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Enlarge textThey say every rider has at least one bad day over an three week Grand
Tour. Unfortunately, in the stage 12 time trial it was the turn of
Michael Rogers.
Australia's Michael Rogers (Getty)
- 28 Comments | Join the discussion
They say every rider has at least one bad day over a three week Grand
Tour. Unfortunately, in the stage 12 time trial it was the turn of
Michael Rogers.
Australia's big hope at the Giro d'Italia was far from his best on a course that many commentators described as "epic".
Look
at the profile and vision and you'll see it was one on which Rogers
never really felt comfortable - he looked to be at odds with himself as
he struggled on the climbs which rose to around 500 metres.
It
was technical and brutal and not the type of terrain Rogers raced over
when winning three time-trial world championships and this year's
Australian title in Ballarat.
The Giro organisers are
renowned for marching to the beat of a different drummer when it comes
to designing a race that challenges riders.
As a pre-race favourite the Italian TV cameras were well focused on Rogers when he left the starters ramp.
They
wanted to cover every move of a rider who has an affinity with Italians
- after all he's married to one and has called Italy home for the best
of the last 10 years.
But it was puzzling to see how slowly
he was travelling in the early part, and quite obvious he was in some
pain when the cameras cut away and compared his form to main rival Levi
Leipheimer.
Rogers cleared the first time check almost 1:20 behind Leipheimer.
From there we didn't see him again until he crossed the finish line in Riomaggiore - such was the sudden lack of interest from the host broadcasters.
In a Giro dominated by Rogers and his Columbia-Highroad team, the performance came as somewhat of a shock.
Has Rogers lost some of his edge in the time trials as he looks to improve his climbing and his Grand Tour chances?
After
clinching a place on the podium at the Tour of California earlier this
year, I was convinced he would go close to beating all-comes in Italy
this month.
But after losing so much time to Menchov, I'm
forced to review my aspirations for Rogers and I'm wondering what his
strategy will be with plenty of racing still to come.
All is not lost for Rogers, he's still in contact with the contenders for the GC, with riders like Ivan Basso and Lance Armstrong behind him and others like Carlos Sastre just ahead.
And now that he has control of the race, Denis Menchov still has many of his own questions to answer. He is also a rider that has experienced his own bad days in a Grand Tour.
While
the time-trial succeeded in sorting out the pretenders from the
contenders it was not the defining moment in the race, the mountain top
finish at Blockhaus on stage seventeen now looks to be that moment.
So,
is it best for Rogers to attack and sacrifice everything for the big
climbs ahead or maybe save his legs for an assault on the Tour de France in July?
Either way, it's not the time to give up on a rider who still has plenty to offer and plenty to prove.
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Comments (28)
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08 Jun 2009 18:04 AEST
From: melbourne
--
it appears that Columbia have finally seen that Dodger is limited on GC aspirations. He is not named as a starter for the Tour team. Cavendish Lokvist Kirchen Burghardt Martin Monfort Hincapie Renshaw Eisel Albasini "its all about the sprint"....
01 Jun 2009 23:52 AEST
From: Sydney
--
You'd safely contend that Rogers was a better climber than his pedigree TT wouldn't you? Ok ok bring out the 3-times world champ garb but you'd be lucky if 3 genuine contenders even turned up to the worlds TT anyway! I mean seriously, Rogers was probably the only one that trained specifically for those TT's anyway. Furthermore, when was the last time (not including Aussie champs) that Rogers won (or even came in the top 5 of) a substantial TT...............nah I can't think of any either??? Come on Mick, hone those climbing skills coz you'll never match em in a TT in a grand tour (I mean, what "specialist" time triallist gets beaten by Danilo Di Luca in both TT's of a grand tour???) Sorry Mick, I do love ya however.
26 May 2009 3:50 AEST
From: Perth
--
Cadel is a great racer. I'm sure he's gotten over last year's tour de france. But for the cycling fan, I think it is good that we are still talking about it. It helps to clear things up, ideas, conceptions of professional cycling. Annoying as it is - it is also called democracy. However having said that it does get confusing for me when I hear people compare Armstrong to Cadel, and then to Rogers. Cadel and Mike I think are similar riders. They remind me of the style of Indurain. You win the time trials, you stay up there in the flat stages, and in the mountains you stay close to the front, don't experience any hiccups, and do not lose time. You WIN in the time trials. Cadel was unfortunate to have the deciding stages won over the second last stage - a time trial - if it was before Alpe D'Huez, or before Rasmussen was kicked out, Cadel may have won both tours. The man in the Maillot Jaune rides as if he is 2 men. Rogers has to win time trials, and stay with the front runners to win. It is sad to say that he hasn't been able to. Stage 12 was hurrendous - a 60 km TT? OUCH. Not his style I don't believe. And now after stage 16 - we can know he really was only preparing for the tour de france - or something else. He was never challenging - just protecting Lovkvist. Stage 17 tomorrow. A 79 kilometre complete mountain incline - can Rogers win it? I highly doubt it. Can Sastre, Leipheimer, Pellizotti, Basso take the tour away - definitely. A huge stage. But can we help talking about the TDF? Is it not the most exciting event we've had in years? How many times in the history of the race have we had so many climbers in contention? Armstrong, Basso, Cunego, Evans, Menchov, Rogers, Andy and Frank Schleck, Leiphemer, Sastre, Soler, and Valverde etc! And what awaits these great men in the pen-ultimate stage of the tour? Mt Ventoux. I get chills. The mountain which Eddy Merckx fainted in his trademark glorious attacking fashion. People have died trying to get up this mountain - the hardest mountain in the world of cycling will decide the tour de france. WOW. Cycling fans - say as much as you want - be excited. P.S. Congrats Simon Gerrans
25 May 2009 9:46 AEST
From: Lidcombe
--
Been off the blog for a few days and after catching up a bit this morning I can see why I have been. Seems to me there is a lot of bitching going on and the subjects of Cadel and the TDF seem to come up a lot but how about we talk about the Giro which is what is actually happening now. Yes it was disappointing last year and the year before for Cadel but hey what do they say "build a bridge" I'm sure Cadel has. Yes what was also disappointing was Dodger's TT but the course was not made for an explosive rider like him, I'm sure he is just using this as training for July, I think Mick is looking good and will be riding into form at the perfect time. I think Menchov can hold on as the final TT isn't long enough to pull back serious time, he will just sit with Levi and Di Luca for the next few days. Without Horner, and Popovych and Lance don't seem to be up to it, Levi will have to fend for himself also. We will see.
24 May 2009 21:41 AEST
From: perth
--
ben from lithgow in 2001 when (rope a dope) happened. t-mobile rode on the front all day and had nobody left. lances team sat on the back of the peleton and once they got to alpe d huez us postal went bang. armstrong did have riders like hamilton, asvedo and rubiera with ullrich. i don't think a pro rider (like cadel) would plug along aimlessly.
24 May 2009 21:36 AEST
From: perth
--
ben from lithgow in 2001 when (rope a dope) happened. t-mobile rode on the front all day and nobody left. lances team sat on the back of the peleton and once they got alpe d huez us postal went bang. armstrong did have riders with such as riders like hamilton, asvedo and rubiera with ullrich. i don't think a pro rider would plug along aimlessly.
24 May 2009 14:27 AEST
From: act
--
Thank you SBS for replacing Paddy Agnew as commentator with Mike T and Trent Wilson. I couldn't understand a word Paddy was saying and his commentary was bland. Stick with the current team for next year.
24 May 2009 0:52 AEST
From: sydney
--
in 2003 and 2004 Lance did have riders with him near the end such as Chechu Rubiera! he finished 5th in 04. Lance never really rode awy from anyone in 04 he just won in the sprints. ben i understand ur point sastre, he was the best on the day and i think the broken collar bone and the bad team cadel had last year really didn't help his cause on the mountain stages or the time trial. Hopefully this year for Cadel because he'll definetly be up there. i believe in him!
23 May 2009 18:25 AEST
From: Lithgow
--
I'll agree with you Bobby on Hautacam but not Alpe d'huez. I was refering to a number of stages where Lance was alone and T-Mobile had five or six guys and Lance still won the stage, alone. Happened in 2003 and 2004, on Alpe D'Huez once, if i remember correctly. Remember rope a dope? He was alone for most of that day in 2003 and still out rode guys who had help. Sastre has a very good ascent time at Alpe d'huez last year but if you consider Cadel and the ten guys with him, their times were nothing special, when compared to other years. Everyone has to ride the same stage, so it really comes down to how much juice is left in the tank for a final climb. Sastre and Cadel weren't setting the pace that day. Sastre's team were, so in theory both exerted themselves as much as any other GC riders till they reached Alpe d'Huez. Sastre was simply better, and thats all it takes, one really good day. Maybe Rogers might be aiming to do that in a week.
23 May 2009 14:48 AEST
From: sydney
--
ben from lithgow, armstrong's team rode so hard they he could ride away without worrying about his other competitors because his team dropped them and he had backup riders. cadel can't do that because their's a strong chance the other riders will all chase him and then he's got no back up to support him. Cadel can't feed off other teams because nobody would chase sastre or schleck with him (e.g. on hautacam and alpe dhuez.)
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