Giro d'Italia Stage 1 – May 9th, Belfast (TTT) 21km, **Warning: Unmasked Spoilers**

dastardly00

Stage 1 – Friday May 9th, Belfast - Belfast TTT 21km (***)

It's finally time for the big start .....

TTT start order & times:
17:50 Colombia
17:55 Orica-GreenEdge
18:00 Tinkoff-Saxo
18:05 FDJ.fr
18:10 Team Katusha
18:15 Movistar Team
18:20 Lotto-Belisol
18:25 Trek Factory Racing
18:30 Belkin Pro Cycling Team
18:35 Team Europcar
18:40 Lampre-Merida
18:45 Team Sky
18:50 Cannondale
18:55 Team Giant-Shimano
19:00 AG2R La Mondiale
19:05 Androni Giocattoli-Venezuela
19:10 Garmin-Sharp
19:15 Bardiani-CSF
19:20 BMC Racing Team
19:25 Omega Pharma-Quick Step
19:30 Astana Pro Team
19:35 Neri Sottoli

Map:



Profile:



Last kilometres:



Weather: Windy with rain showers in the morning then partly cloudy in the afternoon. Rain showers in the evening will evolve into a more steady rain overnight.

Betting odds: Orica GreenEdge 4/9; BMC 5/1; Movistar 8/1; Belkin 14/1; OPQS 20/1.

Live TV coverage on Eurosport1 from 5.30pm and on BBC2 from 6.30pm. Highlights on Eurosport1 at 11pm, Sky Sports 3 at 11pm, and Eurosport2 at midnight.

Live text ticker here.

MPFG

Great Job...thanks for starting it off Dastardly- even though you are just back from Galway

(Just like the last Grand Tour last September - which turned out to be a humdinger
And I think i can say now that this one will be epic also)

I think BMC are very up for this but I fancy Movistar the most ...( to me they have the best team in the race and not just cos in includes Quintana)

dastardly00

As long as it's not lashing rain when the first teams roll off the ramp, I think Orica have this in the bag. They've openly said that their aim for the Giro is to win this TTT, and with the likes of Durbridge, Meyer, Lancaster, Tuft, and Weening, I think only the weather can beat them.

couerdelion

dastardly00 wrote: »

As long as it's not lashing rain when the first teams roll off the ramp, I think Orica have this in the bag. They've openly said that their aim for the Giro is to win this TTT, and with the likes of Durbridge, Meyer, Lancaster, Tuft, and Weening, I think only the weather can beat them.

Yep, after winning the TTT at the tour they are the ones to beat alright - even though they only beat OPQS by 1 sec then they've a much stronger TT team.

MPFG

NIco's diary today

http://www.independent.ie/sport/other-sports/cycling/nicolas-roche-the-welcome-i-received-in-belfast-gave-me-goosebumps-30258594.html

We have some riders on the team for this Giro who haven't yet ridden a team time trial as a professional

:eek:

Can safely say Tinkoff Saxo are not going to win

Daithi BC

Tinkoff Saxo due out to practice at 10am according to Nico's diary. Lots of rain overnight in Belfast, but dry now.

Darkglasses

Going down to watch the practice now. Will post up if I get any decent snaps/intel. Roads right now are damp but they could dry up by this evening.

Daithi BC

Sean Kelly just rode past in An Post kit. Doing a recce for commentary?

Daithi BC

Sean Kelly just rode past in An Post kit. Doing a recce for commentary?

MPFG

Probably ...Sean is on Eurosport at 5.30pm

Darkglasses

Really enjoyed that, none of the teams really going that fast so might have gotten a few nice pictures. Saw Sean Kelly there too.

Amused to see that 3 Lampre riders got dropped on their last lap :eek:

dastardly00

Daithi BC wrote: »

Sean Kelly just rode past in An Post kit. Doing a recce for commentary?

Daithi BC wrote: »

Sean Kelly just rode past in An Post kit. Doing a recce for commentary?

Did he do two laps of the course? :pac:

Darkglasses

Lots of teams in their winter woolies this morning.

godtabh

Darkglasses wrote: »

Really enjoyed that, none of the teams really going that fast so might have gotten a few nice pictures. Saw Sean Kelly there too.

Amused to see that 3 Lampre riders got dropped on their last lap :eek:

And not even going flat out?

Darkglasses

godtabh wrote: »

And not even going flat out?

Not even close. In reality I guess one of them felt a niggle or something and dropped back, and two went with him as a precaution.

irishrover99

I'm picking Orica-GreenEdge for the win. Very strong team
Second will be Omega Pharma-Quick Step

el tel

Even though I can see them from my office window its still bloody hard to believe that the Giro is taking place on the streets of Belfast. It's incredible really.

Darkglasses

Two of my favourite photos from twitter today

Daithi BC

dastardly00 wrote: »

Did he do two laps of the course? :pac:

Wouldn't put it past him!

The wind has really got up now. Tailwind out to Stormont and headwind back.

on_the_nickel

Had a little nibble on Lotto to get top 3 at 25/1.

Rambling Man

Great snaps, Darkglasses. Appetite whetted.

DDC1990

Don't look at RTE's photos unless you want to facepalm yourself into oblivion.

Team Sky's Philip Deignan during Friday's warm up for the Giro d'Italia

Team Sky warm up ahead of the start of the Giro in Belfast on Friday

and my favourite!

Team USA pass the statue of Edward Carson as they enter the Stormont estate during a practice session on Friday

Yes folks. Team USA!

neris

great pic of the katusha guys going past the mural

pelevin

Team USA?! They should be brilliant. Who have they got - Armstrong, LeMond, Horner? Although wait, whatever about the first two there, Horner's bound to be too old by now.

happytramp

pelevin wrote: »

Team USA?! They should be brilliant. Who have they got

Think I saw Kevin Costner pulling on a Jersey.

Dcully

Eurosport ,3 add breaks in 14 minutes ffs

pelevin

happytramp wrote: »

Think I saw Kevin Costner pulling on a Jersey.

He should be good all right. And that Stallone fella might be all right. And Bush.

slap/dash

Dcully wrote: »

Eurosport ,3 add breaks in 14 minutes ffs

To channel Kelly: there will be "a number" of ad breaks

Dcully

slap/dash wrote: »

To channel Kelly: there will be "a number" of ad breaks

BBC 1 HD coverage from 6:30

pelevin

I'm tipping the Colombians to win today's stage. With that headstart, hard to see anyone catching up with them.

slap/dash

Dcully wrote: »

BBC 1 HD coverage from 6:30

Yeah I'm 'pregaming' at the mo with a nice dogfishhead at the local hostelry

MPFG

Love Kelly

Mattchews, Ulrika Gren edge, Tour of Romondy

godtabh

Dcully wrote: »

BBC 1 HD coverage from 6:30

Are they showing the whole giro

happytramp

Crazy crowds at Stormont.

Bukman13

Colombia down to 6 riders early, they will lose more and more time as the stage goes on.

A_Sober_Paddy

Turnout is frantastic

Also, are Team Columbia racing the Tour?

Bukman13

Rain starting to come down, Orica and Tinkoff get a bit of an advantage if it continues to pour down.

pelevin

Called it. Team Colombia win.

Bukman13

Roche and Majka could benefit hugely from these weather conditions. Katusha and Movistar way down at the 1st intermediate.

Mr. Grieves

Weird seeing Stephen Halpin every ad break in that Tour of Azerbaijan ad.

MPFG

Bukman13 wrote: »

Roche and Majka could benefit hugely from these weather conditions. Katusha and Movistar way down at the 1st intermediate.

Was it Roche crossing line first...didn't look like him...thought he was supposed to

dastardly00

Mr. Grieves wrote: »

Weird seeing Stephen Halpin every ad break in that Tour of Azerbaijan ad.

That ad is absolutely doing my head in. The tune is getting so annoying!!!

wirelessdude01

Tinkoff were all over the place for the finish.

Bukman13

MPFG wrote: »

Was it Roche crossing line first...didn't look like him...thought he was supposed to

No he was in the group of 4/5 that were tailed off a bit. It was a sloppy finish by them.

dastardly00

Still not a bad result from Tinkoff though.... Only 23 seconds behind Orica.

MPFG

Bukman13 wrote: »

No he was in the group of 4/5 that were tailed off a bit. It was a sloppy finish by them.

Yes need to stick together ....

Bukman13

MPFG wrote: »

Yes need to stick together ....

They only came apart on the last corner, apparently its "wet and nasty"

Katusha over a min down on Tinkoff/

on_the_nickel

on_the_nickel wrote: »

Had a little nibble on Lotto to get top 3 at 25/1.

That went well.

dastardly00

That puts Nico 1min 10sec ahead of Purito.

Bukman13

Movistar 32seconds behind Nico/Tinkoff

68 lost souls

A lot of the road still looks to be in awful condition. I can also see why CI need so many marshalls, having to control the crown all over the road is a tough job.