Primoz Roglic winner of the time trial with the big favorites who don't even enter the top ten of the order of arrival. Gianluca Brambilla still in the squad setting a better time than Nibali's. Even cycling, at least for a weekend at the Giro, wants to follow football by imitating the tale of little Leicester who beats all the giants in the Premier League. What ever happened in Chianti? More than the legs, it was the pouring rain that took the place of the sun when the best classified men started to decide the fate of the race.
All true and everyone agrees: Nibali and Valverde first of all made sure not to crash, avoiding damage that could have jeopardized the continuation of the Giro. Uran and Zakarin know something about it – the Russian was about to set the best time – as they tumbled to the ground, betrayed by the asphalt as slippery as a bar of soap. Cautiousness of Nibali and Valverde also justified by the fact that Dumoulin, the big favourite, appeared far from the Dutch locomotive that won the first mini-time trial of the Giro in Abeldoorn, held back perhaps more yesterday than by the downpour from the flop on the Alpe dirt road of Poti which cost him the pink jersey.
Dumoulin, in the stage in which he had to destroy his rivals, scraped together a 15” lead over Nibali and 26” over Valverde. Mikel Landa, who feared the time trial as he was not a specialist, also took advantage of this to limit the delay from Nibali to 7" and even gain 4" on Valverde. A result that immediately improved the quotations of the Spaniard of Team Sky which bookmakers now give to 2,75 on a par with Nibali – with Valverde third popular at 6 – in the bets on the final winner of a Giro which is still far from having identified its owner.
Gianluca Brambilla, Bellano's accountant, who also gave his all on the shiny and water-soaked asphalt, who after conquering the pink jersey in Arezzo defended it with his teeth in the time trial, so much so that he did a slightly inferior time to that of Dumoulin.
It was an afternoon of passion on the stage of arrival in Greve in Chianti for Primoz Roglic who sat for hours on the chair reserved for the first virtual one waiting for whoever could set a better time than his fixed time of 51'45”, despite some mechanics solved on the road, a performance held just after lunchtime when the sun was still illuminating the famous hills surrounding Florence. This Slovenian of whom little or nothing was known before the opening mini-time trial reappeared in the limelight of the Giro when he practically did the same time as Dumoulin who wore the jersey only thanks to a hundredth of a second.
It is revealed that he was in his first career time trial over 10 kilometres. Until a few years he practiced another sport: ski jumping. He switched to cycling for a few years convinced he could do better in the saddle than on the trampoline but so far he hadn't done much. But the hope of incredible success grew as the arrivals followed. It was no small matter that he had already beaten an ex-hour record holder like the Austrian Mathias Brandle Brandle (who will finish second) by 10 ”.
Behind him by 28” there was also a giant of cycling and races against the clock like Fabian Cancellara (who will end up fourth). Another completely unknown Norwegian with an impossible name, Vegard Staeke Laengen, came close but was only third. But the most eagerly awaited names were about to start, the ones racing to win the Giro. Roglic spreads smiles but still doesn't believe he can win. But the sky comes to his aid: low black clouds begin to unload basins of water on the 40 km of the route on the ups and downs of the Chianti while an increasingly strong wind rises.
The descents scare more than the climbs. The news on split times tell of a general decrease in performance. Even the dreaded Dumoulin is running slower than Roglic. At the finish line he clocked a better time of 1'58” and finished 15th. Better than Dumoulin is also the 23-year-old Luxembourgian Bob Jungels, white jersey of youth leader, who finishes sixth 45” from Roglic and who could also become the new pink jersey.
Nibali defends himself admirably in the hell of the stage finishing very close to Dumoulin's times but far from those of the Slovenian: 19th at 2'13 from Roglic who begins to anticipate the miracle. Valverde and Landa finish behind Nibali, with times all enclosed in a handful of seconds. The arrivals of Zakarin and Brambilla are still missing. The Russian is announced with record splits. Thrills and suspense on stage, Roglic's victory is back in the balance but this Sunday the gods of cycling are all on the Slovenian's side: Zakarin risks his life chasing glory and supremacy but falls twice and has to give up the dreams of victory.
At the finish line he is only 54th at 3'51” from Roglic. Of the men in the standings, due to another fall, only Rigoberto Uran did worse than Zakarin, more than 4 minutes behind the Slovenian who is now the sure winner. At the finish, only Brambilla is expected: the pink jersey is not up for grabs. The Lombard, already brilliant fifth in the Barolo time trial won by Uran in the 2014 Giro, the one won by Nairo Quintana, repeats a performance that is extraordinary given the weather conditions. Directed and encouraged throughout the race by his Etixx-Quick Step team manager, Davide Bramati, he crosses the finish line with a time only 7” faster than Dumoulin's, finishing 17th at 2'05” from Roglic.
Just enough to defend the pink jersey for a second from Jungels' assault. Today the Giro stops for the second rest day. The fairy tale of the accountant continues, indeed it doubles with that of the former ski jumper who comes from Slovenia. The caravan, after a time trial that didn't make a selection, will set off again tomorrow towards the finish line in Sestola. There will be no Cancellara who has decided to retire debilitated by the flu that hit him in Holland. With Kittel it is another valuable piece that leaves the scene from a Giro with an ever shorter classification.
