Yes that probably works as well.
Not sure how many teams are using masks etc. Hopefully G and Tao weren’t sat too close to Ganna on the bus. 
It’s good to know he can say something other than. Whoa. That’s insane.
He might regret saying that. Presumably the Quick Step team will be now be lending a hand to anybody competing against Ineos.
If Thomas gets into a break. Quick Step will probably chase it down. 
More Giro News
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Stefan Küng (Sui) Groupama-FDJ has abandoned, but not covid related reasons (…unless he’s afraid of catching it)
After finishing fourth on the stage 9 individual time-trial, Groupama - FDJ’s Stefan Küng has announced that he is now pulling out of the Giro d’Italia as he prepares for his future goals.
“Stefan Küng will no longer be at the start of the tenth stage of the Giro d’Italia. To prepare for his next goals," an official statement made by the Twitter account of the Groupama - FDJ team. “The Swiss rider will be resting after a series of classics and the first part of the Giro d’Italia.”
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This Friday’s Stage 13 to be cut short
The Col du Grand Saint Bernard was one of the surprises of the 2023 Giro d’Italia route and was the Cima Coppi - the highest point in terms of altitude of the whole route. It has now been cut due to the high risk of avalanches towards it’s summit.
The news come as somewhat of a heartbreak for fans, who hoped to see the exceptional 34-kilometer climb in all it’s glory in the upcoming stage 13. Into Crans-Montana, the pass sees the peloton cross the border into Switzerland, and would be the first of three brutal ascents in a day that featured over 5000 meters of climbing and is to be the first big mountain clash. The climb has not been removed from the soute, but it’s final kilometers have due to the snow that remains built up at higher altitude.
2 Likes
Tuesday 16th May 2023
Stage 10 : Scandiano - Viareggio (196km)
If Mads can keep in contact with the front of the race going over that 2nd Category then the sprint finish is his for the taking
4 Likes
I’d heard that 10 was possibly a sprint stage. It looks a bit less likely on that chart.
Interesting to see if Cav manages to stay in touch.
9 NON-STARTERS FOR STAGE 10
Mads Wurtz Schmidt (Den) Israel - Premier Tech
Stefan Kung (Swi) Groupama - FDJ
Remco Evenepoel (Bel)Soudal - Quick Step
Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) Intermarché - Circus - Wanty
Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Israel - Premier Tech
Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education-EasyPost
Rein Taaramäe (Est) Intermarché - Circus - Wanty
Callum Scotson (Aus) Team Jayco AlUla
Oscar Riesebeek (Net) Alpecin-Deceuninck
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Spoiler alert! There’s today’s Stage 10 winner above ^
154 competitors on the start line (from 176)
Stage 10 is underway 
…and it’s raining again 
4 Likes
Stage 10 jersey wearers:
Geraint Thomas (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
Jonathan Milan (Ita) Bahrain-Victorious
Davide Bais (Ita) Eolo-Kometa
João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates
3 Likes
STAGE 10 RESULTS: SCANDIANO - VIAREGGIO
- Magnus Cort (Den) EF Education-EasyPost, in 4-51-15
- Derek Gee (Can) Israel-Premier Tech, at same time
- Alessandro De Marci (Ita) Jayco AlUla, at 2s
- Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo, at 51s
- Pascal Ackermann (Deu) UAE Team Emirates
- Stefano Oldani (Ita) Alpecin-Deceuninck
- Jonathan Milan (Ita) Bahrain-Victorious
- Mark Cavendish (GBr) Astana Qazaqstan
- Mirco Maestri (Ita) EOLO-Kometa
- Filippo Fiorelli (Ita) Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faziané, all at same time
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GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 10
- Geraint Thomas (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers, in 39-26-33
- Primož Roglič (Slo) Jumbo-Visma, at 2s
- Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers, at 5s
- João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates, at 22s
- Andreas Leknessund (Nor) Team DSM, at 35s
- Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain Victorious, at 1-28
- Lennard Kämna (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 1-52
- Pavel Sivakov (Fra) Ineos Grenadiers, at 2-15
- Eddie Dunbar (Irl) Jayco AlUla, in 2-32
- Thymen Arensman (Ned) Ineos Grenadiers, at same time
POINTS CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 10
- Jonathan Milan (Ita) Bahrain-Victorious, 127pts
- Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo, 109pts
- Kaden Groves (Aus) Alpecin-Deceuninck, 100pts
- Derek Gee (Can) Israel-Premier Tech, 64pts
- Michael Matthews (Aus) Jayco AlUla, 60pts
MOUNTAINS CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 10
- Davide Bais (Ita) Eolo-Kometa, 104pts
- Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ, 50pts
- Karel Vacek (Cze) Corratec Selle Italia, 36pts
- Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Eri) Trek-Segafredo, 26pts
- Ben Healy (Irl) EF Education-EasyPost, 24pts
YOUNG RIDER CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 10
- João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates, in 39-26-55
- Andreas Leknessund (Nor) DSM, at 13s
- Thymen Arensman (Ned) Ineos Grenadiers, at 2-10
TEAM CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 10
- Ineos Grenadiers, in 118-19-48
- EF Education-EasyPost, at 6-17
- Bahrain-Victorious, at 6-19
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Superb close shave win for Magnus Cort, iirc he had a similar kind of win last year in the TdF. But the withdrawals of Evenepoel, Vlasov, and Petilli actually caused more changes to the top classifications than today’s difficult and wet stage, however Mads Pedersen 4th place today gained him enough points to move up to 2nd and only 18 points behind Maglia Ciclamino leader Jonathan Milan.
Maglia Azzurra leader Davide Bias extends his lead over his closest rival Thibaut Pinot.
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1 Like
Wednesday 17th May 2023
Stage 11 : Camaiore - Tortona (219km)
Today’s stage is very long and quite hilly but nothing too wicked, will be interesting to see how the sprinters vs breakaway contest pans out.
I predict a breakaway of non-GC hopefuls allowed to get on with it, and to give the bulk of the peloton a calmer ride than yesterday.
3 Likes
Some scaring descending in Stage 10. Not entirely clear what the tactics were from Bahrain.
It frustrates me when riders pull out in order to ‘prepare for future goals’.
If there aren’t already, there should be heavy fines
1 Like
I thought that once but if you think about it would be unenforceable. At least now the reasons for withdrawal are essentially honest.
Non-Starter list for Stage 11
Louis Vervaeke Soudal - Quick Step (+covid)
Jan Hirt Soudal - Quick Step (+covid)
Mattia Cattaneo Soudal - Quick Step (+covid)
Josef Černý Soudal - Quick Step (+covid)
Stefano Gandin Team Corratec - Selle Italia (+covid)
Andrea Vedrame AG2R Citroën Team (+covid)
Natnael Tesfatsion Trek - Segafredo (?)
Jonathan Caicedo Klever EF Education-EasyPost (?)
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Soudal Quick-Step are down to only 3 men left in the team
STAGE 11 RESULTS: CAMAIORE > TORTONA
- Pascal Ackermann (Deu) UAE Team Emirates, in 5-09-02
- Jonathan Milan (Ita) Bahrain-Victorious
- Mark Cavendish (GBr) Astana-Qazaqstan
- Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo
- Stefano Oldani (Ita) Alpecin-Deceuninck
- Vincenzo Albanese (EOLO-Kometa)
- Marius Mayrhofer (Deu) DSM
- Davide Ballerini (Ita) Soudal Quick-Step
- Simone Consonni (Ita) Cofidis
- Arne Marit (Bel) Intermarché-Circus-Wanty, all at same time
(no changes of jersey wearers)
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GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 11
- Geraint Thomas (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers, in 39-26-33
- Primož Roglič (Slo) Jumbo-Visma, at 2s
- João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates, at 22s
- Andreas Leknessund (Nor) Team DSM, at 35s
- Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain Victorious, at 1-28
- Lennard Kämna (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 1-52
- Eddie Dunbar (Irl) Jayco AlUla, in 2-32
- Thymen Arensman (Ned) Ineos Grenadiers, at same time
- Laurens De Plus (Bel) Ineos Grenadiers, at 2-36
- Aurélien Paret-Peintre (Fra) AG2R Citroën, at 2-48
POINTS CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 11
- Jonathan Milan (Ita) Bahrain-Victorious, 164pts
- Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo, 128pts
- Kaden Groves (Aus) Alpecin-Deceuninck, 100pts
- Pascal Ackermann (Deu) UAE Team Emirates, 88pts
- Derek Gee (Can) Israel-Premier Tech, 64pts
MOUNTAINS CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 11
- Davide Bais (Ita) Eolo-Kometa, 104pts
- Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ, 50pts
- Karel Vacek (Cze) Corratec Selle Italia, 36pts
- Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Eri) Trek-Segafredo, 26pts
- Ben Healy (Irl) EF Education-EasyPost, 24pts
YOUNG RIDER CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 11
- João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates, in 39-26-55
- Andreas Leknessund (Nor) DSM, at 13s
- Thymen Arensman (Ned) Ineos Grenadiers, at 2-10
TEAM CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 11
- Ineos Grenadiers, in 133-46-54
- EF Education-EasyPost, at 6-17
- Bahrain-Victorious, at 6-19
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That Pascal Ackermann is a big lad, 84kg and six foot four, how does he get over those hills and go on to win! (?)
Tao Geoghegan Hart crashes out leaving the Grenadier’s to rethink their plans. Hope he isn’t seriously hurt. Another big contender out of this Giro.
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Tomorrow’s Stage 12, another hard hilly day awaits:
Thursday 18th May 2023
4 Likes
STAGE 12 RESULT: BRA > RIVOLI 
- Nico Denz (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe, in 4-18-11
- Tom Skujiņš (Lat) Trek-Segafredo, at s.t.
- Sebastian berwick (Aus) Israel-Premier Tech, at 0-03
- Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Gren Project-Bardiani, at 0-58
- Marco Frigo (Ita) Israel-Premier Tech, at 2-07
- Ilan van Wilder (Bel) Soudal - Quick-step, at 2-20
- Alberto Bettiol (Ita) EF Education-EasyPost
- Christian Scaroni (Ita) Astan Qazaqstan
- Michel Hessmann (Ger) Jumbo-Visma
- Alex Baudin (Fra) AG2R Citroen, all at s.t.
(no changes of jersey wearers, however Jumbo-Visma now lead the Team Classification)
Alessandro Covi UAE Team Emirates (DNS due to crash injury of yesterday)
Stage 12 abandonments:
Mikaël Cherel (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
Kaden Groves (Aus) Alpecin-Deceuninck
Harm Vanhoucke (Bel) Team DSM
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A strong finish ensured Nico Denz his first grand tour stage win. Meanwhile Tom Skujiņš also looking for his first grand tour stage win fails this time but adds another 2nd place finish to his growing list of top ten finishes.
Stage 12 became the typical practise of allowing a sizeable non-GC threat group breakaway so the GC guys can keep their powder dry for tomorrow’s extremely difficult Stage 13:
4 Likes
Friday 19th May [ NEW COURSE DETAILS ]
Stage 13: Le Châble - Crans Montana (74.6 km)
The original 207 kilometer long route featured the Col du Grand Saint-Bernard. A few days before the stage, the route was altered, taking the tunnel instead of gonig over the pass, shortening the stage to 199 km.
On this morning of the stage, due to the bad weather and riders’ safety complaints, the stage was shorted again.
The start is moved to Le Châble, at the foot of the Croix de Coeur, leaving just the final part of 74.6 km left to race.
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Weather conditions present safety concerns, so today’s stage has been reduced in length, however with a duo of 1st category climbs (profile images below) this is still a very difficult stage and one that should bring about contests within the the top GC.
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Bad news for the Trek team with Mads Pedersen a non-starter today. He had a bad night with sore throat and a hint of tracheitis, and not feeling well 
135 riders on the (neutralised) start-line (bus transfer to start)
Official start 14:30 local time.
3 Likes
Not hard to see why families and friends of the riders were concerned about the safety. That descent looks dangerous you don’t often see 3 or 4 medi vac choppers parked at the top of the mountain.
1 Like
STAGE 13 RESULT
- Einer Rubio (Col) Movistar, in 2-16-21
- Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ), at 0-06
- Alexander Cepeda (Eca) EF Education-EasyPost, at 0-12
- Derek Gee (Can) Israel-Premier Tech, at 1-01
- Valentin Paret-Paintre (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team, at 1-29
- Hugh Carthy (GBR) EF Education-EasyPost, at s.t.
- João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates, at 1-35
- Eddie Dunbar (Irl) Jayco-AlUla
- Geraint Thomas (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers
- Primož Roglič (Slo) Jumbo-Visma), all at s.t.
GC STANDINGS AFTER STAGE 13
- Geraint Thomas (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers, in 51-20-01
- Primož Roglič (Slo) Jumbo-Visma, at 2s
- João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates, at 22s
- Andreas Leknessund (Nor) Team DSM, at 42s
- Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain Victorious, at 1-28
- Lennard Kämna (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 1-52
- Eddie Dunbar (Irl) Jayco AlUla, in 2-32
- Thymen Arensman (Ned) Ineos Grenadiers, at 2-45
- Laurens De Plus (Bel) Ineos Grenadiers, at 3-08
- Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ, at 3-13
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Remarkably the only top ten GC change today’s mountain stage produced was Pinot moving up to 10th, and he also re-gained the Maglia Azzurra with the new leadership in the KOM, some consolation after missing out on the stage win due to Einer Rubio pipping him at the post. Today’s stage 13 result caused no other changes of jersey wearers.
6 Likes
