In the Giro that has always chosen to rest on Mondays like the barbers, Tom Dumoulin drops a razor blade to the whole lot of starters, conquering the Sagrentino time trial and the pink jersey. He was the big favorite of the Grosseto-Montefalco of almost 40 km, but the Dutchman went beyond the forecasts by trimming important gaps to all the big names: the 2'53" delay accused by Nairo Quintana, who raced below expectations, even losing a good handful of seconds to Nibali and Thibaut Pinot. Dumoulin now leads the standings with 2'23” on Quintana, also approached by Blauke Mollema third at 2'38”, by Pinot fourth at 2,40” and by Nibali, fifth at 2'47”.
Dumoulin, on the wings of enthusiasm for the feat accomplished, shouted to the world that he wanted to bring the pink jersey to Milan. Given how he flies time trial and with what powerful exuberance he climbed the Blockhaus, Dumoulin will be a tough nut to crack for Quintana and for anyone aiming for the podium in Milan. The Colombian admitted that he had put in a modest performance, even risking a crash, but the Movistar captain, indicated by all as the master of the Giro at the end of the victorious Blockhaus stage, said he was certain he knew how and where to recover the pink jersey .
Mountains and high altitude arrivals are not lacking to exalt the Condor. Dumoulin has the final time trial in Milan on his side: almost 30 km which could guarantee him an advantage of between a minute and a minute and a half over Quintana and Nibali himself. The Giro, which had slumbered for a long time in the first 1500 km, got going in a big way with Dumoulin third wheel, authoritative and dangerous, in the duel between the Condor and the Shark. The favorite is still Quintana who – even after yesterday's beating – is given 1,80 by the bookmakers with Dumoulin climbing back to 2,50 and Nibali slipping to 9.
But the earthquake of the standings in Montefalco was strong and profound. It certainly makes the fight for the pink jersey even more exciting. The unknown concerns the Dumoulin estate. In the last two years, the Dutchman, who has plenty of class, has behaved like a blue chip on the stock market in the throes of high volatility. He often seemed to rock the world, dominating time trials and even in the mountains, as an authentic long-distance climber as at the Andorra-Arcalis finish line in the snowstorm of the 2016 Tour, then suddenly he always gave in to a crush (Vuelta 2015) either he retired due to sudden physical problems (Giro 2016 after six days in the pink jersey) or due to crashes (Tour 2016).
Already today in the Apennine plateau that starts from Florence or rather at Ponte Ema, the birthplace of Gino Bartali, in the direction of Bagno di Romagna, 161 km with the four-step climbs (Consuma, La Calla, Carnaro and Fumaiolo) you will begin understand what stuff the Dumoulin of this Giro is. Yesterday's time trial also saw Geraint Thomas rise in the standings again, author of a splendid race, faced with courage after the painful stage of the Blockhaus, which ended very late due to a fall at the foot of the climb.
The Welshman of Team Sky, despite his still open wounds, finished second behind the unleashed Dumoulin, just 49" behind. Had he not lost more than 5 minutes for that carom that put half the Team Sky team down, Thomas would still be there fighting for the pink jersey. Meanwhile, he has shortened his gap from Quintana by more than two minutes. Even the former pink jersey, the Luxembourgian Bob Jungels, after the predictable surrender on the Blockhaus, returned to shine by taking an excellent third place 56” behind Dumoulin.
