Yesterday’s time trial, as expected, did bring about signficant changes to the overall classification and threw up some surprises too. Denis Menchov proved the strongest man on the day, taking the win ahead of pre-stage favourite Levi Leipheimer and a surprisingly fast Stefano Garzelli. Here’s how the overall contenders shaped up against eachother yesterday:

0.00 Denis Menchov
0.20 Levi Leipheimer
1.27 Franco Pellizotti
1.54 Danilo Di Luca
2.17 Ivan Basso
2.18 Carlos Sastre
2.46 Michael Rogers

And here’s how the overall classification looked after the stage:

0.00 Denis Menchov
0.34 Danilo Di Luca
0.40 Levi Leipheimer
2.00 Franco Pellizotti
2.52 Carlos Sastre
2.59 Michael Rogers
3.00 Ivan Basso

Let’s see how the result might affect affect the race for the overall classification.

1. Denis Menchov
The Russian now is holding most of the aces. Although his lead is relatively narrow, the remainder of the race holds three more mountain top finishes and a short, 15km time trial. Menchov has proven already that he has brought his climbing legs to the Giro, riding away from everyone else on the first serious mountain top finish on stage five. It will be hard to put time into him and indeed Menchov may very well go on the attack himself to solidfy his lead. Yet Menchov has been known to have a bad day and crack on a big mountain stage, such as on Alpe d’Huez in last year’s Tour de France. That combined with his slender lead means that victory isn’t in the bag just yet.

2. Levi Leipheimer
Although he came second, yesterday was something of a bad day at the office for the American. Why? His surest route to victory was a resounding win in the time trial and then protecting his lead for the rest of the race. Leipheimer can climb but is more of a man who just follows wheels in the mountains. Astana will no doubt drill it up the climbs, hoping to burn Menchov (and others) off before the finale, but if that doesn’t work Leipheimer will have to resort to something you rarely see him do: attack.

3. Franco Pellizotti
After getting dropped on stage five, I thought Pellizotti was doomed to domestique duty for Basso. Yet he has proved one of the surprise packages of the race, putting time into his team mate on Tuesday and a coming in ahead of him again yesterday. Pellizotti now has a minute on Basso in the general classification. Unless Liguigas bows to pressure of having one of the sport’s stars in its ranks, it is now in the enviable position of being able to play the one-two on its rivals. If either Basso or Pellizotti attack, their rivals have to respond, leaving a perfect opportunity for a counter.

4. Danilo Di Luca
He was never going to win yesterday and the time trial was all about limiting his losses, something Di Luca did remarkably effectively, since he sits only 34 seconds behind Menchov. Yet Di Luca still faces huge obstacles to winning in Rome. Not the best on the really big climbs, he is going to struggle to stay in contention on the three mountain top finishes. His best route to victory may be more stage wins like that achieved on Tuesday. Just as in 2007, Di Luca has bene punching well above his weight in this year’s Giro.

5. Carlos Sastre
Sastre isn’t a time trialist, so the focus yesterday was on staying in touch. Although he rode bravely, he is now 2.52 back on Menchov. Mountain top finishes are his forté however, as he proved last year on Alpe d’Huez, but with the time gap he has, it will probably have to repeat the feat twice. That’s a big ask.

6. Ivan Basso
The chance of a glorious comeback is now slipping through Basso’s fingers. Basso is still there or thereabouts, but is not the dominant rider we saw in the 2006 Giro. A three minute gap and a team mate ahead of him means that Basso is really up against it now. Like Sastre, he may try to attack on the uphill finishes. Unlike the Spaniard, the Pellizotti factor may mean his opportunities could be limited.

7. Michael Rogers
The former world time trial champion had a miserable day in the saddle yesterday and lost a big chunk of time to the other favourites. Although a stronger climber, Rogers isn’t the type of guy who can ride everyone else off his wheel. A top five finish is the best he can hope for now.

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