Thursday’s individual mountain time trial saw the Lampre-Merida duo Scarponi and Niemiec finish 4th and 12th respectively on the day.
The pair clocked excellent times at the intermediate time control before being caught and somewhat hampered by the rain. Nevertheless, Scarponi bested the times of his rivals for the podium even though he conceded 1’21” to stage winner and race leader Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) while Niemiec lost 1’56”.
On general classification the Lampre duo remain 4th and 5th respectively.
“I’m very happy with my time trial considering that, Nibali apart, the only two riders who finished better than me avoided the rain almost entirely,” Scarponi explained after his race against the clock. “If you look at the final standings of today’s time trial, I have defeated my main rivals for the podium even though my advantage wasn’t as big as I had hoped. I tried to maintain a steady pace throughout the entire time trial and I think I succeeded even though I may have slowed down a bit on the final kilometre.”
Like his teammate, Niemiec was also pleased with his performance. “I consider my time trial positive,” he said. “I gave everything I had. In the overall standing my compatriot Majka is hot on my heels. It’s going to be a thrilling battle in the mountains to come.”
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