The Pain and the Glory: The Official Team Sky Diary of the Giro Campaign and Tour Victory

The most demoralising scenario, of course, is when a long spell of hard work is ruined by a moment of bad luck. As the sun disappeared, grey clouds descended and damp fog shrouded the route up Vibo Valentia. Nibali had put on a little look-at-me show of descending bravura, but all was on track. Wiggins, led by Urán, Henao and Siutsou at a pace that had riders falling off the back of the group, was well placed. Could this be the day he went into pink?

But no, the last 20 minutes erupted into all sorts of drama on the descent. A crash involving Cristiano Salerno of Italy on the approach to the final stretch held up the Team Sky leader. Confusion reigned. The 3km rule – which states that riders caught up in such incidents within that distance of the finish line are not penalised – was not applied. The race jury decided that Wiggins had already been gapped in the final run-in and was not hindered by the crash. As a result, he fell from second to sixth in the general classification, 34 seconds behind race leader Paolini. ‘You can gain hard-earned seconds here and there, and then you can lose time very quickly,’ said Brailsford, after confirmation of the results. ‘Ultimately, this first week’s all about staying in contention. This race will be won and lost in the time trials and the high mountains. Bradley’s in great shape, mentally and physically.’

Urán, who moved to second overall behind Paolini, added a further positive perspective. ‘Second for me doesn’t mean anything. Bradley and the GC guys are all up there. Long-term, it makes no difference. I’m not thinking about my position. I’ve other things on my mind – to work for Bradley. It’s a long race.’

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