Obscure thread alert!: 2002 Giro d'Italia (1 Viewer)

[Jay H]

How's this for an obscure thread...

{if you haven't heard the latest news from the Giro, and don't want to know, don't read any further)


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What on earth is going on with this year's Giro? Are the directors trying to kick out every past winner or favorite for the tour???? First Garzelli, then Simoni, now Casagrande has been kicked out of the tour... Rumors has it is that 2-time winner Ivan Gotti is the next one to be given the boot. This is absolutely incredible. I'm really hoping now that either Cadel Evans of Mapei of Tyler Hamilton of CSC-Tiscali take it all. I think Cadel has a pretty good shot even though nobody knows how good he'll be in the third week in the Dolomites... He looks great and I think he is impressing alot of people who might not be familiar with him from his MTB career. Wonder how close Tyler would of been if he didn't crash on every other stage!!! I hope his shoulder injury isn't going to affect his climbing though, he's been reported as saying he had problems climbing out of the saddle due to some sholder stiffness so hopefully, he'll be recovered in time for this weeks hilly stages coming.

Let the circus continue!!!

Also hearing that Lance Armstrong won Midi Libre, woohoo...

Jay

 

[CameronJ]

Alright Jay, I figure someone has to reply to your obscure thread.

I don't follow road racing as much as I used to, but it would be great to see an American win the Giro. I'm not too sure it will happen though, as Tyler doesn't seem to be holding up well in the mountains.

I didn't realize that Cadel was back racing on the road. If I remember correctly, he was originally a roadie, switched to knobbies and won some titles.

All that being said, I'm ready for the Tour this year. I think Lance has a great chance at another win. I'm actually heading to France for vacation this year, and am planning on going to two stages, the climb up Mt. Ventoux and the finale in Paris. If I can sneak another one in, I might see another stage either in Bordeaux or in the Pyrennes.

 

[Jay H]

After watching yesterday's stage, I think you're right, Hamilton had an awful last climb and may be out of the top spot...If he can recover in today's milder stage, he does have a shot at 2nd or 3rd, but 1'48" is alot to catch up on a 44km time trial... But then I'm not familiar with Salvodelli's TT skills. I know I shouldn't but I feel bad for Evans, I mean, it's his first Giro or major tour and nobody expected him to do much, but it was awesome when it lasted...
..and I was dreaming of an All-american grand tour..if Lance can win the TdF and Levi Leipheimer has a very outside chance in the Vuelta...
Never been to France, is Mt. Ventoux in the Alps or the Pyranees? I think if you do a mountain stage, you should push all the Americans up, I see the Tifosi always pushing the Italians up in the Giro, we should help the Americans!
Jay

 

[CameronJ]

you should push all the Americans up

That's why I'm going!!

Mt. Ventoux is in the Alps. It's the end of stage 21. As far as I can make it out, it looks to be about 1850m of climbing in about 25km!!

Of course the elevation chart on the tour website isn't to scale (x vs. y axis), but the way they have it makes it look almost like they're going straight up the mountain.

The only problem will be figuring out how early I need to get to the summit to get a good spot (and how to get to the summit). I know that my wife is going to be dead-set against camping, but I might be able to convince her that a night spent at 6,000 feet in our rental car will be romantic.

 

[Jay H]

a night spent at 6,000 feet in our rental car will be romantic.

What kind of car?
I imagine that most would camp up there to get the best spots, you can sometimes see tents and stuff during the helicopter shots during the tours. Bring a US flag and maybe I can spot you there or so. My project manager used to go to france all the time on business and he was only a few blocks from the Champ E'lysses in 2001 when the Tour ended, and noooooo, he didn't go to the finish...Sheesh, even if you're not a cycling fan, the finish must be a giant party and celebration.
I love OLN's little topo map renders of the stage, they're pretty neat to watch and gives a nice perspective of the length and difficulty.
Looking forward to see tonight's rebroadcast.. can't go to any cycling sites for fear of being spoiled...
Jay

 

[Jay H]

Congratulations to Paolo Salvodelli who had an awesome time trial and to a good show by Tyler Hamilton on today's time trial. After Tyler failed to put any time on the first checkpoint, I kind of felt the writing's on the wall and it proved to be true. Phil, Paul, and Bob seems to think that if Tyler didn't have those crashes, he would of won, but I'm kind of wondering since he surely lost time in the prologue, I think the other crashes were during the stages where he could catch up via his teammates. However, the question is whether the accidents affected him mentally and physically, as he did mention he had a problem with his rotator cuff and standing climbs. Hard to say as a spectator, but seeing how the Falcon beat Hamilton on the last time trial and had a great ride when Hamilton was struggling shows how well he was conditioned for the third week.
I like the guy, I think he should get the award/jersey for most antagonistic towards the podium girls.. When he got the pink jersey in the last mountain stage, OLN showed him literally getting off the podium to chase a podium girl and sprayed her with champagne and then went back to get the other girl... It was hilarious! I would love to be at each finish just to see the spectacle!
Forza Tyler!
Jay