Giro 2006.

For openers - the Giro for me has been the most entertaining GT for the last number of years.

The stage parcours have been very interesting as the Giro organisers have sought to vary the tempo of the race from the outset.
Week one usually has a good mix of sprints and up and down terrain, stages.

This minimises crashes (unlike week one of the TDF) and it allows sprinters and roadmen the chance to pick up stages in week one.
Weeks 2 and 3 are climbers weeks and the climbs in the Giro are far tougher than the TDF and Vuelta : and for spectators they're superb (for the riders, I'm not so sure they're that enjoyable!).

Predictions for the 2006 Giro?
I think we might see the re-emergence of Damiano Cunego : after a stellar 2004 Giro, he was relatively quiet in the 2005 version.

Savoldelli will be back to defend his title and he's a fine cyclist.
I think DC will put their season effort in to defending his title.

Simoni will no doubt be back challenging - again he can be devastating on the day.
Can he string a few stage wins together?
He has podiumed for most of the Giro's that he has contested - so expect him to be thereabouts.

DiLuca could be another guy for overall GC - Liquigas have a large Italian contingent and DiLuca has stated that the Giro would be an objective this year.

Ivan Basso's going for the first part of his double objective - he fought bravely in the Giro 2005 and came back to win stages after a bad gastric problem.

Tow guys I am looking forward to seeing are Ivan Parra and Jose Rujano.
These guys can climb - superb climbers both.
Parra's double stage win in the 2005 Giro was magnificent.
Rujano climbed really well and he fought bravely on the more flat stages and was nearly in the Maglia Rosa up to the penultimate stage.

Don't forget petaccho and Zabel, McEwen for the sprints.

I love the Giro : throw in Der Kaiser tuning up : maybe even Vino : I think that
it will be as exciting as the 2005 version (for me that back GT of all in many years).

My prediction : Simoni to podium : Cunego to podium : Savoldelli to retain the title.
With Basso finishing in third or fourth spot.

limerickman said:

Predictions for the 2006 Giro?
I think we might see the re-emergence of Damiano Cunego : after a stellar 2004 Giro, he was relatively quiet in the 2005 version.

Savoldelli will be back to defend his title and he's a fine cyclist.
I think DC will put their season effort in to defending his title.

Simoni will no doubt be back challenging - again he can be devastating on the day.
Can he string a few stage wins together?
He has podiumed for most of the Giro's that he has contested - so expect him to be thereabouts.

Ivan Basso's going for the first part of his double objective - he fought bravely in the Giro 2005 and came back to win stages after a bad gastric problem.

Tow guys I am looking forward to seeing are Ivan Parra and Jose Rujano.
These guys can climb - superb climbers both.
Parra's double stage win in the 2005 Giro was magnificent.
Rujano climbed really well and he fought bravely on the more flat stages and was nearly in the Maglia Rosa up to the penultimate stage.

I love the Giro : throw in Der Kaiser tuning up : maybe even Vino : I think that
it will be as exciting as the 2005 version (for me that back GT of all in many years).

My prediction : Simoni to podium : Cunego to podium : Savoldelli to retain the title.
With Basso finishing in third or fourth spot.

I'd love to see another Cunego - Simoni battle, but without the element of treason it won't be quite the same.

And Paolo deserves a Giro with a full support team, I'd like to see that too.

Rujano has had so much bad blood with his old team that I don't know if he'll be prepared mentally but he was sure fun to watch.

I thought I read Ulle was going to skip the Giro after all - ??

I don't think the Giro is too important to Vino or to Liberty - I don't expect to see much happening there.

I would like also to see some new talent surprise all of us.

maybe there will be some bad blood between salvoldelli and danielson to stir things up a bit.

though vino would probably ride the vuelta over the giro (if he had to do a second GT), it would be great to see him show up and go crazy a few times, though i dont think he stands a chance to win

is thomas dekker racing the giro? i am excited to see if the hype is true, guess it is since he won tirreno adriatico (haven't seen that coverage yet).

basso looked so strong last year on the days he wasn't sick that i think he will be tough to beat.

Basso would have won last year had he not suffered intestinal problems. He will win this year.

[font=Verdana]Have to agree with Lim the Giro has been far by the best GT in the last few years.... WBT will be going this year to Plan de Corones which has 5km of unpaved roads at the end of the stage.... ! The Tour could never do this because of the size of its publicity caravan and its need to finish in established towns hence the 10-20km of flat run-in after mountain stages. Reason being is that towns in [/font][font=Verdana]France[/font][font=Verdana] pay the Tour organisation for the right for stages to start and finish in their town. The Tour organisers plan the Tour around this. Have a look at Morzine this year. It should be an uphill finish but it has 10km of flat to the run into the town of [/font][font=Verdana]Morzine[/font][font=Verdana]. There are so many great mountain top finishes in the area which would make great stages but alas no money, no tourism. Sigh. [/font]

limerickman said:

Tow guys I am looking forward to seeing are Ivan Parra and Jose Rujano.
These guys can climb - superb climbers both.
Parra's double stage win in the 2005 Giro was magnificent.
Rujano climbed really well and he fought bravely on the more flat stages and was nearly in the Maglia Rosa up to the penultimate stage.

Limerickman have you read somewhere that Rujano is riding the Giro? From what I have read from cyclingnews.com, it is far from certain that he will participate.

This would be a shame. He was impressive on the final stage last year, and he managed to really [censored] Simoni, which I found entertaining.

moviekindoflife said:

maybe there will be some bad blood between salvoldelli and danielson to stir things up a bit.

though vino would probably ride the vuelta over the giro (if he had to do a second GT), it would be great to see him show up and go crazy a few times, though i dont think he stands a chance to win

is thomas dekker racing the giro? i am excited to see if the hype is true, guess it is since he won tirreno adriatico (haven't seen that coverage yet).

basso looked so strong last year on the days he wasn't sick that i think he will be tough to beat.

As far as i know Thomas Dekker won't ride the Giro, he will his first Tour de Francethis year.

I also have strong doubts that Ullrich will start at the Giro, so fast after his first race of the season (Romandie).

I think Simoni will win... but than again with the TTT, Basso has a strong team for that. Savoldelli... hmmm no i don't think so, maybe a podium spot. I think it's gonna be a battle between Basso, Simoni and Cunego. As far as i know Rujano won't start.

ilpirata said:

Limerickman have you read somewhere that Rujano is riding the Giro? From what I have read from cyclingnews.com, it is far from certain that he will participate.

This would be a shame. He was impressive on the final stage last year, and he managed to really [censored] Simoni, which I found entertaining.

Pirata : I read somewhere Rujano wants to ride the Giro but that the fallout with his contract and the Selle Italia controversy is blocking this.
this was some months back.

I hope he rides it.

I really hope that Rujano does ride the Giro, a mountains jersey man who actually has an effect on the GC. I also hope JU is there, he should be able to nail a time trial win.

The first few stages are quite interesting to, with a couple of short uphill finishes (2km climb to the line or similar) that will be perfect for someone like Bettini to take some stage wins, as well as causing some time gaps.

ilpirata said:

Limerickman have you read somewhere that Rujano is riding the Giro? From what I have read from cyclingnews.com, it is far from certain that he will participate.

This would be a shame. He was impressive on the final stage last year, and he managed to really [censored] Simoni, which I found entertaining.

Well anyone would be [censored] in Simoni's position. Didnt Rujano suck his wheel the whole way up the mountain?

wicklow200 said:

Well anyone would be [censored] in Simoni's position. Didnt Rujano suck his wheel the whole way up the mountain?

they both sucked diluca's wheel up the finestre, then dropped him on sestriere.

I believe Ivan Basso will win it this year. He's a strong time trialist and plus TTT suits CSC pretty well.

I disagree with argument that TDF route is boring in comparison to Giro route.

TDF has 4 high mountain stages for GC and all of them have from three to five second of higher category climbs. All these four stages are real killers with an average number 4 climbs per stage.

In contrast Giro has 6 mountain stages for GC + 4% 11km mountain ITT. Two of group mountain stages have only one second or higher category climb, one of them have two climbs, two of them have three climbs, and only one of them have four climbs. Therefore an average number is 2,33 climbs per stage.

Giro will be decieded in 14 climbs + mountain ITT while TDF will be decieded in 16 climbs. However, TDF has 2 long ITT's while Giro 1 long ITT and TTT. I think both of those tours are equal.

And look when Pantani won his TDF he destroyed Jan in one stage. In all of the others he gained seconds or maybe a minute. Therefore one killer mountain stage is worth more than 2 or 3 with one or two climbs...

lapsa said:

I disagree with argument that TDF route is boring in comparison to Giro route.

TDF has 4 high mountain stages for GC and all of them have from three to five second of higher category climbs. All these four stages are real killers with an average number 4 climbs per stage.

In contrast Giro has 6 mountain stages for GC + 4% 11km mountain ITT. Two of group mountain stages have only one second or higher category climb, one of them have two climbs, two of them have three climbs, and only one of them have four climbs. Therefore an average number is 2,33 climbs per stage.

Giro will be decieded in 14 climbs + mountain ITT while TDF will be decieded in 16 climbs. However, TDF has 2 long ITT's while Giro 1 long ITT and TTT. I think both of those tours are equal.

And look when Pantani won his TDF he destroyed Jan in one stage. In all of the others he gained seconds or maybe a minute. Therefore one killer mountain stage is worth more than 2 or 3 with one or two climbs...

Don't forget Giro have cobblestones this year in Belgium!

Rasmussen will start. Good news, as the course suits him!

KennyCartman said:

Don't forget Giro have cobblestones this year in Belgium!

TDF also has...

tcklyde said:

Rasmussen will start. Good news, as the course suits him!

He started last year as well and just rolled a little bit (i have a couple of pics from Rasmussen in grupetto's during last years Giro). He said (about the 2006 season) his only goal would be the TdF, so i guess he will just roll a little bit again at the Giro.

With the upcoming Giro - one guy who I thought would do really well in the 2005 Giro, based on his great 2004 Giro, was Brad McGee.
If you recall in 2004, McGee rode a great Giro.

Has nayone got any info on Brad doing the 2006 Giro?

limerickman said:

With the upcoming Giro - one guy who I thought would do really well in the 2005 Giro, based on his great 2004 Giro, was Brad McGee.
If you recall in 2004, McGee rode a great Giro.

Has nayone got any info on Brad doing the 2006 Giro?

Brad has given up being a Grand Tour rider... he said it was just so hard.... he modified his training at the end of last year to again be a prologue specialist and stage winner... his team and trainer wanted him to stick with the Grand Tour plan as you don't become a great GT rider overnight.... what happened after this is very sad... basically McGee started training for prologue’s and to defend his Commonwealth Games pursuit title... he wanted to be the first rider to win 3 gold medals back to back in the pursuit at the Commonwealth games.... FDJ said no we want you in Europe riding races, he said no I want to be Melbourne riding the games, FDJ again said no and McGee threatened to take them to court to allow him to go.... in the end FDJ won the day and McGee accepted that his team was French and he is paid neigh on a million euros a year and that a Commonwealth Gold meant nothing to the French..... His results have been average this year. I’m not sure what he is going to do…. Maybe a new team next year ? It’s a pity as Baden Cooke has gone the same way since his green jersey win at the Tour in 2003…. He now rides for UNIBET and doesn’t do a hell of lot….

[font=Verdana]We may see McGee at the Giro but only to win the prologue..... as an addendum I believe McGee is the only man to wear the yellow, gold and pink jersey's from each of the grand tours.... [/font][font=Verdana][/font]