Time trial under the downpour in Pisa: Del Toro remains in pink but Roglic comes back
After the dust of the Terre Bianche , the pouring rain in Piazza dei Miracoli, at the end of the Lucca-Pisa time trial (28.6 kilometres), cleaned up and redefines the hierarchies of a Giro d'Italia still stunned by the explosive rivalry between Isaac Del Toro and Juan Ayuso , the two young up-and-coming riders from UAE Emirates who had dethroned Primoz Roglic in the Siena stage.
A time trial conditioned by the rain, won at almost 53 km/h by the Danish specialist Daan Holland, who puts Roglic himself back in the game (the best of the big names) and puts the young Mexican Isaac del Toro in the same position, still in the pink jersey but now tailed by Ayuso who, with a convincing performance, nibbles away 48 seconds from him, moving behind him to just 25”.
The strange challenge between two teammates of the same formation continues of course. No counter-order for the moment from the top of Emirates. However, after this test, almost a litmus test of the values in the field, the shares of Ayuso, captain at the start of the Giro, are clearly growing, and conversely those of the Mexican are tarnished, in difficulty under the heavy rain that forced almost all the best not to risk.
The one who was least penalized by Fantozzi's cloud was Roglic, more of a specialist than his opponents and spared by Jupiter Pluvius in the first part of the stage.
The Slovenian, who came out beaten and dejected from the Siena stage, raised his voice and climbed like a salmon in the standings: from tenth place (+ 2' 25) before the start, to fifth (+ 1'18”) from the pink jersey. A heavy deficit, certainly, but still easily recoverable in the last week. Let's say that Roglic made a move to warn the cheeky kids of the Uae that he is still alive and well and fighting alongside us.
The one who comes out of this time trial in style is our Antonio Tiberi , 25 years old, now third in the standings with just a minute of delay. In practice, Tiberi has shaved off almost 30 seconds from the leading pair, a pair that in the future, despite all the efforts to appear very close, could even break up. A clearly very optimistic hypothesis, and very much in a national key, but managing the internal electricity well is not easy. Two cocks in the henhouse, even in cycling, usually sooner or later peck and trip each other. We will have time to verify it.
Returning to the other big names, it is worth mentioning the good performance of Simon Yates, now fourth, a couple of seconds behind Tiberi. The one who does not shine, almost a wet chick, is Giulio Ciccone , who has been in great difficulty since the first kilometers. Crushed by Roglic (+ 1'38”), Giulio slips from fifth place to eighth, more than two minutes from the pink jersey. A disappointing performance, that of the Abruzzese, highly anticipated at this Giro d'Italia. His chances, thinking of the podium, naturally plummet. It is likely that he will seek revenge with some uphill feats. However, he must decide: floating among the big names, he will in fact be kept under observation.
Another one with a thumbs down is Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz , also “punished” by the powerful comeback of Roglic, now ninth behind Ciccone. Gaps still recoverable, in the big mountains, but they are starting to mark the differences. Also bad performance by Colombian Bernal who fell because of the wet asphalt. This Wednesday another stage to keep an eye on, 186 kilometers up and down from Viareggio to Castelnuovo ne' Monti. Possible other surprises.
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