The Giro isn’t over for Bradley Wiggins, but every day he has like today makes it harder to envisage that he’ll make the podium in Brescia. He lost time again today as team mate Rigoberto Uran launched an attack with five miles to go and no one could get him back; the plan looked to be that all Brad had to do was sit on the other GC riders as they chased Rigoberto Uran.
But as has happened to Sky numerous times in this Giro, things didn’t go according to the script.
Wiggins couldn’t respond when the ‘digs’ went in and he lost a minute to Nibali, Evans – and Uran.
If the trend continues then Sky will have to switch horses and bet on Uran.
A podium for Rigoberto Uran, the former Columbian track champion plus his stage win, the TTT and anything else that Sky picks up between now and Brescia mean that the race has hardly been a disaster for them.
There’s a big ‘but’ though, old Rigoberto may be a quality rider but he doesn’t come from Wigan, has a dodgy haircut and will be jumping ship at the year’s end – so even if he does make the podium it’s of little PR value to Sky.
Brad is the story, not Rigoberto – and nor is Chris Froome the story.
The Brits like their heroes home grown; with Middle England in particular suspicious of Johnny Foreigner.
So what about Brad’s less than spectacular Giro?
Far be it from me to question Sky’s methods, but he looks to me like he lacks race miles – it wouldn’t surprise me if he comes in to good form in the last week.
Last year he came into the Tour of a full stage race programme and with solid wins under his belt.
It doesn’t matter how good you are, if you haven’t demonstrated to yourself that you have good form then there’s always that doubt there.
Merckx at the peak of his powers would be panicking if he hadn’t won a race in the last week.
It doesn’t matter what your time is up such-and-such a mountain or what your watts are – it doesn’t start to pour with freezing rain on a WattBike and there’s no crazy Italian trying to derail your rhythm.
And the downside of Sky’s – and most of professional cycling’s – obsession with riders’ body fat; when it’s cold and wet it’s a nightmare if there’s hardly a pick of flesh on your bones.
Sky’s Classics campaign wasn’t the best; when boring old pains in the bum like Vik, Ivan, Dave and I saw they weren’t riding Tirreno or Paris-Nice our eyebrows raised.
The results proved us correct and it looks to me like Bradley is suffering from the same malaise as the Classics guys – too much analysis, tech and watts and not enough racing.
And whilst I’m not a ‘tweeter,’ I hear tell that Froome tweeted congratulations to Uran, apparently his first comment of the whole race…
But there’s still a long way to go to Brescia.
And it’s too far for Ryder Hesjedal, today was a disaster, he dropped a monstrous 21 minutes on the stage, finishing in a gruppetto.
On the plus side he’s no danger now and will be allowed to go up the road; JV will need something to save his Giro.
In my Giro preview I said that Basso, Evans and Sanchez wouldn’t figure; Basso didn’t even start and Sanchez is at eight minutes – but I got it badly wrong with Evans.
Again, today he was there with the very best and a podium looks well possible – but you’d have got long odds at William Hill’s on that, two weeks ago.
And spare a thought for Mattia Gavazzi (Androni Giocatolli) he’s stone last at 2:31:26 – and the race isn’t half way yet.
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Result - Giro d'Italia 2013 - Stage 10: Cordenons - Montasio 167km
Stage Result
2 Carlos Alberto Betancur Gomez (Col) Ag2R La Mondiale 0:00:20
3 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:00:31
4 Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia
5 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team
6 Rafal Majka (Pol) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
7 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Ag2R La Mondiale
8 Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) RadioShack Leopard 0:00:47
9 Benat Intxausti Elorriaga (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:06
10 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling 0:01:08
11 Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Lampre-Merida 0:01:10
12 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre-Merida
13 Yury Trofimov (Rus) Katusha
14 Robert Gesink (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team 0:01:16
15 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli 0:02:11
16 Damiano Caruso (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling
17 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Sky Procycling
18 Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team 0:02:25
19 Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Col) Sky Procycling 0:03:14
20 Francis Mourey (Fra) FDJ 0:03:16
21 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team
22 Darwin Atapuma Hurtado (Col) Colombia 0:03:19
23 Diego Rosa (Ita) Androni Giocattoli 0:03:28
24 Rafael Valls Ferri (Spa) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:03:53
25 José Herrada Lopez (Spa) Movistar Team 0:04:01
26 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:04:22
27 Francis De Greef (Bel) Lotto Belisol
28 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Movistar Team 0:04:38
29 Tiago Machado (Por) RadioShack Leopard 0:05:19
30 Evgeny Petrov (Rus) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 0:05:45
31 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team 0:05:48
32 Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:06:36
33 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia
34 Miguel Angel Rubiano Chavez (Col) Androni Giocattoli
35 Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Sky Procycling 0:07:02
36 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Katusha
37 Jackson Rodriguez (Ven) Androni Giocattoli 0:08:12
38 Jose Rodolfo Serpa Perez (Col) Lampre-Merida 0:08:30
39 Hubert Dupont (Fra) Ag2R La Mondiale
40 Stef Clement (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team 0:08:47
41 Serge Pauwels (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick Step 0:09:46
42 Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
43 Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:10:32
44 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:12:14
45 Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team 0:12:43
46 Pavel Brutt (Rus) Katusha
47 Petr Ignatenko (Rus) Katusha
48 Emanuele Sella (Ita) Androni Giocattoli 0:12:45
49 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 0:14:51
50 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) RadioShack Leopard
51 Thomas Damuseau (Fra) Team Argos-Shimano
52 Dalivier Ospina Navarro (Col) Colombia
53 Mads Christensen (Den) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
54 Robert Vrecer (Slo) Euskaltel-Euskadi
55 Elia Viviani (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling 0:15:00
56 Oscar Gatto (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia 0:15:40
57 Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:17:02
58 Kenny Dehaes (Bel) Lotto Belisol 0:17:31
59 Xabier Zandio Echaide (Spa) Sky Procycling 0:18:29
60 Pablo Lastras Garcia (Spa) Movistar Team
61 Paul Martens (Ger) Blanco Pro Cycling Team 0:20:50
62 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Blanco Pro Cycling Team
63 Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Movistar Team
64 Dominique Rollin (Can) FDJ
65 Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
66 Fabio Andres Duarte Arevalo (Col) Colombia 0:20:53
67 Dirk Bellemakers (Ned) Lotto Belisol
68 Cristiano Salerno (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling
69 Jorge Azanza Soto (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
70 Leonardo Fabio Duque (Col) Colombia
71 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin-Sharp
72 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Astana Pro Team
73 Koen De Kort (Ned) Team Argos-Shimano
74 Peter Stetina (USA) Garmin-Sharp
75 Martijn Keizer (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
76 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling
77 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Movistar Team
78 Kristijan Durasek (Cro) Lampre-Merida
79 Cayetano José Sarmiento Tunarrosa (Col) Cannondale Pro Cycling
80 Paolo Longo Borghini (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling
81 Daniele Pietropolli (Ita) Lampre-Merida
82 Simone Stortoni (Ita) Lampre-Merida
83 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Orica-GreenEdge
84 Thomas Danielson (USA) Garmin-Sharp
85 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team
86 Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
87 Fredrik Carl Wilhelm Kessiakoff (Swe) Astana Pro Team
88 George Bennett (NZl) RadioShack Leopard
89 Nelson Filipe Santos Simoes Oliveira (Por) RadioShack Leopard
90 Bruno Pires (Por) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
91 Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ
92 Pim Ligthart (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
93 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Garmin-Sharp
94 Francesco Manuel Bongiorno (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox
95 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Katusha
96 Pieter Weening (Ned) Orica-GreenEdge
97 Stefano Pirazzi (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox
98 Ricardo Mestre (Por) Euskaltel-Euskadi
99 Frederik Willems (Bel) Lotto Belisol 0:21:35
100 Sacha Modolo (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox
101 Albert Timmer (Ned) Team Argos-Shimano
102 Manuele Boaro (Ita) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
103 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox 0:21:57
104 Alessandro Proni (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia 0:22:10
105 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia
106 Matteo Rabottini (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia
107 Cameron Wurf (Aus) Cannondale Pro Cycling
108 Ben Gastauer (Lux) Ag2R La Mondiale
109 Sylvain Georges (Fra) Ag2R La Mondiale
110 Maxim Belkov (Rus) Katusha
111 Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi (Spa) Movistar Team 0:22:15
112 Nicola Boem (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox 0:22:24
113 Rob Ruijgh (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:22:29
114 Guillaume Bonnafond (Fra) Ag2R La Mondiale 0:22:58
115 Stefano Locatelli (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox 0:23:18
116 Marco Marcato (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:23:34
117 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar Team
118 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Team Argos-Shimano
119 Johan Le Bon (Fra) FDJ
120 Jarlinson Pantano (Col) Colombia
121 Robinson Eduardo Chalapud Gomez (Col) Colombia
122 Luke Durbridge (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
123 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Team Argos-Shimano
124 Patrick Gretsch (Ger) Team Argos-Shimano
125 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
126 Michal Golas (Pol) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
127 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
128 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
129 Danny Pate (USA) Sky Procycling 0:24:28
130 David Millar (GBr) Garmin-Sharp
131 Christian Meier (Can) Orica-GreenEdge 0:25:02
132 Jesse Sergent (NZl) RadioShack Leopard
133 Hayden Roulston (NZl) RadioShack Leopard 0:27:11
134 Christian Knees (Ger) Sky Procycling
135 Luca Paolini (Ita) Katusha 0:28:50
136 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Lampre-Merida
137 Alan Marangoni (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling 0:28:52
138 Robert Hunter (RSA) Garmin-Sharp
139 Willem Wauters (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
140 Nathan Haas (Aus) Garmin-Sharp
141 Vicente Reynes Mimo (Spa) Lotto Belisol
142 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox
143 Grega Bole (Slo) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
144 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
145 Wilson Alexander Marentes Torres (Col) Colombia
146 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Lotto Belisol
147 Maurits Lammertink (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
148 Matti Breschel (Den) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
149 Rafael Andriato (Bra) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia
150 Gert Dockx (Bel) Lotto Belisol
151 Tiziano Dall’Antonia (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling
152 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Sky Procycling
153 Danilo Hondo (Ger) RadioShack Leopard
154 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Blanco Pro Cycling Team
155 Brett Lancaster (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
156 Bert De Backer (Bel) Team Ar