The Irishman Sam Bennett deprived Elia Viviani of the possibility of making three of a kind by beating him on the straight at Praia a Mare, in front of the gigantic rock of Dino Island. The seventh stage of the Giro, after the fires of Etna, is experienced entirely in the final sprint which rewards one of the rare foreign fast wheels present in the race. The classification, after the shock given by the ascent of the volcano, has remained unchanged with Simon Yates in the pink jersey, a leader who looks like he will last, given that he is vigorous uphill and also knows how to defend himself well in the time trials. To date, bookmakers still give Tom Dumoulin as the favorite for the final victory, quoted at 2,50 followed by Froome given at 4, but immediately after the two favorites on the eve of the Giro, Yates is overtaking at 5: a situation in flux, demonstration that the Giro is far from identifying its master. Last year we had to wait for the last km of the Milan time trial to know the winner.
The next two stages could provide some more indications, today's one in Montevergine di Mercogliano and above all tomorrow's Gran Sasso stage, with the final 7 km before the arrival in Campo Imperatore featuring double-digit gradients. The shortlist of favorites which is practically the current top ten, with the exception of Miguel Angel Lopez trailing by 2'12”, is still collected in 1'11”, so much is the delay in the standings of Fabio Aru tenth from the leader who is Yates. Everyone is still in the game even if in the first third of the Giro, Froome and Aru were the less conspicuous among the big names, always covered in the group, without ever making a sprint or significant action. Poor brilliance or pre-tactical waiting for the Zoncolan and the last hard week of racing?
Waiting to see the real Froome of the Tour and the Aru of the victorious Vuelta, if the British can enjoy the exponential growth of Simon Yates, one who has already won a Giro di Lombardia, the blue pedal – absent NIbali who is preparing for the Tour – can't help but root for Domenico Pozzovivo. In the Giro three years ago the little climber from Policoro was the victim of a disastrous fall which even changed the profile of his face after causing fears for the continuation of his career. He's back on the bike and in this Giro, aged 35, after a brilliant time trial he's proving to be among the most perky uphill: fourth at 43" from Yates, the captain of Bahrain-Merida is in the midst of the pink match
