While waiting for Nibali and Valverde to come out into the open, the Giro enjoys making some – young and often little-known – experience the best day of their lives, others more well-known and accredited the pains of hell with a bitter farewell to the dreams of glory. In Tuscany Gianluca Brambilla touched the sky with a finger by winning in Arezzo and conquering the pink jersey. In Chianti the time trial sent a Slovenian into orbit, Primoz Roglic, who until a few years ago ski jumped.
Yesterday, first across the finish line in Sestola, at the end of a grim stage due to the height differences to be tackled, here is a very young Abruzzese, Giulio Ciccone, 21 years old in his first year of pro, therefore unknown with a surname until now made famous only by Madonna, which also rhymes with that of another great little Abruzzo cyclist, Vito Taccone, who Ciccone somewhat resembles in the way he won yesterday by breaking away from his breakaway companions – including Damiano Cunego, the new blue jersey of leader of the climbers – in the descent to then resist on the final stretch towards Sestola in pursuit of the Russian Ivan Rovny (second at 42”) and the Colombian Darwin Atapuma (third at 1'42”).
And in Sestola at Etixx-Quick Step, orphaned for a few days by Marcel Kittel who, like two years ago, slipped out of the Giro on the sly, Brambilla, in a sort of happy relay, passed the baton to his teammate Bob Jungels, even helping him to conquer the pink jersey when he realized that it was now impossible for him to defend the primacy that risked ending up with the Costa Rican Andrey Amador, a guy to keep an eye on in this Giro. The Costa Rican proceeds with the lights off but is always there among the first in the key moments of the race.
But even Jungels, totally ignored by the bookmakers at the beginning of the Giro, is a 1959-year-old who is growing stage after stage, proving to be strong on the pace but also uphill. Let's wait for him, for a definitive check, in the Dolomite and Alpine stages but in the meantime Bob brings Luxembourg back to the pink jersey. It hasn't happened since 1956, the year of Charly's second triumph in the Giro, the fantastic hero of Bondone where in XNUMX he had conquered his first pink jersey in a snowstorm.
On the same mountain two years later, in full sun and in the pink jersey sure of winning big, the climber from the Principality had suffered a historic ambush orchestrated by Louison Bobet when the Frenchman saw him get off his bike for a trivial pee. The stage, really strange, was won by a sprinter like Miguel Poblet. Morale-shattered Gaul arrived incredibly late. The pink jersey passed to Gastone Nencini who the day after Gaul took under guardianship to make the Italian win the Giro and lose it to Bobet. Mission accomplished.
Again in 59 Gaul faced a Frenchman, Jacques Anquetil, who by then seemed to be the sure winner after his success in the Susa time trial, but on the Piccolo San Bernardo Gaul, an exceptional grimpeur, was an elusive eagle writing another legendary page of the Giro.
Going back to today, on a heavenly day for Ciccone and Jungels, the hell into which two big names in this Giro like Mikel Landa and Tom Dumoulin have fallen. Landa, one of the main favorites of the Giro, was forced to retire by an intestinal virus which tormented him on the rest day. After passing the dreaded time trial without damage, Landa was increasingly referred to as the anti-Nibali. No one could have imagined seeing a climber like him suffer so much on the first ramps, completely soft, of the Passo della Collina.
The Basque couldn't keep up with the humblest of runners. He pedaled for a few more kilometers, then gave up. For Team Sky, the sad script of a film that has been on the air for a few years was being repeated, so much so that it predicted that sooner or later the English squadron will end up forcing Chris Froome to do the Giro in the hope of being able to win it. In 2013 it was Wiggins who gave up after staging almost shameful stages for a champion touted as the baronet who had been the first Briton to triumph on the Tour the year before.
Last year Team Sky bet on Richie Porte and it was a disaster that ended with the Australian retiring when his gap from Contador was approaching the hour mark. This year Landa, snatched at a high price from Astana, seemed to give the right guarantees after last year's brilliant Giro when he even beat Contador himself in the mountains.
As for Tom Dumoulin, the former pink jersey finished the stage but the delay accumulated at the finish of about 13 minutes is without appeal. On the slopes of Pian del Falco, the first first-category Gpm faced in this Giro, which exalted Manuel Fuente in 1971 in the only stage finished up here, Dumoulin certified his limits. For now he is just one great time trialist, capable of surprising for a few days at the Giro and also at the Tour but still a long way from being able to win them.
Landa retired, Dumoulin sunk in the standings, if there are no surprises – Jungels, Amador, Zakarin, Krujiswijk, Chaves, Majka others are not seen – the Giro should be a two-way match between Nibali and Valverde. So far there hasn't been a big battle between the two but only mutual pinpricks with a handful of precious but not decisive seconds at stake. . In turn, the Spaniard from Movistar, always perky despite his age, managed to precede the Italian by 4” in Arezzo and yesterday in Sestola.
That was enough for Valverde to enter the podium area, third on the same time with Krujiswijk 50" behind Jungels who has been leading the standings since yesterday with 23" on Amador. Nibali is fifth at 52” while Brambilla dropped to sixth at 1'12”. Skirmishes of seconds waiting for the clash on the mountains (and the time trial on the Alpe di Siusi on Sunday). Meanwhile, today the Giro is approaching the Dolomites with a stop in Asolo where the pink race arrived for the last time in 2010. And look who won? Just Nibali.
