SafeBet said:
Contador has looked more nervous than usual every day since I was here. Maybe something is boiling with Oleg. But Berto has no problem dealing with pressure normally, so I still see him as the big favorite. He looked great in the first part, so-so in the second, but who cares? This is just a short TTT.
Aru and Rosa both looked excellent. I'm expecting big things from them come the third week. Maybe Rosa can try something even in the first week.
Oh and Cunego is as skinny as I've seen him in a very long time.
My feeling is that Oleg is needlessly causing stress within the team and if I were among the car staff, wouldn't be too happy about having the guy on board.
Unfortunately the coverage due to the narrow course and, being sporadic as it was switching from team to team, one really didn't get a chance to see any particular rider long enough to evaluate his performance. Except the ones that dropped off the pace of course. There was that strange moment when Contador and Basso were loosing contact, but this seems to have been Basso's fault, although it wasn't a pretty sight either way.
If Aru is as good as it seems he was, I can't help but have some doubt about the true nature of his illness. He hasn't raced in a while, had what was evidently a brutal intestinal virus, but seems to be on track as if everything had gone according to plan. Boh...