The Giro closes the two days in the Gulf of Naples, returning to the mainland after the team time trial in Ischia with one certainty: if Bradley Wiggins is the man to beat, Nibali is more than ready for the challenge. In today's 17.4 km against the clock, Wiggo's Team Sky triumphed, as predicted, but the Shark with Astana, third on arrival behind the surprising second Movistar, limited the damage to just 14 seconds.
“It's okay..!” Nibali commented immediately after crossing the finish line to those who asked him if he was worried about the gap. There will be many mountains and many uphill finishes – this year with the re-established bonus of 20” for the winner – to recover that trifle lost today on the spectacular route of the Campania island. It wasn't today's stage where Wiggins' form had to be tested: it would have been surprisingly negative for the winner of the last Tour if he hadn't inflicted something on Nibali and the rest of his closest rivals. Even Michele Scarponi, leader of Lampre, fared perhaps better than expected, losing 24”. And he would have lost even less if on the last short climb the Lampres hadn't found themselves – out of the nine at the start – just four. The regulation requires that the time be measured on the fifth finisher of each team: Scarponi therefore had to slow down to facilitate the return of his late comrade.
More dramatic was the situation of Euskatel, the team of Samuel Sanchez, one of the popular names as a possible surprise of the Giro. Only four showed up at the finish line and they had to wait long seconds that seemed like minutes for the fifth teammate who had gotten lost along the way. Result: Sanchez restarts tomorrow in the third stage which will bring the tadpoles from Sorrento to Marina di Ascea with a delay of 1'01” from Wiggins. An unexpected and hard to digest beating. Other losers of the day are Cadel Evans and Ryder Hesjedal. Above all the latter, the Canadian winner of last year's Giro, was given on the eve as one of the favorites in the team time trial. But his Garmin Sharp, winner in the analogous stage in Verona twelve months ago, greatly disappointed today in Ischia by cutting the finish line with a time 25” higher than Team Sky. Cadel Evans' Bmc Racing also went badly detached by 37” from Wiggins' train. Mattew Goss' Australian Orica GreenEdge never made it to the race, ninth at 28”, despite enjoying some forecasts.
Mark Cavendish was unable to defend his pink jersey, even though he was often seen in the lead, even going uphill (a sort of oxymoron for him as a sprinter born reluctant in the mountains!): in the end with the Omega Pharma teammates left 48 seconds on the field, more than double the advantage with which he started thanks to the 20” bonus obtained with the splendid victorious sprint in Naples. Thus the pink jersey from the shoulders of one of the most well-known and richest champions of cycling today ended up on the shoulders of an almost unknown young man, Salvatore Puccio, Sicilian from Agrigento but residing in Assisi, awarded with the symbol of primacy thanks to the best placement obtained in yesterday's first stage compared to his Team Sky mates: Wiggins, Henao, Cataldo and Uran. But it is never a small feat for a Giro neophyte to have been able to keep up with Wiggo's "intelligent" but always impressive pace, reaching the finish line together with his captain in the winning quintet, at an average of over 47 km/h. A fair prize, the pink jersey, to a modest rider who, if he too had gotten lost in the race, could have compromised Wiggins' success and perhaps changed the course of the Giro. Again because of that harsh law of the fifth – tell Sanchez today – which governs the team time trials of the Giro.
