How disappointed must Mark Cavendish be after losing to Andrea Guardini on Stage 18? Well, not just losing the stage, which is bad enough, but also losing 5 extra points in the points classification. Why is that a big deal? Because, unlike the Tour de France, points available for placings at the end of a stage are the same no matter what kind of stage it is deemed to be by the terrain. This is just one of the reasons sprinters don't care for finishing the Giro. For the mountain climbers, they can easily win the red jersey by consistently finishing in the top ten.
For Joaquim Rodriguez, because of his stage wins and high placings in the mountain stages, he was second on points before the start of today's final climbing stage. Purito needed to finish 5th or lower for Cavendish to keep the red jersey, since neither Rodriguez nor Cavendish would contend for the points awarded to the top 15 in tomorrow's time trial. If Purito finished 4th, he would beat the Manx Missile by one point. Guess what happened in the finale. Yup. Rodriguez, though he may lose the maglia rosa to Ryder Hesjedal, and may even fall off the podium, he can at least find consolation in the maglia rossa.
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