It was a sprinter’s stage, mainly flat and what should have been a relative rest for the big names. The hammering rain meant that the GC placing would be decided at the 3km mark, leaving the sprinters to fight it out to take the glory in Treviso. And it was at about 20km from the end that Wiggins fell apart. Reportedly on a slight downhill, to fit with the general theme of his Giro, he got detached from the peloton alone and was suffering. Most of Sky came back to help, with the notable exception of Uran who remained in the Nibali group, marking his GC third placing.
Under 3km to go the day’s break was still hanging just about out the front, but with the sprinters lining up behind them, and the inevitable catch held up to 500 metres from the line.
With a finish like that who exactly do you expect to smash through to take the win? Yep, it was always Cav’s race and he took his 100th win in the rain with another solid drive to the line, putting him back into the points jersey at the same time.
So, good news for Britain at one end of the race, and bad news at the other as Wiggins faded into a struggle with a cold and the rain as well as the downhills.
Noone was surprised this morning by this news:
Sir Bradley Wiggins has been withdrawn from the #Giro on the medical advice of the team doctor due to illness - po.st/echbcV
— Team Sky (@TeamSky) May 17, 2013
Hesjedal also withdrew leaving the pre-race favourites down to the top two riders in the race. Still, let's not forget that Wiggins' Tour win came the year after he had to withdraw from the race with a broken collarbone, so my money's on the Giro 2014 now. it's certainly set up for some interesting races this summer as Sky seem overladen with possible Grand Tour leaders in the shape of Froome, Porte and now perhaps Uran as well to challenge Wiggins' position.
To take our minds the year when Wiggins doesn’t get to be both the Tour de France and Giro champion for those few weeks, how about a BMX flipping over a canal?
Or, if you prefer, how about a trip with Thomas Vanderham.
Enjoy your weekend.
A
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