Giro'in

Guest

Stage 1 saw the Lion King do his stuff, but from an Aussie perspective it all looks healthy - both Graeme and Robbie figuring in the finish, possibly a bit questionable was the impedence of Robbie - but he will have his day no doubt!!

GO AUSSIE GO!!!!!!

;D ;D ;D

Guest

I'm sure both Robbie and Graeme will have their day.

Who here thinks Cadel Evens could finish on the podium?

Guest

rapidio, in this sport that is dominated by northern hemisphere athletes, i felt very proud to see 4 southern hemisphere riders finishing in the top 10 in yesterday's first stage (with our only south african in the giro, robert hunter finishing 6th and mexico's miguel angel meza in 7th place). robert is really a pioneer for sa cycling!  i won't talk cricket or rugby here   :-X - i think we will be much better friends if we unite behind the southern hemispere cyclists for the giro and tdf!  

steve, i definitely think cadel evans will do very well in the giro. he certainly proved he has what it takes with his podium position in the tour de romandie. however, with mapei backing stefano garzelli for the gc standings, and other race favourites like gilberto simoni and dario frigo being backed by their respective teams, i don't think evans will make it to the podium in this year's giro. let's also not forget about francesco cassagrande! let's hope the aussie and the south african can help garzelli to the podium (evans in the mountains and hunter in the flats),  with some southern hemisphere stage wins in the process. look out for robert hunter this week - he is never satisfied with second best and i think he is very hungry for a big stage win!

viva mapei quick step viva!!

Guest

Evens is a man for the future, he's only 24 or 25 so he has plenty of time.

Guest

viva mapei quick step viva!!

so, garzelli is in pink!

we don't have live coverage of the giro here in sa - have to wait until 21:30 every night to see the highlights, but thanks to internet technology we can follow the action almost live on www.cyclingnews.com. again we have a southern hemisphere rider in the top 10 of both today's stage and the gc (cadel evans).

Stage 2 - May 13: Cologne-Ans/Liege, 209 km

Results
1 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step         5.25.12 (38.58 km/h)
2 Francesco Casagrande (Ita) Fassa Bortolo
3 Jens Heppner (Ger) Team Telekom
4 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner
5 Tyler Hamilton (USA) CSC-Tiscali
6 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank
7 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Lotto-Adecco
8 Cadel Evans (Aus) Mapei-Quick Step                 0.03
9 Michailov Kalilov (Ukr) Colombia-Selle Italia
10 Juan Carlos Dominguez (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems
11 Fabrizio Guidi (Ita) Team Coast
12 Dario Frigo (Ita) Tacconi Sport-Emmegi
13 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Acqua e Sapone

General classification after stage 2

1 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step        11.10.45
2 Fabrizio Guidi (Ita) Team Coast                    0.13
3 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Lotto-Adecco                  0.19
4 Juan Carlos Dominguez (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 0.21
5 Matthias Kessler (Ger) Team Telekom                0.27
6 Wladimir Belli (Ita) Fassa Bortolo
7 Francesco Casagrande (Ita) Fassa Bortolo           0.31
8 Mikhaylo Khalilov (Ukr) Colombia-Selle Italia      0.33
9 Matthias Buxhofer (Aut) Phonak Hearing Systems     0.34
10 Cadel Evans (Aus) Mapei-Quick Step                0.37
11 Dario Frigo (Ita) Tacconi Sport-Emmegi            0.41
12 Andrea Noe (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step
13 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank
14 Daniele De Paoli (Ita) Alessio
15 Serguei Gontchar (Ukr) Fassa Bortolo
..
55 Pavel Tonkov (Rus) Lampre
59 Marco Pantani (Ita) Mercatone Uno                 1.44

Guest

You wouldnt think Mapei would want a rider in pink this early, theres still almost three weeks to go. Its gonna be tough to control the race for three weeks, 10-12 days maybe, but three weeks is a long time. They are the number 1 ranked team so if any team can do it, these are the guys for the job

Guest

yes, it's gonna be tough to control the race for so long, but i think this will make for some very exciting racing. it will be very intersting to see what mapei's team tacticts will be over the next couple of days. i doubt if they will try to defend the maglia rosa at all cost because it's still early days, but it also gives nice exposure to their sponsors.

with so many favourites in the race capable of winning overall, the giro is likely to provide more excitement than le tour, even more so with ullrich out of it.

Eldron

Robert Hunter is becoming a household name - check it out (from cyclingnews.com):

17:21 CEST - 181 km/25 km to go

Who will it be today? Cipollini is the odds on favourite, but don't discount Brown and McEwen, as well as Danilo Hondo, Massimo Strazzer, Robert Hunter, Fabrizio Guidi...

Team Coast and Acqua e Sapone are getting serious about the chase, as they still need to close a 1'00 gap.

Don't think it will be Hunter winning the stage though - here's why:

17:42 CEST - 196 km/10 km to go

Cipollini is very well placed on Garzelli's wheel, as three Mapei riders lead the way. Robert Hunter is on the front now as the riders negotiate a series of corners coming into the finish.

I reckon Robbie is either setting up Bettini for a go at a stage win or sitting tempo to protect Garzelli.....

Either way the man is getting attention!

Guest

But here comes the Cipo train. Now fully operational and travelling very quickly. Sciandri doesn't last long.

17:53 CEST - 204 km/2 km to go

Cipollini has three teammates in front of him, with Lombardi getting ready for the final leadout. Colombo and Scirea are in charge now. Danilo Hondo and Biagio Conte are right up there on Cipollini's wheel. McEwen is not there any more.

...seems Cipo has other plans...

Guest

17:54 CEST - 205 km/1 km to go

Graeme Brown is on Hondo's wheel with 1 km to go, but it looks like a Cipo sprint. Lombardi winds it up with Cip and Hondo right behind him. Cipollini looks and then goes. He wins. Starzzer is second and Hondo third.

...what can you say? the lion king is good!

...this is quite exciting... following the giro on the net... almost like listening to the rugby on the radio in the days before tv  

Eldron

No way! Nothing beats screaming at the TV and the post race debate (fight).

Damn ITV digital (UK TV service provider) for going belly up - I was going to 'work from home' all of May so I could watch Cipo do his stuff!!!

I hope I go like Cipo when I'm 33!!!

Guest

i definitely agree - nothing beats tv, but this brings back memories of my very early childhood (1975 - before we had tv in sa - then we used to listen on the radio how the springboks beat the living daylights out of the oposition). we don't have live coverage of the giro here - only highlights late at night and in the morning.

Guest

well, the mapei guys did enough to keep garzelli in pink - it will be interesting to see for how long!

viva mapei quick step viva!

Eldron

Hehehehe you should see me in the office - offering up silent prayers cos I can't leap about the room yelling 'GO HONDO GO HUNTER'. I'm a bit of a Telekom fan....

Ah the radio - remember when TV first started and we watched the test pattern for hours before TV started at 5pm in the afternoon. Giving our age away zini!!!!