2014 Giro d’Italia rest-day analysis: The Emerald Isle

The 2014 Giro d’Italia took an early rest day Monday to transfer from Dublin to the heel of Italy. So far, the pink jerseys have belonged to Orica-GreenEdge riders—Canadian Svein Tuft and Australian Michael Matthews—after their team time trial victory on Friday. The race is still in its infancy, but we can look at several key factors over the first three days.

Tuft in Pink It was clear that Orica-GreenEdge had a mind to put Tuft in pink with the team time trial as a birthday gift. The squad even had a pink Scott bike ready to assemble for Saturday. Tuft is a tireless worker with a huge engine and the team showed its appreciation by putting him first over the line in Belfast. His journey from the red lantern of the Tour de France in 2013 to the pink jersey wearer elicited smiles in the cycling world.

Rain So far the peloton has flashed a lot of black rain coats, arm and leg warmers as the sky tipped down and winds blew. Riders will be praying for clear skies in Italy, mindful of the terrible conditions in last year’s edition that played havoc on the peloton.

Garmin’s Disaster It only took a half second to destroy Garmin-Sharp’s GC aspirations utterly on the very first day. The crash midway through an eight-man argyle line during the team time trial sent Dan Martin (Ireland) and Koldo Fernandez (Spain) to hospital with broken collarbones and Ryder Hesjedal over the finish line three and a half minutes down on Orica-GreenEdge. There’s nothing for the team to do now but look for stage wins.

TTT Sets the Table The opening stage may prove to be decisive one for the GC table three weeks from now in Trieste. Besides eliminating Martin and Hesjedal, the TTT has given Rigoberto Uran and Cadel Evans the advantage and put Joaquim Rodriguez in a hole. Here are the gaps between the GC men on the first rest day:

Rigoberto Uran (Col) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step +0:19
Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team +0:21
Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo +0:26
Michele Scarponi (Ita) Astana Pro Team +0:41
Ivan Basso (Ita) Cannondale +1:07
Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team +1:09
Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale +1:12
Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Lampre-Merida +1:34
Joaquim Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha +1:47

Kittel on Form Marcel Kittel’s emergence as the best sprinter in professional cycling was underscored this week by his consecutive victories in Belfast and Dublin. There’s plenty of speculation that Giant-Shimano’s German will “pull a Cipollini” and retire from the race before the final of week of climbs, but he’s still got plenty of opportunities to take stage wins, including the first two days in Italy.

The second block of racing is six days long, with the first uphill finish Thursday on Cat. 2 Montecassino, a Cat. 1 finish Friday on Montecopilo and a Cat. 2 finale Saturday in Sestola. And those are still only the opening salvos for the GC men.