Up until yesterday when he was still in the red jersey, drained of energy as he has been for days, Vincenzo Nibali would have gladly done without it, but today Angliru, with its terrible ramps that in some points touch 23,5% slopes, becomes the last chance for the Shark to get his hands back on a Vuelta that already seemed his but which was slowly but surely seen by a 42-year-old American who taught him a lesson right on the terrain, the climb, which from it was always the highlight of the Giro d'Italia winner's repertoire.
Tuesday on Formigal could have been a defaillance that fits in a three-week race, but then another empty joke followed in Pena Caberga which allowed Horner to reduce his gap from Nibali to just three seconds; yesterday on the Alto de Navarro, which dominates Oviedo, another bitter confirmation: the Shark that was in the frost of the Pyrenees has become a gasping fish, almost boiled, on the Asturian slopes, green cakes treacherous due to the abrupt changes in slope.
Something in his engine suddenly jammed. Up to two kilometers from the finish Nibali, yesterday as in the previous stages, managed to mask his weakness, always at the wheels of Horner and Valverde, his most dangerous rivals, so much so that many were predicting an equal match on the Alto de Navarro but when, with a newfound explosiveness, Joaquin Rodriguez sprinted off, flying towards his first stage victory in this Vuelta, the race ignited.
Everyone accelerated in pursuit of the elusive Purito. It was once again Nibali who paid the price, who tried in the final uproar to limit the losses but in a ranking now played on the seconds, a small gap was enough to overturn the leadership in favor of Horner who regained the red jersey with three seconds ahead of Nibali.
If the Shark suffers, which now risks an unexpected downgrade after a season of upgrades precisely in the race that the anti-Froome was supposed to confirm in view of the next Tour de France, the spectacle of the Vuelta certainly does not suffer, increasingly exciting with four riders – Valverde is third at 1'06” from Horner, Rodriguez fourth at 1'57” – enclosed in less than two minutes, which today will play the Vuelta in the final 12 kilometers of the ascent to Angliru. The favorite, against all predictions on the eve, is "grandfather" Horner who warns his opponents that "at the moment they have fantastic legs, especially uphill". Rodriguez promises battle: "Everything can still happen".
Even Nibali, having absorbed the disappointment of the defeat, after a regenerating massage, wanted to encourage himself and his teammates in the evening: "I lost my shirt, but who knows tomorrow". It will certainly be a fiery Saturday up there on Angliru this afternoon.
