Vicarious TNR at the Giro?

It was almost like a Tuesday Night Ride at the Giro today. At least in the sense that the stage was animated by a bunch of riders clad in darnkness. Cervelo, Sky, Caisse d'Epargne, and Saxo Bank led the charge. All of their jerseys, like the sweetest jersey in the world, are predominantly black. There was, however, quite a bit more drama in Italy than what we've seen at the TNR in the last little while. We typically experience drama only when the President shows up. But he has been busy saving lives. And so, not coincidently, our drama levels have plunged. KK had a couple of flats last night. But that little bit of misfortune hardly compares to the obscure calamities that the President is capable of coming up with. There was plenty of drama on hand today in Italy though. Before today, it looked like Vino, Evans, and Nibali were the men to beat. Sastre and Wiggins, by contrast, were victims of bad luck and basically written off. And yet somehow they found themselves in a group that got a massive 17 minute advantage at one point, and ended with a 13 minute lead on the main contenders. Sastre and Wiggins are all of a sudden back in it. But so too are Arroyo, Tondo, and a surprisng Richie Porte who now wears the leader's pink jersey. This sets things up for a pretty exciting second half of the race.

Just as in the real Giro, today's stage in the vicarious version offered a chance for redemption. Rachel hasn't had a very good run lately. She was stuck in last place heading into today's stage and pretty much just sucking her way through the first 10 stages. Ian has fared a bit better. But 17th out of 30 is nothing to write home about. And while Greg the Lunchbucket Kid did manage to eke his way inside the top 10, he was still well off the pace of last year's impressive debut performance. And yet it was this unlikely trio that found itself on the podium today. Greg won the stage with a 215 point day. Ian had 180 points to finish second. And Rachel's 165 points were good enough to find the third podium step.

In the overall race, Jonah and Dallas continue to occupy the top two spots. But the revolving door that is third place continues to change. This time it's Cousin Adam's turn to reside there. Let's see how long he can survive.

Full results and standings here.