Basso, Nibali, and Scarponi dug deep to open a gap over the slopes of the Passo del Mortirolo. In return for working with the Liquigas riders, Scarponi was allowed to cross the line first.
The stage featured a trio of notable rides: a strong performance by Ivan Basso, who pushed very hard up Mortirolo, seemed almost spent on the final climb, and then dug deep to put on a burst of speed to open the gap wide enough to take the overall lead, by 51 seconds.
BMC rider Cadel Evans made an even a stronger ride, getting dropped repeatedly on Mortirolo, and repeatedly clawing his way back, to end up helping Caisse d’Epargne’s David Arroyo on the final climb.
The ride of the day unquestionably goes to Arroyo, who fought unremittingly to try to keep his pink jersey. The experts all said he would lose it in the mountains. He put on an amazing performance, almost proving them wrong: he climbed most of the Mortirolo alone, caught up and passed every chase group, and, though clearly exhausted, still pushed hard on the final climb.
In the end he simply didn’t have enough. His huge solo effort had drained him, and Arroyo ended up handing the lead over to Ivan Basso.
Tomorrow’s stage, Bormio and Ponte di Legno Tonale, includes five major mountain climbs, and is the hardest of the race. Here is where the efforts put in today will take a toll. Can Ivan Basso defend? Does he have anything left, after today? And how can David Arroyo possibly have anything left after his all-out effort on Stage 19?
It is quite possible that Ivan Basso will win the Giro. It is less possible, but far from impossible, that Davisd Arroyo, only 51 seconds back, could retake the lead.
It seems improbable that either Basso or Arroyo would crack, but then, Richie Porte, who wore the Maglia Rosa earlier in the race, cracked and was dropped today. If that happens, Nibali and Scarponi are only a few minutes back.
Whatever the outcome, tomorrow’s stage promises great drama.
|
Results Stage 18 2010 Giro d’Italia |
|||
|
# |
Rider |
Team |
Time |
|
1 |
Michele Scarponi |
Androni |
5:27:04 |
|
2 |
Ivan Basso |
Liquigas |
0 |
|
3 |
Vincenzo Nibali |
Liquigas |
0 |
|
4 |
Alexandre Vinokourov |
Astana |
+3:05 |
|
5 |
John Gadret |
Ag2R |
+3:06 |
|
6 |
Cadel Evans |
BMC |
+3:06 |
|
7 |
David Arroyo |
Caisse d'Epargne |
+3:06 |
|
8 |
Carlos Sastre |
Cervélo |
+3:06 |
|
General Classification After Stage 18 |
|||
|
# |
Rider |
Team |
Time |
|
1 |
Ivan Basso |
Liquigas |
89:55:56 |
|
2 |
David Arroyo |
Caisse d'Epargne |
0:51 |
|
3 |
Vincenzo Nibali |
Liquigas |
0:02:30 |
|
4 |
Michele Scarponi |
Androni |
0:02:49 |
|
5 |
Cadel Evans |
BMC |
0:04:00 |
|
6 |
Carlos Sastre |
Cervélo |
0:05:32 |
|
7 |
Richie Porte |
Saxo Bank |
0:06:00 |
|
8 |
Alexandre Vinokourov |
Astana |
0:06:02 |
