Matt Stephens - Injured

The Linda McCartney Foods Cycling Team faced up to their toughest test yet in the Giro d'Italia. Sunday's stage between Selva Gardena and Bormio, high in the mountains near the Austrian border took the riders over three passes: the Mendola, the Tonale, and finally the legendary Gavia. But the McCartney boys saw off the threat, as all 7 once again completed the stage. Matt Stephens once again overcame the debilitating effects of his knee injury to finish a battered but heroic figure in Bormio.

The slopes of this mountain are something to behold. A tiny ribbon of a road climbs out of the Oglio Valley to a dizzy 2621 metres above sea level. The sheer drop on one side is only separated from the hillside by six or seven feet of crumpled and weather-beaten tarmac. Normally, a brave challenger taking on the Gavia would have nothing but the wind and perhaps a curious chamois for company, but today it seemed as though half of Italy had shoe-horned itself on to the hairpins and straights that reach into the sky.

With it's big brother the Stelvio Pass closed due to avalanche warnings, it was no surprise to see people dressed for watching one of the many skiing events held in this area, rather than a stage of one of the world's greatest bike races. It was freezing at the top, where huge snow fields still cling to the contours in late May. The multitude of hollering fans who had scaled the slopes much earlier in the day to gain the best vantage points sprayed the names of their heroes across the snow, fluorescent greens and pinks against grubby white. The riders faced a one-sided battle with the elements, as a horrible sleet fell, rendering the descent treacherous and taking the body temperature down to deeply unpleasant levels.

Matt Stephens was in all sorts of trouble with his troublesome knee early on, and struggled to keep contact with his colleagues, but the man from Crewe pulled an absolutely heroic ride out of the bag, finishing drenched, exhausted and in agony at Bormio: but still in the race.

"Di Luca attacked virtually from the gun today, and I was always struggling," said Matt. "But I'm still in there! I'll have to see how it is in the morning, 'cause I'm not feeling too pretty at the moment, but I'm desperate to finish."

Max Sciandri climbed well today, showing that he still has the form to be in at the death when the profile is more suited to him. He stopped on the descent of the Gavia to pile on some more clothes before resuming the drop into the valley below. There was also another good ride from last weekend's hero David McKenzie. Expected by some to struggle in the high mountains, Macca has shown himself to be well up to the task so far.

The men disputing this Tour of Italy went head-to-head on the Gavia, with leader Francesco Casagrande proving once again that anybody intending to relieve him of the pink jersey will probably have to rip it off his back with their bare hands. He has now surely seen off pre-race favourites Paolo Savoldelli and Pavel Tonkov, who both lost significant time to the Vini Caldirola man today. Gilberto Simoni, desperate to win the stage after yesterday's disappointment at Selva Gardena, hung on until the final sprint and took the win he wanted. Eddie Mazzoleni and Francesco Casagrande followed him in, with Wladimir Belli very pleased to not lose any more ground to Casagrande in 4th. His teammate Dario Frigo and Casagrande's closest challenger, Stefano Garzelli, were close behind. The leaderboard may say that Casagrande only leads Garzelli by 33 seconds, but the form of the man is there for all his rivals to see.

Tomorrow's big climb comes early, the Aprica Pass topped before a long sweep down into Brescia. The race profile offers a little more comfort to the survivors of the Dolomites: the big mountains won't be seen again until Thursday.

Report by John Deering