Category: Giro d’Italia
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Big German guy wins sprint in 2016 Giro d’Italia
But it wasn’t Marcel Kittel. Greipel wins! Take that, pedals! Andre Greipel’s ‘thing’ is being a big, muscular, pedal-mashing ball of angry, gaping-mouthed power. It therefore seems somewhat counterintuitive that he should win stage five of the Giro through his climbing. But that’s essentially what he did. Over 233km of undulating roads, Greipel endured. When…
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Diego Ulissi can still do hills – but can he do mountains?
I tipped Diego Ulissi as a rider to watch in 2014. He won a couple of stages of the Giro, but then took three too many puffs on his inhaler and found himself banned for a bit. The stage he won today was the kind I associated him with at the start of that season.…
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Marcel Kittel corners the market on Giro road stage wins outside Italy
Marcel Kittel won stage two from Arnhem to Nijmegen. Unsurprisingly, stage three from Nijmegen to Arnhem didn’t offer radically different terrain, so he won again. The deja vu was compounded by two of yesterday’s breakaway riders – Maarten Tjallingii and Giacomo Berlato – getting in the break again. In 2014 – the only other time…
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Marcel Kittel’s poor form is definitely over
This is very, very obvious. 2015 was a write-off for Marcel Kittel due to illness, stress and an endless fruitless quest to chase down some half-decent form. In 2016, it’s everyone else who’s doing the chasing. Stage two seemed pretty straightforward for him. The German’s Etixx – Quick-Step team-mates chose their moment to drag him…
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Tom Dumoulin isn’t planning on winning the Giro despite being in the lead
That’s what he says anyway. He’s all: “Ooh no, I’m all about the Olympics this year. I haven’t even been to an altitude training camp or anything. No-one needs to worry about me. I’m just here to race the time trials.” This may be true, but it may also be bullshit. Either way, Dumoulin won…
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Top contenders for the 2016 Giro d’Italia
Who are the favourites? To judge that, we first have to look at what cycling they’re going to have to do in the next three weeks. The route On paper, the race is easier than in recent years. However, that perception would only stand up to scrutiny if you were riding it on your own,…
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The eight best moments of the 2015 cycling season
Loads of entertaining cycling took place in 2015. Here’s some of the stuff that I can actually remember. Having a chat with Jens Voigt Well it was a highlight for me. Ian Stannard disrespects the numbers It was three v one at the end of the Omloop. Etixx-Quick Step’s three were soundly beaten. I still…
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Winners of the classics and Grand Tours in 2015
The framework for this site is this list of the bike races which actually matter. The list is my own and an attempt to impose some sort of structure on a sprawling, hard-to-understand calendar. It omits many major stage races, but includes all the Grand Tours, all the Monuments and a select few high profile…
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Iljo Keisse delivers one last surprise
With hindsight, it was spectacularly stupid of me to assume there would be a sprint finish. The 2015 Giro has had no time for predictability. As it turned out, two track riders, Iljo Keisse and Luke ‘Durbo the Turbo’ Durbridge held off the peloton. Even on a flat stage, the breakaway has had its say…
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Steep gravel and dehydration – together they are Alberto Contador’s kryptonite
The final stage is a flat stage, so Alberto Contador will win the 2015 Giro d’Italia. He had a bloody good go at losing it on stage 20, but he’d built up such an advantage, it simply wasn’t possible. What happened? The day was all about the Colle delle Finestre, an 18km climb that was…