Sagan for the 3-peat. Kristoff 2nd Matthews a distant 3rd.
He is something else.
No live coverage of the final few km due to power failure.
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Sagan hid himself until the 1km and then unleashed - Some strange rides in the final stages - Cort went for a flyer with 1.2km to go after Denmark worked to bring back the break, Gaviria decided to attack with 1.5km to go - My man Alaphalippe gave a great sight by attacking on the final climb but never got enough of a break - Great to see the two young guns in Alaphalippe and Moscon attack the race - Matthews with a great save after chasing Alaphalippe’s attack on the final climb, then popping, but had enough resources to hang onto the peleton and sprint in the final - I will ponder you a question - With the hilly World’s in 2018, I suspect some leading GC guys will specifically target this race and bypass the Vuelta - Smart GC teams will target this race, so you could get a surprise winner.
Moscon only attacked after being towed up to the group by his team car. He got DQed. Interestingly he helped Trentin in the process so one wonders if the whole team should have been DQed.
Albasini renews with OS.
2 years I believe. He’s been one of their best (foreign legion) signings. So consistent.
Albasini and Impey have been true money-ball signings - Value that can’t be measured.
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Orica team for Giro dell’Emilia
Chaves
Howson
Kreuziger
Verona
A.Yates
Haig
Plaza
Kreuziger
Chaves to defend his title in a hot field - Good to see S.Yates put on ice for the rest of the season, while it’s disappointing to see Power not riding.
Thinking that with the mounainous world’s in 2018 that the Vuelta is the most winnable GC for Orica in 2018, seeing that many GC guys will target the World’s and probably miss the Vuelta.
Visconti wins Emilia from Nibali and Uran after a late breakaway - Chaves crashes on the last descent when leading the chase group - It was a Richie Porte type crash - Off to hospital for xrays - Reckon his season is over.
Yates crashed too.
Nice ride from Haig though.
Broken shoulder for Chaves who is out for the season - Very frustrating as Chaves was looking strong - And even more frustrating that A.Yates fell in the previous descent - Cortcan win Beghelli today if he uses commonsense.
Said it was a Richie Porte crash - I am unsure why Chaves instead of Haig was leading the pelton down the sescent.
Hong Kong Cyclothon on Sunday which is now a 1.1 race - Will try to speak to Mezgec after the race to get some gossip on Orica going forward.
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A.Yates comes 2nd to Uran in Milan Torino. Reckon he would have got him in another 300 metres. A good tune up for Lombardia.
Bouhanni, again.
And Nibali wins Lombardia - Bridged up to Pinot on the final climb and tore away on the descent - Alaphalippe attacked with 5kms to straight past Pinot to claim 2nd place while Moscon won the sprint for third - Pinot faded to fifth - Four riders crashed in the same place on the descent from Sormanno - Bakelants and Petilli seriously injured, while De Plus and Martinez relatively unscathed.
And Mohoric defends his HK Cyclothon title from Hucker, Arashiro and Docker - Race split up within 5 laps of the 20 when 5 riders went away - Done to 9 riders with 5 laps to go when the attacks started thick and fast - Hepburn and Docker there for Orica - Hepburn tried to soften up the nine riders but Mohoric was always on his wheel - Three riders Mohoric, Hucker and Docker left with 3 laps to go - Docker dropped off with 2 laps to go and eventually Mohoric got away from Hucker with 300 metres to go
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Docker to EF First for 2018 - A likely outcome, seeing Orica never had faith in Docker’s ability to ride a GT.
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TdF 2018 route announced
Roubaix stage has cobbles.
TTT stage 3
Stage17 only 65km
Hilly ITT to round it out.
I like the varied route and expect surprises in the GC - Interesting to see what Orica does with their GC riders - My understanding is they planned to take A.Yates to the TDF and Chaves to the Giro - Reckon the route suits Chaves.
I don’t know if you guys listen to the STAGES podcast by Lance Armstong.
but he did a podcast about the route that was revealed.
He said the following
- The route suits Froome & Nibali.
- very technical
- There will be time bonuses mid stage.
- lots of climbs, sprinters may as well stay at home, except for Sagan
- Sagan would have looked at the route and got a stiffy
- 22kms of cobbles then only 8km to finish of a stage, could be a factor with the GC, as usually after cobbles there is a bit of road enabling the field to regroup.
- there is a piece of road they have to cross that is flooded every day when the tide is in, so that will be a nervy crossing and important to be at the front of the group. If it rains on this day, expect there to be carnage.
- Tour should be entertaining, less boring stages like last year.
- Route doesn’t suit Dumolin will get smashed on the shorter hilly stage 65kms, told Holland fans not to expect that much from him.
- Team time trial will be important for BMC and Sky can potentially get minutes off their rivals, as this counts towards individual GC,
- there is a couple of kms of dirt to entice the fans of cyclocross into following the tour.