I was impressed, too. Nibali is young, 25 years old, and he won several stages of the Giro in support of Ivan Basso. Not only did he recover during the climb yesterday, but in the two earlier stages he showed poise: he had a flat during the time trial, and took some time form Mosquera in stage 19, which meant hanging out at the front with the sprinter trains.

I liked watching the lesser known riders, without the hype. It also shows relative luck: Mosquera rode most of his career for small teams that don't get invited to major tours. His first Vuelta, he placed 5th in 2007, and also top 5 in 2008, 2009, 2010... So he has some legs. I hope he gets a good contract as Xacobeo might disband because of the Spanish fiscal situation. Like several teams there, it receives support from the regional government, Galicia in this case.