Mountain stages have their ups and downs. The profile shows us that. Today brought a different kind, the tables were turned after Steven Kruijswijk crashed and cracked, Esteban Chaves took over the race lead and after weeks of feeling the pressure Vincenzo Nibali let it all out on the road to Risoul, won the stage and sobbed under the podium. And there’s still a giant mountain stage to go.
The Giro enjoys a rest day in Brixen, deep in the German-speaking Tyrol area of Italy and once home to Pope Damasus II whose papal reign lasted just 23 days. A study in brevity but Steven Kruijswijk only needs to hang on for a matter of days to win his sacred contest and right now he is looking as sure as his shoulders. The Dutchman was milliseconds behind Alexander Foliforov’s surprise result yesterday but minutes ahead of some of his rivals, notably Vincenzo Nibali who climbed up the Alpe di Siusi only to fall down the overall classification. Interrogated how he felt yesterday Nibali replied in a word that doesn’t need translation: “demoralizzato“.