Unexpected split in peloton could put Porte in pink and Sastre, Wiggins back into contention
The main contenders in the Giro d’Italia are facing panic stations in today’s race after a massive split in the bunch saw 56 riders go clear and build a huge lead.
The break features a number of key names, including last year’s third place finisher Carlos Sastre (Cervélo Test Team), stage one winner Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky), mountains leader Matthew Lloyd (Omega Pharma Lotto), white jersey contender Richie Porte (Saxo Bank), Linus Gerdemann (Milram) and others.
Porte is the best-placed rider in the break, having started the stage sixth overall. He was just two minutes 26 seconds behind the race leader Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana), who has missed out.
Others who were caught wanting were the remaining riders in the top ten, namely Cadel Evans (BMC Racing Team), Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Doimo), Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Doimo), Marco Pinotti (Team HTC - Columbia), Vladimir Karpets (Team Katusha), Stefano Garzelli (Acqua & Sapone), Damiano Cunego (Lampre-Farnese Vini) and Michele Scarponi (Androni Giocattoli).
With 116 kilometres remaining, the group has a staggering lead of 16 minutes 55 seconds, putting Porte firmly in the Maglia Rosa.
Behind, there’s predictably a lot of confusion and stress. Vinokourov’s Astana team is reportedly not working, due to the presence of Josep Jufre Pou and Gorazd Stangelj in the move, and so it is up to the teams of the other favourites to chase. In the front group, Cervélo and Team Sky have a total of four riders each in the move, giving horsepower to help put Carlos Sastre and Bradley Wiggins back into contention. Teams like Caisse d’Epargne also have a heavy presence and are driving things along.
The full list of names is as follows: Richie Porte, Chris Anker Sorensen, Laurent Didier (Saxo Bank), Carlos Sastre (Cervelo), Domenico Pozzovivo (Colnago), Valerio Agnoli (Liquigas), Dario Cataldo, Jérôme Pineau (Quick Step), Yury Trofimov, Damien Gaudin, Thomas Voeckler (BBox Bouygues Telecom), David Moncoutié (Cofidis), Charly Wegelius (Omega Pharma), Linus Gerdemann, Matthias Russ (Milram), Hubert Dupont (AG2R), Jan Bakelandts, Francis De Greef, Matthew Lloyd (Omega Pharma), Steven Kruijswijk, Maurico Ardila Cano (Rabobank), Bradley Wiggins, Michael Barry, Steve Cummings, Morris Possoni (Sky), Matt Goss (HTC Columbia), Giampaolo Caruso, Joan Horrach (Katusha), Brent Bookwalter (BMC), Massimo Codol, Alessandro Donati (Acqua e Sapone), Alexander Efimkin (AG2R), Rubens Bertogliati, Carlos Ochoa, José Serpa Perez, Cameron Wurf (Androni), Josep Jufre Pou, Gorazd Stangelj (Astana), Andrey Amador, David Arroyo, Arnold Jeannesson, Vasil Kiriyenka Alberto Losada (Caisse d'Epargne), Volodymir Gustov, Marcel Wyss, Xavier Tondo (Cervelo), Julien Fouchard (Cofidis), Giampaolo Cheula, Ivan Mayoz (Footon), David Millar, Daniel Martin (Garmin), Matteo Bono (Lampre), Tiziano Dall'Antonia, Robert Kiserlovski and Alessandro Vanotti (Liquigas).
It now seems certain that the day’s winner will come from this group ; the big question is just how much time the move will ultimately gain, and what that will do to the general classification. This could well turn out to be an extremely decisive day in what has been a very unpredictable Giro d’Italia.