Giro D'Italia 2008 : Stage 2 - Sunday, May 11: Cefalù - Agrigento, 207km

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Stage 2.

Stage 2.
after stage 1

before stage 3

:D

after stage 1

before stage 3

:D

I've got to insert some text to create the thread !
Stage 2 was a bit obvious, I have to concede :D

Obvious or not... It looks like a real fun stage for the fans. Almost like a hilly classic. Looking at the profiles, I see that there are quite a few stages with many short climbs. RCS must have felt sorry for Bettini last year, since they have adapted so many stages to his qualities :)...

I think these stages will make for a good Giro to watch, also when not in the high mountains. Stages made for sprinters are usually boring.

The CN profile (http://www.cyclingnews.com.au/road/2008//giro08/?id=stages/giro082) has this little summary:

Departing from Cefalù, on the northern shores of Sicilia, many of the riders might be thinking of the 1994 World Championships – that day when France's Luc Leblanc battled Italy's Claudio Chiappucci to be crowned king in Agrigento, on the island's southern coast. Sunday's 207-kilometre trans-Sicilian stage will be very undulating and favour an attacking rider when it arrives on the same stretches used in the Worlds 14 years prior.

Ex-World Champion Igor Astarloa is eyeing the stage. "I have already had a look at many of the Giro stages, also the second stage, after the time trial," Astarloa of Team Milram noted. "It is the same spot of the Worlds that was won by [Luc] Leblanc, in Agrigento. This year, there are a small number of stages for the sprinters and many finishes on small ascents; stages for [Paolo] Bettini, [Danilo] Di Luca."
I like this kind of stage; not a pure sprinter's stage. It might be perfect for the classics-type rider to pinch a Giro stage win.

I don't see a break winning, unless it's a nobody on GC, since the GC won't have played out yet and no-one knows who will be a threat. So if someone like di Luca wins, it will be from a larger pack.

Bettini should be well suited (remember that stage when he barrelled over Baden Cooke and then spat the dummy?) or some other bloke that can get over a hill. Astarloa? Hondo? O'Grady? Ignatiev?

edit: I see I've repeated what you've said, JJ. Apologies all, got distracted in drafting this.

The CN profile (http://www.cyclingnews.com.au/road/2008//giro08/?id=stages/giro082) has this little summary:


I like this kind of stage; not a pure sprinter's stage. It might be perfect for the classics-type rider to pinch a Giro stage win.

I don't see a break winning, unless it's a nobody on GC, since the GC won't have played out yet and no-one knows who will be a threat. So if someone like di Luca wins, it will be from a larger pack.

Bettini should be well suited (remember that stage when he barrelled over Baden Cooke and then spat the dummy?) or some other bloke that can get over a hill. Astarloa? Hondo? O'Grady? Ignatiev?

edit: I see I've repeated what you've said, JJ. Apologies all, got distracted in drafting this.
Mcgee? Bettini. Bennati. Ogrady. Di Luca. Nocentini. Gusev, Iglinsky

Roriguez, Rebellin, Ricco, Ardilla, Astarloa

Mcgee? Bettini. Bennati. Ogrady. Di Luca. Nocentini. Gusev, Iglinsky

Roriguez, Rebellin, Ricco, Ardilla, Astarloa
Aw hell, Zabel too. Don't want to miss anyone.

Aw hell, Zabel too. Don't want to miss anyone.
is he sick tho?

I dont see anyone beating Bennati tho.

is he sick tho?

I dont see anyone beating Bennati tho.
Yeah, he should clean up this year.

Yeah, he should clean up this year.
he has no real helpers tho.

Cav has the best help, Greipel, Wiggins, Hansen, and riders like Possoni and Pinotti will pull.

Mcewen will enjoy Cav being able to pull the sprint with his team. Be interesting to see if Mcewen can come around him on a one and one clean sprint. If Cav is launched at 200. I am sure Bennati could. I don't think Mcewen can beat Cav if Cav is launched frm near terminal velocity at 200 metres. Above 200 metres, Mcewen can just wait in his wheel for Cav to slow.

I cycled that very same route three years ago when I was on holiday in Sicily!


I agree with Drongo - it has all the hallmarks of a stage similar to the classics.

Kiss of death : Jens Voigt.

I cycled that very same route three years ago when I was on holiday in Sicily!


I agree with Drongo - it has all the hallmarks of a stage similar to the classics.

Kiss of death : Jens Voigt.Ricardo Ricco

Bettini, Nibali, Ricco, Di Luca in that order. I think the hill at the end is too long for a true sprinter to make it through. Should be some small time gaps at the finish.

Any reason to suspect that already mentioned names like Ardila, Astarloa, and McGee will be performing well enough to hang with the likes of the many Italians that seem to excel at these types of finishes? These three have all struggled for various reasons the last few years. Wondering if there have been indicators to support such optomism.

Any reason to suspect that already mentioned names like Ardila, Astarloa, and McGee will be performing well enough to hang with the likes of the many Italians that seem to excel at these types of finishes? These three have all struggled for various reasons the last few years. Wondering if there have been indicators to support such optomism.

Can't go past Bettini for this stage, and di Luca to finish first of the contenders.

The last time McGee looked the biz was that Tour de Suisse stage win in 2005. I wouldn't write him off though - remember that until 2005, di Luca was something of a perennial disappointment. After the change of teams from Saeco, he suddenly got a lot better. The same thing can happen to McGee.

Any reason to suspect that already mentioned names like Ardila, Astarloa, and McGee will be performing well enough to hang with the likes of the many Italians that seem to excel at these types of finishes? These three have all struggled for various reasons the last few years. Wondering if there have been indicators to support such optomism.
yeah, cos it will be piano for the first 200 km. Only the last ten will be racing.

Well, Astarloa won't win today. Those pesky stomach bugs.

Soler crashed but apparently, everything is alright. Roy and Loosli have a 7 min lead with 60 km to go. The peleton better starts working now.

What happened to Zabriskie? He seemed to be stretchered out...

Yes, Zabriskie crashed badly and is out. Don't know how badly he is injured but he didn't look too serious.

Apparently Contador went down as well but is up and riding again.

For a dark horse, how about Iglinsky (astana) today? He did well in the Tour de Romandie, winning an uphill sprint on one stage and coming third on the uphill climb at the end of the last stage. He also did well on the other stages. The climb at the end today is probably longer than the ones he faced at the end of stages in Romandie but on the mountain stage he came about 15th so he should be able to deal with a longer climb. Problem is that he may be working as a domestique but maybe he stands the best chance out of the Astana riders today?