Cunego competing with Simoni?

Richard Adams said:

tactics looked a bit like Cunego was working a little for himself.
Did he ride on the wheels of Pellizotti, Figueras and Popovych then
sprint around for 2nd or did he ride at the front of that small group?

He opened the race, there was no strong reaction, but he was also not
making much of a gap. Simoni jumped, nobody could follow, including
Cunego when he passed him. Cunego then followed the wheel of, first,
Popovych, later Figueras. He sprinted for second to steal away bonus
seconds.

Richard Adams said:

I didn't get to see it on TV, but from the "live" ticker on CN the
tactics looked a bit like Cunego was working a little for himself.
Did he ride on the wheels of Pellizotti, Figueras and Popovych then
sprint around for 2nd or did he ride at the front of that small group?
He certainly looks, in the early going as a possible contender for
the GC, too.

With perhaps 3 km to go, the peloton had been whittled down to maybe
20-25ish or so, Saeco in the lead. Figueras moved up, as did Noe and
Pellizotti. Some Phonak guy (I want to say Fetonyl) attacked, got a little
gap, just a very little. Mazzoleni brought him back, Cunego waited two
beats, then attacked. There was some hesitation, Cunego had no more than a
15 meter gap then Popovych *had* to go after him. Simoni waited another
couple of beats, then went himself, hard, passed Popovych and caught
Cunego by himself. I'm wondering if that was planned. The two rode
together for a few seconds, then Simoni upped the pace and Cunego couldn't
hold his wheel anymore. Now I'm wondering if Simoni was sending a message.
Popovych, Figueras, and Pellizotti caught Cunego. The director switches to
another motocam and we realize that Garzelli hasn't made the cut. We go
back to motocam 1 and can't see Simoni anymore. They switch to the
helicopter shot, and the reason becomes clear: Simoni is too far up the
road to be seen by the motocam. Cunego is riding mostly in 2nd place in
the small group, but they're bunched not lined out. Popovych is doing
steady in-the-saddle stuff but he's not Indurain. Popovych falters and
gets dropped when Figueras ups the pace, but manages to latch back on,
just. There's snow on the ground. There's ice in Garzelli's heart. Cunego
takes the sprint for second, driving Popovych into 5th and out of the
bonus. Garzelli finishes in the second group, and will be wearing a yellow
jersey.

Robert Chung said:

There's snow on the ground. There's ice in Garzelli's heart.

Haha!! Florid like the Italians like to speak. However, I would think
what was in Garzelli's heart was the hot daggers fired away by each
fierce pedal stroke of the man in bloody red, the hot java salesman to
whom every mountain is but a hill of beans, Gilberto "Gibo" Simoni. Ice
was in our hearts as we saw Il Pirata's former protegé fade away, his
head shining from the deepest drops of courage pouring out, ultimately
overheating in his SaunierDuval colours, a valliant knight once more
reduced to common soldier...

Ewoud Dronkert said:

Robert Chung said:

There's snow on the ground. There's ice in Garzelli's heart.

Haha!! Florid like the Italians like to speak. However, I would think
what was in Garzelli's heart was the hot daggers fired away by each
fierce pedal stroke of the man in bloody red, the hot java salesman to
whom every mountain is but a hill of beans, Gilberto "Gibo" Simoni. Ice
was in our hearts as we saw Il Pirata's former protegé fade away, his
head shining from the deepest drops of courage pouring out, ultimately
overheating in his SaunierDuval colours, a valliant knight once more
reduced to common soldier...

both of you guys are pure poetry...

"Richard Adams" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I didn't get to see it on TV, but from the "live" ticker on CN the
tactics looked a bit like Cunego was working a little for himself.
Did he ride on the wheels of Pellizotti, Figueras and Popovych then
sprint around for 2nd or did he ride at the front of that small group?
He certainly looks, in the early going as a possible contender for
the GC, too.

I think it was a set move to put Popovych in trouble, and it worked rather
well. Simoni certainly didn't panic - he waited until Popovych had done the
work to try and close the gap and then...ouch. Sorry if I didn't make that
clear.

Jeff

Jeff Jones' jeff@cyclingnews-punt-com said:

I think it was a set move to put Popovych in trouble, and it worked rather
well. Simoni certainly didn't panic - he waited until Popovych had done the
work to try and close the gap and then...ouch. Sorry if I didn't make that
clear.

Well the Red Machine is certainly impressive.

But La Scala is still too far away to hear the Fat Lady singing yet........

--
le Vent a Dos
Davey Crockett
Six-Day site: http://members.rogers.com/sixday/sixday.html

Davey Crockett said:

Well the Red Machine is certainly impressive.

Quoted message said:

But La Scala is still too far away to hear the Fat Lady singing yet........

This is the stage that came to mind. An impressive performance, early in
the Giro by a rider that couldn't follow it through to Milan:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/results/1998/may98/giro98/stage6.html

Although [censored] eventually came up with an explanation for that.
Hopefully Simoni is getting better medical advice.

Bob Schwartz
[email hidden]

In article <[email hidden]>,

(Richard Adams) said:

I didn't get to see it on TV, but from the "live" ticker on CN the
tactics looked a bit like Cunego was working a little for himself.
Did he ride on the wheels of Pellizotti, Figueras and Popovych then
sprint around for 2nd or did he ride at the front of that small group?
He certainly looks, in the early going as a possible contender for
the GC, too.

No, he attacked and then Simoni rode up past him. Cunego tried to hold
his wheel, thinking they might work together, but he wasn't strong
enough and slipped back.

-Sonarrat.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Ewoud Dronkert said:

Robert Chung said:

There's snow on the ground. There's ice in Garzelli's heart.

Haha!! Florid like the Italians like to speak. However, I would think
what was in Garzelli's heart was the hot daggers fired away by each
fierce pedal stroke of the man in bloody red, the hot java salesman to
whom every mountain is but a hill of beans, Gilberto "Gibo" Simoni. Ice
was in our hearts as we saw Il Pirata's former protegé fade away, his
head shining from the deepest drops of courage pouring out, ultimately
overheating in his SaunierDuval colours, a valliant knight once more
reduced to common soldier...

That's absolutely dead-on Bob Roll. Just one mistake, Saunier Duval is
a separate team this year... you'll see them in canary yellow with a red
logo. Garzelli rides for Vini Caldirola, in a lime green and black
jersey.

-Sonarrat.

Sonarrat said:

That's absolutely dead-on Bob Roll. Just one mistake, Saunier Duval is
a separate team this year... you'll see them in canary yellow with a red
logo. Garzelli rides for Vini Caldirola, in a lime green and black
jersey.

Ah damn! Of course, and it also ruines my "clever" association with
SaunierDuval (owned by Vaillant) heating systems... Isn't that even more
Bob Roll then, or is he not one to make mistakes like that? (don't know him
as a commentator).

"Robert Chung" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Some Phonak guy (I want to say Fetonyl) attacked, got a little
gap, just a very little.

Fortunani

"Davey Crockett" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden].
...

Quoted message said:

Well the Red Machine is certainly impressive.

Simoni looks to be untouchable on the climbs (again) and Cunego and
Mazzoleni are more than handy backups. I'd like to see Popovych take a bit
of time back in the TT, as I can't see Garzelli doing it this time.

Quoted message said:

But La Scala is still too far away to hear the Fat Lady singing

yet........

Quoted message said:

True. Things have been known to change in the Giro. Saeco has a lot of work
to do now.

Jeff