Giro D'Italia Stage 5: Modena to Cattolica (177km)

mr spuckler

Possibly the flattest and straightest stage profile I've ever seen, I can imagine the extreme boredom levels for the peloton if the weather is also bad :pac:

As CN put it in their preview;

This stage is so straight and flat that only the curvature of the earth prevents you from seeing the finish from the start.

The one thing that could liven it up would be crosswinds...







Odds from Bet365
Tim Merlier 11/5
Caleb Ewan 5/2
Dylan Groenewegen 5/1
Fernando Gaviria 6/1
Giacomo Nizzolo 9/1
Elia Viviani 10/1
Peter Sagan 14/1

TheBlaaMan

200m of elevation gain in 177km - even the Dutch riders will think this is a flat one. I have to climb more to get to the local shops (that's not strictly accurate..)

mewso

How fickle the bookies are. Surely if Caleb gets a good position he wins.

Paddigol

Epic LOLZ at that profile! And look at all those lovely mountains just off the hard shoulder!!

neris

https://twitter.com/robhatchtv/status/1392405526596759556?s=19

dastardly00

The organisers decided to put all the corners in the last three kilometres

Paddigol

Despite the snoozefest of a profile, I'm actually raging as I tend to visit relatives in Bologna and beach in Rimini every year. Would have been there for this but for, well, you know yourself!

mr spuckler

Paddigol wrote: »

Despite the snoozefest of a profile, I'm actually raging as I tend to visit relatives in Bologna and beach in Rimini every year. Would have been there for this but for, well, you know yourself!

I've bleated on about it here before but I would have been in Bormio last year around the time of the Stelvio stage but for, well, you know yourself! :pac:

mr spuckler

Big crowds out on the roads here in Bologna.

edit: interview with Campanaerts "how do you think the stage will go and when do you think you'll need to start chasing the breakaway?" :pac:

edit 2: brilliant for Fortunato riding out ahead of the peloton through his home town

Peterx

No 8 man breakaway today, those 2 lads will have earned their pasta tonight.

edit - nope, standard portions tonight, caught already

dastardly00

I'm not watching... but any reason why the peloton caught the break so early?

Peterx

Probably a miscalculation* as they have let 2 other lads go now

*in your own head please read in a Sean Kelly accent

mewso

Peterx wrote: »

Yes well, probably a miscalculation* as they have let 2 other lads go now

Ok now I can read it in a Sean Kelly accent.

Sivakov down, he's not the luckiest when it come to crashes is he.

mr spuckler

Landa down and looks in bad shape :eek:

retalivity

FFS Landa gone

Richard Hillman

Heartbreaking for Landa. I'm heartbroken for Landa

What a bad, bad stage.

mr spuckler

Flag man got milled there too

They are slow to move him there, hope he's ok. Gutted for him.

Oymyakon

Looks like he clattered the traffic signaller

Dcully

Gutted for Landa , really dangerous last 10 k.

mr spuckler

Another 2nd for Nizzolo?

De Bhál

looking forward to a review of that sprint - looked nuts

retalivity

Ewan is some man for threading the needle.

mr spuckler

Merlier furious there towards the end, whatever happened.

retalivity

mr spuckler wrote: »

Another 2nd for Nizzolo?

His 11th 2nd place!

Oymyakon

Nizzolo looked to go too early but I don't think anyone was gonna beat Ewan on that performance. I don't know why but I find Nizzolo one of the most forgettable sprinters over the last few years, he's always there or thereabouts but never seems to get a huge win (I'm not counting the European championship as a huge win)

Chain looked to be off for Merlier there.

Dcully

Bernie making a lot of sense there.

De Bhál

top class from Ewan

Dodge

Didn’t even look in today. Presumed nothing would happen. Shame for Landa

Brian?

****e stage.

Poor Landa.

Richard Hillman

There was nothing good about the stage. Flat as a pancake. There was no discernable breakaway, even the smaller teams were not too fussed in getting the shirts on tv. Then the last 20km or so were a minefield with tight corners and roundabouts.

And of course because of that, we lose a contender from the GC.

I know not every stage cant be a belter but when the race organisers were designing the tour, did any actually think "oh this will be a belter". Maybe they were looking at crosswinds, who knows. It was still a bit of a nonsense stage.

dastardly00

That was a sensational finish from Ewan.

The organisers need to take a hard look at themselves after choosing such a technical finish like that. Especially since the whole peloton would be in one group after the pan-flat route. F**king crazy :mad:

mr spuckler

Richard Hillman wrote: »

I know not every stage can be a belter but when the race organisers were designing the tour, did any actually think "oh this will be a belter". Maybe they were looking at crosswinds, who knows. It was still a bit of a nonsense stage.

It reminds me of the 253km sprint stage last year which was eventually halved after the riders refused to start - week 3 after several days in the mountains and they threw that sh1t at them. And it was pissing rain too! Clearly critical thinking is absent, at least to some degree.

Richard Hillman

I think the Peleton knew of the ending and there was a general agreement for there to be no serious breakaway. They didn't let the first 2 lads get away far and they were realed in halfway through the stage. And the second breakaway were always within arms reach.

They kind of knew that they didn't want to be chasing down a group of 4-5 into the last 10-15km

neris

https://twitter.com/cirogazzetta/status/1392520368896757764?s=19

koutoubia

dastardly00 wrote: »

The organisers need to take a hard look at themselves after choosing such a technical finish like that. Especially since the whole peloton would be in one group after the pan-flat route. F**king crazy :mad:

BUT BUT BUT None ofthe riders were in puppy paws position and the socks were of legit height so it surely cant be the responsibilty of the UCI if the riders cant avoid stupid traffic islands.....

(and in case anyone loses their sh1t with my post make sure your sarcasm detector is set to max )

retalivity

Landa out and in hospital with a suspected broker collarbone.
Bidard from AG2R went down in the same crash and is also out with a broken collarbone.
Dombrowski remounted and finished but was taken to hospital with suspected concussion.
Sivakov now also pulls out with an injured shoulder.

Carnage.

neris

Just watched the highlights there on S4C and apart from it sounding like dwarves from Lord of the rings the last 5km looked horrendous, littered with bumps lumps and roundabouts.

Landa and collar bones, was it San Sabastian in 2018 himself and possibly Quintana crashed and he broke his collar bone? Season over. Back racing in the early season 2019 in one of the early Spanish stage races and does the collar bone again.

dastardly00

Today is Dombrowski's birthday
From the high of winning the stage yesterday to the low of crashing this afternoon

dastardly00

dastardly00 wrote: »

Today is Dombrowski's birthday
From the high of winning the stage yesterday to the low of crashing this afternoon

Possible concussion for him according to the team.

neris

Not for the squeamish, incident from another side

https://twitter.com/ruedalenticular/status/1392558171437285376?s=19

^ You really get a sense of the speeds involved from that.

retalivity

Never heard anything about the flagman so i presume he's ok!

Cetyl Palmitate

retalivity wrote: »

Never heard anything about the flagman so i presume he's ok!

Based on how fast the flag disappeared he got a right smack. Likewise hope he is ok.

From the over head (just seeing it now on the breakaway) it looked like Dombrowski was the one to hit the flagman and took out Landa and Bidard as they passed.

EDIT: Sivakov is out according to the team

https://twitter.com/INEOSGrenadiers/status/1392567607702720519

De Bhál

Surely there's a better way to warn them about an island than a human being stood in the middle of the road. Some balls needed just to stand there even.

mr spuckler

retalivity wrote: »

Never heard anything about the flagman so i presume he's ok!

I thought I saw him get up pretty quickly and walking away - that could also have been self-preservation before the shock kicked in though.

retalivity

mr spuckler wrote: »

I thought I saw him get up pretty quickly and walking away - that could also have been self-preservation before the shock kicked in though.

Looks like he got some thump from Dombrowski

https://twitter.com/laflammerouge16/status/1392544619108478983