Leinster

Konig's up to 5th overall and there's still stage wins to compete for. Porte still has a role to play for Sky in the Giro, just not the role he signed up for at the start. If he has an injury that might get worse and prevent him from being at his best in July, then yes, they should yank him now rather than let it get any worse, but I'm sure Sky know what he can and can't manage.

jyl

Porte lost 27 minutes today! And is, coincidentally, in 27th place.

In his current condition, physical and/or mental, I don't think he can help Koenig in the remaining mountain stages. The quote from Koenig after the stage hints at a negative dynamic. My vote would be they pull him out and rebuild him for his Tour role.

B. Carfree

If Contador does pull off the Giro-Tour double, he would be the reigning champion of all three Grand Tours. Has anyone ever done that before?

Leinster

Merckx in 72/73. Back then the Vuelta was held first, so after Eddy won the G/T double in 72, and the Tour organisers asked him not to ride Le Tour the following year, he went and won the V/G double the following year. So he not only held all 3 at the same time, he retained his Giro title.

Anquetil won the V/T double in 63, and then the G/T double in 64, but the Vuelta was before the Giro back then.

laf

Is it just me or Contador was not pushing that hard on this stage ?

I believe he could have taken more seconds on Aru if he wanted.
2 minutes after completing the stage he was on the trainer and was looking fresh.

Jakedatc

doesn't need to attack. He has a big lead and can go as hard as everyone else and wait for them to try to take time. He wants to double up the Tour so he doesn't need to spend extra energy for minor gains.

B. Carfree

That, and there's something demoralizing to the chaser to just know the person you are attacking isn't giving everything while he's still getting further ahead.

Different area of endeavor entirely, but James Earl Jones, The Voice, was once asked the key to his success and responded that he never takes it to his limit. The listeners always know there's more there, they just don't know how much.

hueyhoolihan

Contador is unbeatable barring injury. unless bad luck is contagious, in which case he needs to stay clear of Porte. he's proven it to me by his ability to withstand Astana's tag-team attacks on the final climb.

jyl

Porte abandons.

mprelaw

Well, that won't be a problem from here on.

WCroadie

Contador is a cagey racer, it's funny how I couldn't stand him a few years ago, but now I respect the guy, he comes to race every time.

MinnMan

Let's face it, Contador is the best GT racer there has been in the post-Armstrong racing world. True, he's been dogged by doping allegations and the like, but assuming he's no more tainted than any of the rest of them, his aggregate GT performances over nearly a decade far outdistance any other's.

Marcus_Ti

Wow, BeIN has been nailing the worst timing possible with these commercials possible

PepeM

Really enjoyed today's stage. Seemed like Aru could get back on the fight but then he got dropped like a Cat5.

Astana has been strong all throughout, but Contador is on another level.

cthenn

And then Landa's climbing is on yet ANOTHER level! He blistered 40" into Contador like he was taking his dog for a walk. Alien.

jyl

But that was after Contador had been chasing back, mostly alone, for a long time after his mechanical.

Jed19

Aru is not the best climber on his team. I think Astana should have Aru work for Mikel Landa.

Contador doing it all alone on the climbs without his team. The rest of Tinkoff-Saxo missing in action.

Panza

I agree, Landa is looking pristine lately and Aru would look better to dom for him. I'd say otherwise but Aru seems to be showing more fatigue over the race and declining in performance while Landa looks to be holding stronger than the bunch. I think that a Landa/Aru combination could pose serious threat to Contador riding solo. Aru seems to be quite content with his performance at his age.

Leinster

Is Aru looking to take Voeckler's place as the Peloton's number 1 face-puller?

rebayona

I still can't stand him, I won't forget how he won that Tour and what he did to Schleck, taking advantage of a mechanical problem, among many other stories. He's one of the dirtiest and darkest riders in the peloton.

But yes, running with a dislocated shoulder and defending like this on time trials and mountains? Wow. He should get some respect for that. But not from me, cheater.

PepeM

I was impressed when Landa rocketed away like that, but when you consider the hard work Contador had done already plus the fact that he could afford to lose the time, I think he just decided to let him go. I'm not sure what Astana should do, but Aru has not looked like he can compete with let alone beat Contador on any of the stages so far.

mprelaw

And Karma bit him on the ass for that in the form of "tainted beef".

WCroadie

Name me one GT winner since 1996 not connected to doping besides Sastre and Evans. They are all doping. Also that chain mishap did not cost Schleck the tour. I am not a big fan, I just enjoy watching him race, he attacks, he doesn't just sit on his lead like Froome and Wiggo, Contador's teams have been far inferior and he still wins.

jyl

After tomorrow's flattish (lumpy?) stage, there are three big mountain stages left. Contador has 4 minutes and Landa and almost 5 minutes on Aru. I think Aru and Landa, if they work together, have a reasonable chance of taking time on Contador. To take 4 whole minutes, they'd have to break him. On his side, he wants to win at least one stage.

Contador has fought back from crashes and injury, produced a huge TT, had little team support on the climbs, withstood repeated attacks from multiple Astana riders who had him isolated, including today when Astana deliberately attacked the maglia rosa knowing he had punctured. Contador, with a minute deficit at the start of the Mortirolo climb, attacked and overtook multiple groups of riders, and then put almost 3 minutes into Aru. If he can win a stage and the GC, it should go down as one of his finest performances.

As for Landa, with two stage wins he's had a huge Giro, and a third could even overshadow someone else winning the GC. Today Landa wheel sucked Contador and Krujiswijk up most of the climb - nothing wrong with that, his instructions were probably to mark Contador, not to pull him further from the chasing Aru - and then, with slightly fresher legs, jumped to take the stage.

Aru still looks like a future winner, he's young and this is his first GC leadership attempt, problem is will there be room for three GC contendors at Astana?

Edit: I might be too harsh on the Tinkov team support. They fought hard to close the gap after Contador punctured. I have a lot of respect for guys like Basso and Rogers. Arguably Contador had the support of a normal team, where the gregarios get dropped on the big climbs, while Aru was lucky enough to enjoy the support of domestiques who, it now appears, were GC contendors in their own right.

Last thought - if Nibali were leading Astana at the Giro, I don't think he'd be doing any better than Aru.

Jed19

Hope Aru is not the second coming of Andy Schleck, in that he can't time-trial decently, even if his life depended on it. And he seems to choke at critical times.

And why do you think Nibali won't have been better than Aru were he to be leading Astana right now? Astana is a darn good team (maybe all that doping), and Nibali would have been better talented to take advantage of all that. Contador's team has been missing in action, and I think Nibali would have been a better leader for Astana at this particular Giro.