Italians still feel that they can challenge Contador as well as fight each other for second place
Despite trailing race leader Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-SunGard) by 4’20” and 5’11” respectively, Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD) and Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) still feel that they can challenge the dominance of the Spaniard in the final week of the race, according to la Gazzetta dello Sport. Both riders have built their seasons around a bid to win the Giro d’Italia, and so neither is willing to give up yet.
There are plenty of mountains to come on the way to Milan on Sunday, as well as a flat 31.5km time trial; despite losing time to Contador every mountain stage so far, and, on paper at least, the Spaniard having the upper hand against the clock, the two Italians are determined to fight for pink all the way.
This will start this afternoon on the 12.7 uphill kilometres between Belluno and Nevegal.
"Yes, I think I can win,” Scarponi told the press during the race’s rest day on Monday. “At least I'm going to try. I think a lot of riders have come to the Giro to try for second place. Not me.
“This is the position the road has given me,” he added, referring to the 4’20” deficit he will need to make up. “Sure, Alberto has the pink jersey and he is the only one who can lose it. Maybe if he punctures six or seven times..."
Nibali started the race off the back of a third place finish last year, while riding in the service of race winner Ivan Basso, which he followed with a victory in the Vuelta a España. The Sicilian tried to regain some energy on the rest day, having lost more than a minute and a half – his second place overall – to Scarponi on the way to the finish in Gardeccia/Val di Fassa on Sunday.
"I have fought a fair fight so far, and I will continue to do so,” He told the Italian media. “It's great to compete with the world's greatest rider. He has this ability of accelerating over and over again uphill. I have tried to tackle him head-on because I think it's better to come in fifth after a great effort than to come in second without having tried everything.”
Like Scarponi, he has targeted the mountain time trial as the place to start to take back time on Contador, and feels he knows just how to ride the steep slopes up to Nevegal.
“What's really important today is to be fast in the middle part and to end well,” he said. “There is a risk that we push too hard at the start and lose a few seconds.”
While he is still aiming at the maglia rosa, currently worn by Contador, he also knows that he must first get back past Scarponi.
“Scarponi? He's always been a great rival, but I'm not giving up second place,” he said, “there are still many stages ahead."