Giro d'Italia Stage 10 - New leader

Today's stage: A stage for the explosive climbers. Sprinters need not apply despite no categorized climbs until the finish.

Who won today's stage? Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) might as well have has his name written all over this finish. As long as there was no breakaway winner, he was always the overwhelming favorite here and there was no breakaway winner. That equaled an easy looking stage victory for Rodriguez.

What matters in the GC race? Rodriguez also swiped the leader's pink jersey from Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin) by taking six seconds and a time bonus. Rodriguez now leads by 17 seconds with the Astana pair Paolo Tiralongo and Roman Krueziger 3^rd and 4^th. Also, onlt six riders remain within a minute of the lead though many more are still in contention.

What matters in the other competitions?

Red Jersey (Points) – This was thought to be a sprinters competition this year after years of GC men winning this along with overall contention. Then the crashes came. With only one sprint stage in the final week, it appears as though the sprinters aren't going to score enough points, especially with Rodriguez and Domenico Pozzovivo (Colnago) now in striking distance without having been in any of the high mountains. That said, Matt Goss (GreenEdge) still leads and Mark Cavendish (Team Sky) is still second.

Blue Jersey (King of the Mountains) – Miguel Rubiano (Androni Giacattoli) still leads after his presence in the breakaway on stage 6. He will likely lead until next weekend when the high mountains hit for the first time. At some point this week, I expect him to try his hand in a breakaway again for more points.

White Jersey (Best Young Rider) – No changes here. Damiano Caruso (Laquigas) still leads followed by Team Sky's Colombian pairing of Rigoberto Uran and Sergio Henao

Team Classification – The main news here is the slipping of Garmin into fourth place. Liquigas still leads Astana with Movistar 3^rd. This category still has yet to really heat up though with no high mountains thus far.

Biggest surprise: Bartosz Huzarski (NetApp) took second on the stage. Huzarski is from the smallest team in the race and comes from a cycling backwater (Poland). Great ride by him today.

Biggest disappointment: Where were some of the big names? Frank Schleck (RadioShack Nissan) lost 26 seconds he couldn't afford to lose considering how bad he is at time trials. Hesjedal's Garmin teammates were also unable to stay with the pace leaving their leader isolated and alone to counter attacks on the final climb.

Other items of note: Over at the Tour of California, Peter Sagan (Liquigas) took stage 2 in a sprint, just like stage 1. With many of the big sprinters in Italy, Sagan has free reign over the field and likely will until the time trial on Thursday... Pippo Pozzato (Farnese Vini) didn't take the start today after being injured in the bunch sprint crash he caused yesterday.

What is coming tomorrow? It's another sprint stage. Therefore, we have possible carnage as there is a U-turn 400m before the finish. Given this nonsense and the course for sprinters both at the Tour de France and the Olympics this year, I would have to consider letting a breakaway go or even just going home as a sprinter given the points jersey is now an unlikely proposition. That said, I see a likely bunch sprint with a crash at the U-turn taking out a contender or two.