Giro d'Italia 2014

massive massive effort followed by flight the next day w/presumably depleted immune system -> instant manflu imo

hopefully ben swift can bag a stage or two now

I got really drunk then flew Ryanair for the first time in ages last week and got tonsillitis for my troubles. Jussayin'.

Bastards.

Gifs of the last lap crashes here.

That's the kind of shit that will have even less people wanting to ride the Giro in 2015.

Swifty got taken out, shame. Was it simply a very ill-conceived stage?

I don't know how Italy manages to lay tarmac+paint so glassy smooth you can drop whilst ridng in a near straight line like over that ped crossing.

I think it's more a combination of infrequent rain and lots of oily exhaust residue on the roads combined with very high psi slick tyres as opposed to any particular kind of tarmac.

Riders were saying it was like ice

Thought swift had a really good chance until half the pack seemingly hit the deck

I think it's more a combination of infrequent rain and lots of oily exhaust residue on the roads combined with very high psi slick tyres as opposed to any particular kind of tarmac.

This.

Although I blame dust too.

A bit of rain on dusty roads is fecking leathal.

Dust!

Thought swift had a really good chance until half the pack seemingly hit the deck

If everyone had stayed upright. The pace would have been driven, and the Sky leadout had a great chance. Worked the stage before, and With Bouhanni having to come back at greater pace, and Kittel absent. Chances looked good.

I don't know how Italy manages to lay tarmac+paint so glassy smooth you can drop whilst ridng in a near straight line like over that ped crossing.

It's common across the Mediterranean in my experience. They don't get much rain and, when they do, a combination of residue from cars, dust and other stuff makes the surfaces so slick you don't get any grip. It's lethal.

It's always worse in urban areas, presumably because of the higher volume of traffic, so a 8 km urban circuit was always going to be risky if it rained.

Still, any chance to post this is always good;

Giro 2007 Stage 11 Crash - YouTube

Today's stage suits Swift much, much more than yesterday.

It's common across the Mediterranean in my experience. They don't get much rain and, when they do, a combination of residue from cars, dust and other stuff makes the surfaces so slick you don't get any grip. It's lethal.

It's always worse in urban areas, presumably because of the higher volume of traffic, so a 8 km urban circuit was always going to be risky if it rained.

Still, any chance to post this is always good;

Giro 2007 Stage 11 Crash - YouTube

Around Easter its often nice and dry up here. Not for as long or as warm as Southern europe of course. But the cars still have their metal studded tyres on creating epic Levels of tarmac dust. Often worsened by the black snow beside the road melting and depositing even more dust. The next time it rains it gets insanely slippy.

Although that clip looks unreal.

thought I read that on the continent they tend to use a resin on the roads instead of tarmac which can make them glassy when wet

crazy forruns ey? (not familiar with road building processes :-/ )

good job by Matthews to hang on to the pink! Cadel's also looking strong, outclimbing Purito...

I hope Weening can stick with the big guys closing in the coming 4 days. Images & info at the excellent www.procyclingstats.com

Big crash. Does not look nice.

Cadel's up. May have been given the pink whether he wants it or not?

It looks pretty grim. He is conscious though.

Big crash. Does not look nice.

Cadel's up. May have been given the pink whether he wants it or not?

Matthews was with him, so nope. But interesting turn of events.

Yes! God, I love Cadel.

And Hippy would rather be in Phuket than at home watching this.

I do hope Caruso is going to be ok. Those were horrible images and a wait for medical attention that seemed too, too long.

A good day for Australians, a bad day for everyone else.

I wonder if Quintana's suffering in this weather. He seems not quite 100%.

Huge crash at Giro d'Italia 2014 - Stage 6 - YouTube

The condition of the carriageway surface really is ridiculous there. Should they wish to run races in the same region in the future, they will probably have to consider some form of road cleaning before it gets underway.

As above, I hope that Caruso is all right. It looked worryingly as if he had a head injury.

Evans - Quintana is now 1:47

ooof.