Monday Stage 3 came right through the town I stay at in Italy. I got to catch it right before running for the bus since I was leaving.

That Androni kit is crazy. Super high Logo/ Square Inch ratio 

not exactly related to all the crazytown logos... but Gianni Savio is your basic mafioso.

on another note... Primoz seems unbeatable now, the video below is worth a watch..., "grande casino" roughly translates to big old mess!

https://twitter.com/JumboVismaRoad/status/1129117467375222784

.... the only thing keeping with any hope of not finishing last in the fantasy game is that last year, it felt similar with Yates.

RobertMullen said:

That Androni kit is crazy. Super high Logo/ Square Inch ratio 

In the not so distant past, teams like this boosted their sponsorship by having sponsors pay for a particular rider.  Like Tre Colli gets on the jersey because they've paid the salary of a favored local rider.  That sort of thing. 

I feel like with Grand Tours there should be some sort of cleverly named Law where the GC contender who talks to most shit before the race ends up furthest down the standings.

Jules said:

I feel like with Grand Tours there should be some sort of cleverly named Law where the GC contender who talks to most shit before the race ends up furthest down the standings.

La Polemica Penalty?
Trash Talk Tax?
Yates Law?

mugwump said:

Yates Law?

If the shoe fits

But then what about previous generations ? Yates law applies to Simon, but not Sean. How do you differentiate ??

ian ellis said:

But then what about previous generations ? Yates law applies to Simon, but not Sean. How do you differentiate ??

LOL. It's a fair point. Regardless everyone watching has to be having quite a chuckle. Fouled pants indeed...  

I’m certain non of Roglic’s are Ready to give up yet #threeweekrace

Thomas De Gendt posted his TT data (with power) on Strava. The guy averaged over 400w for a little under an hour 
https://www.strava.com/activities/2380646886/overview

I didn’t see the talked about Campenaerts TT bike change until now. At first I thought it was a slow motion video because of the speed and sound, but soon realized it was worst pro bike change I can recall seeing in years. 

https://twitter.com/giroditalia/status/1130143502363496449?s=21

Wow. Yeah. 

PatrickGrehan said:

I didn’t see the talked about Campenaerts TT bike change until now. At first I thought it was a slow motion video because of the speed and sound, but soon realized it was worst pro bike change I can recall seeing in years. 

https://twitter.com/giroditalia/status/1130143502363496449?s=21

Campenaerts lost the TT by 11 seconds.  It looks like the bike change cost at least 20 seconds, if not more.

#practicebikeswitchingoutsidethegame

Oh my. I also thought it was a slo-mo replay. The first six seconds are agonizing. His remount needs some work if he ever wants a call-up at Scheldecross. Conditions are likely to be as treacherous but at least he wouldn't have to do it in road shoes. 

I forgot what a GC battle should look like ,
 the absence of “Sky” strangle holding the race makes for intriguing viewing  

SO MUCH YES. The last two stages have been an absolute joy to watch. Yesterday, we saw a cyclist attack and with every pedal stroke slowly become legend,  Richard Carapaz is today and will forever be a national hero in Ecuador.

Friday appeared to be some of the harder but most gorgeous roads I've ever seen, I wanna go ride there.

Let's go ride bikes!

Totally agree with Eloy. Today’s Lombardia stage de as also exciting to see. This race is nowhere near over

today’s stage was arguably better, Roglic came undone, even on the post race interview he looked quite frazled... Dombrowski also came undone, so that kinda sucked, Nibs seems in command, although he could use some strategy other than attacking on the downhills... Carapaz omg. looking fwd to Tuesday!! should be fun. 

Today did not disappoint, amazing crazy epic last moments weather. Dombrowski and specially Carthy are clearly coming into sweet form. So awesome to see them ride.

Nibali is in full command, but Carapaz is showing surprising maturity and a refreshing attitude, sorta "no worries, I'll do what I can, my team is the hotness, I still go fast up hills" Yates is a yo-yo which seems to be his thing this time of year, it looked like the team even expected it, Roglic well, we predicted it -- can you image what today would have looked like if he doesn't run into Mollema or Yates? Who's betting on Roglic top 3?

Lastly, Ciccone's celebration, much hotness.

Also, thanks for hanging out and reading my "obvs duh stream of consciousness stage report"

Agree with all above , 
i can see Landa claiming 3rd 

Bahrain-Merida appears to be the complete team, getting more than one into the early break AND setting tempo on the Motirolo.  I'm sure Nibali has a few more savvy attacks up his sleeve; I'm expecting him to cut into Carapaz's lead a good bit.  

Surprised Landa is the super-domestique here.  It's pretty un-Movistar, and kind of un-Landa.  Good to see.  

Didn't get why Jan Hirt wasn't called back to aid Lopez.  Maybe the team knew what kind of form Lopez doesn't have and figured it was better to try for the stage win.  

Well, JP, there goes Landa today, haha.

How hard were Landa and Carapaz going that Roglic and Nibali had to be on wheels on those last two KM. Starting to wonder if there's enough race for Nibali to close those twoish minutes. 

súper post
https://www.instagram.com/p/ByDlNsao9kV/?igshid=1brhd8qgiwind

New level of jerk

https://twitter.com/SachaModolo/status/1134117051348529152

COLOMBIA!

Chavez winning with his parents waiting at the mountain top finish, and then throwing the podium flowers to his mom, that, that has got to be on the highlights 

https://youtu.be/nMrRDry4OAY

Then his post race interview too

"This last climb is like life, you know, you need to keep trying, keep doing it, keep fighting, keep attacking, because you never know when you drop everyone, and arrive at the finish line with a victory"

https://youtu.be/zw7eIwQ2a0g

let's go race bikes!

(while I think he is clean, just in case, caveats for doping in pro sports)

on another note... today's stage has exploded into a million pieces with 117 km to go!