[Dr Watson]

Hi to everybody. Best race of the year coming up. 

Topic

[11waterloo]

I think he can defend 5

I think he can defend 5 minutes. Will be interesting to see how the bookies rate his chances. But yes, it does make the race potentially much more interesting! 

[MinardiM189]

Hopefully it will make it a

Hopefully it will make it a more interesting race.

 

[11waterloo]

Ben O’Connor is an extremely

Ben O’Connor is an extremely dangerous rider to give so much time to. I can understand a tactical loss of the red jersey but surely make sure it isn’t to a GC rider. Someone needs to take responsibility for the chase or he could end up with a defendable lead.

[MinardiM189]

What are certain teams doing

What are certain teams doing today?

Visma, Bahrain, Trek, Lotto Dstny, UAE & even Movistar are gifting time to competitive rivals.

[MinardiM189]

I went cautious again today,

I went cautious again today, didn’t bring any sprinters in and kept Roglic and brought in Tiberi.

It seems like I am trying to give up the Leader’s jersey and storing transfers for later.

On reflection Tiberi was a poor choice as it limits my choices in the next few stages and he could lose his position in GC to the break.

[11waterloo]

That’s the trade off. I’ve

That’s the trade off. I’ve now got to burn transfers to get the sprinters back in. Groves and Van Aert both picked up decent points considering it was a mountain stage so it was probably worth being cautious. 

[Sniffer]

I was cautious too with all
I was cautious too with all the breakaway predictions. Carapaz was my error.

On the positive side I am well set for tomorrow.

[11waterloo]

Today was a bit of a preview

Today was a bit of a preview of who is riding seriously for GC and who is there to make up the numbers. I threw a few at the target and two landed! Wavered over Yates or Almeida and sadly went Yates… 

[MinardiM189]

I was too cautious today, all

I was too cautious today, all the predictions that it would be a break put me off making too many changes. My initial intention was to bring in Almeida too.

I see quite a few went for van Eeetvelt, he was very impressive today. Gall, Mas & Riccitello impressed too.

[MinardiM189]

You have started off well, it

You have started off well, it took me ages to re-learn how to play (if I have).

[Dr Watson]

Good to be back.

Good to be back.

[MinardiM189]

Vacek could be an excellent

Vacek could be an excellent pick for purist, there are a lot of stages where he can do well from the break.

I had Tarling in for a while but he got squeezed out when I decided to try and fit an extra GC rider in. I wasn’t sure whether he would finish the race either, although if he had won yesterday he would have justified his inclusion from his score on the first 3 stages.

 

[11waterloo]

You did exceptionally well. I

You did exceptionally well. I did OK too but left a sprinter in for today. If truth be told, I would have had Campenaerts if I had gone full TT so I wouldn’t have done much better. I had Vacek in my purist until yesterday but switched to Tarling late on to free up some money to upgrade Lafay to Gaudu. Not sure it was the best move…..

[MinardiM189]

Yes. Surprising how many.

Yes. A lot of 200+ scores for an ITT is rare. I was surprised you went with Strong, saving a transfer ?

The wind dropped at the end and many teams were expecting it. Ineos need to change their meteorologist, Tarling would probably have won if he had gone last for them.

I am happy to have made a good start for a change. After stage 1 in TdF I was 217th and 129th in the Giro and spent the rest of both races struggling to catch up.

Although in the purist I have Landa and Kuss, both will struggle to score many GC points now.

[11waterloo]

Some big scores on that stage

Some big scores on that stage! 

[Author]

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