That's an impressive ride from Edvald. Pleasently surprised at how Ulissi & Gilbert faired as well, though don't think we're any real chance of winning this given the look of the next 2 stages.
Tirreno - Adriatico, Stage 5, 198 km Martinsicuro - Prati di Tivo The 5th stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico takes us to a ski station in the Apennines, and is the clear king's stage of the 2013 version of the race. After yesterday's gruelling long and undulating stage took us to Adriatic Sea, the race's nominal goal, we now travel back up into the mountains, and with only a hilly criterium and a time trial left, the time gaps today should leave us merely with a small field of favourites ahead of the weekend. Vincenzo Nibali has almost already failed to defend his title, having finished 2'44" down on yesterday's stage, but Fosters Pro Cycling still stand a good chance through Irish talent Daniel Martin. Martin likes the short tours, having already finished top-5 in the Tour of Catalunya twice, and could be one of the strongest climbers in a peloton short of the great uphill battlers. He does have some time to make up after his Fosters side lost 20 seconds on the team time trial, but sit 11th, just a few seconds behind 2nd place. Hoegaarden-Farm Frites sit with the yellow jersey after yesterday's spectacular ride by Edvald Boasson Hagen, who took nearly two minutes on the peloton with a stunning surprise attack and solo ride while the peloton wondered who would chase him down. The Norwegian did a great job in the mountains of Tour de France last year, but was rarely in the final kilometres because of his work at the front for Team Sky; a 15-km climb at high pace and with everyone attacking should be too much for him to defend. Hoegaarden also sit with Greg Van Avermaet, Maxim Iglinsky, and Domenico Pozzovivo well placed in the GC, but Pozzovivo seemed weak yesterday and the other two have limited results in the long climbs. It seems like the English-based sides of Milton Mowbray and Tout Seul are the ones who combine good climbers with the peak form. For Milton Mowbray, Rigoberto Urán placed a solid 7th yesterday in the peloton, and will be helped by a Tony Martin who also seems capable of doing excellent domestique work before the final kilometres of the gruelling climb. Milton Mowbray also gained some time on the main competitors in the TTT, and Urán's GC 4th place at 2'07" from Hagen puts him a few seconds ahead of the main contenders. Tout Seul's Simon Gerrans is also a man capable of taking the win in any conditions, and with his team being less centered around the sprinters, he may be able to make up the time on the leading Norwegian. Rabobank seem to be aiming for a later form peak this year, with their 3-week tour packed squad, but Robert Gesink is also placed well in the GC, a mere 14 seconds behind Urán. With Sylvain Chavanel and Janez Brajkovič for support, this team could well liven up the final climb by setting a solid pace. Gesink, however, attacked too early yesterday and nearly found himself on the wrong side of the group split - a less tactical ride up the mountainside may be to his advantage. The home crowd will be cheering for Diego Ulissi (Castellón Citrosol) and Paolo Tiralongo (Astana) who put a few seconds in the bank on stage 4 by attacking at the right moment; Ulissi has rarely shown the ability to climb well two days in a row, but will likely have the support of his team seeing as he's only joined by Philippe Gilbert within the 3 minutes of the leader. Favourites *** S. Gerrans (TSC), R. Gesink (RAB), R. Urán (MM) ** D. Martin (FOS), D. Ulissi (CC) * J. Brajkovič (RAB), D. Cataldo (HAR), M. Iglinsky (HFF), B. Intxausti (CC), R. Kreuziger (MM), D. Millar (TSC), D. Pozzovivo (HFF), P. Tiralongo (AST), T. Van Garderen (CA), O. Zaugg (RSH) Palmarès GC 2012: Vincenzo Nibali (ITA, Liquigas) 2011: Cadel Evans (AUS, BMC) 2010: Stefano Garzelli (ITA, Acqua&Sapone) 2009: Michele Scarponi (ITA, Diquigiovanni-Androni-etc-etc-etc-) 2008: Fabian Cancellara (SUI, CSC) Full list 2012 stage winners: Stage 1 TTT: GreenEDGE (Matthew Goss leader) Stage 2: Mark Cavendish (GBR, Sky) Stage 3: Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR, Sky) Stage 4: Peter Sagan (SVK, Liquigas) Stage 5: Vincenzo Nibali (ITA, Liquigas) Stage 6: Joaquim Rodríguez (ESP, Katyusha) Stage 7 ITT: Fabian Cancellara (SUI, RadioShack)
Would love for Ulissi to back it up, but just can't see it. Didn't notice Uran was still kinda within reach, certainly has the ability to make up the time on stage 5.
Porte to snag a top-10 with a decent ITT. Is pretty steep too, only you can't see it cos the scale is stretched. Something like 5 % overall with 9 % at steepest.
