Giro Spoiler Discussion - Page 6

prototoast · #76 05-17-2022, 12:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shoota

Wow that is crazy.

Did anyone else wonder what in the world MVDP was doing trying to go from 4km out? I mean no wonder he ran out of gas in the sprint..

I think some of it is that's just how he races, and it's maybe not always the smartest thing to do, but it works for him often enough that he keeps trying.

One other thing about van der Poel is that he has a lot of power, but he doesn't tend to do well in fast sprints. At low speed, such as a slight uphill or the start of a cyclocross race, he's probably got the best Sprint in the world. At higher speeds, despite his power, he doesn't seem to be able to keep up. This is in contrast to a rider like Mark Cavendish, who has notoriously low power for a sprinter, but through aerodynamics, positioning, and good cadence, he tends to do better the faster the Sprint is.

So it's possible van der Poel thought that Girmay would beat him in a Sprint no matter what--after all, Girmay has finished in front of him on every Sprint except the uphill stage 1. So maybe he thought his best chance was to go early. It didn't work, and the final Sprint was close enough that it might have gone the other way, but it wasn't necessarily a poor decision.

shoota · #77 05-17-2022, 12:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by prototoast

I think some of it is that's just how he races, and it's maybe not always the smartest thing to do, but it works for him often enough that he keeps trying.

One other thing about van der Poel is that he has a lot of power, but he doesn't tend to do well in fast sprints. At low speed, such as a slight uphill or the start of a cyclocross race, he's probably got the best Sprint in the world. At higher speeds, despite his power, he doesn't seem to be able to keep up. This is in contrast to a rider like Mark Cavendish, who has notoriously low power for a sprinter, but through aerodynamics, positioning, and good cadence, he tends to do better the faster the Sprint is.

So it's possible van der Poel thought that Girmay would beat him in a Sprint no matter what--after all, Girmay has finished in front of him on every Sprint except the uphill stage 1. So maybe he thought his best chance was to go early. It didn't work, and the final Sprint was close enough that it might have gone the other way, but it wasn't necessarily a poor decision.

That's a really great analysis. I bet you're right, MVDP probably didn't think he could win the sprint. good point there

Xrslug · #78 05-17-2022, 12:36 PM

Looking at MVDP’s Strava ride profile for today’s stage he wrote “No power after bikechange” (sic) and then the shrugging emoji. Don’t know what that means — did he have a mechanical and need to change bikes at some point? Backup bike have different gearing? No idea.

His peak power was 1,083 watts, maybe a little low for a guy who has thrown down 1,500+ watts at the end of one-day races before. But I think this may also be the furthest he’s ever gone into a grand tour, and he had that earlier effort noted above. Even MVDP must get tired.

ETA: after Sunday’s stage he wrote that he would “fix the power” on his rest day. I’m guessing that he’s having an issue with the power meter on the bike he’s riding (not that he can’t generate power). And the peak power figure above, which seems low for someone like him, is just the Strava estimate and not accurate.

Regardless, I’m really excited to see Girmay take such a standout stage win, head to head like that against one of the best.

shoota · #79 05-17-2022, 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xrslug

Looking at MVDP’s Strava ride profile for today’s stage he wrote “No power after bikechange” (sic) and then the shrugging emoji. Don’t know what that means — did he have a mechanical and need to change bikes at some point? Backup bike have different gearing? No idea.
His peak power was 1,083 watts, maybe a little low for a guy who has thrown down 1,500+ watts at the end of one-day races before. But I think this may also be the furthest he’s ever gone into grand tour, and he had that earlier effort noted above. Even MVDP must get tired.
Regardless, I’m really excited to see Girmay take such a standout stage win, head to head like that against one of the best.

It means his power meter data wasn't coming through after the bike change. So we don't know what his sprint numbers were.

Xrslug · #80 05-17-2022, 12:46 PM

Yeah, I think you’re right — I was adding to my comment above when you responded. Those must be Strava guesstimate power numbers.

Beldar77 · #81 05-17-2022, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gianni Bianchi

Bini is having an amazing season and seems like such a decent man. Amazing he's the first black cyclist to ever win any grand tour stage. So inspirational and he recently extended his contract with Intermarche too. I would bet teams like INEOS, JV and Movistar would be happy to toss him a contract.

Well not Movistar because then they would actually have to try to win a stage / classic

Broccoli Cog · #82 05-17-2022, 01:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shoota

Wow that is crazy.

Did anyone else wonder what in the world MVDP was doing trying to go from 4km out? I mean no wonder he ran out of gas in the sprint..

In my opinion it was one of two cards that the team had to play. Alpecin-Fenix did a great job protecting him the entire stage. When the race came down to the last 10k he was exactly where he needed to be. One option was to try to get a gap and make it stick. If anyone could do something like that given the course profile it is MvDP. If that didn't work (it didn't) he would have to sprint for it. He beat Girmay in stage one but I bet he realized how strong he was and questioned his ability to beat him in a sprint a second time. We now know how that played out.

Gianni Bianchi · #83 05-17-2022, 01:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beldar77

Well not Movistar because then they would actually have to try to win a stage / classic

Fair point. lol

fried bake · #84 05-17-2022, 02:11 PM

That was an amazing finale. They raced it like a one day classic, so intense! Hope Bini is ok.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

trener1 · #85 05-17-2022, 03:02 PM

This photo is awesome!!!!
Gives me chills

shoota · #86 05-17-2022, 07:46 PM

I can’t even fathom putting out 1100w+ at 154lbs for 20s after 3-4hrs of racing, after 1 week+ of a grand tour. What a talent!

deluz · #87 05-17-2022, 10:28 PM

Great ride and lead out by Pozzovivo.
Bravo for Girmay.

Gianni Bianchi · #88 05-18-2022, 06:06 AM

Well this totally sucks:

https://cyclingtips.com/2022/05/bini...to-eye-injury/

How heartbreaking for him to go out because of such a silly thing. I'm sure he's devastated and his team must be as well. And selfishly, he's on my Velogames team so that's three riders I've lost.

VG aside, I was really hoping to see Bini finish the Giro and shake things up wherever he could. dammit!

Keith A · #89 05-18-2022, 07:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gianni Bianchi

Well this totally sucks:

https://cyclingtips.com/2022/05/bini...to-eye-injury/

How heartbreaking for him to go out because of such a silly thing. I'm sure he's devastated and his team must be as well. And selfishly, he's on my Velogames team so that's three riders I've lost.

VG aside, I was really hoping to see Bini finish the Giro and shake things up wherever he could. dammit!

This stinks! I was really hoping to wake up this morning and see that he was able to continue racing.

azrider · #90 05-18-2022, 08:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gianni Bianchi

Well this totally sucks:

https://cyclingtips.com/2022/05/bini...to-eye-injury/

How heartbreaking for him to go out because of such a silly thing. I'm sure he's devastated and his team must be as well. And selfishly, he's on my Velogames team so that's three riders I've lost.

VG aside, I was really hoping to see Bini finish the Giro and shake things up wherever he could. dammit!

Damn dude…..that friggin sucks