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Ganna’s Giro climbing was impressive, but can’t remember the profile of that ascent. Maybe he’s been focussing on different goals since then. Kwiato’s previous MSR wins and podiums are less informative, to my mind, than his form in the last few weeks.
snoops-
Comparing the climbs of a Giro stage to MSR is like comparing apples with oranges. The final two climbs of MSR test riders in a unique way, when they have over 250 kms in their legs. Look at yesterday; Van der Poel wasn't able to launch a similarly devastating attack as the one(s) he did at Strade Bianche because his explosivity is blunted by the distance. Ganna doesn't have that explosivity on the best of days, so I think he knows that he's not going to be able to go with the moves in the last 2 kms of the Poggio and rides for the team instead. Which he did in exemplary fashion, but he was only able to because the second group caught the front group a couple of kms short of the foot of the Poggio, i.e. he'd been too far back on the Cipressa and in the back half of the bunch when it split over the top.
andyp
I'm not sure Ganna would be able to hang with the front group over the Poggio. He's not very explosive as a rider.
Kwiatkowski has won MSR, and finished on the podium, so he was their best bet yesterday. He just didn't have the legs when it mattered, which happens.