2013 Giro d'Italia, stage 17: Caravaggio - Vicenza 214k, **Unmasked Spoilers**

Inquitus

Cavendish versus the Hill

Mark Cavendish has performed excellently to date in a Giro that really doesn't suit him. His win on Stage 13 which ended with a similar profile, though not as steep, was reminiscent of his Milan San Remo climbing form of a few years back.

In order to win the red jersey at this juncture one must conclude that he needs to probably win this stage or Cadel is likely to beat him narrowly. Love him or hate him he really deserves this imo.

Unfortunately the weather is again a factor and it looks likely that the big dolomite mountain stages may have to be eviscerated due to the weather, snow overnight and more snow forecast for Fri and Sat. This may mean the GC guys decide to attack hard on this steep climb in which case it will certainly be goodbye Cav.

http://webcam.popso.it/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/IT/IDPagina/28#

retalivity

lol...navadauskas pulls a betancur

Inquitus

And the Hill wins

happytramp

Inquitus wrote: »

And the Hill wins

Hill always beats Cavendish.

letape

Fantastic stage and attack by Visconti. Few riders could have managed to stay away!

johnk123

Finally got caught up to date! All this recording of stages was starting to mess with my head and others wanted space on the sky box!! Good stage!

bazermc

Curious - how does Cav's climbing ability compare to us amateurs or racers etc?

He struggled up the category 4 climb yesterday against the GC guys, but I presume he would still be way ahead the typical weekend cyclist. Sound right? Anyone know if he is on Strava or something similiar so I could see his pace up the climb yesterday.

Inquitus

bazermc wrote: »

Curious - how bad is Cavendish at climbing compared to us amateurs?

He struggled up the category 4 climb yesterday against the GC guys, but I presume he would still be way ahead the typical weekend cyclist. Sound right?

Stage 14



Winner 4hr42mins55secs - Santambrogio
Cavendish - 5hr05mins26secs

Distance 180km

Nibali Avg - 38.3kph
Cav Average - 35.41kph

Fancy your chances?

happytramp

Inquitus wrote: »

Winner 4hr42mins55secs - Nibali
Cavendish - 5hr05mins26secs

Distance 180km

Nibali Avg - 38.3kph
Cav Average - 35.41

Fancy your chances?

Nibali hasn't won a stage yet right?

bazermc

happytramp wrote: »

Nibali hasn't won a stage yet right?

Correct, and may not win any before Sunday but still take overall GC

I dont think that would be the first time it has happened in a Grand Tour, if my memory serves Cantador took TDF few years ago with no actual stage wins

Inquitus

happytramp wrote: »

Nibali hasn't won a stage yet right?

Sorry he gifted it to the defo not Panyagua Santambrogio, they both finished on (st) though.

letape

bazermc wrote: »

Correct, and may not win any before Sunday but still take overall GC

I dont think that would be the first time it has happened in a Grand Tour, if my memory serves Cantador took TDF few years ago with no actual stage wins

Ryder H didn't win a stage in last year's Giro and took the overall

uphillonly

bazermc wrote: »

Curious - how does Cav's climbing ability compare to us amateurs or racers etc?

He struggled up the category 4 climb yesterday against the GC guys, but I presume he would still be way ahead the typical weekend cyclist. Sound right? Anyone know if he is on Strava or something similiar so I could see his pace up the climb yesterday.

Good question. I've always wondered that. Even if they aren't posting on Strava there must be some Internet Forum People who've timed them on Alpe d'Huez Tour stages or Telegraph a few days ago. My guess is that Cav is about a 50-55 min man on Alpe d'Huez. All the EPO times were sub-40 but since then the winning times have been low 40s.

The other side you don't see from sprinters is that they are supposed to be the best descenders and make up minutes on the climbers. Makes sense when you think of their bike handling in a 70kmh bunch sprint.