Giro d’Italia Stage 10: Live upates, blog
Roar Guru Please join us for live blogging of stage 10 of the Giro d’Italia. Live coverage begins at 20.35pm AEST, with comments added to this post throughout the race.
This stage resembles one of the classics. The course rolls for 186 miles from Civitavecchia inland toward Assisi, ending in a climb to the finish. The climb is only a category four, but pitches up to 15 percent in some parts, and I predict a selection will be made.
Getting to the climbs, however, is far from trivial, as the terrain is constantly rolling, and the fast pace may take toll on the weaker climbers.
If I had to pick a winner, I’d look at someone who would do well in a classic. Astana has a pair in Roman Kreuziger and Enrico Gasparotto, and if he’s feeling well, Taylor Phinney of BMC, former U23 Paris-Roubaix winner, could have a chance.
On the other hand, this is also a stage where I can picture a break succeeding. Just a hunch.
This is the type of terrain where the race leader Ryder Hesjedal should do well in, and I wouldn’t expect the lead to change hands unless something dramatic were to happen.
We’re approaching the midpoint in the Giro, and the top 10 places are separated by less than one minute. Someone has to make a move.
So will it be one of the classics champions or a rider from a breakaway that doesn’t get caught? Find out from 20.35pm AEST as we cover Stage 10 of the Giro d’Italia with live race updates and commentary.
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The Crowd Says (52) | Page 1 of Comments
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1:07am
vitalyg said | 1:07am | Report comment
And that is it for stage 10 of the Giro. Good night all. Check in tomorrow for live blogging of stage 11.
1:04am
vitalyg said | 1:04am | Report comment
And the new GC standings:
1. Rodriguez
2. Hesjedal +17
3. Tiralongo + 32
4. Kreuzinger + 52
5. Intxausti + 52
6. Basso + 57
Still very close near the top.
1:03am
vitalyg said | 1:03am | Report comment
Here’s the Stage 10 finish.
1. Rodriguez, 2. Huzarski + 2, 3. Visconti +2, 4. Pozzovivo +6, 5. Gadret +6, 6. Hesjedal + 6, 7. Slagter +6, 8. Cataldo +6
12:58am
vitalyg said | 12:58am | Report comment
Rodriguez wins! With that he gets the time bonus and the pink jersey!
12:57am
vitalyg said | 12:57am | Report comment
Rodriguez goes, drops everyone.
12:57am
vitalyg said | 12:57am | Report comment
Rodriguez sitting in second behind Rabobank. Hesjedal might be losing pink here.
12:56am
vitalyg said | 12:56am | Report comment
Tiralongo attacks, Hesjedal there by 5 lengths back or so.
12:56am
vitalyg said | 12:56am | Report comment
Katusha on the front of the field along the narrow roads.
12:55am
vitalyg said | 12:55am | Report comment
Sky and AG2R rides off the front on the descent (will try to get names shortly).
12:54am
vitalyg said | 12:54am | Report comment
Game of chess going on with the top contender looking each other over.
12:53am
vitalyg said | 12:53am | Report comment
A short descent coming up shortly before the last 1.5km up to the finish.
12:53am
vitalyg said | 12:53am | Report comment
Pozzovivo of Colnago near the front again, can he escape again?
12:52am
vitalyg said | 12:52am | Report comment
Scarponi chases up the climb.
12:51am
vitalyg said | 12:51am | Report comment
Orica-Greenedge rider attacks up the steep part of the climb.
12:50am
vitalyg said | 12:50am | Report comment
And we’re up the climb and a Colnago rider attacks.
12:49am
vitalyg said | 12:49am | Report comment
Field under the 5km banner, 1km left to the base of the climb.
12:48am
vitalyg said | 12:48am | Report comment
The road narrows and some guys getting squeezed at the back of the field.
12:47am
vitalyg said | 12:47am | Report comment
Sky is now on the front setting the pace. Liquigas not far back and Hesjadal is now all alone, Garmin burned all their matches before the start of the climb.
12:46am
vitalyg said | 12:46am | Report comment
Hesjedal, Scarponi, Rodriguez, Schleck – all near the front as the field is about to go uphill in 3.5km.
12:44am
vitalyg said | 12:44am | Report comment
Less than 9km to go, it is pretty much all together with the break just a few seconds out.
12:43am
vitalyg said | 12:43am | Report comment
Remember that Rodriguez is only 9 seconds down on Hesjedal and there’s a 20 second bonus going to the winner.
12:42am
vitalyg said | 12:42am | Report comment
Katusha and Garmin side by side bringing their trains toward the front. Garmin is obviously working to protect the pink jersey, and Katusha is hoping to set things up for Rodriguez.
12:38am
vitalyg said | 12:38am | Report comment
The main field just went under the 15km to go banner, 51 seconds back. Garmin-Barracuda on the front stretching it out and keeping the pace high going into the finishing climb.
12:34am
vitalyg said | 12:34am | Report comment
And Clement drags Keizer and Brandle back to the break of three to make six. But that’s unlikely to help them as the main field is just over 1 minute back with 17km.
12:32am
vitalyg said | 12:32am | Report comment
With 18.5km left, the field is now on a straight road and the break is in sight.
12:25am
vitalyg said | 12:25am | Report comment
The break is out to 1:20 with Clement, Keizer and Brandle in no man’s land just over 20 seconds ahead of the main field. Not sure Clement will get any help from the other two in his effort to bridge.
12:20am
vitalyg said | 12:20am | Report comment
Clement catches Keizer and Brandle. Three from the original break still up the road at 1:17.
12:18am
vitalyg said | 12:18am | Report comment
My mistake, half a minute to Clement of Rabobank who attacks out of the field and attempts to bridge.
12:16am
vitalyg said | 12:16am | Report comment
And as we approach the 30km mark, the break is starting to plummet to just over half a minute.
12:07am
vitalyg said | 12:07am | Report comment
39km to go, approaching a small uncategorised climb, then a long flat, where the break will likely be caught, and then a charge to the final climb.
11:56pm
vitalyg said | 11:56pm | Report comment
Not much happening in the peloton right now, but the break is slowly shrinking to 1:30 with 47km left. Seems like a calm before the storm. This will end in fireworks, no question about it – too much opportunity for GC contenders in this stage to move up in classification.
11:42pm
vitalyg said | 11:42pm | Report comment
With the top GC contenders so close together and the time bonuses at the finish mean Hesjedal will need to fight to keep the pink jersey up the final climb.
11:39pm
vitalyg said | 11:39pm | Report comment
Looks like I was wrong. With 55km to go, the field let the break go out to over 2 minutes again.
11:29pm
vitalyg said | 11:29pm | Report comment
Would be great to hear what the DS for Garmin, Katusha and Liquigas are saying right now. Something is being plotted for sure, the break is getting reeled in way too quickly. Less than 2 minutes now, and I wouldn’t be surprised if riders started to take fliers to try to bridge once the break is down to around 1 minute.
11:19pm
vitalyg said | 11:19pm | Report comment
If the chase continues at the current pace, the break should be caught with about 55km to go. Wonder if any of the favourites will try for a long escape?
11:10pm
vitalyg said | 11:10pm | Report comment
The break continues to shrink to less than 3 minutes with just over 75km to go. Position will be critical toward the finish as the road narrows drastically. If the riders come it carrying a lot of speed, I wouldn’t be surprised by a crash.
11:17pm
Darryl Kotyk said | 11:17pm | Report comment
Great coverage so far, Vitaly. Keep the updates coming.
11:00pm
vitalyg said | 11:00pm | Report comment
Katusha and Garmin-Barracuda controlling the front of the peloton, driving down the time to the break. 3:20 to the five who got away earlier.
10:54pm
vitalyg said | 10:54pm | Report comment
With 86km to go in the stage, the break is down to 3:43. Slowly coming back, but at this rate, it might get caught too early.
10:37pm
vitalyg said | 10:37pm | Report comment
Katusha is at the front controlling the breakaway. Perhaps looking for Rodriguez to produce a result in this sage. Less than 100K to go, break is just over 4 minutes.
10:03pm
vitalyg said | 10:03pm | Report comment
65km into the stage, the break has edged out another 20 seconds from the peloton and is holding at about 4:20.
9:44pm
vitalyg said | 9:44pm | Report comment
As we approach the 50km mark in the stage, the break is holding steady at around 4 minutes. Perhaps the peloton doesn’t want to let the break have too much room today. As I mentioned in my preview, I would not be surprised if a break stayed away.
9:23pm
vitalyg said | 9:23pm | Report comment
Appears there was a crash early in the stage, with Brian Bulgac (Lotto Belisol), Perget (AG2R), Miguel Rubiano (Androni), Pierre Cazaux (Euskaltel), and Dario Cataldo (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) going down. They are fine and still riding.
9:16pm
vitalyg said | 9:16pm | Report comment
The break is still at 3:20 after 30km.
9:12pm
vitalyg said | 9:12pm | Report comment
The field likely won’t worry about the break for a while, as Bonnafond is best placed at 24 minutes down and of no real threat to the pink jersey.
9:08pm
vitalyg said | 9:08pm | Report comment
One rider who did not make the start today was Filippo Pozzato of Farnese Vini, who broke his hand in yesterday’s crash.
9:06pm
vitalyg said | 9:06pm | Report comment
Break is quickly out to 3:20. I wonder if they let this one go 10+ minutes as they have in the past several stages.
9:02pm
vitalyg said | 9:02pm | Report comment
And we’re off. Just several KMs into the race and already a break is gone. Keizer (Vacansoleil), Bonnafond (AG2R La Mondiale), Ayalam (Euskatel-Euskadi), Brandle (NetApp) and Failli (Farnese Vini-Selle Italia) have a 2:15 gap after 20km.
8:44pm
vitalyg said | 8:44pm | Report comment
Here’s the Stage 10 flyover via cyclingthealps.com
8:34pm
vitalyg said | 8:34pm | Report comment
Red Jersey Classification after Stage 9
1 GOSS Matthew Harley AUS OGE 65
2 CAVENDISH Mark GBR SKY 61
3 RUBIANO CHAVEZ Miguel Angel COL AND 36
4 POZZOVIVO Domenico ITA COG 35
5 VENTOSO ALBERDI Francisco J. ESP MOV 32
6 RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquin ESP KAT 30
7 TIRALONGO Paolo ITA AST 29
8 CARUSO Damiano ITA LIQ 29
9 KRISTOFF Alexander NOR KAT 29
10 HESJEDAL Ryder CAN GRM 26
8:32pm
vitalyg said | 8:32pm | Report comment
General Classification after Stage 9
1 HESJEDAL, Ryder (GARMIN-BARRACUDA) 36:02:40
2 RODRIGUEZ OLIVER, Joaquin (KATUSHA) + 0:09
3 TIRALONGO, Paolo (ASTANA) + 0:15
4 KREUZIGER, Roman (ASTANA) + 0:35
5 INTXAUSTI ELORRIAGA, Benat (MOVISTAR)
6 BASSO, Ivan (LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE) + 0:40
7 CARUSO, Damiano (LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE) + 0:45
8 CATALDO, Dario (OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP) + 0:46
9 SCHLECK, Frank (RADIOSHACK-NISSAN) + 0:48
10 CAPECCHI, Eros (LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE) + 0:52
6:12pm
tourdecouch said | 6:12pm | Report comment
Nice stage preview Vitaly. Will hang around for the earlier updates as it should be a good stage but I must get sleep! Will read them all tomorrow.