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Not long til the Giro 2020 kicks off - will it run till the end? We've already lost two days of the BinckBanck Tour thanks to lockdowns, will Italy manage the situation better than Belgium?
Who are the contenders? G and Yates both seem on good form after the Tirreno Adriatico. Nibbles is playing out, will he deliver? Deceuninck Quick Step seem to have a team leader I've not heard of. Sagan is there for the sprints, as he promised he would ride it - will he finally get a win this year, or will Ned Boulting be proved prophetic?
No coverage or highlights on terrestrial TV for many of us, though S4C will have live coverage of the whole stage with welsh language commentary and Quest TV will be showing Eurosport's daily highlights programme at 7pm each day (freeview channel 12, or 114 for HD)
I've also set up the customary fantasy league over at Velogames
https://www.velogames.com/
League Name: STW FANTASY TOUR OF ITALY 2020
League Code: 946458930
The STW Fantasy TDF was fun, and at 12th I think that was my highest every finish - and most gratifying as I was rock bottom after the first stage!
Just had a look at the start list here ( https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/giro-d-italia/2020/startlist/roster) and I hardly know any of them 🙂
Nibbles FTW.
You'd think Thomas has to be in with a very good shout, especially with the team he's got with him too.
Well,well the EF team has selected a guy I beat on the last section of a Bikepacking race in Andalusia a couple of weeks ago. Not bad for a 60 year old.
Unfortunately he'd finished the race 2 days earlier as he'd ridden the 700km non stop rather than stopping to eat and sleep. I'm sure I'd have got him had the event lasted until Christmas 😁
Go Lachlan, he should be a contender if he rides non stop.
There's a fair bit of TTing and I'm not sure that the Shark is that good at TTs anymore, I know he's not bad but he's not top tier - It'd be great to see an Italian win the Giro, although there aren't obvious contenders other than Nibali or possibly Guilio Ciccone and he rides for Trek so will he have to work for Nibali ??
If not Thomas or Yates then I'd rate Kruijswick to be in with a shout.
Looking forward to this, I always like the Giro as it's quite unpredictable. Saying that G has to be in with a shout if he can stay upright.
Can anyone confirm if the S4C coverage via BBC iPlayer will be in English?
Not sure if to get the eurosport subscription.
S4C is normally welsh language coverage (and a comment on twitter means I expect it will be), though I understand they sometimes offer an alernative commentaty stream in english.
Excellent, can see my WFH Office remaining downstairs next to the TV for the next 3 weeks!
I expect the high mountain stages towards the end of the Giro may not happen as planned due to snow/poor weather. (Nearly 2800m in the last 2 weeks of October could be a tad fresh).
EF have a new kit for the Giro and it's, erm, well it's very, erm...
https://cyclingtips.com/2020/10/check-out-efs-wild-palace-kit-for-the-giro-ditalia/
Feeling confident - definitely aiming to finish higher than than 5th (last... 🙂 )
Interesting reading
https://thepelotonian.com/2020/09/30/velogames-preview-italy-2020/amp/?__twitter_impression=true
I, for one, am looking forward to seeing EF out on the TTs:
https://twitter.com/Vaughters/status/1311794036114690048?s=20
That EF kit is great, and the bike 😍
I'm really liking the EF kit too, I'm not normally one for team jerseys but I could see me considering one if it's released...
I can see the Giro getting cut short, if the weather doesn't play nice and local covid status' looks variable then it might just get binned and/or some stages skipped. You'd hope the organisers have a few contingencies up their sleeve.
Afternoon bump, you have till about lunchtime tomorrow to get your teams set up. Ebtry list looking good so far
https://www.velogames.com/italy/2020/leaguescores.php?league=946458930
I did very badly in the TdF Velogames. 2 of my team had to drop out and a 3rd bad choice was Pinot.
Come on bunny hop pull your finger out.
Here’s inrng’s preview for today
https://inrng.com/2020/10/giro-stage-1-preview-palermo/
A downhill TT sounds terrifying to me.
Alex Dowsett has planned bike change for the TT
https://twitter.com/alexdowsett/status/1312287784460263425
Looks like one of those short uphill sprinty stages today:
https://inrng.com/2020/10/giro-stage-2-preview-agrigento/
We’ll see if Sagan has been holding something back today.
And it’s liege Bastogne liege today. Women’s race is on now!
And it’s liege Bastogne liege today. Women’s race is on now!
I am SO confused by the cycling calendar right now!
is there a Giro highlights show that i can find on catch up?
my welsh language understanding might have to improve now ive got S4C working...
Quest TV will be showing Eurosport’s daily highlights programme at 7pm each day (freeview channel 12, or 114 for HD)
The racing is good, the Italian scenery is nice - but Rob Hatch and Brian Smith are dreadful. Rob isn't too bad except for his over-pronunciation of every name, Brian is just awful.
Come back Ned and David, we need you!
Rob isn’t too bad except for his over-pronunciation of every name
He's just pronouncing their names correctly. He makes a point of asking riders how they'd like their names pronounced so that he can get it right. I think that shows an enormous amount of respect.
Here's today's preview by inrng:
https://inrng.com/2020/10/giro-stage-3-preview-etna/
Summit finish on mount Etna today so could be interesting for GC. I suspect that it might be one of those stages that's controlled until the very last moments then a bunch of skinny guys have a sprint.
Well, yesterday's stage made mockery of my late changes to my velogames team when I took out the unfancied Kelderman and rejgged other riders so I could afford G 🙁
Hope G is ok, I saw footage of the crash and it looked bad, the man has some special guts to ride so far after going down like that. Team confirmed last night there were no broken bones, but a decision will be taken this morning as to whether he withdraws from the race. If he does it's another game changer with the rest of the team free to challenge for stage wins or potentially one of th other jerseys.
Very pleased though to see James Knox as highest placed british rider in the race - yep, 16th place at 01:40 puts him above Tao Geoghan Hart (24th, 3:12) and Simon Yates 25th (3:46)
Today's preview:
https://inrng.com/2020/10/giro-stage-4-preview-villafranca-tirrena/
Is there any news on how Geraint is? Maybe it's too early.
swavis
Saying that G has to be in with a shout if he can stay upright
Bollox, sorry G 🙁
Going by his latest FB post I think he's out. I can't see it confirmed anywhere yet though.
Anyone have a good source for the highlights of each stage online? Don't have a TV. All I can find are the official one and Eurosport one, but they're five minutes long max, which is usually nowhere near long enough to get a feel for what's happening.
There's some videos on a Youtube channel called Snooker Planet (?!), though watermarked "Cycling Planet" but they seem to be someone filming the race on TV, zooming in and out every 5 seconds. Properly dodgy.
The 1 hour Quest highlights programme is available on https://dplay.co.uk/
Perfect! Thanks a lot!
Another one bites the dust - having lost G from my fantasy team, Yates is now out thanks to Covid19
https://twitter.com/MitcheltonSCOTT/status/1314823396157513729
NOt great news 🙁