2012 Giro; Stage 10- Ryder relinquishes pink to Rodriguez

(I tried to make the title more funny… but hey, what do you want for free?)

Joaquim Rodriguez grabbed the stage win today with a great attack just before the tough finish and with the time bonus for the win, took the maglia rosa away from Ryder Hesjedal. Hesjedal now sits in 2nd overall, and frankly is in better shape than Rodriguez and his Katusha team; the pressure to defend the jersey and control the race is now Katusha’s job… and it’s a very hard one. It could easily be argued that Hesjedal and Garmin now find themselves in the much better position than they had before since Ryder now sits just a few seconds back in 2nd and has shown good legs so far on the climbs. In my mind, he’s more in control of the race now than he was while wearing pink. Ironic, no?

The stage was another series of rollers that were not hard on their own, but all together hurt the legs sharply. A break got away early and wasn’t fully absorbed until the last 5km or so. With a front group of heavy hitters, Ryder being alone, the fireworks began and eventually Rodriguez got way for the win with the help of a teammate. Without the time bonus, Hesjedal would still be the leader… but he’s sitting well now and with less pressure. Smart move… possibly intentional?

The GC riders are doing what they should and mostly staying out of trouble;

1 Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha Team 40:27:34  

2 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin - Barracuda 0:00:17  

3 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:00:32  

4 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Astana Pro Team 0:00:52  

5 Benat Intxausti Elorriaga (Spa) Movistar Team  

6 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:00:57  

7 Damiano Caruso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:01:02  

8 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 0:01:03  

9 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:01:09  

10 Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Sky Procycling 0:01:10  

11 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre - ISD 0:01:11  

12 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Colnago - CSF Inox 0:01:12  

13 Frank Schleck (Lux) RadioShack-Nissan 0:01:25  

14 Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Col) Sky Procycling 0:01:27  

15 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre - ISD 0:01:37  

16 Bartosz Huzarski (Pol) Team NetApp 0:01:48  

17 Sergio Pardilla Bellon (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:51  

18 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:01:53  

19 Johann Tschopp (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:02:02  

20 Peter Stetina (USA) Garmin - Barracuda 0:02:03

It’s looking pretty good for the coming stages. Things are getting a little tenser and the tactics are beginning to show. Tomorrow’s stage is not terribly “hard”, but at 243km it is the longest stage of the race and that will matter. Legs are getting tired and nerves are wearing thin. As the major mountains loom later, now is the time for aggressive riders to try to make a point or regain lost time. Could be an interesting day…

Tim