There's nothing to do: this is Simone Yates' Giro d'Italia. The pink jersey is also the master in the stage that arrives in Sappada, after having so far dominated the race far and wide, conceding only a handful of seconds to Chris Froome in the stage on Saturday, with arrival on the Zoncolan. For the Briton it is the third stage success after Campo Imperatore and Osimo, and the consolidation of the leadership in the general classification, given that the second in the standings, Tom Dumoulin, lost another 41 seconds today and is now more than two minutes behind on the pink sweater.
Froome went even worse, triumphant on Zoncolan but 1'32” late in Sappada: this means seventh place in the general standings (yesterday he had climbed up to fifth again) almost 5 minutes behind Yates. Increasingly in crisis fabio Aru, now on the verge of retirement: already in serious difficulty on Passo Tre Croci, when the end of suffering is more than 60 km away. The Sardinian embarks minutes behind (almost 20 in the end) definitively compromising his Giro d'Italia.
On the eve of the rest and two days from the time trial in Rovereto, Yates therefore gains ground on all his rivals. Now Dumoulin is chasing at 2'11'', Pozzovivo at 2'28'' and Pinot at 2'37''. Froome is seventh at 4'52'', overtaken by Lopez and Carapaz. The 34 km against the clock can still change hierarchies, but the Yates seen in the Dolomites is the paradigm of solidity.
