2018 PRO thread

[CrankAddictsRich]

^^^^ that's the truth, if the Giro has taught us anything in the last few years, its that ANYTHING can happen.... an ice wall can jump out and take you down at the top of any mountain pass... beware!

[bilwit]

Dumoulin would have won this Giro from this deficit against last year's opponents, but I don't think it will happen against yates.
Strange, lately I was wishing for shorter TT stages in grand tours, now I wish there were 80+ km...

he still has a VERY good chance at winning, he'll put 2 minutes and change into Yates easily in the TT. Only losing half a minute today was a huge victory for him.

[raincity]

With what next week has in store I couldnt pick anyone right now as the favorite.

[mrgray]

it was a wonderful nights racing and fantastic to see froome back himself with wout up front putting pace on. i thought froome's celebration at the line was wonderful and heartfelt (and goofy - dude is not a stylist - contrast the open hearted joy with contador lining up the pistola!). amazing the contrast between how easily yates was with the group prior to froome riding away with froome and wout. didn't see how dumoulin was doing but i presume he was ok.

i think Yates was thinking of days to come but Froome wanted to prove something to himself.

my pick is Tom D because i think he is getting better and better and for him to lose so little time yesterday when Yates went with 3 km's to go is really something.

i was sorry we didn't see Pinot go nuts. but again, many tough days to go. maybe taking it "easy" on the Zonc was the way to go.

the Giro is spectacular and really does make the TDF look like a disastrous turd re: actual racing and suspense.

i do think it is noteworthy how flustered Wout and Chris looked at say 5 km's to go last night. i just can't recall Wout especially ever looking anything other than very controlled. but then again, i've never seen them at the Giro before.

[Daniel1975]

I think Yates is going to win the Giro because of those f*cking bonifications. I have always hated that system.
It’s an unfair advantage for the climbers. A TT specialist does not get any extra after a win and it reduces the chances for the early attacts.

[REGICYCLE]

Froome was impressive, especially when you consider the lead up, crashes, pressure and negativity. Regardless of whether you like him or not he deserves credit for the effort he made. This race is still wide open with some big mountain stages plus the TT to come. *f##k* I love the Giro.

Fully agree... If Froome finds his feet (or his wheels) he could certainly take 3 minutes over the next few mountain stages.

[wingguy]

i was sorry we didn't see Pinot go nuts. but again, many tough days to go. maybe taking it "easy" on the Zonc was the way to go.

Pretty sure he was shown half collapsed against the barrier gasping out of his ears just after the finish. Don't think easy had anything to do with it, looks like that was as fast as he could go on the day.

[guyc]

Easy?

Seriously?

[ooo]

Previously, Froome was able to win grand tour without winning non-tt stages.

Last week, Lance told in his pocast: if Froome will be giving TOO much effort to win single stage, that may mean Froome is in doubt about his GC results

[nathanong87]

credit to where credit is due. I counted Yates was as close as 4 seconds (counting from live footage) and Froome pulled it out. Impressive!

[Rondje]

How can 1 rider dominate nearly every mountainstage like this? Almost Pantani like. Really wondering if he can keep this up till Rome.

[maquisard]

As I said earlier but it looked like Yates was over geared for the really steep stuff. Yates was within catching distance of Froome up until the very last ramp at which point Froome was able to manage the steeper gradient better than Yates could and stayed away.

[BdaGhisallo]

No matter what transpires between now and the end of the Giro, you have to give Simon Yates a lot of credit for how he is racing it to win. When was the last time we saw a gc leader attack so often and fight so hard to gain time at every opportunity? The contrast with the TdF style of the last decade - get your train to hammer the stage and wait until the 2km to go point before any gc rider dares an attack - is quite striking and refreshing.

Love the Giro!

[Haydn]

Yeh this is another brilliant Giro, next week should be exciting.

[maquisard]

Plus, it is refreshing to see a GC leader that actually looks good on a bike, unlike the mess that is Froome.

Yates is the new Contador, attack attack attack, light it up!