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:
members.rogers.comsixday.htmlOpen ↗

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: cyclingnews.comresuOpen ↗
lts/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.

"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:87oeoufvuo.fsf@cpe004023176ea9-
cm0f2069983361.cpe.net.cable.rogers.com. ..

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