Joaquin Rodriguez sums it all up, neatly. It was an epic stage to Alpe di Pampeago…
“Today was a day to gain time on Hesjedal but the opposite happened and I lost time. He looked at us, put his team on the front to work and then dropped us.
“I can only congratulate him. He was really strong.
“When Scarponi started attacking it hurt, but that’s part of racing.
“When Hesjedal attacked he was really strong and it was too much for me. I decided to climb at my own pace, following Pozzovivo, otherwise I’d have cracked.
“Tomorrow is a very important stage. I suffered today but as I’ve always said, the Giro d’Italia is fought day after day, all the way to Milan.
“Ryder is good at time trials and so he’s not a surprise for me.
“We climb the Mortirolo tomorrow. It’s a climb I like a lot. A lot of riders have won the Giro d’Italia on these steep slopes but others have lost it.
“I just hope to have a great day.”
A courageous but ultimately doomed breakaway (just don’t tell Vik I said that, Sandy Casar is number three on his hate list behind Moncoutie and Dumoulin); Kreuziger restoring his honour; Hesjedal continuing to amaze – and Basso having to come to terms with the fact that it’s looking very much like he can’t win the Giro.
I was thinking about what I said in the preview I did for before the Giro and thought I’d check back:
“On paper, it’s not the greatest field ever assembled for a Giro d’Italia. But sometimes that’s no bad thing, the lack of a megastar often means that riders lose their shyness and go for it, instead of defending their position – be that second or ninth.
“There’s no Contador, Evans, Wiggins, Schleck (A), Valverde or Menchov – like it or not, le Tour is where the sponsors want their stars to twinkle.
“Whilst this year’s race isn’t as savage as the 2011 exercise in creating an unbalanced corsa which became a procession, there’s no question that the winner will have to be a climber.”
I think I got that part right.
And whilst Vik thinks I look at Liquigas through ‘rose tinted glasses,’ I said this of Basso.
“Despite his legendary dedication and capacity for hard work there comes a time when the body starts to say, ‘enough!
“And fate – being as cruel as it is – usually conspires to throw in another crash or virus at the worst possible time.
“Perhaps Basso will surprise us, but he’s displayed no form this year and fairy stories are in short supply in the Alps and Dolomites.
“It’s unlikely he can make the podium – despite the excellent squadra he has at his disposal.”
I think he may prove me wrong and make the podium – but in my book, he can’t now win.
Most days I get an email press release from Liquigas- usually it’s upbeat and positive.
There’s been no such email after yesterday; there’s nothing to say – his team of dedicated, hard men rode themselves into the ground for him and he couldn’t finish it off.
But the one I missed was Ryder Hesjedal, I said:
‘The big Canadian’s run in to the Giro has been good – a long, slow build up from the Tour Down Under but with flashes of real quality in the Ardennes races.
‘His build and strong team mean he won’t be at sea in those Danish cross winds and the TTT could be his springboard to the pink jersey.
“He’s been top ten in le Tour and a repeat is possible – but maybe the podium is a wee bit too optimistic.”
Badly wrong!
Barring disaster or one of the pure climbers having a ‘super’ day, it looks as if Hesjedal will win in Milan on Sunday.
The difference for him this year he says is that he had the luxury of knowing back in November that he could concentrate all of his energies on this one race.
He’s responded to everything that the climbers have thrown at him and has several times actually attacked them; inflicting psychological damage just at the right moments – like yesterday.
It’s going to be a great stage on Saturday.
I just wish we were there.
Ciao.
Result - Giro d’Italia 2012 – Stage 19: Treviso - Alpe di Pampeago 197km
Stage Result
2 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin – Barracuda 0:00:19
3 Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha Team 0:00:32
4 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre – ISD 0:00:35
5 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Colnago – CSF Inox 0:00:43
6 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:00:55
7 Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Sky Procycling 0:00:57
8 Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 0:01:18
9 Stefano Pirazzi (Ita) Colnago – CSF Inox 0:01:22
10 John Gadret (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
11 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:01:34
12 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre – ISD
13 Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Col) Sky Procycling 0:01:37
14 Sandy Casar (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 0:01:41
15 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 0:01:52
16 Johann Tschopp (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:02:04
17 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Movistar Team 0:02:13
18 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:16
19 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha Team 0:02:18
20 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Colnago – CSF Inox 0:02:21
21 Branislau Samoilau (Blr) Movistar Team 0:02:33
22 Thomas Rohregger (Aut) RadioShack-Nissan 0:02:48
23 Jon Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 0:02:53
24 Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team 0:03:10
25 Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre – ISD 0:03:24
26 Sergio Pardilla Bellon (Spa) Movistar Team 0:04:14
27 Emanuele Sella (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
28 Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:04:31
29 Andrey Amador Bakkazakova (CRc) Movistar Team 0:05:01
30 Damiano Caruso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:05:33
31 Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Lampre – ISD 0:05:39
32 Peter Stetina (USA) Garmin – Barracuda 0:06:11
33 Serge Pauwels (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 0:06:36
34 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin – Barracuda 0:06:44
35 Francis De Greef (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team 0:07:02
36 Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:07:15
37 Pierre Cazaux (Fra) Euskaltel – Euskadi 0:07:27
38 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Sky Procycling 0:08:25
39 Alberto Losada Alguacil (Spa) Katusha Team 0:09:01
40 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:10:18
41 Mathieu Perget (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:10:30
42 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team
43 Kevin Seeldraeyers (Bel) Astana Pro Team 0:10:52
44 Sergey Lagutin (Uzb) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:11:53
45 Bart De Clercq (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team 0:12:42
46 Francesco Failli (Ita) Farnese Vini – Selle Italia
47 Adriano Malori (Ita) Lampre – ISD 0:14:01
48 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Colnago – CSF Inox
49 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Belisol Team 0:14:48
50 Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:16:07
51 Miguel Angel Rubiano Chavez (Col) Androni Giocattoli 0:17:42
52 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:17:51
53 Marco Pinotti (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:18:21
54 Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:18:46
55 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:19:03
56 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:19:11
57 Juan Jose Oroz Ugalde (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 0:21:10
58 Amets Txurruka (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
59 Ivan Velasco Murillo (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
60 Volodymir Gustov (Ukr) Team Saxo Bank
61 Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi (Spa) Movistar Team 0:21:40
62 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:23:36
63 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) BMC Racing Team
64 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale
65 Gatis Smukulis (Lat) Katusha Team
66 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank Cycling Team
67 Nelson Oliveira (Por) RadioShack-Nissan 0:24:29
68 Cristiano Salerno (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
69 Jan Bakelants (Bel) RadioShack-Nissan 0:24:31
70 Alessandro Spezialetti (Ita) Lampre – ISD 0:24:44
71 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky Procycling 0:24:48
72 Jackson Rodriguez (Ven) Androni Giocattoli 0:25:02
73 Angel Vicioso Arcos (Spa) Katusha Team 0:25:15
74 José Herrada Lopez (Spa) Movistar Team
75 Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Team NetApp 0:25:30
76 Mathias Frank (Swi) BMC Racing Team
77 Daniele Righi (Ita) Lampre – ISD 0:25:44
78 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:26:01
79 Gustav Larsson (Swe) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:26:18
80 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
81 Francis Mourey (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
82 Guillaume Bonnafond (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:26:30
83 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Lotto Belisol Team 0:26:32
84 Jose Rodolfo Serpa Perez (Col) Androni Giocattoli 0:26:36
85 Matteo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
86 Paolo Longo Borghini (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:27:32
87 Angelo Pagani (Ita) Colnago – CSF Inox 0:27:41
88 Matteo Carrara (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:28:06
89 Stefan Denifl (Aut) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
90 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli 0:28:28
91 Michal Golas (Pol) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 0:28:32
92 Ben Hermans (Bel) RadioShack-Nissan 0:28:35
93 Ian Stannard (GBr) Sky Procycling
94 Anders Lund (Den) Team Saxo Bank 0:28:44
95 Mirko Selvaggi (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:29:17
96 Evgeny Petrov (Rus) Astana Pro Team 0:29:22
97 Mikhail Ignatyev (Rus) Katusha Team 0:29:39
98 Manuele Boaro (Ita) Team Saxo Bank 0:30:03
99 Pier Paolo De Negri (Ita) Farnese Vini – Selle Italia 0:30:36
100 Matteo Rabottini (Ita) Farnese Vini – Selle Italia
101 Jan Barta (Cze) Team NetApp 0:31:13
102 Stef Clement (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:31:37
103 Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Arg) Team Saxo Bank 0:32:50
104 Oscar Gatto (Ita) Farnese Vini – Selle Italia 0:33:05
105 Luca Mazzanti (Ita) Farnese Vini – Selle Italia 0:34:44
106 Simone Ponzi (Ita) Astana Pro Team
107 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Team Saxo Bank
108 Brian Bulgac (Ned) Lotto Belisol Team
109 Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre – ISD
110 Fabio Felline (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
111 Aliaksandr Kuchynski (Blr) Katusha Team
112 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Colnago – CSF Inox
113 Dennis Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
114 Andreas Dietziker (Swi) Team NetApp
115 Daniele Pietropolli (Ita) Lampre – ISD
116 Julien Berard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
117 Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Garmin – Barracuda
118 Andreas Schillinger (Ger) Team NetApp
119 Julien Vermote (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
120 Jack Bobridge (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team