Today’s stage is yet another absolutely crucial one for the GC riders. It is a 12.7km time trial, with the final 6.9km being up the Nevegal. Though this is far from the longest climb that has been faced this Giro it averages 8.7%, meaning that the pure climbers should have a field day. With several kilometres before the climb, however, many of the climbers who are better at time trialing will be looking to give themselves a buffer before the climb starts. Nevertheless, Sella goes into this as the favourite after his two days of utter domination.
The man in last place, which with the greatly reduced peleton is 138th, is Richeze.
Richeze sets a time of 8’54” at the intermediate checkpoint and 31’40” at the end of the stage. This means that the favourites should be aiming to do better than 30 minutes in the saddle today.
Most of the early times are set by TT riders. Schär holds the best time of 31’15” for quite some time. His time is completely toppled as a proper climber goes through much faster. It is Jackson Rodríguez who sets the new best time of 30’33”.
Though Cornu puts in an admirable time of 31’03”, it is clear that the climbers are going to be fighting this out today. The first climber who beats Rodriguez’s time is Delgado.
The man who left 34th today, Suaza, had probably marked this stage off on his calendar. He isn’t a bad time trialists and he is certainly a strong climber. This shows as he sets the best time so far by a long way with a time of 30’04”.
The top 5 coming into the top 30 riders is thus:
Suaza
30’04”
Delgado
30’30”
+26”
Rodriguez
30’33”
+29”
Medvedev
30’35”
+31”
Nepomnyachsniy
30’42”
+38”
One man who has shown his talents as a pure climber in the last few days is Marzano. He continues that trend by setting a new best time of 30 minutes flat!
His teammate is not far behind him on the road and the car up front is clearly relaying information back. Ratiy sets a new best time at the intermediate checkpoint of 8’16”, which is even better than Cornu’s time. He continues his good form up the mountain and comes through 3 seconds faster than Marzano. He is the first man to break the 30 minute barrier.
The favourites start to come thick and fast after Ratiy, however. First out the gate is 20th place Keinath.
Keinath comes through the intermediate point with a time of 8’12”, which is provisionally first. The cameras stop focussing on him, however, as Ricco leaves from the start house! The top 20 riders are out on course and almost any of them could win this.
Keinath continues his solid run and gets to the top with a time of 29’57”, just a fraction of a second behind Ratiy.
5 riders behind Keinath is Devolder. He comes through the intermediate point with a time of 8’08”, better than any other rider so far.
He is doing much better than the rider directly behind him on the road, Carrara or 13th place Samwel. They come through the intermediate points in 8’33” and 8’35” respectively.
Devolder keeps his great form and speed to the top and sets an absolutely brilliant time of 29’33”. Carrara struggles up the climb, but still manages a decent time of 30’12”, and Samwel can only manage 30’19”.
Behind these three Ardila comes through the intermediate point in 8’21”. He will want to put some time into Samwel, and potentially close the gap to the man who is 11th on GC, Menchov.
Menchov comes through the intermediate point in 8’18”, 3 seconds faster than Ardila.
Ardila comes across the time in 29’57”, and he slots in just behind both Ratiy and Keinath who got the same time as him. He has successfully put time into Samwel, but will he move closer to Menchov? Menchov crosses the line in a time of 29’53”, holding his advantage at the intermediate point until the end. This puts him 2nd provisionally. With the top 10 riders still to come through the situation is as follows:
Devolder
8’08”
29’33”
Menchov
8’18”
29’53”
+20”
Ratiy
8’16”
29’57”
+24”
Keinath
8’12”
29’57”
+24”
Ardila
8’21”
29’57”
+24”
Arroyo is the tenth last rider to leave today. He has started to develop a bit of a duel with Kohl, who sits in 9th place. They finished on the same time yesterday and Arroyo is still well over a minute behind him, so will need a strong performance today. Arroyo goes through the first check in a time of 8’18”, which seems to be about what most climbers are managing.
Kohl, meanwhile goes through the first check slightly faster, with a time of 8’16”. Kohl does have Denifl within his reach on GC, so will want to put in an exceptionally strong ride today for that reason as well.
Denifl also goes through the first check in 8’18”. Kohl may well be able to put a little bit of time into both riders here.
Arroyo is the first of these three to come across the line. He gets a very strong time of 29’40”, putting him in 2nd provisionally. However, it doesn’t prove to be strong enough as Kohl comes through in a time of 29’33”, less than a second behind Devolder.
There is more good news for Kohl as Denifl can only manage a time of 29’49”. It is clear that the strongest climbers are doing brilliantly here simply because they have recovered well over the last few days and have something left in the tank. The top 5 for the stage now looks like this:
Devolder
8’08”
29’33”
Kohl
8’16”
29’33”
+0”
Arroyo
8’18”
29’40”
+7”
Denifl
8’18”
29’49”
+16”
Menchov
8’18”
29’53”
+20”
The next rider on the road is Machado. Machado is only a minute ahead of Denifl on GC, so will be pleased by the fact that the young man didn’t set the best time. Machado is probably slightly too far back from Amador and Henao Montoya to join their fight for 5th, but he will want to still keep them in attacking distance, just in case. Machado comes through the intermediate check in a time of 8’12”.
Machado pulls himself well clear of Denifl as he comes through with a new best time of 29’24”, taking 9 seconds off the time of Devolder.
The next rider on the road is Amador, who is the best time trialists of any of the remaining GC riders. He starts today in 6th place, but he is only 13” off the time of Henao Montoya in 5th. He is clearly aware of the difference he can make today because he comes through the intermediate point in a new best time of 7’59”. He is absolutely flying!
Behind him Henao Montoya leaves the start house knowing that today will probably mostly be about limiting losses. He comes through the checkpoint in a time of 8’10”, only 11” down on Amador. Remember, Amador needs 13” on him.
Amador continues his strong day by dominating up the climb. Everyone realises that it will be a new best time, but they don’t realise just how good it will be. He comes through in an absolutely insane time of 28’42”, a full 42 seconds faster than Arroyo’s previous best.
Henao realises just how important today is and he puts in a very strong rider. The magic 13 seconds slips away from him however, but he still comes through in a time of 28’59”, the second best so far and only 17” behind Amador. This battle will clearly continue all the way to Milan. There are only 4 riders left out on course, and the top 5 times so far are:
Amador
7’59”
28’42”
Henao Montoya
8’10”
28’59”
+17”
Machado
8’12”
29’24”
+42”
Devolder
8’08”
29’33”
+51”
Kohl
8’16”
29’33”
+51”
Schleck is the first of the top 4 riders on the road. He starts today 1’43” down on Pozzovivo and a full 4’57” down on Ricco in pink. He will probably just want to try to keep contact with Pozzovivo’s time today and hope that he can make some time back on the two upcoming hilly stages.
Schleck gets a time of 8’13” through the intermediate check. Behind him is Pozzovivo. Pozzovivo is one of the better time trialists amongst the GC riders and so will be hoping to gain some time on the others today. If he can hold on and claw back some time in the next few stages then he might be able to make a real difference in the final time trial. His time through the intermediate point is a very strong 8’08”.
The second last rider on the road is back-to-back stage winner Sella. Sella starts the day 56” down on Ricco and will be hoping that his form through the mountains is enough to reduce that gap even further today. If he can avoid losing much time to Pozzovivo he will undoubtedly be happy. Sella comes through the intermediate point with a rather lacklustre 8’16”, 8” slower than Pozzovivo.
Finally, the pink jersey comes past the fans. His goal is simple – he has to avoid losing time to Sella and may even hope to extend his lead even further on this relatively short climb. This strategy looks to be coming good for him as he comes through the intermediate check in 8’15”. That isn’t a great time in itself, but it is still one second faster than Sella can manage.
Schleck comes to the peak of the climb first and manages a very strong time of 29’17”. This may be the first sign that his trend of losing time to the top three has started to reverse.
Of course Pozzovivo does away with that idea pretty quickly, as he comes through in 29’06”, putting another 9” into Schleck and taking a provisional third place. Given his gap to Sella through the intermediate point this could surely be Pozzovivo’s big chance to ride himself into real contention for at least second place in this race?
Sella is giving it his all though, and accelerates up the climb.
Sella reaches the top in a time of 29’09”, only 3 seconds slower than Pozzovivo managed. Ricco isn’t getting up out of his saddle and he is clearly struggling. Ricco comes to the top of the climb and people hold their breath. What will his time be?
The clock flashes 29’21”, 12 seconds slower than Sella’s time! Sella has gained time on Ricco for the third stage in a row! This contest gets more exciting with every stage! Has Ricco shown signs of tiring or was he just having a slightly off day? Amador, meanwhile, raises his arms in victory.
