While it seems that Nairo Quintana has already secured his first place in the Giro d’Italia general classification, as much thanks to his brilliant ride on the final climb as to the confusion created by race organizers on the preceding descent on Tuesday, eight riders are still in contention for the remaining two podium spots, most likely to be decided in today’s brutal individual time trial on Cima Grappa.

As predicted, there was no major shakedown in the general classification in yesterday’s stage, as its finale on Panarotta wasn’t selective enough and race leaders certainly had today’s effort at the back of their minds. However, a number of accelerations saw Cadel Evans (BMC) and gambling Wilco Kelderman (Belkin) losing contact with the maglia rosa group inside the last two kilometers, while Fabio Aru once again went clear to gain some time on his closest rivals.

One week after he lost the pink jersey to Rigoberto Uran (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), Evans dropped down from third to ninth position overall, but he still has a podium result within his reach, only 1:30 away from a third place. There are six other riders equally eager to celebrate their appearance in 2014 edition of the Giro d’Italia on podium in Trieste, but even though the time gaps between them are currently minimal, it is about to change in the highly demanding time trial today.

Pierre Rolland (Europcar), efficient enough to play a role of both good and bad character last days but not exactly famous for splendid time trial skills, appeared to be the most motivated rider to gain some time on other GC contenders in yesterday’s stage, but was refused any leeway this time around.

The Europcar leader seemed to be slightly surprised that the favorites eventually started to consider him as a serious threat and quickly responded to all his accelerations, however, he was still pleased with his aggressive attitude and promised to continue in the same line.

"I'm going to continue doing what I've been doing right from the start of the race: taking things day by day," the Frenchman said.

"I tried to take time on the final climb. I made a good effort with four kilometres to go but they pulled me back. I'm going to keep trying."

At the same time, the second most impressive climber of Tuesday’s queen stage, Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp), eventually paid a price for his aggressive showings during last three battles fought in the mountains. The former Giro d’Italia champion clearly struggled at the back of the maglia rosa group and lost the contact with other favorites, but his experience enabled him to minimize his losses.

After yesterday’s stage, in fact, Hesjedal revealed that he felt good but preferred to ride the final ascent at his own pace rather than to respond to countless accelerations from other GC contenders, what was never his cup of tea. This way, he still managed to gain some time on Evans and Kelderman, who surprisingly faded in the final parts of Panarotta climb.

"I felt good, I wanted to keep the pace high. I heard some guys were having difficulties so I didn’t want the pace to slow down," he said after the stage.

"It feels good to be on the front and push a bit. I’d rather have it like that than slow and accelerating. I just rode my own pace and I don’t think they got much ground on me up front and I don’t think they made up much ground so I’m happy."

Without knowing the demanding Cima Grappa climb, Hesjedal was optimistic about his chances ahead of today’s mountain time trial.

"I’m going 2012 style. I didn’t recon or look at any stages in 2012 and I was able to win the race. We’ll do our homework, but I’ve said all the time, in the third week, it’s your legs. Everything looks the same when you’re on the limit," he explained.

"I don’t think I’ve ever done anything like that, a 20-something kilometre uphill time trial, so we’ll see what the gaps will be. Hopefully I’ve got legs and a good ride again."

Italy’s new darling Fabio Aru (Astana) was the only GC contender able to put some seconds on the race leader, as two Colombians were too busy observing each other to respond to his acceleration inside the final kilometer. Gaining modest three seconds on Quintana and Uran, and further three on Pozzovivo, Majka and Rolland, the 23-year old Italian moved himself to fourth position overall with great chances for further improvement.

The young Astana leader is certainly one of the biggest favorites to excel in the mountain time trial today, as he impressed with his climbing in the second week of competition and did really well in the opening part of the Barbaresco-Barolo ITT, clocking third best time behind Pozzovivo and Uran.

“Uran and Quintana were the guys I was watching all day and when the attacks started I had my eye on them. Then at 400 metres to go, I attacked on my own to try and take back some seconds. It worked. Now I'm even closer to the podium," he said.

While the likes of Rolland, Aru, Hesjedal or obviously Quintana appeared to be on the rise during the second week of competition, Domenico Pozzovivo didn’t manage to keep up the momentum following his impressive showings on first mountaintop finishes of the Giro. However, the Ag2r La Mondiale leader overcame several setbacks to remain in contention and it will not come as a big surprise if he does well on Cima Grappa today.

"I didn’t have a great day and so I focused on defending my position but then in the finale I saw that Evans was dropped, so I tried to accelerate and gain some important seconds," he said.

"I think first place has been decided but from second post downwards is wide open. I'm ready to fight to the end of the Giro to improve GC position."