[Burkni]

3 stages in and no thread.

Today's stage was quite a sleeper - a seemingly easy col 15km out and a deceptively rolling stretch to the finish line.
It turned out to be one whopper of a bike race with a threatening group staying a tantalizingly short distance away from the field all the way to the finish in miserable conditions.
With Talansky as the winner and MJ wearer, the (clean) future is here, right?

[The Rake]

I thought Talansky rode a very canny stage - being towed up to the lead group by first Porte and then Lopez. He left it for Sky to drive it.

Worrying fall for Kiriyenka on the descent - had shades of the Beloki about it, and Grivko was lucky to avoid it. He did remount and make it to the finish though.

I am quite impressed so far by the new generation of sprinters in this race. Makes for some names to look out for as the season goes on. Of course all the big names are over in Italy (and getting just as wet) riding the Tirreno

[Burkni]

The Rake, on 07 March 2013 - 09:05 AM, said:

Of course all the big names are over in Italy (and getting just as wet) riding the Tirreno

Which brings me to another discussion point:
Has Tirreno raised its game to a level where its prestige and attractiveness for the big names is substantially greater than P-N?

[crockett]

Stuck in the pattern of watching the racing two days after it takes place keeps me off the message board so that the results aren't spoiled. PN reminded me a lot of PN last year. Is there anything/anyone that can derail Sky this year? Despite last year being absolutely fantastic for Sky, I fearlessly predict that the results for 2013 will be even better.

[Burkni]

crockett, on 11 March 2013 - 07:53 PM, said:

Stuck in the pattern of watching the racing two days after it takes place keeps me off the message board so that the results aren't spoiled. PN reminded me a lot of PN last year. Is there anything/anyone that can derail Sky this year? Despite last year being absolutely fantastic for Sky, I fearlessly predict that the results for 2013 will be even better.

Without exactly saying something that would rather belong in the "other" forum, there are certain types of investigations that tend to derail cyclists and entire teams. That does tend to take a couple of years though.