I watched the stage from Limone sul Garda and the finale at ‘Casa Vik’, today. It was kind of him to invite me over; I wouldn’t have made it home in time to see the finish. But it wasn’t the same, not being there, not being part of it all. Maybe it’s because I’m getting older and more sentimental, but this year I felt the strongest connection to the race I’ve had in the seven times I’ve covered it.
Perhaps it was because we chatted to Jack Bauer and Alex Rasmussen most days – or maybe it was because we were so well looked after at all of the digs we stayed in, but whatever it was, the Giro had us, hook, line and sinker.
Dave knocked off from work early, today – suffering from Giro withdrawal; that says it all.
‘Get back to the racing, you old fool!’ I hear you say.
Here’s what the QuickStep press release said:
“Fresh off a rest day, Nikolas Maes was part of a 10 rider breakaway that escaped 80km into the 174km race.
“The break had almost 12 minutes on the peloton at one point, in Stage 16 of the Giro d’Italia on Tuesday.
“The peloton never put much of a dent into the gap, which kept all of the riders in the break in contention for the stage victory in the final kilometres.
“However, Jon Izagirre (Euskaltel-Euskadi) attacked within the last few kilometres and soloed to victory on the last climb of the stage.
“Alessandro de Marchi (Androni Giacattoli-Venezuela) was second and Stef Clement (Rabobank) was third. Dario Cataldo remains in the top 10 overall, in 9th, 2’12” back from current GC leader Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha Team).”
The Basque – Izagirre Insausti comes from the village of Ormaiztegia and is 23 years-old.
He’s been Spanish U23 time trial champion and Basque cyclo-cross champion.
This year he was top 20 in Gent-Wevelgem and won the chrono in the Tour of Asturias – and he’s saved Euskaltel’s Giro.
Vik’s take on the stage was that it was like ‘watching paint dry;’ but he did say the Spaniard gauged his ride well – praise indeed from Vik.
He’s not into ‘waif-like climbers’ as a rule.
He also opined that he doesn’t think Cav will ride the Tour – he can’t really, if Sky is serious about winning – and he reckons that Cav will be offsky from Sky by the end of the year.
At the Giro you just get a feel for how things are – Garmin is a happy ship, Liquigas a very tight, professional ship.
But certain squads just don’t give off the right vibe, The Shack is one – and we’ll say no more.
Vik’s assessment of the stage was always going to go that way – the stage wasn’t for the sprinters, due to that ‘snap’ in the last five K and as the day after the rest day and before a ‘death stage’ no one except the escape artists would relish it.
Tomorrow is a monster with four categorised climbs – two firsts and two seconds.
The last climb is a Giro legend, the Passo Giau – 10 K @ 10% – daunting.
The only saving grace is that it’s not a mountain top finish, so there’s time to claw back a little time.
I’ll be riveted to that sofa for the finale.
Ciao, ciao – oh, sorry, I mean, talk to you the morn.
Result - Giro d’Italia 2012 – Stage 16: Limone sul Garda - Falzes/Pfalzen 174km
Stage Result
2 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli 0:00:16
3 Stef Clement (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
4 Mathias Frank (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:00:19
5 José Herrada Lopez (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:21
6 Manuele Boaro (Ita) Team Saxo Bank 0:00:37
7 Matthias Brandle (Aut) Team NetApp 0:00:43
8 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 0:00:45
9 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Lotto Belisol Team
10 Luca Mazzanti (Ita) Farnese Vini – Selle Italia 0:00:48
11 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Sky Procycling 0:08:54
12 Stefano Pirazzi (Ita) Colnago – CSF Inox
13 Sandy Casar (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 0:08:57
14 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin – Barracuda
15 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
16 Sergey Lagutin (Uzb) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
17 Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
18 Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha Team
19 Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
20 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre – ISD
21 Marco Pinotti (Ita) BMC Racing Team
22 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Astana Pro Team
23 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
24 Juan Jose Oroz Ugalde (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
25 Thomas Rohregger (Aut) RadioShack-Nissan
26 Francis De Greef (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
27 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Astana Pro Team
28 Amets Txurruka (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
29 Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Lampre – ISD
30 Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
31 John Gadret (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
32 Sergio Pardilla Bellon (Spa) Movistar Team
33 Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team
34 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Colnago – CSF Inox
35 Mathieu Perget (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
36 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Movistar Team
37 Alberto Losada Alguacil (Spa) Katusha Team
38 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
39 Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre – ISD
40 Gustav Larsson (Swe) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
41 Peter Stetina (USA) Garmin – Barracuda
42 Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Sky Procycling
43 Damiano Caruso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
44 Johann Tschopp (Swi) BMC Racing Team
45 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Liquigas-Cannondale
46 Angel Vicioso Arcos (Spa) Katusha Team
47 Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Col) Sky Procycling
48 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
49 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin – Barracuda
50 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Colnago – CSF Inox
51 José Rujano Guillen (Ven) Androni Giocattoli
52 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre – ISD
53 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
54 Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
55 Benat Intxausti Elorriaga (Spa) Movistar Team
56 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha Team
57 Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:10:00
58 Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
59 Cristiano Salerno (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
60 Paolo Longo Borghini (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:10:19
61 Dennis Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
62 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
63 Martijn Keizer (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
64 Taylor Phinney (USA) BMC Racing Team
65 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Belisol Team
66 Bart De Clercq (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
67 Serge Pauwels (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
68 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team
69 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank Cycling Team
70 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Astana Pro Team
71 Angelo Pagani (Ita) Colnago – CSF Inox
72 Evgeny Petrov (Rus) Astana Pro Team
73 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Team Saxo Bank
74 Jan Bakelants (Bel) RadioShack-Nissan
75 Brian Bulgac (Ned) Lotto Belisol Team 0:10:44
76 Carlos José Ochoa (Ven) Androni Giocattoli 0:11:39
77 Jackson Rodriguez (Ven) Androni Giocattoli
78 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale
79 Emanuele Sella (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
80 Dominique Rollin (Can) FDJ-Big Mat
81 Fabio Felline (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
82 Branislau Samoilau (Blr) Movistar Team
83 Pavel Brutt (Rus) Katusha Team
84 Ivan Velasco Murillo (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
85 Simone Ponzi (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:12:02
86 Alessandro Spezialetti (Ita) Lampre – ISD
87 Aliaksandr Kuchynski (Blr) Katusha Team 0:12:08
88 Daniele Pietropolli (Ita) Lampre – ISD
89 Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) BMC Racing Team
90 Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre – ISD
91 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Colnago – CSF Inox
92 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
93 Oliver Zaugg (Swi) RadioShack-Nissan
94 Matteo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
95 Francesco Failli (Ita) Farnese Vini – Selle Italia
96 Julien Berard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
97 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) BMC Racing Team
98 Daniele Righi (Ita) Lampre – ISD
99 Adriano Malori (Ita) Lampre – ISD
100 Jan Barta (Cze) Team NetApp
101 Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
102 Pierre Cazaux (Fra) Euskaltel – Euskadi
103 Matteo Carrara (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
104 Gatis Smukulis (Lat) Katusha Team
105 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) BMC Racing Team
106 Julien Vermote (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
107 Luke Roberts (Aus) Team Saxo Bank
108 Alexsandr Dyachenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
109 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
110 Miguel Minguez Ayala (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
111 Elia Favilli (Ita) Farnese Vini – Selle Italia
112 Ben Hermans (Bel) RadioShack-Nissan
113 Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi (Spa) Movistar Team
114 Oscar Gatto (Ita) Farnese Vini – Selle Italia
115 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) RadioShack-Nissan
116 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team
117 Jose Rodolfo Serpa Perez (Col) Androni Giocattoli
118 Sébastien Rosseler (Bel) Garmin – Barracuda
119 Kevin Seeldraeyers (Bel) Astana Pro Team
120 Nelson Oliveira (Por) RadioShack-Nissan
121 Gregor Gazvoda (Slo) AG2R La Mondiale
122 Andrey Amador Bakkazakova (CRc) Movistar Team
123 Jesse Sergent (NZl) RadioShack-Nissan
124 Stefan Denifl (Aut) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
125 Adrian Saez (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
126 Michal Golas (Pol) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
127 Andreas Dietziker (Swi) Team NetApp
128 Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Team NetApp
129 Daniel Schorn (Aut) Team NetApp
130 Volodymir Gustov (Ukr) Team Saxo Bank
131 Jonas Aaen Jörgensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank
132 Alex Rasmussen (Den) Garmin – Barracuda
133 Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Arg) Team Saxo Bank
134 Christian Meier (Can) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
135 Guillaume Bonnafond (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
136 Anders Lund (Den) Team Saxo Bank
137 Pier Paolo De Negri (Ita) Farnese Vini – Selle Italia
138 Miguel Angel Rubiano Chavez (Col) Androni Giocattoli
139 Mickael Delage (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
140 Francis Mourey (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
141 Roberto Ferrari (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
142 Robert Hunter (RSA) Garmin – Barracuda
143 Svein Tuft (Can) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
144 Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) FDJ-Big Mat
145 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Colnago – CSF Inox
146 Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Garmin – Barracuda 0:13:18
147 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
148 Mikhail Ignatyev (Rus) Katusha Team
149 Gaetan Bille (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
150 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha Team
151 Mirko Selvaggi (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
152 Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
153 Gabriel Rasch (Nor) FDJ-Big Mat
154 Timon Seubert (Ger) Team NetApp
155 Andreas Schillinger (Ger) Team NetApp
156 Marco Bandiera (Ita) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
157 Sacha Modolo (Ita) Colnago – CSF Inox
158 Bartosz Huzarski (Pol) Team NetApp
159 Martin Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
160 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Sky Procycling
161 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Sky Procycling
162 Matteo Rabottini (Ita) Farnese Vini – Selle Italia
163 Jack Bobridge (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
164 Alfredo Balloni (Ita) Farnese Vini – Selle Italia
165 Jack Bauer (NZl) Garmin – Barracuda
166 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky Procycling
167 Ian Stannard (GBr) Sky Procycling
168 Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Sky Procycling
169 Victor Cabedo (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 0:13:43
170 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 0:13:59
171 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Liquigas-Cannond