As it is usual to happen in the third week of a Grand Tour, we are seeing a physiological decrease in performances from the main riders in GC, resulting in a "flattening" of the differences among the athletes.

 

We could notice this in today's stage, the uphill time trial of Nevegal, where the performances of the best riders on the steep slopes (7.3 km at 8.1% average gradient) were:

                                          

CONTADOR = 20’58”; 1717 m/h; 6.13 w/kg

RUJANO = 21’32”; 1674 m/h; 5.98 w/kg; - 2.5% (difference from Contador)

SCARPONI = 21’40”; 1662 m/h; 5.93 w/kg; - 3.3%

MENCHOV = 21’42”; 1660 m/h; 5.92 w/kg; - 3.5%

NIBALI = 21’45”; 1655 m/h; 5.91 w/kg; - 3.7%

GARZELLI = 21’52”; 1647 m/h; 5.88 w/kg; - 4.2%

KREUZIGER = 21’53”; 1645 m/h; 5.87 w/kg; - 4.3%

GADRET = 22’05”; 1628 m/h; 5.81 w/kg; - 5.4%

 

Alberto Contador clearly confirmed to be the strongest, but the difference between his performances and those of his rivals has lessened quite remarkably, compared to the efforts on Etna or the Grossglockner.

 

A decrease in the gaps among the athletes at the end of a tough Giro is normal; it is evident in the equilibrium between the rivals of the Pink Jersey, all separated by a few seconds; my impression is though that Contador has decreased proportionally more than his adversaries, as we probably had already noticed in the stage to Gardeccia.