Updates from the flat stage from Riva del Garda to IseoYates retains Giro lead after limiting damage in time trial Any comments? Email John or tweet @johnbrewin_ 1.55pm BST Thanks to Tim Scott for his prompt answer to Richard’s question below. Think that Juan José Cobo beat Froome into second place with win bonuses in the 2011 Vuelta. Yes, imagine if Froome hadn’t had to play super-domestique for Brad Wiggins. Cobo won by 13 seconds, though was playing a similar role to support Denis Menchov himself. 1.50pm BST Looks like Viviani didn’t add to his points lead over Bennett in the purple jersey chase. Viviani has 237 points to Bennett’s 197. 1.49pm BST Viviani was the sprint winner from the main group, but if he got any points from that, it was only a single one. 1.47pm BST An intermediate sprint awaits, but the current stage leaders, Marco Frapporti and Darwin Atapuma, will be taking the main points from Viviani and Bennett. 1.46pm BST Question to the floor from Richard PowellIs it still feasible that Yates wins with a slower overall time due to his bonuses? And has this ever happened on a Grand Tour before?Currently trying to recall if the 1989 Tour, the eight seconds between LeMond and Laurent Fignon, included time bonuses. Any help appreciated, and other examples welcomed. 1.41pm BST At the front of the field, France’s Quentin Jauregui, Italy’s Mattia Cattaneo and Krist Neilands of Latvia are our three-man leadership group. The jiggery pokery behind the group behind them and those chasing that down might give them leeway to get away for a while. 1.38pm BST Who else is in the second chasing group? Miguel Angel Lopez is pedalling like thunder alongside Froome. That’s bad news for the white jersey holder. Meanwhile, Froome seems to be having one good day followed by another bad day at the moment. Should he actually be allowed to ride this year’s Tour de France, that’s not a good sign. 1.34pm BST Andy McGrath, from the excellent Rouleur mag, emails in, to tell this tale. You’ll like this, John. A bloke in New England called Simon Yates has been getting hundreds of Tweets of encouragement intended for the Giro leader due to his Twitter username. An extension of the Chris Hoy/Chris Foy confusion years ago.#Giro A #Sappada tripletta di @SimonYates! Dà 41” a Dumoulin, crisi Froome e Aru @giroditalia https://t.co/opGL8BRr2c #ciclismo pic.twitter.com/pUQxNSC4FLtwitter feed definitely blowing up! feel bad for everyone who has to read all the tweets about our conference last week #gartnerdmc instead of @simonyatess https://t.co/Ijez6UgeYZ 1.24pm BST Up the front, the peloton is catching up the breakaway. Just 12 seconds in it now. But it’s the gap between the chasers that’s intriguing. Yates and Dumoulin, in the leading group of chasers, have distanced a group containing Chris Froome and there’s 15 seconds in it. And this was supposed to be the quiet day. 1.20pm BST Sam Bennett, in becoming the first ever Irishman to win a Giro stage in 31 years, is almost certainly the best sprinter since the legendary Sean Kelly, these days best known for being a voice on Eurosport. Kelly, who sounds like the most impassive man in show business, was pumping the air in delight at his compatriot’s success. And who won 31 years ago? Stephen Roche. Kelly was the superior one-day racer, perhaps the greatest of his era, but Roche had that amazing 1987. Anyway, here’s Kelly on his old pal. 1.12pm BST Back in the peloton, there is some early intrigue. Elia Viviani, holding the leading sprinters’ purple jersey, seemed to have fallen off the back but is now at the vanguard. Bora–Hansgrohe’s men were putting in work and looked to be trying to distance the Quickstep man to help out Sam Bennett, who has designs on that purple jersey. The breakaway group is now on the descent. 1.07pm BST Ok, as expected, there has been a breakaway. The hilly section of today’s course is at the start and there’s a gap of 40 seconds to a sizeable group which includes no GC contenders. The biggest name in there is Spanish veteran Luis León Sánchez, who has been trying to get others to do work. 10.36am BST Afternoon, all. This Giro is Simon Yates’ to lose now. And it would be a hell of a surprise if he lost it today, a flattish ride through beauty spots, from the banks of Lake Garda to Lake Iseo in Lombardy. After Tuesday’s time trial, the gaps is 56 seconds, by no means unbridgeable, but there are mountain stages to come this week in which it would be expected that Yates takes more time out of second-placed defending champ Tom Dumloulin, with Domenico Pozzovivo 3’ 11” back on the Dutchman. Chris Froome lurks on 3’ 50” behind, but last night appeared to be dismissive of his chances of repeating the amazing comeback that Vincenzo Nibali pulled off in 2016 when coming back from over four minutes down to steal the race in its final days. Froome’s lack of form suggests he is not in the right shape for such a miracle, and not when Yates has looked almost invulnerable on the climbs. The leader was helped somewhat by a TT yesterday that was not as harsh as expected, with Dumoulin’s Sunweb team a little miffed at its relative ease.So, this one looks a day for the sprinters, with Sam Bennett perhaps seeking a third stage win. The Irishman was dead last up the Zoncolan on Saturday, and rather took the Michael in pulling a series of wheelies up the final climb. His main rival is Elia Viviani, the Italian seeking his fourth stage win. Before that crescendo, expect some cat and mouse stuff between Sunweb, Team Sky and Yates’ Mitchelton-Scott team, who are now expected to ride defensively. And, of course, with possible stage wins now at a premium, expect the breakaway specialists to have an early dig or two. Continue readingread full article
