It took eighteen stages, but things finally went right for HTC-Columbia’s Andre Greipel on the final flat day of this year’s Giro d’Italia. The German sprinter entered the race with illness, and had been unable to get over the top of the other fast men until today. With Garmin-Transitions’ Tyler Farrar pulling the plug last week, his victory will likely hold less weight when it comes to deciding his team’s Tour de France squad.
"This win took a long time coming, I was sick at the start of the race. It was very hard at times but I kept on going," a delighted Greipel said after the stage. "Today has made all that effort worthwhile. The team trusted me throughout, and today's stage win was the ideal finish for a great performance by the whole squad. I'm very proud of them. The Giro is certainly ending the way I wanted it to."
Greipel now has twelve wins this season which for any other squad would put him as a shoe-in for selection in July. His problem is that HTC-Columbia teammate Mark Cavendish has been the unquestioned leader for the American team in the sprints, and most of the management doesn’t support the idea of sending both riders to the Grande Boucle.
Cavendish has had incredible success in July having won 10 Tour de France stages over the past two years for his team. This season the Manxman suffered from dental problems early in the year which has slowed him down. He only has three wins so far this year, which comes to less than a third of his tally at this time last year. He was beaten into third place last week in the final flat stage of the Tour of California, a result that could keep the German’s hopes alive for Tour selection. Greipel chose to avoid the subject of the Tour de France following his win today.
Current maglia rosa David Arroyo is motivated to try to hang onto the race lead over the next couple of days, and will have the full support of a highly experienced team. The Spaniard isn’t likely to win the overall, but has shown he isn’t about to let the others ride away without a fight.
“My teammates on Caisse d´Epargne have taken control of the race until now. From a personal point of view, I usually recover well from the efforts and I am in good shape to battle with Ivan Basso and Cadel Evans. Many mountains lies ahead, especially Mortirolo and Passo di Gavia. So many things still can happen but I will give my best to achieve what would be my first major success in a three week race," Arroyo said.
Carlos Sastre (Cervelo TestTeam) still thinks it’s any man’s race with a difficult weekend in front of them.
“We're coming to the end of this Giro d'Italia and I think it's the most important, toughest and certainly the most decisive part of the race,” Carlos Sastre said of the next three days. "There are a number of riders who are on top form at the moment, but anything could happen in these two stages because it's an extremely hard route.”
Tomorrow's dose of climbing will be bookended with the 13 kilometer ascent to the finishing town of Aprica. The 195 kilometer stage will give the peloton time to ponder the mountains that lie ahead before they climb up to Aprica for the first time. The day should see some opportunists jump clear early and try to steal the stage from the overall contenders. After the first time up to Aprica, the race will then take in the 7.5 kilometer Trivigno which averages 9.5 percent and summits 65 kilometers from the finish.
Next on tap is the even more difficult Passo del Mortirolo. The climb is 12.4 kilometers in length, and has an average 10.5 percent gradient with sections reaching up to 18 percent. The Mortirolo should see a lot of action from the main contenders, since this year’s Giro d’Italia running out of road to chip away at Ivan Basso’s (Liquigas-Doimo) advantage. The climb should suit the Italian best though, and he’ll look to be out front on the 17 kilometer descent that leads to the final climb up to Aprica.
We could see Michele Scarponi (Androni Giocattoli) and Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) try something early to keep themselves in with a chance for the maglia rosa. Since Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) is a superior time trialist, he will likely bide his time and look for an opportunity to pick up a few seconds as tries to mark Basso’s every move.