Giro d'Italia 2007- Stage 13

The TT today was not nearly as shocking as the doping confessions of Bjarne Riis, but it was a lot more fun to watch.

Marzio Bruseghin, the current Italian TT champ, upset the other favorites and managed to pull off a "surprise" win. In second, Leonardo Piepoli showed that he is the most important part of Simoni's hopes to win the Giro. Third place was the Killer himself, Captain Pink, DiLuca. Though he didn't win today, he did manage to put more time into his rivals as the race enters its final week. Ain't over yet, but DiLuca is looking more and more confident each day and he still looks to have a strong team ready to support him all the way to Milan. Looks good...

Dave Zabriskie did not disappoint, even though he finished off the podium in 4th. He's had a rollercoaster ride in the Giro, so it was nice to see the lanky Utah native ride well enough to occupy the top spot on the leader board for awhile. He's a likable guy, so it was good to see him ride with good form and speed. Hopefully this means he'll be ready for the Tour in time to try and win the opening prologue again (that'd be really cool).

Dave's young teammate Schleck rode well enough for 10th and sits in third now. He's still a threat for the overall, and DiLuca knows this, as the race enters more tough mountains. One good surprise in the race today was the great ride by Stefano Garzelli. Stefano rode into 6th and now sits in 12th, a little more than 6 minutes down. It's very unlikely he'll challenge for the podium, but he's a classy rider and it is good to see him rediscover some good form.

Tomorrow is another day of hills. The middle of the stage tomorrow is punctuated by the monster climb up the Passo di San Marco. This thing is mean looking and should blow some legs off. However, since the rest of the race is not nearly as difficult, some of the dropped riders may find their way back into the field to contest the finish. Me, I think a break of non-contenders will get a nice time gap and the leaders will let them get away. There's no real point to slaughter themselves with more tough racing to come. Today was painful for the contenders, so tomorrow would be a good day to take a deep breath. That said, don't be surprised if either Cunego or Simoni opens the throttle on the big climb and try to expose DiLuca. It could be quite interesting.

Tim