If there is a champion in his specialty in this Giro, it is Mark Cavendish. At the finish line in Cervere, which finally, for the first time in this Giro, was a straight avenue of 3500 metres, with no killer curves and therefore no great risk of falling, Cannonball gave its best, expressing unparalleled power and the tenth career win in his pink rides. Binda with 43 and Cipollini with 42 successes are far away, but the world champion is on the right track.
His class is sublime, he really doesn't lack desire and grit, on the contrary they feed on victory after victory, so disappointing those who thought that Cavendish would have raised the white flag in view of the Alps. After beating Norway's Kristoff and Australia's Mark Renshaw with an impressive progression, alone, without a Sky partner to help him in the last 600 metres, Cavendish has set his sights on the last remaining stage for sprinters next Thursday, promising to arrive in Milan in the red jersey, that of leader of the points standings. "As long as you don't arrive out of time in the mountain stages", Cav said very realistically when interviewed by Rai Sport.
And the mountain, the real one, on which the king of sprinters knows he will suffer the pains of hell, has now arrived. From this Saturday, the Giro, with the classification unchanged, always led by Joaquin Rodriguez, will no longer be for sprinters, but only for eagles. The stage that will take the runners to the final over 2 meters of Cervinia, with the starter of the Col de Joux, opens a hellish week that won't let them breathe. It was known that the great difficulties of this Giro were concentrated in the last eight stages.
All the favorites arrive enclosed in a matter of seconds. Kreuziger is at 52”, Basso eighth at 57” from Rodriguez. The furthest behind – so to speak – are Michele Scarponi at 1'11”, Pozzovivo at 1'12”, Cunego at 1'37” and Frank Schleck at 2'11”. A few laps after two thirds of the race they had arrived with such a narrow classification. In the history of the pink race, Cervinia, a 27 km climb with an average gradient of 5,5%, has previously welcomed the tadpoles twice: the first in 1960 was awaiting the attack by Charly Gaul on Anquetil who was dominating the Giro, but the Luxembourgish grimpeur kept quiet sending one of his wingmen with a strange name, Addo Kazianka, to win; in 1997 instead who won at the foot of the Matterhorn, Ivan Gotti, was then the winner of the Giro.
The weather predicts rain and an afternoon temperature of around 7 degrees. Some feared the snow. There are also those who fear that nothing shocking will happen up there with Basso and his companions who will continue the tactic of waiting. About what? We will see. For everyone Cervinia, however it may be, is the first probative exam. Also for Purito Rodriguez.
