Great race by Nibali, he read the race well and took a chance. Sagan or Kiwato should have attacked right after he went up the road. All they ended up doing was working to close the gap and lead out the other sprinters. That was amazing. I agree - when Nibali went, there seemed to be a let-up and a lot of looking around for too long from all the other favorites. They let him get 12 - 13 sec. up the road, and clearly that was enough for him to stay away.
The pace had been relatively "slow" to that point. I would have thought Sagan, or someone would have been straight-on the wheel when Nibali went. Burghardt had gone on the attack early on the Poggip, but I sensed that was a set-up move for Sagan to either sit on wheels while others chased burghardt down or launch his own attack as a counter-move when Burghardt was absorbed - but it never happened. Nibali, upset all those other plans.
Massive Chapeau! I'm sure all of Italy is in an uproar right now!
Cavendish involved in an absolutely horrible crash just before the foot of the Poggio - straight on into a road standard and a full flip in the air before landing! I hope he's OK. What bad luck for him this year so far. Good grief! It was remarkable that he was still there at the base of the Poggio.
Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog