New Maglia Rosa Alberto Contador: Giro Game Over?

Alberto Contador now holds the maglia rosa after having put in a good performance climbing in the Dolomites. He rode an excellent individual time trial on Sunday, and although he didn't win the 'race of truth,' he did ride well enough to ensure that the pink jersey stays in his and Astana's hands into the final week of the Giro. He'll now look to recover over the next few stages, before the final mountian showdown later this week.

The Spaniard's competition now must ponder the inevitable: Alberto Contador is not easily dropped in the mountains, and not easily defeated in the time trials. He is a cagy, tactically sound rider competing for one of the best stage race teams in the world. He'll have excellent support from teammates Levi Leipheimer and Andreas Kloden in the high mountains, and the best equipment money can buy in the time trials. Barring a catastrophe, Contador should arrive in Milano the winner of the 2008 Giro d'Italia.

Contador's strong time trialing skills will make it hard to beat him now that he is ahead

But not so fast, say the Italians. Danilo Di Luca, Franco Pellizotti, Gilberto Simoni, and Riccardo Ricco know the Giro's roads like the back of their hand, and will be waiting for the ideal moment to attack. Also, being from the same country, the above mentioned riders also may decide to form an alliance with each other to ensure that Contador doesn't win. After all, it has been 11 long years since a non-Italian won the Giro (Pavel Tonkov, Russia, 1996), and each of the Italians in the race will do all they can to keep the foreigner from winning.

Tonkov was the last non-Italian to win the overall title, back in 1996

The next few days will provide some much needed recovery time for each rider as they plan for the final week of action. Huge tests await the field in the Giro's final week, and the overall winner will truly be the one who has ridden the most consistently throughout the three week tour. Contador will use all of his resources to outwit and outride the competition, and it will be a difficult task for any rider (or team) to unseat the new patron of the professional peloton.