Mountain time trial was brutal

The time trial is the most formal type of competitive cycling. While sometimes called the "race of truth," with its pointy hats and aero bikes it could just as easily be called the "race of nerdiness." The exception, of course, is the mountain time trial.

In particular, today's race up the Plan de Corones was simply too brutal to be nerdy. Really, the only "time trially" elements of this stage were the skinsuits and the individual staggered starts. The brutality was embodied by the sight of Michele Scarponi gurgling up what appeared to be phlegm at the finish line after turning himself inside-out for a 5th place finish.

Also distinctly non-clinical were the dirt roads, which were so narrow that the riders' spare bikes were carried on motorcycles instead of cars and shouldered cyclocross-style by mechanics. Such was the difficulty of the climb that it reached pitches of up to 24%, and in a merciful world percentages that high would only appear in the context of snack food packaging: "Combos: Now with 24% More Cheese!"

Besides being a study of what fluids riders excrete under extreme physical duress, today's stage was also a study in climbing styles. There was the smooth spinning of Ivan Basso; the determined out-of-the-saddle bike rocking of Cadel Evans; and the unfortunate time-hemorrhaging of Carlos Sastre, who may have been weighed down by what surely must be the heaviest gold necklace in the entire Giro.

The last two stages in particular have featured battles between Cadel Evans and Ivan Basso; Basso cracked Evans on stage 15, but Evans got the better of Basso today (but only by a handful of seconds). Stefano Garzelli on the other hand, demolished everybody to win the stage, perhaps feeling relieved to be free from the burden of overall contention

Maybe the biggest winner though was David Arroyo, who won without winning by getting to keep the maglia rosa for another day. That's like the bonus cheese in the package of Combos.