An increasingly complicated ride for Wiggins who came close to drama in the last descent of today's stage: in the festival-tour of falls, under a downpour of rain, the Englishman had already appeared to be in great difficulty on a track with an altitude similar to an electrocardiogram, suffering the ups and downs of hills little more than a skyscraper that turned out to be authentic walls like those of Flanders. He suffered uphill on the last stretch of New Year's Eve, even awkward downhill to the point of slipping alone in the middle of a curve. He got up but was paralyzed with fear so much that he couldn't pedal. Wiggins gave the impression of retiring at one point. There were not even six kilometers to go to the finish line in Pescara: a few but enough to lose the Giro because in front of a large group with the best, from Cadel Evans to Hesjedal, from Scarponi to Nibali, flew towards the finish, not very interested in overtaking an unknown Australian in front , as to posting the famous English back as much as possible. For the stage victory the games had already been decided on the penultimate hill, the Santa Maria De Criptis: Adam Hansen, the only survivor with Emanuele Sella of a six-man breakaway which also included – an absolute novelty for the Giro – the Greek Tamouridis, also detached the ultimate adventure buddy. The Italian even fell twice until he surrendered. The 32-year-old Australian scored the feat of his life.
After 1'07” Enrico Battaglin, with a whisker on Danilo Di Luca, regulated the sprint of the pursuers. At that point, the highlight of the day in Abruzzo, the countdown began: everyone was watching the stopwatch to measure how much delay Wiggins had accumulated. He, the baronet of his Majesty, the man to beat in the Giro, after his bewilderment, in a jolt of pride, had started chasing with the strength of desperation. A sort of anticipation of tomorrow's time trial, especially on the now flat stretch of road that crosses the pine forest dedicated to Gabriele D'Annunzio. Little helped by the various Henao and Uran, under downpours of rain which reduced visibility, Wiggins crossed the finish line 55th at 2'31" from Hansen: which meant that he had lost a good 1'24" from his main rivals, including the Dutchman Robert Gesink is also included, without ever overdoing it, day after day. So tomorrow's 54,4 km stage against time from Gabicce Mare to Saltara becomes fundamental for the Englishman to continue in the pink race. Which tonight has a completely revolutionized ranking.
Luca Paolini, after strenuously defending himself, gave way in the final stages, crossing the finish line with Wiggins. The pink jersey thus passed onto the shoulders of Benat Intxausti, a tough rider, always on the run, who arrived today again with the squad of the best. The Spaniard from Movistar is 5” ahead of Nibali, who today accumulated a substantial treasure trove of seconds on Wiggins in view of tomorrow's time trial, where he can lose two to three minutes from the Englishman, provided however that Wiggins does Wiggins. Which is not so sure after the beating suffered today. The Shark, for his part, would perhaps have done even better, even wearing the pink jersey, if he hadn't also been the victim of a fall on the San Silvestro downhill. Exploiting his skills as a downhill skier, he had thrown himself headlong, seeing Wiggins awkward, on an obviously bad day. Nibali, however, unlike the British, got up immediately, setting off again with his usual grit and courage, after crawling on his back on the pavement for about ten metres, brushing against a wall until he stopped on the grassy edge of the road. A thrill immediately returned. “But if I hadn't fallen, it would have been better..” commented the Shark immediately after the finish line as he stared at the second hand waiting for Wiggins, today's great loser (and not just from bad luck).
