Falls, more falls: yesterday Scarponi lost a minute in the Marina di Ascea stage, today Wiggins, just over a kilometer from the finish line in Serra San Bruno, at the foot of the Aspromonte, saw 17 precious seconds blown away by bad luck: the accidents, in addition to the bonuses, are for now shaping the classification of a Giro which always sees Luca Paolini in the pink jersey and which launches into the limelight, winner of the sprint of the southernmost stage of this year's edition, a young man with a surname that recalls a past glory of blue cycling: Enrico Battaglin of the Bardiani-CSF, namesake of the better known Giovanni, winner of the 1961 Giro, no relation but both Venetians from Marostica, one of the most prolific cycling incubators in Italy.
We were talking about Wiggins, who at the finish line had little of the English baronet awarded by her majesty the Queen, so enraged was he at the insult suffered: it had happened that, despite being involved in the tumble a stone's throw from the finish, Wiggo had skilfully managed to stay in feet braking and zigzagging to then resume almost from a standstill: enough to make him miss the train of the group that he was about to reach at a great pace and overtake Danilo Di Luca and the Colombian Chalapud at the final 300 meters, who escaped on the ramps of Croce Ferrata. It happens that the cyclists who ended up on the ground were neutralized by the jury; on the contrary Wiggins, who had remained standing, could be seen - dura lex, sed lex - having counted all the accumulated delay: 17" compared to the various Nibali, Hesjedal, Evans, all of whom joined the group easily regulated in the sprint by Battaglin after a head-to-head head with Fabio Felline, Giovanni Visconti and Rigoberto Uran Uran placed in the order.
Even some big names such as Evans and Hesjedal, together with Paolini's pink jersey, took part in the final sprint in the hope of gaining more bonus seconds after those of Marina di Ascea, but without success. Evans finished sixth, the Canadian eighth, Paolini tenth. For Wiggins – Team Sky was on the verge of appealing – a mishap that effectively nullified the good things he had managed to achieve in the Ischia team time trial. Tomorrow he starts again from Cosenza to Matera, a stage for sprinters, with a ranking that now sees him tied for sixth by Hesjedal and overtaken by three seconds by Nibali.
In the post-race mood as black as the clouds that poured waves of rain over the Giro today, it wasn't just Wiggins: even the old Danilo Di Luca couldn't understand how a victory that had been pursued for too long, when he was already anticipating success three hundred meters from the finish line. But his shot on the hairpin bends of Croce Ferrata, the second-category mountain grand prix located 5 km from Serra San Bruno, reminded us of that of the best Di Luca, winner of a Giro before falling into the doping tunnel.
