Cycling: How exciting was the Giro d'Italia? For three weeks we didn't know who would end up on the podium in Milan. Four riders had the chance to win the 100th edition of the Giro d'Italia until the final time trial. In the end, Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) celebrated ahead of Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida). But we take far more insights from the Giro d'Italia 2017: 10 things we learned on the Tour of Italy!
1. We have two strong German cycling teams again
It's been a long time since we had two top German teams in the peloton with the Telekom and Gerolsteiner teams. For understandable reasons, many fans do not want to think back to these times. That's no longer necessary, because at least since this year there have been two world-class teams in Germany again. While the Italians no longer have a WorldTour team and the Spaniards only have one with Movistar, the German cycling fans can keep their fingers crossed with Sunweb and Bora-hansgrohe - and they deliver well! At the 2017 Giro d'Italia, Bora-hansgrohe made a difference with Lukas Pöstlberger's victory on the 1st stage for a tailor-made start. Team colleague Cesare Benedetti was allowed to put on the mountain jersey at the same time. Team Sunweb was in no way inferior to success. On the contrary: Tom Dumoulin won it 10st stage and the 14st stage and finally even the Giro d'Italia.
2. Fernando Gaviria is the new top sprinter
Erik Zabel, Mario Cipollini, Alessandro Petacchi & Mark Cavendish: All cycling fans are familiar with these names. All sprinters and all shaped a small era in mass sprints. Now a new dominator could be up to mischief in the peloton: Fernando Gaviria (Quick-Step Floors)! At just 22 years old, the Colombian has already reached a level that many sprint aces before him were only able to achieve many years later. Of course it is far too early to mention Gaviria in the same sentence as the best sprinters in the world, but in a few seasons the experts will not be able to avoid it. Because Fernando Gaviria will shape the mass sprints in the coming years. Winning the sprint classification at the 2017 Giro d'Italia will only have been the beginning. He earned the Maglia Ciclamino with his successes on four stages: Gaviria won the stages three, five, twelve and 13
3. Tom Dumoulin completed his transformation at the 2017 Giro d'Italia
It's not often that riders go through a complete transformation. Of course, all professionals strive for further development, but such a serious change as with Tom Dumoulin is rarely to be admired. The Dutchman was always considered very talented, but years ago very few experts thought of a classification driver. Dumoulin presented himself as an average climber at best. Rather, he was a roller, possibly with the possibility of becoming a strong all-rounder. But a climber? It was all the more surprising when Tom Dumoulin announced a few months ago that he now wanted to compete in the general classification. Such transformations are usually accompanied by the destruction of previous strengths. Tony Martin (Katusha-Alpecin), for example, wanted to specialize more in classics and promptly saw no more country against Dumoulin in the time trials. But Dumoulin himself has struck the perfect balance. In the time trial he laid the foundation for victory in the Giro d'Italia and with his newfound strength in the mountains he even sent a Nairo Quintana to despair. The comparison with Miguel Indurain is obvious. We're looking forward to Tom Dumoulin maybe soon in the Tour de France against Chris Froome (Sky).
4. Italy & Spain have a problem
It is not a new finding that cycling in Spain and Italy has a problem. Unfortunately, at the Giro d'Italia 2017 we were able to confirm this fact again. While three Italians have made it into the top 10 this year, only Davide Formolo (Cannondale-Drapac) still has a bright future at 24. The Tifosi had to 16st stage wait until Vincenzo Nibali could finally get the first victory for the Italians. As of this season, there is no longer an Italian cycling team in the highest class. The Spaniards can look forward to at least one team there, but none of their pilots made it into the top 10 at the Giro d'Italia. The best was Mikel Landa (Sky), who also won the mountains classification and the 19st stage could win. At 27, he's almost one of the country's most promising talents. Because after Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) hardly anything seems to follow. Just a few years ago, the Italians and Spaniards had a say in the major national tours, won many stages and produced numerous talents. If a change is not made here soon, we will soon no longer see their flags at the top of the result lists.
5. The youth is on the rise
Right: actually, young people are constantly on the rise. But this year the young wild ones seem to have caught our eye. That's not surprising, because after all the fight for the white jersey was not only exciting until the last day, but also took place directly in the top 10 of the overall ranking. In the end, Luxembourg's Bob Jungels (Quick-Step Floors) secured the junior ranking ahead of Briton Adam Yates (Orica-Scott), Italy's Davide Formolo (Cannondale-Drapac) and Slovenia's Jan Polanc (UAE). At the same time, these four drivers occupied positions eight to eleven in the overall standings. Incidentally, Jungels won the 15st stage and Polanc the 4th stage. Fernando Gaviria, who at 22 is of course one of the youngest drivers in the peloton, achieved no fewer than four successes. Caleb Ewan won Part number seven and Lukas Pöstlberger get the ball rolling. Almost would too Luka Pibernik (Bahrain-Merida) won a stage. In fact, a surprising number of victories were achieved by the U25 pilots at this year's Giro d'Italia.
6. Lots of time trial kilometers don't have to be boring
Many fans and pundits rolled their eyes slightly when the route for the 2017 Giro d'Italia was unveiled. A surprising number of time trial kilometers were revealed. In Italy, there have traditionally been fewer time trial kilometers than at the Tour de France for years. But this year everything was different. Anyone who expected a more boring tour of Italy as a result was greatly mistaken. While 9 out of 13 riders predicted in our Giro preview actually placed in the top 9 as expected, they were within a little over eight minutes. The first five even arrived in Milan in less than two minutes. After Nairo Quintana's victory at Blockhaus, the 2017 Giro d'Italia seemed to have already been decided for many. But the day after, the reckoning came and Tom Dumoulin took about three minutes from the Colombian. From there it was clear that this Giro d'Italia would not be boring and that the time trial kilometers provided the necessary excitement. Also: We haven't seen a driver celebrate as beaming as Jos Van Emden (LottoNL-Jumbo) in Milan for a long time.
7. Classification driver teams must be alert at all times
We experience again and again that a classification driver loses a tour before the start of the mountains. Often it is the carelessness of the entire team or wrong decisions that lead to unpleasant situations. There were also moments at the Giro d'Italia 2017 when the team was particularly important. On the 3rd stage there was a wind edge. This was initiated and successfully completed by the Quick-Step Floors team. As a result, Fernando Gaviria not only won his first Grand Tour race, but also Bob Jungels was able to gain a few seconds on his competitors. In the final stages, the Bahrain-Merida and Movistar teams kept trying to cause problems for Tom Dumoulin. Increased speed on the climbs and wind edges on the descents brought the Dutchman into big problems. Eventually, his team was able to help him keep sight of the Maglia Rosa. Simon Geschke also played a large part in this. With Laurens Ten Dam, the Berliner was probably the most important man at Dumoulin's side.
8. Steven Kruijswijk's losing streak is not over yet
We already had a Dutchman in pink at the Giro d'Italia in 2016. Steven Kruijswijk dominated the Tour of Italy last year in the mountains – until last week. There he fell on a descent and smashed into a wall of ice and snow. He kept going but still lost the Giro d'Italia at that moment. His streak of bad luck continued at the Vuelta a Espana in late 2016 when he crashed into an unsecured road post and had to retire from the tour injured. Many fans therefore kept their fingers crossed for him at the Giro d'Italia this year. He wasn't as strong as last season, but he was able to get into the top ten quite quickly. However, while in the top 10, Steven Kruijswijk was unable to compete in the penultimate stage of the 2017 Giro d'Italia. Stomach problems! Once again, the talented Dutchman is not allowed to reap the fruits of his labor. We're keeping our fingers crossed for him again in 2018!
9. A round trip without sky control is more exciting
The British team Sky started the Giro d'Italia with a double lead. In the end, Geraint Thomas had to retire and Mikel Landa finished 17th overall. After all, the Spaniard was able to win a stage and secure the ranking of the best climber. For the very ambitious Team Sky, however, this result is anything but satisfactory. In this case, it is not the drivers themselves who are to blame, but the police. On the 9st stage the two classification riders from Sky fell through a police motorcycle standing on the side of the track. Thomas and Landa lost a lot of time and hopes were gone. Tragic for those affected, but it didn't damage the tension. While the Tour de France and the Vuelta a Espana often have boring races, the 2017 Giro d'Italia was much more open. This may be due to the narrow time intervals, but one of the reasons for this could also be the lack of control by the Sky train. This usually rules out possible surprises or tactical coups at the Tour de France. A tour without a superior team is more exciting for the fans.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9LYtmhOEEU
10. It's not worth celebrating too early at the Giro d'Italia either
Two riders were happy at the 5th stage of the Giro d'Italia - but one of them clearly too early. Fernando Gaviria won the Pedara to Messina section in a bunch sprint. One lap before the end, Luka Pibernik (Bahrain-Merida) was already celebrating, believing that he had managed a feat like Lukas Pöstlberger. But far from it, because there was still another round to complete. Luka Pibernik finished 148th and just wanted to hide in the peloton. But since the cameras recorded everything, his name will forever be associated with this stage. Didn't he even win a stage at the Giro d'Italia? No he did `nt!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaduR0Aq-3k