On the Montasio plateau a Sky man wins, but it's not Wiggins, but the Colombian Rigoberto Uran Uran, a name that can only belong to a born climber. And Uran really is, so much so that with all the mountains that the Giro still has to face, the Colombian is a candidate as the most formidable opponent of Vincenzo Nibali, who is increasingly wearing the pink jersey, thanks to today's third place and the 12" bonus seconds earned . As long as Team Sky doesn't still insist on playing Wiggins' card, who also appeared in difficulty in today's fraction, out of breath on the narrow hairpin bends of the final ascent, with slopes exceeding 20% in some sections.
The result is that, despite gritting his teeth, Wiggo, tenth at 1'08" from Uran Uran, loses another 49" from NIbali and 37" from Cadel Evans, the only big foreigner to keep up with the pink jersey in the frantic the final. Wiggo is now fourth in the standings at 2'08” from the pink jersey, overtaken for a second by Uran himself, the squire who seems to deserve the captain's stripes in the race.
Second behind Nibali at 41” is Evans again, the red jersey in the points classification as proof of the excellent form of the likeable Cadel. Like Wiggins, Michele Scarponi and the Dutchman Robert Gesink also gave up some ground, arriving at the finish line in single file close to the winner of the last winner of the Tour. Anonymous for the umpteenth time is the performance of Samuel Sanchez, who descended in 18th place in the general standings, almost 8 minutes behind Nibali.
A real abyss is the collapse of Ryder Hesjedal, who already out of the top ten in the Giro for days, today – already in crisis on the ramps of the Cason di Lanza pass – gradually accumulated a delay in the finish of over 20 minutes which makes him fall to 33rd place at 23'45” from the record. If the British flag continues to wave, albeit increasingly timid and emaciated, the Canadian one – which last year was raised victorious in Piazza del Duomo in Milan – has been definitively lowered today: these are the small dramas of sport in a A tour that is preparing tomorrow to commemorate the 50th anniversary of a true drama of apocalyptic dimensions such as the Vajont tragedy.
