2015 Giro d’Italia: second rest day analysis
The second week of the 2015 Giro d’Italia maintained the drama and surprises of the first week, while giving cycling fans novelties like the first Belarusian Grand Tour time trial winner and the heart-in-mouth sight of French rider Alexandre Geniez scaring himself out of daredevil descent in the rain.
Let’s take a look at five threads in week two in the pause before the mountainous final week.
First, here’s the GC:
1) Alberto Contador (Spain/Tinkoff-Saxo) 60:01:34
2) Fabio Aru (Italy/Astana) +2:35
3) Andrey Amador (Costa Rica/Movistar) +4:19
4) Mikel Landa (Spain/Astana) +4:46
5) Leopold König (Czech Republic/Sky) +6:36
13) Ryder Hesjedal (Cannondale-Garmin) +11:17
Red points jersey: Elia Viviani (Italy/Sky)
Mountains jersey: Beñat Intxausti (Spain/Movistar)
Young riders jersey: Fabio Aru (Italy/Astana)
Team: Astana
Contador in control: Alberto Contador’s triumphant week was all about one small time loss, several small time gains, and a giant bite out of his rivals in the race against the clock. Bertie has weathered the separated shoulder storm and seems untouchable now.
Astana can’t shake Contador even when he is isolated day after day. He hasn’t destroyed Fabio Aru on a climb yet, like he’s done to so many rivals over the years, but he certainly gave the Italian and nearly everyone else a good pasting in the long chrono. The conventional wisdom is that Contador can’t time trial like he used to, but he was a monster on Stage 14.
Will Contador be able to hold this form through July? His performance in Italy cranks up the anticipation over the Big Four Summit at the Tour de France.
Poor Porte: Sky’s Richie Porte’s week was a nightmare. Having entered the six-stage stretch in third, he was so far down the GC going into the rest day (27th) and so dispirited and sore that he quit the race.
Everything possible went wrong, from the two-minute penalty slapped on top of a flat delay on Stage 10, to a crash just outside the 3-km to go mark on Stage 13, to the subsequent, terrible chrono and mountain days that followed.
Porte was on a mighty roll before last Tuesday, having won three stage races in a row while placing second and fourth in the other two he contested.
The Australian will support Chris Froome in the Tour de France, and it’s doubtful Sky will race him in the Vuelta a España. Perhaps he can find succour in winning another week-long stage race before the season is out.
Hesjedal continues to fight: For a man who hasn’t a hope of taking his second title and isn’t Italian, Ryder Hesjedal is on the television screen a lot in this Giro d’Italia. He’s been in two breakaways, followed by David Millar in a Maserati as he rolled a solid long time trial, and tried a desperate, lone fight back to Aru and Contador on the Madonna di Campiglio in the conclusion of Stage 15.
Stage 15’s efforts lifted him to 13th in the GC after starting 133rd two weeks ago. But it was his strong time trial that put him into position to climb into the top ten before Milan. Fifteenth spot is Ryder’s best WorldTour chrono result since he won the Giro in 2012 and his best since the Tour de Suisse in 2013. Those were short time trials too, not almost 60-km.
Last season Hesjedal clawed his way to ninth in the Giro after a disastrous team time trial that saw him 165th after the first day. But his struggle at the end of the 2014 edition was to remain ninth all throughout the final climb-intensive week. This year he’ll have to vault over tough stage racers like Roman Kreuziger (Czech Republic/Tinkoff-Saxo) and Belgian Jurgen van den Broeck (Lotto-Soudal) to get into the top-ten, while fending off industrious Dutchman Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo) and pre-race favourite Rigoberto Uran (Colombia/Etixx-QuickStep), 14th and 15th respectively.
More Italian delight: It has been a good home tour for the peloton’s Italians, having taken six of the fourteen road stages. The sole Italian WorldTour squad Lampre-Merida has three stage wins via Jan Polanc, Diego Ulissi and Sacha Modolo, the latter two Italian. The points jersey shootout is among three Italians: holder Elia Viviani (Sky), Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek) and Nicola Boem (Bardiani).
Aru may not wear the maglia rosa in Milan, but it looks like he’ll still be clad in the white young rider’s jersey he seized on the fifth stage.
The podium battle: In my preview I called attention to how there is often a surprise on the final Giro podium. Although there were four definite pre-race favourites, there were also several hopefuls who might stand on one of the steps in Milan. Two names I didn’t list were Mikel Landa (Spain/Astana) and Andrey Amador (Costa Rica/Movistar), who are in ding-dong battle for third with only 27-seconds separating them. Sky’s new protected rider Leopold König (Czech Republic) is almost two minutes behind fourth place Landa.
Landa was second to Porte in April’s Giro del Trentino, finishing just above König. The Spaniard is also closest to compatriot Beñat Intxausti (Movistar) at the top of the mountains competition. Amador had an undistinguished run up to the Giro, and his highest placing ever in a WorldTour stage race was sixth in last season’s Tour de Pologne. His Central American home is enraptured by the close contest.
Fifth place König is already in the best spot of his Grand Tour career, having taken seventh in last year’s Tour de France.
