Latest news with #IPASport
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Pogacar's absence from Giro d'Italia may offer breath of fresh air for competition
The Giro d'Italia may be missing the top three riders from last year's Tour de France but will still throw up plenty of drama. The Giro d'Italia may be missing the top three riders from last year's Tour de France but will still throw up plenty of drama. Photograph: Andrea Amato/IPA Sport/ The 2025 Giro d'Italia may lack the star power of the Tour de France, but it is likely to make up for it with dynamic and unpredictable racing when it gets under way in Tirana on Friday. Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel, the top three riders in last year's Tour de France, are not racing, but the Giro will, as ever, throw up plentiful drama. Advertisement Even so, this year's lineup has been characterised by some as a cast of Pogacar-avoidant wannabes, nearly men and fading champions that have travelled to Albania for the Grande Partenza. Related: Geraint Thomas: 'It's been up and down. You remember the good times' That's a little unfair on a quality field that includes the past Giro winners Primoz Roglic and his Bora Hansgrohe teammate Jai Hindley, the Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz and a resurgent Egan Bernal, the Colombian climber leading Ineos Grenadiers. Yet it only serves to emphasise the dominance of the seemingly unstoppable Pogacar – who rather than defend his title, has opted to focus on July's Tour de France – that so much of the pre-race chat has been about the Slovenian's absence. Even the 2023 Giro champion, Roglic, when asked about his 2025 schedule said: 'I will choose the races where Tadej is not.' Advertisement But total dominance, in any sport, can become predictable. Certainly, given his form, the absence of Pogacar will increase the ambition of many in the peloton. In that sense, the Giro may be a breath of fresh air. With the 35-year-old Roglic starting as favourite, thanks to a Grand Tour record that includes four wins in the Vuelta, this Giro will be volatile and unpredictable, as a plethora of riders see it as their best chance to succeed in a Grand Tour, while Pogacar is active. Roglic also sees the Giro as a chance to boost his morale, before another July showdown with compatriot Pogacar. Roglic's team manager, Rolf Aldag, said this spring: 'Do you go into the Tour with uncertainty, facing what seems to be an unbeatable Pogacar? Or do you arrive feeling ready, because you've already proven yourself?' For others, such as Tom Pidcock, it's an opportunity to be grabbed with both hands. The double Olympic champion, having left Ineos Grenadiers last winter for the more modest Q36.5 team, has re-established himself as one of road racing's hot talents. Even so, he has ruled himself out of overall contention. 'We're here to pick our moments,' he said of his debut appearance in the Italian race. His team, which qualified as a wildcard based on his early-season form, is largely happy just to be there. Advertisement But Pidcock will already be eyeing the opening three stages on Albanian soil which include two days of punchy mid-length climbs sandwiching Saturday's short individual time trial, looping in and out of Tirana. 'Mainly I just want to race, get stuck in every day and enjoy racing the Giro,' Pidcock said. 'I think the opportunities will come if I do that. I have a good relationship with Italy and this is one of the races I've wanted to do.' While Roglic will be seeking to stamp his authority on the general classification, particularly in that early test against the clock, a clutch of others will also want to assert themselves. Perhaps the greatest threat comes from Pogacar's UAE Team Emirates stablemate Juan Ayuso. The Spaniard has never seemed entirely happy to race in Pogacar's shadow and revealed that he had hoped to lead his team in last year's Giro, a race that his team leader won by almost 10 minutes. The 22-year-old does not lack in ambition and has already said: 'It would be a disappointment not to finish in the top three, because I would consider that a step backwards.' Wout van Aert has been sick in recent days and ruled himself out of contending for the leader's maglia rosa. 'My preparation was not ideal,' he admitted, 'but we will see day by day, without big expectations.' Advertisement Van Aert's teammate Simon Yates may be one of those able to threaten what on paper looks likely to be a Roglic-Ayuso duel. The pair have already gone head to head this season, in March's Volta a Catalunya, with Roglic snatching overall victory on the final day. Bernal, who won the Tour de France and Giro before his career was threatened by a horrific high-speed training crash in 2022, remains unsure if he can ever attain his past levels of performance. 'I don't know,' the Ineos Grenadiers leader said, 'but at least I'm still preparing myself for that. Every morning I get up, try to do my best. I'm still believing, battling every day. I enjoy cycling more now than when I was winning, so we will see.'
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
From Hamilton to Räikkönen: when F1 radio communication goes wrong
Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari at the Miami Grand Prix. Photograph: Alessio De Marco/IPA Sport/ 'Have a tea break while you're at it' was Lewis Hamilton's sarcasm-drenched reply to his Ferrari team as they dallied over making a strategy call at the Miami Grand Prix on Sunday. It was the stuff of soap opera, enlivening what was in racing terms a McLaren walkover at the Hard Rock Stadium. Broadcasting team radio is one of the best innovations in the modern era of F1 and for all that it is considered a serious tool by drivers and teams, it is always at its best when vituperative or funny. Better still, both at once. Related: Lewis Hamilton unapologetic for terse exchange with Ferrari at Miami Grand Prix Hamilton acted fast to defuse the situation, making it clear it was all in the heat of the moment and simply a manifestation of his competitive instinct, but it was, nonetheless, insightful and humorous. Admittedly much of the communications between drivers and race engineers can be happily ignored. 'Slight graining on the rear left' and any number of variations thereof would leave all but the most enthusiastic rubber fetishists cold; put a mic in Kimi Räikkönen's hand during his F1 tenure and an almost metaphysical level of entertainment was reached. 'Leave me alone, I know what to do' may be the most succinct encapsulation of the Iceman. But then there was the time at Bahrain in 2021 when his engineer was trying to ascertain whether his radio was working, a two-hander worthy of the boards. 'Can you hear me now?' 'No. Negative. I can't hear you.' And on they went. 'You still don't hear me?' 'No, I can't hear you.' 'You hear me now?' 'No. Negative.' Before a golden age of The Simpsons pay off: 'But you answer still …' Then there was the exchange in Imola. 'Crash just happened in front of me,' Raikkonen informed the team, who replied: 'OK Kimi there's been a crash in sector one.' Just ignore it and focus on the driving perhaps? The Iceman would not let it lie. 'Yes I know. I just told you,' he shot back. Fate it seemed kept setting Räikkönen up for these moments, including the time he was wheeled out from the garage without his gloves or even a steering wheel and what began plaintively ratcheted up with every extra phrase. 'Steering wheel,' he said. 'Gloves and steering wheel. Steering wheel. Hey. Hey. Steering wheel. Somebody tell him to give it to me. Come on! Move!' Räikkönen and, largely, his time at Ferrari were one of F1's great double acts. But there have been many other moments. Sebastian Vettel, throwing out double entendres worthy of Finbarr Saunders after something was distracting him in the cockpit. 'There's something loose between my legs, apart from the obvious. Something is flying around my feet. I'd be proud if it was what you think it is, but it's not.' Lando Norris has been similarly playful, replying to the enquiry 'Lando, what damage do you have?' with: 'Hmmm … Talent …' When Jenson Button sat in for Fernando Alonso at Monaco in 2017 he, too, could not resist some lighthearted flippancy. 'Hi Jenson, wishing you good luck, you did amazing yesterday, please take care of my car,' was Alonso's message. To which Button replied. 'OK, I am going to pee in your seat.' Sometimes the messages gain a life of their own and Alonso's pithy description of his engine at the manufacturers home race in Japan in 2015 will live long in the memory, not least at Honda. 'GP2 engine. GP2 engine. Argggh!' was the Spaniard's meme-worthy assessment. There have also been some great understated moments of communication, one of which almost defined an era. At Hungary in 1998 Ross Brawn and Michael Schumacher pulled off a strategic coup against the superior McLarens. Opting for a risky three-stop tactic, Brawn gave Schumacher this direction as he pulled away from his second stop. 'Michael, you have 19 laps to pull out 25 seconds. We need 19 qualifying laps from you.' A typically straightforward, if daunting instruction. And Schumacher's extraordinarily understated reply? 'OK. Thank you.' He proceeded to do just that and more. By the time he pitted for the third time he had not only delivered Brawn's unlikely demand but had made 29 seconds and with it ensured the win. Some of it is mundane, some of it fascinating and some simply a window to Räikkönen's soul. But without doubt since Liberty Media took over the sport they have leaned into this resource and F1 is an altogether more human affair for it. • This article was amended on 6 May 2025. Ross Brawn and Michael Schumacher's 'strategic coup against the superior McLarens' was at the 1998 Hungarian Grand Prix, rather than 1988.
