Bobby & Jens: Giro d’Italia glory, suffering, and redemption
From Remco to Taco, a post-mortem on the Giro’s winners and losers.
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You saw the stages, you read the results, you groaned at the crashes, and you loved the unpredictability of this year’s Giro. But what does it all mean?
In this week’s episode of the Bobby & Jens podcast, our hosts dissect three weeks of racing to offer an insider’s view of which teams and riders emerged with momentum, and which teams took a punch in the nostrils. And it truly is an insider’s view: Jens just returned from covering every stage of the Giro as a reporter for Eurosport.
In this week’s conversation, the boys discuss Egan Bernal’s incredible consistency, with no finish below 40th place, and incalculable benefit of the teamwork—and team strength—of his Ineos Grenadiers squad. They delight in the surprising but hard-earned stage win by Taco van der Hoorn, with Jens marveling at how the Dutch youngster held off a charging peloton despite a 20-second lead with 10 kilometers to go. And they mourn the roller-coaster experience of American Joe Dombrowski, who won stage 4 after a difficult stretch of years … before crashing out of the Giro with a concussion the very next day.
You’ll hear why it’s so special that relative unknowns were riding strong in the tour, with Hungarian cyclist Attila Valter enjoying time in pink, and Lorenzo Fortunato spreading his wings on the brutal ascent of Monte Zoncolan. And you’ll go behind the scenes to learn about some transfer drama that was playing out in the form of unexpected cooperation between (current) opponents.
Peter Sagan’s fate makes an appearance. And of course, the boys call out the race’s most significant disappointments, from major teams failing to win a stage (Jumbo-Visma, Movistar, Deceuninck-QuickStep, Astana, and Trek-Segafredo) to much-heralded phenom Remco Evenepoel having to swallow his pride after falling short of his lofty ambitions.
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Last but not least, sparks fly with a debate about the prospects for a double winner of the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France, along with a prognosis of which stars may win a stage or place well in the general classification. And stay tuned for the selection of the winner of this week’s “Shut Up, Legs!” winner (and your chance to vote on next week’s contenders).
“Bobby & Jens” is a weekly VeloNews podcast brought to you by Zwift. It stars former pros Bobby Julich and Jens Voigt and features conversations with top athletes, coaches, emerging stars, and other newsmakers from the wide world of cycling. A new episode drops every Friday. Subscribe now wherever you get your podcasts.
Send your questions and “Shut Up, Legs!” votes to BobbyandJens@VeloNews.com or @bobbyandjens.