On Friday there was a war of words between Riccò and 27 year old Sella. On Saturday the matter seemed to be solved after Riccò congratulated Sella with his wins. An emotional Emanuele Sella said post race:"Alberto [Contador, editor] controlled the race. He had an exceptional team, and on the Mortirolo he wasn’t afraid."

Gilberto Simoni came in second, 1:04 behind stage winner Sella. Simoni started a counter attack after Sella took off out of the group with most overall favourites. 'Gibo' should be recognised for his pride, which makes his performance honourable. "I didn’t take the right moment to break away. Sella did everything right, and at a certain point the couldn’ be caught anymore." Danilo Di Luca, instead, paid a high price for fridays attack on the Vivione, Presolana and Monte Pora. "I didn’t have the legs for it. There’s nothing to say. I was at a crossroads. Either I would win today or not. It didn’t go well..."

Alberto Contador didn't have any problems at yesterdays stage, but the Spanish rider had to be careful with a lead from only 4 seconds on Riccò and only 21 seconds on Di Luca (before yesterdays stage). Contador said: "It was a hard stage but I felt ok. The Gavia was normal but a bit cold. On the Mortirolo Sella went away but that was good for me," he continued. "My legs felt good and I only had to concentrate on Riccò . It was easier than yesterday when I was attacked by Di Luca and Riccò . Today I only had to focus on Riccò. Luckily I didn’t have the pain in my legs that slowed me down on Friday."

Asked if he thought he would win the Giro, Contador cautiously answered, "First the time trial. I will concentrate on that. Now I’m here, in the pink jersey, before the final time trial, and it seems incredible to me if I think of where I was a few weeks ago. No celebrating until tomorrow night. I haven’t won anything yet. I have to face the final test, and I can’t underestimate it."

Contador inspected todays course this morning. "I will go and preview the course tomorrow," said Contador. "I want to win the maglia rosa and it would be nice to also win the stage. However, the first objective is the jersey. In the other time trial it was me against (Marzio) Bruseghin. This time it is me against Riccò."

Australian based website cyclingnews.com reported during yesterdays live coverage that Astana spokesman Philippe Maertens told Cyclingnews reporter Susan Westemayer that Klöden dropped out because he is sick. "He has been sick for a week, but stayed in the race in order not to weaken the team. Yesterday evening it already didn't look good for today. He probably went to deep yesterday." Maertens continued by saying, "Andreas has a respiratory infection. It is difficult to say now, but it could be a lung infection. He had a fever all night." Maertens concluded, "he was a super team-mate for Alberto Contador."

Contador added: "It’s a pity that Klöden had to leave the race. What he did for me yesterday was amazing. Today Iglinskiy did the same on the Gavia and afterwards I had Gusev and Colom." The winner of the 2007 Tour de France concluded: "But the whole team worked so hard. Don’t forget, none of them were ready for this tour." Klöden will come back to competition in June. His first race will be the Tour de Suisse.

When Marzio Bruseghin makes a comment on an unexpected, unhoped-for result, which is probably inappropriate to his modest career. Third on a day at the end of his first Giro as captain for Lampre, after years spent pulling for great champions. The look on his face says, 'pinch me'. "These will be my best 28 kilometres. I’ll try to ride them at my best. I could achieve a dream, to take another step in my career. Trying can’t hurt. From Tuesday, no matter how it ends, I’ll be happy anyway, at home with my dogs."

Rabobank's Denis Menchov (picture) has a real shot at the top five of the final classification. Emanuele Sella, who got his third stage victory, squeaked past Menchov in the general classification, but the Russian rider is a much better time trialler than the Italian climber. During the stage, Rabobank sports director Erik Breukink had quietly been hoping that Menchov would be able to shake things up even further. The reason for this was that Marzio Bruseghin and Franco Pellizotti (now third and fourth in the general classification) were also unable to keep up with the pace of the overall favourites on the terrible Mortirolo. They managed to limit the loss at the top, after which they quickly came back during the descent. "Denis did everything he could on the Mortirolo to make the gap as wide as possible. Even the podium was in sight for a moment. Denis was good, but apparently the others were good as well," mourned Breukink a little.

Menchov did leave a good impression during yesterdays stage, and that increased the hopes for the first stage victory by a Rabobank rider in the Giro ever. "Why would Denis not be able to win the time trial on Sunday? His bronchial tube infection is over, and he is obviously one of the better riders in this phase of the course. It would also be a nice conclusion for the team," felt the winner of the legendary 1988 Gavia stage. "It was not always very noticeable, but the team did good work here. Mauricio Ardila in the mountains, and the rest on the plains. Everything worked as it should."

Team CSC's Gustav Larsson attempted to keep up with the favorite's group but he couldn't make it on the second to last mountain and ended up in another group further back. But the Swedish rider almost certainly managed to maintain his position in the overall top-15. "Another tough stage today but everyone got through fine and I think Gustav Larsson might have advanced in the overall standings again. He's really fought hard in the mountains. Tomorrow the Giro comes to an end with a time trial and I definitely think we have a chance to do well there," said Team CSC sports director Kim Andersen after the stage.