|
By:
Landa I think, count back stage winner, I'd say.
|
|
By:
Yes, i guess thats right.
|
|
By:
And now i lay my winnings on Zakarin making this a trully epic Giro.
|
|
By:
Zakarin has to sit on Landa's wheel and win the stage.
|
|
By:
Landa complaining about Zakarin doing no work whilst you guys are in the ad-break.
|
|
By:
Aru chasing Landa... great work once more Astana...
|
|
By:
Landa cooperating...
|
|
By:
Yes, i think Landa is just riding a medium pace to the climb and then will go all in, because zakarin doesnt help
|
|
By:
About time to cover some of the chasers, Landa almost sitting up here.
|
|
By:
Landa was smart. If he went strong, Zakarin would probably win
|
|
By:
LOLOL ASTANA is putting Landa doing the work, unbelievable from Astana...
|
|
By:
Landa still has the best turn of speed, but isn't going as well as expected. Hesjedal has done a lot of work as has Zakarin. Uran has spat the dummy, and Aru looks fresh.
|
|
By:
Kruiswijk suited by the finish being flat and deserves the win!
|
|
By:
Landa wont win, thats for sure. AST lost the mountain classification and probably the stage to put time on Contador(??). Terrible
|
|
By:
Landa and Kruiswijk for me, Zakarin bad result.
|
|
By:
Zakarin, thank you!
|
|
By:
Uran looks like he is suffering, not laying though.
|
|
By:
AST want the bonus for Aru, good enough for me!
|
|
By:
AST is probably the worst team ever, regarding to tactics
|
|
By:
AST is probably the worst team ever, regarding to tactics
|
|
By:
AST look like they found something extra on the second rest day.
|
|
By:
Uran will probably win.
|
|
By:
Landa looks best, but AST may lose the stage if they go with Aru.
|
|
By:
Impressive from Aru!
|
|
By:
Aru!
|
|
By:
Impressive from Aru!
|
|
By:
That's good tactics from AST, they knew Aru was going well and instructed Landa to sit up, to set-up the stage win and bonus for Aru, hoping Bertie breaks completely. Smart stuff! Nice ride Aru to finish off the plan!
|
|
By:
lol at Aru's form this Giro. Started like a house on fire. Then he faded and was getting dropped by everyone. Now in the third week he is the strongest and drops everyone.
|
|
By:
Are you kidding me? They lost the mountain classification, that they would've won if they let Landa go
|
|
By:
yeah I'm sure Landa was chuffed
|
|
By:
strage tactics by AST throwing away the KOM for Landa
|
|
By:
Yes worst tactics ever, since the beginning! Today they could have been celebrating the 1º place in the GC, mountain classification and stage, instead of "only" stage.
|
|
By:
maybe they weren't thinking straight with all the extra oxygen in their blood
|
|
By:
If Bertie broke completely or suffered a mechanical, the GC is obviously more important than KOM for AST -- plus it shows them working as a team and that's great long term for team unity, harmony, and cohesion. If Contador bombed completely, everyone would be saying these are the tactics they should've employed for bonus time.
A young rider can break in terms of career by being found out the way Aru was earlier in the race with everyone saying AST's man was Landa, here. Now Aru gets his second stage, closes a massive gap to a somewhat more fair one, and he finishes the race with great confidence -- he knows the team is behind him. I have absolutely no problems with those tactics, especially when they're telegraphed so clearly. AST were looking into the future with their young GC star -- signed on for the next two years, remember. Great management! |
|
By:
Have to feel for Hesjedal there, a few less silly time losses earlier and he could have potentially won his 2nd Giro. Sorry, couldn't resist ;)
|
|
By:
Will Aru win a GT in the next 3-5 possible GT appearances? If the answer or eventual evidence is 'yes' than AST won a lot more than the stage today.
Hesjedal showed some fight, I'll give him that. |
|
By:
the chanced of catching AC was never more than 1%, and Landa's Chance of winning a GT at least as good as Aru's, they only played Aru because he's Italian.
|
|
By:
Looking at Aru's performance in this race I think Henderson can feel vindicated.
|
|
By:
I only see it as a win-win for AST -- the 1.01's go off occasionally, you know!
Plus, Aru is the future for AST, got a year on Landa and is improving in every GT start: 5/3/2. Landa, on the other hand, has either just extended his contract with AST or got a better price for his services with MOV as they look to cover Valverde in the next two years or thereabouts. Either way, he doesn't have the dynamic qualities of Aru, and whilst he might win a GT as he continues to improve approaching his prime, he just doesn't have the "star quality" about him in the way Aru does. Confirmation of much of this to me will be evidenced by AST withdrawing Aru from the TdF for Landa, and entering Aru in the Vuelta. |
|
By:
It was obvious last year that Aru was the future for AST. However it would of been interesting to see how close Landa could of got to Contador had he not been held back by team orders over the duration of the race.
Also lets not forget AST were almost kicked out of the World Tour for doping violations and only received a last minute reprieve to race in the Giro. To put things in perspective. |