the front.

Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) was next to put his shoulder to the wheel, while white jersey Adam Yates (Orica-Scott) also provided some turns on the front. At the summit of Fonza, 12 kilometres from the finish, Dumoulin trailed Quintana, Nibali et al by 25 seconds, but Jungels' metronomic effort on the front kept the deficit in check on the rolling altopiano to the finish.

Dumoulin eventually reached the finish in Asiago in 10th place, just 15 seconds down stage winner Thibaut Pinot (FDJ). Although the Dutchman drops to 4th overall, he is only 53 seconds off Quintana's maglia rosa with a flat, 29.3-kilometre time trial to come. He is, by any reckoning, the favourite to win the Giro.

"I'm forever thankful and grateful for the work that Bauke Mollema, Bobthe startling gaps from his dominant victory in the Montefalco time trial on stage 10, he will surely expect to be feted in the maglia rosa in the shadow of the Duomo in Milan on Sunday afternoon. To win the Giro, Dumoulin must gain a little over 1.8 seconds per kilometre on Quintana. In the last time trial, he picked up more than four seconds per kilometre on the Colombian.

The 29.3km stage offers a rather different test to the Sagrantino time trial, however. The course is pan flat, and, in theory at least, the potential gains will be smaller. The residual fatigue of an entire Giro – and its punishing last week – must also be factored into the equation. However the numbers finally add up, the margins