping his teamcaptain in the front till s4,
and he finished together with Rønneberg in the 2nd group.
What is a decent, normal result to Rønneberg in a sprint race without wind.
Giro stage 4, FHHF^F, 1x wind ;17º
Rønneberg 0:20"
An excellent race, because he had to do it on his own.
Although he had unexpected help in s2 of Hummelsby, what might have been crucial to be ( isolated ) in the s3 front group of just 16.
He could hold on to the high pace of the front group in s4, where almost no cyclists returned ( now 17 in the s4 front group ).
And finishing in the middle of the big 2nd group is good, especially because he had no suited helpers for this stage.
But Rønneberg is good in "heavy-hills-sprint" stages, for example with a good helper he would have finished in the 2nd group easily.
Now, without good helper and with 1x wind, it was risky, but he did great and no unnecessary time loss.
Giro stage 5, FFMDM ;6º Beckham ("helper")
12º
Rønneberg 1:48"
Unfortunately masterhelper Beckham was going too fast in s3, and stayed one group ahead in s4 + s5.
But Rønneberg was not isolated, because back-up masterhelper Kummer did a good job in s3 + s4.
So, it was a good race, although with an unlucky finish because Rønneberg finished as 1st of a big group, what costed
0:25"Rønneberg is now
3º GC on 0:59", what looks good, but I assume not good enough because he fears stages 6 + 9 + 10.
And too much unnecessary time loss ( a total of -
1:29" ) in the first half of this Giro, due to bad luck and tactical mistakes.
Maybe my worries are unjustified if he can limit the damage in the windy flat-cobblehills stage 6,
ánd if he rides an amazing windy sprint stage 7 + an amazing mountain stage 8.
But for now, I estimate that he cannot win the Giro and that he only had a chance if everything would go perfectly.
What was for sure not the case in stages 1 + 2 + 5 ; way too much total time loss in this Giro so far.
Hopefully Rønneberg can still achieve his secondary Giro goal = a 539k sponsordeal of top 4 GC. But he fears the many GC rivals with TT.
TOP 20 GC, after 5 stages :
1
Serafim Gois 32
Flyvende_hjul 0: 00"
2 Lucio Queiros 31 FaltososDeChigre 0: 52"
3 
Lasse Rønneberg 32
SPORTLIFE 0: 59"
- - - - - - - - - -
4
Gustave Gloor 30 Turrones 1: 14"
5
Thies Neuhaus 26 QuintoYtapa 1: 22"
6
Tor Steine 25 ValeronIdolo 1: 24"
7
Aad De Jong 27 Bikeos 1: 44"
8
Servais Yarkin 31 HTCHungria 2: 26"
9
Ferdinand Tajan 29 ValeronIdolo 2: 43"
10
Sten Longva 27 OphiukoCT 2: 48"
- - - - - - - - - -
11 Dean Chester 28 Marcatone_Due 3: 20"
12 Daniel Alejandro Viñas 30 Fiestina 3: 24"
13 Arnfinn Mikalsen 32 TeamEuroscalt 3: 25"
14 Lukas Streller 28 Matterhorn 3: 27"
15 Bud Dixon 28 Codex 3: 47"
16 Henriks Valdmanis 32 KunTeam 3: 48"
17 Pat Martin 31 Flyvende_hjul 4: 05"
18 Alexey Ryazanov 33 RealMurciaCycling 4: 21"
19 Armen Huaco 32 KunTeam 4: 27"
20 Simone Conti 28 Shiro_Lions 4: 54"
stage winners :stage 1 =
Jorge Javier Cabeza ( 29, Thorboassonarvesen )
stage 2 =
Arnfinn Mikalsen ( 32, TeamEuroscalt )
stage 3 =
Jacco VanSwieten ( 27, Yvo_Meppelink_ProCycling )
stage 4 =
Marten Smeets ( 26, Villavante )
stage 5 =
Arnfinn Mikalsen ( 32, TeamEuroscalt )
