Tom Dumoulin strikes again precisely on a finish line, that of Oropa, where he expected another high note from Quintana. The pink fairy tale of the "Maastricht butterfly" continues, knocking out the "Condor of the Andes" by reaching him one and a half kilometers from the finish and then leaving him in the lurch to win, beating Zakarin and Landa by a handful of seconds. Quintana, who had sprinted several times halfway up giving the impression of wanting to repeat the Blockhaus feat, was grabbed by the pink jersey again. He even lost his wheels in the final as if he had lost his strength: he finished fourth 14" from the unleashed Dutch who also got the precious 10" bonus due to the winner. Now the gap in the standings is 2'47”. At the finish line Quintana seemed disappointed for his performance right on the mountain which recalls Pantani's deeds, but he still preferred to see the glass half full having indeed lost something from Dumoulin, but on the other hand having gained precious seconds on Nibali (who finished seventh at 43" from Dumoulin) and Thibaut Pinot (fifth at 35”). Because while recognizing Dumoulin's strength, Quintana is convinced that on the great peaks above 2500m and in stages with more roughness to climb his opponents remain the Shark and the Frenchman. The bookmakers don't seem of the same opinion who, after Oropa's exploits, overturned the predictions on the winner of the Giro, quoting Dumoulin at 1,33 and relegating Quintana at 2,50. The favors against Nibali drop sharply, down to 9 and Pinot down to 16.
If every stage had a dry mountain to climb, even with the summit finish, there's no doubt that Dumoulin at this moment shouldn't fear even a pure grimpeur like Quintana. Indeed, as a long-distance climber which he is, the Dutchman is also able to beat him as happened in Oropa. Dumoulin has certainly grown compared to what collapsed in the penultimate stage of the 2015 Vuelta. From his there is the future memory treasure of the final time trial in Milan: about 30 km which can guarantee him even an abundant minute over all his rivals for the record . But until today, after finishing fifth in the Vuelta two years ago won by Fabio Aru, Dumoulin has never finished a Giro d'Italia or a Tour, despite achieving extraordinary performances, both in Italy and in France, in the time trial and also in unique ascents such as the spectacular victory under the sleet in the Andorra-Arcalis stage in last year's Grande Boucle. There are those who compare him, even for the same age, to the 1950 Koblet, who against all odds was the first foreigner to triumph in the Giro, formidable in the time trials, unbeatable uphill despite not being a pure climber. If so, hats off to Farfalla, which would give Holland its first victory in the Giro. But those who today, even after Oropa, still show doubts about the durability of the pink jersey, compare another Swiss, Alex Zulle, who did not win as much as Koblet, but who also flew in the time trials and who grabbed and then also beat Pantani in the stage which he reached the heights of Lake Laceno, conquering the pink jersey. It was the 1998 Giro: Zulle, who also won the Trieste time trial in a big way, seemed by now to be the master of the race with an advantage of almost 4 minutes over the Pirata, suddenly surrendered in the Dolomite stages dominated by the Pirata, even finishing outside the top ten.
