Photo courtesy of Steephill.tv

Today will see the start of stage 3 of the 2012 Tour de France and the first time the riders will have hit French soil in the race.  This years edition of the race was always going to have a different feel to it due to high-profile riders missing out on the race and the forthcoming Olympics playing on some of the riders minds, dictating their training more than the Tour, something that very rarely happens.  Just a few days in to what is a race of epic length and proportions have we learnt anything we didn’t already know when back in Liège?

Time Trialists

The prologue through Liège was a mere 6.4km and I’m sure some of you commute to your place of work or walk to the local shops that are further away than that but it takes a special kind of rider to excel at these sorts of distances. For professional bike riders who are used to being on their bikes for between 4 and 8 hours, a 7-8 minute blast through the streets is something akin to Haile Gebrselassie taking on the 100m sprint at the Olympics. Cadel Evans was reported to have been warming up on his TT bike for around 2hrs prior to rolling down the start ramp and if you saw the amount of sweat dripping off him moments before climbing off his warm up bike you would not dispute that.

Cancellara, Wiggins, Boassen Hagen were all names that were mentioned as hot picks for the prologue win and along with Tejay Van Garderen and a surprising Sylvain Chavanel they made up the top 5. Tony Martin took a new wheel after a puncture which instantly pushed him down the leader board. On a longer TT course he is the type of rider who has the talent and power to claw that time back, but not on a course which took them just over 7 minutes to complete. Cadel Evans also ‘struggled’ with the distance and although only losing 17 seconds to Fabian Cancellara who will not be competing for the GC in Paris, he is already 10 seconds off the pace of Bradley Wiggins. For a race with so much TT’ing and the big mountains in the distance, 10 seconds can make all the difference. The biggest surprise of the day was Philippe Gilbert coming in just 13 seconds down. Not a recognised TT specialist, his super cool TT helmet and the Belgian crowds spurred him to a great ride which I’m sure he hoped to better the following day as the race stayed in Belgium.

With a lot more time trialling to come Tony Martin will have a chance to show the rest who is boss and the longer distances will suit more of the riders overall. The total length of time trialling in this years Tour has been a topic for discussion running up to the event and it is likely it will be one of the biggest factors that determines the winner.

Sprinters

Simply speaking… we still know that Super Sagan and The Manx Missile are fast to a redonkulous level. Sagan showed he’s not just about fast-twitch muscles and realised Fab was the wheel to take as the race ran into Seraing. Due to not being the younger man he once was, Cancellara is unable to merely ride away from the rest as he has done so many times before and although Sagan apologised after the race for refusing to take his turn on the run in and give Cancellara the better position, that’s racing and Cancellara shouldn’t have put himself in that position. Boassen Hagen put in a huge effort to bridge the gap and I’m sure he wont be backward about coming forward in situations like that as Cavendish won’t be around long and he needs to make sure he has good legs to take the stage wins he deserves. Realistically the steep ramp up to the finish was always going to be too much for the out-and-out sprinters and other than the aforementioned Sagan and Eddy-B, the rest of the top 12 places were taken up by what would be considered Puncheurs.

The profile and run in of Stage 2 was more of a stereotypical sprint stage and defined what is brilliant about Mark Cavendish. He doesn’t have the sprint train he might like there due to a split in team support for Bradley Wiggins but he won’t let that hold him back. He has always been a sprinter happy to be 15-20 riders back into the last bend. Watch the way he moves in any sprint. He jumps from wheel to wheel, constantly accessing who will give him the best tow further along before ditching them for the next one. It takes immense skill and vision to ride like that.  It’s similar to how Robbie McEwen plied his trade but I can’t think of anyone else who rides like that in the current Pro peloton. The tactics Mark uses mean you can never count him out and just because you don’t see him at the front of the race, doesn’t mean he wont beat you to the line. The drag race between him and Greipel was a beautiful thing to watch and had me screaming at the TV.

Although he takes immense pride in wearing the World Champion’s jersey, I can’t see Cavendish wanting to go all the way to Paris; the London 2012 Olympics are just too important. It should open up the Points competition (as long as Sagan lets the others get a look in) and we should see him fast exciting sprinting… let’s just get the nervous first few days out-of-the-way first and keep everyone upright!

Oh… and please somebody tell Sagan how to celebrate a win properly rather than looking like he is throwing some drunken shapes at 3.30am in a bar!

Photo courtesy of Steephill.tv

GC riders

It’s still very early to be sticking your neck out about the GC as there is still so much that could happen. None of the favourites have done anything stupidly silly yet to harm their chances but I’m sure Evans will be disappointed with the loss of 10 seconds on the opening day. He knows better than anyone that can make the difference. For Wiggins, coming second and NOT wearing the Yellow leaders jersey for the first few days is a good thing and knowing how calculated Team Sky can be, I wouldn’t be surprised if they planned that. The Yellow jersey comes with its own pressures and realistically, as long as you can keep tabs on your rivals, there is no need for you to be wearing it now if you want to wear it in Paris. With so much TTing to come it’s going to be difficult for someone other than Wiggins or Evans to win this race in my opinion, but who knows!? It’s a long way to Paris.

miscellaneous

Since Liège we have all learned that Team Sky look freakin’ awful in yellow helmets. What is not yet known is just how stupid others will look. Sadly I doubt Euskatel-Euskadi will ever reach the dizzy heights of the leading team to see just how horrible a yellow skid lid looks with an orange and green kit but I think we can all imagine! I’ve no idea why the teams decided to agree to this. It’s not necessary to know where every member of the team leading the teams classification is at every moment of the race, and if it was… that’s what they are wearing team kit for… to make them recognisable.  I suspect it has something to do with ASO trying to raise the profile of the team classification as it is generally seen as the lowest classification (if you don’t include the Lantern Rouge!) in terms of importance, behind the Younger Rider competition.

Still on the subject of helmets… WTF is going on with the Giro Air Attack! Granted the other teams have some ugly looking versions of their helmets with the aero inserts but this is just plain ridiculous… no… it’s redonkulous again! Here’s Bram Tankink who’s had all the great work of having a cool name undone by wearing this Giro monstrosity! He looks like Bart Simpson! It has had such an effect on his Euro-coolness that he has committed a cardinal sin of wearing the arms of his glasses on the inside of the straps!?! What is Giro up to!

Photo courtesy of cyclingweekly.co.uk

We also know, for the nth year running that Phil and Paul are utter morons. Don’t disagree with me just because you are American and have grown up on them spouting nonsensical drivel about Mr Armstrong for years. Two men who should know more about cycling and the Tour than any others consistently make huge factual errors and commentating clangers the size of an artistic tractor in a field made out of giant matchboxes (*nudge* “Paul, I think they are hay bales…”). They make me mad enough not to watch sometimes so if you want to defend them you best come ready with a damn good argument because I will be documenting their shenanigans this month and it wont be pretty!  If you want proper English language commentary, find a feed for Eurosport and listen to David Harman and Carlton Kirby.

Finally, spare a thought for Didi the Devil who is not at this years Tour de France but will be watching from a hospital bed. No he’s not having his ankle springs re-coiled, it’s actually some nasty sounding brain surgery… So get better soon Didi… the slopes of the Alps won’t be the same without you!

Photo courtesy of http://www.pbkblog.com

Stevie

Stevie is definitely the most knowledgeable pro tour writer I know and he’s here with a fantastic overall preview of what’s to come in the Giro d’Italia.  Things kick off tomorrow morning at 9:40AM EST and be sure to check out the stage previews and live blogging coverage for the entire tour over at The Roar….it’s going to epic. - Darryl

2012 Giro d’Italia Preview

by Stevie

The 2012 Giro d’Italia mark’s the beginning of the Grand Tour period but with key riders missing from certain team line-ups and a route as challenging as ever it will be a difficult 3 weeks for all concerned.

The Race

The opening days will be spent around Henring and then Horsens, Denmark for the opening day’s Individual Time Trial which is almost dead pan flat for just 8.7km and then two days of flat racing which are certain to end in bunch sprints. The Stage 1 ITT looks a fairly technical route so we are unlikely to see General Classification rider’s putting 100% here for fear of succumbing to crashes and the first maglia rosa will be worn by the bravest of the riders. The following two days’ stage profiles have very little in the way of altitude and the teams who are aiming for the red points classification jersey (now affectionately known as Maglia Rosso Passione) will be protecting their sprinters and we will get to see just how devastating the likes of Mark Cavendish and Matt Goss are going to be in the sprints. With the likes of Alessandro Pettachi and Andre Griepel not starting the event, Cav and Gossy must be looking forward to the flat finishes even more and with an early day off following the first two sprints due to travelling from Denmark to Italy, the sprinters know they can push themselves to the limit in an attempt to take a strangle hold on the points classification.

The Giro d’Italia’s first stage in Italy is the 32.2km Team Time Trial around Verona and will sort the men from the boys. Team’s that have an eye on the General Classification will be pulling out all the stops here as the distance has the possibility of opening up some notable time gaps without being out of the range of teams who do not possess true time trailing ability. The following day the race leaves the home of Italian supercars, Modena in an almost arrow straight blast to the coast at Fano. A few lumps, including a 4th categorised climb may see a smaller, more select group reach the finish in a sprint but with 10km of flat before the line, anyone left behind should have enough road to get back to the main bunch.

The days that follow see the riders taking in the first of the climbing stages with Stage 6 topping out at 772m on the Passo Della Cappella with a maximum gradient of 16% and Stage 7 finishing at 1392m with a 10% climb up Rocca Di Cambio to the stage finish. The fast men wont enjoy the hills but the profile of Stage 6 should not be too much for their teams to help them over but expect a well organised breakaway to succeed here and although the finish of Stage 7 only has a maximum of a 10% climb, this could see some time gaps open up or extended. Stages 9, 11 & 13 allow the sprinter’s to take the headlines in La Gazzetta dello Sport once again, bookending 2 other medium mountain stages which never see the riders more than 653m above sea level.

Before the riders get another rest day on the Monday they will find themselves battling over the 1st category Col de Joux (1640m, max 12%) and then up to the stage finish in Cervinia which sits at 2001m with a maximum incline of 12%. The climb flattens out considerably in the final 2km so any battling GC contenders will need to make their move on the steeper slopes to maximise any advantage in Cervinia. Stage 15 tackles another 1st category climb in Valcava, which only tops out at 1340m but ramps up to a spine bending maximum of 17% , followed by a 2 more 2nd category climbs on the way to the finish.

Stage 16 sees a slowly rising profile, officially classified as a ‘medium mountain’ stage but following the rest day it shouldn’t cause too many problems and should allow everyone to concentrate on the ordeals that are to follow during Stages 17, 19 & 20. Huge maximum percentages and the repetition of climb after brutal 1st category climb typify the final few days run towards Milan, the worst coming on Stage 20 as the riders scale the 1st category Mortitolo to 1718m with a maximum of 22%, only to descend the other side and then be faced by the finish at the top of the Passo Dello Stelvio. This could turn out to be the most exciting stage of the race as riders not only try to take as much time on their rivals as possible but attempt to negate the time losses the may incur during the time trial the following day.

A final Individual Time Trial of 30.1km through Milan finishing in the Piazza Duomo should be merely academic but that’s easy to say without having experienced the previous 3 weeks of hard racing that the GC contenders will have running through their head on the start ramp. I enjoy the drama of a final day TT as it really can have an effect on the final classifications which the Tour’s ‘procession’ into Paris rarely does, other than being a famous showcase for the sprinters. The route through Milan is fairly technical so anything other than the typical dry, sunny weather could have an impact on the race on the final day.

Who to watch?

The GreenEDGE team named to take on the 2012 Giro d’Italia will be targeting stage wins rather than the overall General Classification with Matt Goss a real contender or the red points classification if the team can get him through the highest mountain passes. A solid Tour of Turkey has seen Goss find some good form to ensure he hits the ground running with Brett Lancaster, Tomas Vaitkus and Jens Keukeleire making up the power house of his lead-out train. With Daryl Impey, Christian Meier, Fumiyuki Beppu  and Svein Tuft making up the rest of the team it’s hard to find any particular stages that the GreenEDGE boys won’t be featuring in.

Other riders who will be testing Goss at the line in the sprints include Vacansoleil-DMC’s Romain Feillu who has worn the Tour de France’s yellow jersey for a day in 2008 but has never won a Grand Tour stage, Garmin Baracuda’s Tyler Farrar who has become very adept at finishing 2nd behind Mark Cavendish over the last couple of years and may find frustration on the line when it comes to a straight out sprint with the other fast men, and the World Champion himself Mark Cavendish. With Tour de France green and Olympic gold on the hit list for later in the year, you could forgive Mark Cavendish for using this race to merely put his competition in to the pain cave but he is unlikely to make it to Milan, instead choosing to bail out before expelling too much energy. The lack of Andre Griepel and Alessandro Pettachi in the bunch gallops may water down the competition but the main contenders will need to keep their eyes peeled for some of the outsiders trying to spoil the red jersey party.

With regard to General Classification contenders, it’s difficult to choose where to start. Alessandro Ballan will front the BMC team which features a roster of riders who are all capable of making things difficult for other teams however he may struggle in the very high mountains. Rigoburto Uran will be looking for support from the Team Sky riders not tasked with shepherding Mark Cavendish which may leave him short of fire power when most needed. Cavendish has finished the Giro before though and knows the demands he will be facing, similarly he may choose to climb off early leaving his chaperones to continue with Uran. It should be a good test for Team Sky at dividing their resources ahead of the Tour in July. Canadian Ryder Hesjedal is “going for it” as described by his Garmin Baracuda team-mate Christian Vande Velde and it was decided as early as November 2011 that he would be leading the charge for the maglia rosa. A rider who always commends respect, Hesjedal can time trial as well and should not be overlooked by rivals and fans for stage wins and an honest crack at the GC. My personal tip for the top step in Milan goes to Liquigas-Cannondale’s Ivan Basso who has the legs for the highest of mountains and is not afraid to put it on the line during the time trials. With the Contador and Andy Schleck shaped holes in the start list, Basso’s confidence will be boosted but he will still need to keep tabs on a certain Joaquim Rodríguez, who can be devastating in the mountains. Following the knee injury of Jakob Fuglsang, Frank Schleck will lead the Radioshack-Nissan squad who have vastly under performed in the early season races and don’t really look like changing that run of bad luck in Italy.