Having pinpointed today’s stage as an important opportunity to gain much-needed time over Ryder Hesjedal prior to Sunday’s final time trial, Maglia Rosa wearer Joaquim Rodriguez ended up instead suffering a setback to his chances when the Garmin-Barracuda rider, rather than he, was first to the finish.
Hesjedal proved himself the strongest of the GC riders on the final climb of the Alpe di Pampeago, following a number of testing surges by 2011 race winner Michele Scarponi (Lampre ISD) before launching his own attack in the closing kilometres.
The Canadian forged ahead with 2.5 kilometres remaining; Rodriguez was one of several who was distanced, and while Scarponi initially responded to Hesjedal’s surge, he too succumbed to the pressure closer to the line.
Rodriguez had hoped to win his first Grand Tour, but confirmed that he now has some doubts about whether it can be done.
"Today everybody expected Hesjedal to be dropped,” he said. “Instead, he gave us a lesson: his attack was powerful, nobody could resist it. If tomorrow he keeps this pace, it will be difficult to win this Giro.”
Rodriguez put in a strong finishing burst to get up to, and past, Scarponi, but that still left him thirteen seconds behind the Canadian.
The net effect was that the gap between the two has narrowed to just seventeen seconds. Given that Hesjedal is a better time trialist, Rodriguez knows that he simply must turn things around and add to his buffer.
He’s got one more chance, and said he’ll seize it if it’s at all possible.
“He's very strong, but in the climb of the Mortirolo everything can happen,” Rodriguez said, refusing to give up hope. “Many great champions lost their energy on this climb and got into difficulty, so I still have a chance to take the general classification: I like that climb and also the Stelvio. Both of them will be crucial for the overall standings.”
With both Scarponi and Basso over a minute and a half behind, the Garmin-Barracuda team will likely have to assume some responsibility tomorrow and ride to protect its rider’s position.
“Obviously Hesjedal now is the great favourite,” said Rodriguez. “Today he impressed everybody when he resisted three times to Scarponi.” He hopes that the effort made today will tell against the Canadian tomorrow. “If he makes a mistake, we're ready to take advantage of this,” he vowed.