Season 12

[Vos]

stage 4 Giro ;
6º  Melnikov
A strategic change of plans, I decided that Melnikov could be the teamcaptain instead of the GC rider.
Perhaps he could surprise with a tactical trick and win this stage, despite he could not challenge any favorites.
The tactical trick worked ( I assume his mechanical breakdown in s3 did not matter ), but unfortunately ; too many smart 1A managers.
Well, I had to try, and in this way more points than going for a max.10th GC place or so, and even this could be too optimistic.
Because my tour cyclists finished far behind stage 4 winner Travin ( Thorboassonarvesen ) ;
98º  Ibarrola ( free role )  on 3:29"
101º  Bustelo ( free role )  on 3:34"

Also in the GC they are far behind ;
76º  Bustelo  on 3:43"
82º  Ibarrola  on 3:56"
With 3x free role and 1x helpers role of Bustelo, it still is doubtfull if I made the right strategic choice in GC teamcaptain.
Again Bustelo has to sacrifies himself in the upcoming brutal mountain stage. After this stage 5 it is more clear if a good GC result is possible.

[Sjiz]

The Queen stage of the Giro did bring some spectaculair racing including breaking up the group in echelons on a climb just after the start! Incledible to see. But also really useless because there is no way 5 riders can hold off a rampaging peloton. Ah well. A little showboating from the confident Hilton, remember Roglic?, and the questionable tactical choice of Pandolfi. In the end Loinaz kept his head cool and he stuck to the plan. Follow the peloton and wait for the final climb. In true boring fashion. But it did result in a better race and a nice 6th place finish. He again took some time back and now that all the non GC guys have dissapeared it becomes very clear thet Hilton is lonely at the top but behind him there is a fierce battle for the rest of the podium and top 10 with the #2 and #13 separated by just 1 minute.

[Vos]

stage 5 Giro ;
2º Ibarrola   on 0:10"
30º  Bustelo ( helper )  on 1:23"
He was not one of the favorites, so this is an excellent result behind 1st favorite Hilton.

Ibarrola moved up 61 places in the GC, but still 1 second behind the top 20 ; 21º on 3:47".
Bustelo now 28º on 4:47", but he can forget a GC result after a helpers role in this queens stage 5.
Also in the other stage with a mountain finish he will be the main helper.
So, I guess I will never know who would be the best suited GC rider for this Giro ; Bustelo or Ibarrola.
The choice for Ibarrola is to me logical, because he can score more points in the stages, as he proved now with his 2º place in stage 5.

[Flandria23]

Great stage by Hilton.

Less time gaps than I expected, we recuperate some seconds. The 2 t'ts still to come so dont dismiss us for fighting the Top5.

As warriors we never give up till the last day

[WinterIsComing]

The Queen stage of the Giro did bring some spectaculair racing including breaking up the group in echelons on a climb just after the start! Incledible to see. But also really useless because there is no way 5 riders can hold off a rampaging peloton. Ah well. A little showboating from the confident Hilton, remember Roglic?, and the questionable tactical choice of Pandolfi. In the end Loinaz kept his head cool and he stuck to the plan. Follow the peloton and wait for the final climb. In true boring fashion. But it did result in a better race and a nice 6th place finish. He again took some time back and now that all the non GC guys have dissapeared it becomes very clear thet Hilton is lonely at the top but behind him there is a fierce battle for the rest of the podium and top 10 with the #2 and #13 separated by just 1 minute.

Sjiz is talking about tactics a lot in this thread, but after 5 stages, of which 3 including cobbles, he should be a little ashamed of the fact that the incredible Loinaz is only 40 seconds in front of Pandolfi. 

[Sjiz]

The Queen stage of the Giro did bring some spectaculair racing including breaking up the group in echelons on a climb just after the start! Incledible to see. But also really useless because there is no way 5 riders can hold off a rampaging peloton. Ah well. A little showboating from the confident Hilton, remember Roglic?, and the questionable tactical choice of Pandolfi. In the end Loinaz kept his head cool and he stuck to the plan. Follow the peloton and wait for the final climb. In true boring fashion. But it did result in a better race and a nice 6th place finish. He again took some time back and now that all the non GC guys have dissapeared it becomes very clear thet Hilton is lonely at the top but behind him there is a fierce battle for the rest of the podium and top 10 with the #2 and #13 separated by just 1 minute.

Sjiz is talking about tactics a lot in this thread, but after 5 stages, of which 3 including cobbles, he should be a little ashamed of the fact that the incredible Loinaz is only 40 seconds in front of Pandolfi. 

40 seconds or 1 second it doesnt make a difference in Milano. _{We do first need to get there though and keep that 1 second}

[WinterIsComing]

I would be very surprised and excited as well if that would happen. But I think there is minimal chance, as Loinaz is far more suited for this Giro as Pandolfi. Good luck.

[Sjiz]

I would be very surprised and excited as well if that would happen. But I think there is minimal chance, as Loinaz is far more suited for this Giro as Pandolfi. Good luck.

Not when i ride like this. That was painful to see, maybe we can salvage something this Giro. But these cobble stages have been brutal for me. Twice a poor tactic.

[Vos]

stage 6 Giro ;
53º  Ibarrola  on 1:21"
A perfect job of masterhelper Neville with 5x the hand symbol.
This is thé reason Ibarrola could hold on to his 21º GC place. Now on 4:33" and 7 seconds behind the nr20.
I'm hopefull that some top20 GC contenders are less good in the time trial than Ibarrola.
Top10 GC seems out of reach, already more than 2 minutes behind.

[Vos]

stage 7 Giro ;
9º  Bell
43º  Ibarrola  on 1:22"
A good hill-TT and Ibarrola enters the point scoring GC places ; now 18º GC on 4:20"

[Vos]

stage 8 Giro ;
8º  Ibarrola  on 0:18"
28º  Bustelo ( helper with 5x hand symbols )
Very good result and Ibarrola moved 2 places up, now 16º GC.
In a perfect Giro, so without tactical mistakes, bad luck and the 1 time free role ; I estimate he could have done about 1½ minute better.
What still would be 11º, so out of the top 10. And Ibarrola is bad compared to many GC contenders in the final stage.
So he has to ride a good stage 9, the flat time trial, to make sure he is approximately at the current place in the final GC.

[Vos]

stage 9 Giro ;
+ = 9º  Bell
Pffffff and wtf, twice a mechanical breakdown for this former Aurora Australis time trialist.
His former teammates did better and finished as nrs 1, 2, 4, 5 and 15. Nice results, AA !

Ibarrola did very well in this time trial ; 36º and no mechanical breakdowns ! He moved up one place and now 15º GC.

[Sjiz]

Loinaz moved up as expected. Now 8th in the GC. There doesnt seem much room to move up further so tonight will be about defending his 8th place.

[Flandria23]

Very dissapointing Giro d'Italia by Odom. We made the wrong lecture on the route and the 67 Cobblestone without sprint maybe wasnt enough for achieve the big goal that was at least the Top5.

Now we will rest some races before the TDF, where Bouguen must turn things around.

Despite the Paris Nice, Volta and Itzulia wins the season has been full of low moments too.

I want to felicitate Rico, Hilton completed a brilliant race with the two wins and total domination that finally has been not translated on the final general class., that's really missleading.

Also Óscar Marcos for sure is a name to follow for the incoming seasons.

[Vos]

In the final Giro stage Ibarrola could hold on to his GC position. Final GC = 15º   
Let's go to the Dauphiné !