Giro '24 - Spoilers

[cuda]

I think we need a proper thread for the Giro d'Italia.

It was great to see Julian Alaphilippe grab a stage today. The guy has been struggling with ****ty luck for the last couple of years. It seems like he has been under a lot of pressure to perform or perish. He kicked ass today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nu-w5GiV5n4

[rccardr]

Originally Posted by cuda

I think we need a proper thread for the Giro d'Italia.

It was great to see Julian Alaphilippe grab a stage today. The guy has been struggling with ****ty luck for the last couple of years. It seems like he has been under a lot of pressure to perform or perish. He kicked ass today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nu-w5GiV5n4

Yes.
Yes, he did.
Tears were shed.

[Red Tornado]

Happy to see him get the win. I'm always rooting for the puncheurs.

Well done alafpolak1!

[jlwdm]

I just love days like today with the wind splitting things up. Hard to bridge the last 10 seconds.

Jeff

[galgal]

Originally Posted by rccardr

Yes.
Yes, he did.
Tears were shed.

Yup. Did anyone see the Mirco Maestri interview on Max today? Quite movingly eloquent.

[weisan]

Originally Posted by galgal

Yup. Did anyone see the Mirco Maestri interview on Max today? Quite movingly eloquent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6TxsCE6-iY

Lou Lou thanking his breakaway companion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T37DVS6FSCk

[Veloo]

Didn't catch the TT live today.

Anyone know what these blue "flaps" are?

[dave thompson]

I'd call them "air dams" used to prevent the air from curling underneath the lens and maybe drying out the eyes. They direct the airflow to the sides.

[unterhausen]

I can't imagine those blue flaps are legal. If they are, they aren't going to be legal pretty soon now.

[GregL]

Originally Posted by unterhausen

I can't imagine those blue flaps are legal. If they are, they aren’t going to be legal pretty soon now.

I was thinking the same thing. They’ll be disallowed in short order by the UCI because they are a fairing.

Greg

[m_sasso]

There purpose is similar to the Black makeup football players use to dull reflections, except they are not painted on your face. OK? Aero, could be?

[Heisenberg]

woof. My predictor of a ten minute gc margin may have been conservative. I love the guy, but c’est pas normal.

[72gmc]

Originally Posted by Heisenberg

woof. My predictor of a ten minute gc margin may have been conservative. I love the guy, but c’est pas normal.

I get it … but this also isn’t a historic Giro peloton. He’s not facing Tour squads, it’s not a high point for Italian cycling, and Nairo and Geraint are in the senior discount stages of their careers. At least some of this margin is him being a level above from the start.

[NHAero]

And we won't know for a few weeks whether his real competition will be at full strength in the TdF, seems as though Vingegaard and Evenepoel have had a lot of time spent in recovering.

[BdaGhisallo]

Originally Posted by NHAero

And we won't know for a few weeks whether his real competition will be at full strength in the TdF, seems as though Vingegaard and Evenepoel have had a lot of time spent in recovering.

JV has a much higher ceiling than Remco, but Remco's injuries weren't anywhere as near as bad as JV's. Remco was back at it a lot sooner than JV, who's only started to ride outdoors in the last two weeks.

And then there's Roglic, who's been mighty quiet of late.

It'll be really interesting to see how this all pans out.