On the slopes of the epic climb to Sestrière, Stefano Garzelli is gunning for glory. It’s the queen stage of this year’s Giro, 260 kilometres through the mountains. The stage was originally meant to mirror the epic stage of 1949, when Fausto Coppi went on a 190 kilometre solo break to put 11 minutes into his rivals. However, issues about different radio frequencies between Italy and France, combined with the risk of landslides meant that the stage route was altered some time back, stripping Colle della Maddalena, Col de Vars and Col d’Izoard. What was set to be a savage affair still has enough to lend it the air of an epic.

Garzelli clearly has a sense of history and while he won’t rack up as many solo miles as Coppi did on that famous day, he will end up spending the guts of 120 kilometres out on his own. Although he has built up more than six minutes on the maglia rosa of Danilo Di Luca, his chances of vaulting himself back into contention for the overall classification are practically non-existant. Instead he is hoovering up the mountains points to cement his lead in the green jersey and maybe just about hang on for a win reminisicent of Claudio Chiappucci’s lone attack to Sestrière in the 1992 Tour de France.

Behind him he has two groups of chasers and ones he crosses the summit, they begin to make ground on him. Garzelli still retains the hope of latching on to his pursuers and perhaps grabbing the win.

Behind them, nothing much is expected from the main bunch. While the stage is incredibly tough, the last climb of the day is the relatively short Pra’ Martino. It’s summit is 11 kilometres from the finish and the consensus is that the run in isn’t difficult enough for any of the overall contenders to make a move.

It comes as something of a surprise then when the fireworks start at the bottom of the Martino. Liquigas once again are the team who light the fuse, with the excellent Sylvester Szmyd setting a ferocious pace that sees riders being shelled out the back of the bunch. Once Szmyd has done his work, Franco Pellizotti flies off the front. His caption Ivan Basso pauses for a moment, trying to let Pellizotti get away. The first time they try it, the bunch chases. Pellizotti’s second attack is successful however and before long he is passing and dropping Garzelli and co.

Basso is playing a clever if risky game. Pellizotti still is high enough up in the overall classification to count as a threat. Basso can wait for his rivals to launch the chase and then perhaps capitalise on it. Sure enough, race leader Danilo Di Luca begins a furious pursuit. Di Luca is protecting his jersey, but also now has the sniff of a stage win, since he stands a good chance of winning from a small bunch of the favourites, possessing as he does, a bigger kick than any of his rivals.

Not surprisingly, Di Luca catches and passes Pellizotti on the descent. Surprisingly though, Leipheirmer, Basso and a few others lose contact. Sastre, Menchov and Pellizotti manage to stay in touch. Bassos’s game has blown up in his face.

Entering the finishing town of Pinerolo, Di Luca kicks on the final drag. Only Sastre seems capable of going with him, but even the diminutive Spaniard is distanced in the end. Di Luca solos home for another stage win, having put every one of his rivals to the sword.

The stage ended up telling us far more about the race for the overall classification than we could ever have expected it to. Di Luca has put a marker firmly down that he is a contender to be reckoned with. He still has the challenge of two time trials and two mountain top finishes, neither of which suit his punchy style. Yet when he won in 2007 he proved a master of limiting his losses on such stages. Whether he can do it again against stiffer opposition remains to be seen.

Sastre, Menchov and Pellizotti have cemented their positions as dangermen and the Spaniard in particular should be written off at your peril. While everyone assumed he was building towards the Tour, he now looks like a man with the form to win.

Leipheimer and Basso looked more like mere mortals and will be kicking themselves about losing time to such a group. Although their losses are minimal, they could still count in the final shakeup. Mick Rogers meanwhile appeared to get dropped on the Martino, which doesn’t bode well for a man facing two mountain top finishes later in the race. All told, the race is still wide open.