The Giro today rests in Modena with a rider who will enjoy it more than the others by thinking back to what he did in yesterday's stage which arrived in Sestola, the mountain on which Alberto Tomba learned to ski. A feat, that of Domenico Pozzovivo, which also impressed Nairo Quintana when he saw him shoot leaving the company of the best group in the lurch. A peremptory action, that of the thirty-one-year-old climber from Basilicata, which allowed the leader of the French Agr La Mondiale to gain – with the 4” bonus for third place – half a minute over Cadel Evans and the others.
In a Giro which, while awaiting the time trial of Piedmontese wines and the great mountains, is played on the edge of seconds, Pozzovivo's attack propels him from tenth to fourth place in the general classification, 1'20” behind Cadel Evans. Had he started a moment earlier, perhaps he could have won the stage by catching up with the two survivors of a 14-man breakaway that started about fifty kilometers after the start in Lugo: Pozzovivo didn't make it ("Too bad because my goal is to win a stage, not the Giro”) arriving 42 seconds after the Dutchman Weening had overtaken Davide Malacarne in the sprint, bringing home the third victory in nine stages for the Orica Greenedge. Really a nice booty for the Australian team of former pink jersey Matthews.
For Weening it is the second success at the Giro after that of Orvieto in 2011 when he also held the pink jersey for four days. Malacarne, cyclo-cross junior world champion in 2005, is an Italian perhaps best known in France racing in Pierre Rolland's Europcar. The Giro will restart on Tuesday for a completely easy stage, the Modena-Salsomaggiore, one of the last opportunities that the race offers to sprinters. Then it will be a crescendo of difficulty from which the figure of the true master of the Giro will emerge. Evans knows it and – after having spent a lot in these initial stages getting the lead and a margin of advantage over opponents like Uran and Quintana who are stronger than him in the mountains – he preferred yesterday not to spit his soul in chasing Pozzovivo.
Today even the old kangaroo can restore his strength in the city of balsamic vinegar while also enjoying a small record: wearing the pink jersey for two days in a row after he had immediately lost it on the other two occasions. His goal – he doesn't say it but he suggests it – is to take her to Trieste. And from him there is a growing confidence also in the predictions of the bookmakers who give Evans quoted at 2,75 (he was 9 on the eve) ever closer to the first favorite who remains Quintana given at 2,25. Uran is third at 5. Further back Pozzovivo at 12, then Rafal Maika at 33, Aru at 40, Ivan Basso at 75 as well as Wilgo Kelderman.
Diego Ulissi, seventh in the standings, doesn't have any predictions for the final victory, who once again did a splendid race yesterday, finishing fourth after having settled the best squad to 1'08” behind Weening. And he would have done even better if he hadn't left Lugo furious for an anti-doping control that woke him up at six in the morning. "Agree on the checks - said the Leghorn - much less on the hour". Ulissi is spoken of as a sure star in racing in lines of all kinds but it is not believed that he will be able to hold up when the big mountains arrive. But it would be worth not forgetting that in his palmarés, in addition to many victories in single-day races and the two victories in the Apennines of this Giro, there is a success in Madonna di Campiglio, therefore in the Dolomites, in the first stage of the Tour in last year's Tour of Poland.
We just have to wait to see what he will do from Oropa onwards. Scarponi's Giro, on the other hand, becomes more and more painful and he proudly doesn't want to retire, but he also arrived yesterday at Pian del Falco di Sestola with another seven minutes late. Perhaps it would be better for the unfortunate "Aquila di Filottrano" to stop if she wants to be a useful sidekick for Nibali in the next Tour.
