Zoncolan wanted him to be tamed by the greatest rider around today, one of the strongest ever, and Chris Froome has risen from the anonymity he was sinking into to sign one of his most beautiful feats arriving all alone at the top of the prestigious finish line . Already at the foot of the toughest mountain in Europe, it was already sensed that Team Sky was planning the coup that could change the course of the last week of the Giro. For the first time, Froome's teammates were seen pulling ahead of the group of the best to force the pace: a move that immediately alerted pink jersey Simon Yates and the other men in the standings. It was the warning for everyone that Froome would give up the humble and crumpled clothes of these first two weeks of the Giro to wear his usual ones, of the champion who has won four Tours. 4 km from the finish, when the slopes are now two figures from the rise had weakened the legs of many, in particular Fabio Aru who among the big names was the first to lose his wheels, here is the doc smoothie of the British who immediately creates a hole.
To prevent it from becoming an abyss it takes all the perky form of Yates who engages in an exciting duel with his more famous compatriot, with Froome who shakes his legs as in his best days and the pink jersey who does not let him escape and closely follows him . A breathtaking show, which will be remembered in the most beautiful pages of the Giro. Froome is uncatchable, he arrives at the finish line unleashing an irrepressible joy after so many stages without any light. Yates is also great, limiting the delay to 6” from Froome but seeing his lead over Tom Dumoulin stretch, fifth to 37” after an ascent in his own way, from time trial to diesel, always regular without ever going over the top. The Dutchman is still second in the general classification but his gap from the pink jersey has increased to 1'24”. Domenico Pozzovivo also arrives before Dumoulin at 23” followed by Lopez: for the Italian another convincing performance which allows him to enter the podium area by overtaking Thibaut Pinot, sixth on the Zoncolan at 42” from Froome.
That of the Zoncolan – a total British dominion on the day of the Royal wedding – was an eagerly awaited stage to understand who will be able to win the Giro and who has already lost it. The big reshuffle came from Froome. Certainly Fabio Aru no longer has any hope of success, after another disappointing race in which he struggled to reach the finish line 23rd at 2'23” from Froome. His gap in the standings now exceeds five minutes. For the Sardinian, the only goal can be a stage success. But the Aru of the Zoncolan doesn't bode well. Even for Carapaz the day has come for a partial downsizing. However, the Ecuadorian remains in the top ten, seventh at almost 4 minutes.
In the uptown area of the Giro for the final victory, Yates once again comes out of the Zoncolan test in a big way even if the resurrection of a big name like Froome doesn't make him enjoy much for the new gap inflicted on Dumoulin. What shakes the pink jersey more than today's stage, a Dolomite fraction on less famous hills but still with 4 meters of altitude difference to climb, is the time trial on Tuesday after the rest day. Dumoulin could also undo the detachment he accuses from the Englishman. That's why Yates regretted yesterday that he hadn't caught Froome again, missing out on the winner's rebate. That's not to say you won't try again today.
But a giant like Froome got in his way, also in view of the time trial, and after his arrival on the Zoncolan he was as happy as a child. “Can you win the Giro?” asked the Briton hotly after the great feat. Froome just said. "We'll see, the Giro is still long" but after the leap to fifth place, the master of the Tour can't help but have returned to the desire for that pink jersey, which he has never worn so far even if the gap from Yates remains high: 3'10”. A day to remember for Team Sky given that in the evening, due to the time zone, Arley Bernal, born in 1997, also won the Tour of California, a talented young Colombian who dominated this edition by also winning the two stages of mountain.
