whiteboytrash said:Watt comparisons aside what I thought what was interesting about Sella was his recovery. Di Luca showed that after a one day big effort he paid the price (minus the dope ?).... however Sella had this ability to keep on attacking and although the main guys were not chasing him down he managed to stay away on each attack.... hmmmmm....... I watched every stage and it did look a little strange.... I can understand winning one stage with a lone attack but 3 ? we should also remember he almost won a flat stage in a breakaway bar his crash in the last km..... we'll never know what the story was but from no where cyclist to 3 stage wins & KOM ?
CSF were certainly on the Astana payroll. Nothing new there but they were riding the entire Giro for Astana not just one assist on a tough stage... thats something new.....
I do not believe for even a second that CSF was bought. Sella naturally did not have as much to give that stage, since he gave it all the day before. He pushed at the end to try for best overall classification possible, and Contador used him to some advantage. But Sella knew Contador and Riccó were out of reach for him on GC. This is just racing as it is supposed to be. Where riders push to the finish line. Now if Sella ,Pozzovivo, and others instead just sat back of Contador to the finish line, the critics would say "Look how the Italians work together against the foreigner!"
Perhaps a critic must find a way to be a critic in every scenario.
Sella's performance during the giro was the most exciting part of it. It is not true that he has come from no where. He has won a mountain stage at a previous giro, and has been involved in many breakaways over the last few years. Has suffered his share of falls.
On another note: The win of Contador, and the invitation itself to Astana, was a great thing for the giro. It lifts it up as a grand tour by having some of the best riders in the world. Different than recent years, where the giro has been called by some, as the tour of the seven dwarfs.
