As expected: a time trial is worth more than a hundred chats. Put them against each other, without too many tactics and games, down to the egg, a nice 68 in front, a nice 10 behind, with gears now we're on the scary push, add to that the nasty rain that comes and goes, that advantages and disadvantages at its own whim, with eccentric and inconclusive criteria, put it all together and an essential truth emerges: UAE did well to leave their thoroughbred stallions free, Del Toro and Ayuso, because now they're at the top of the Giro and above all haven't mortified anyone, least of all Ayuso.

Roglic benefits from the sporadic butt kick of good weather for most of the race, after quite a bit of pink misfortune, culminating even in a fall during the morning reconnaissance. Overall, Roglic wins the social battle among the big names, but with the asterisk of weather. The fact remains that the Giro brings him back, lifts him up, now just over a minute from the pink jersey. So it's still a result that works.

But the true winner under the Crooked Tower is undoubtedly Ayuso, given as furious and enraged in Siena after his teammate Del Toro's attack, in a bare-knuckle ring atmosphere within UAE. Look how nervous and out of his mind Ayuso was: starts well, holds perfectly, closes just the same. His performance is ferocity and class, power and technique, half Thoeni and half Tomba, with only a slight slowdown in the final meters, due to his knee. On defense, definitely more patchy in the first half, his teammate and colleague, or as conspiracy theorists and flat-earthers like to say, the enemy Del Toro. Nonetheless, the overall result is perfect.

Ultimately, the most afflicted are precisely them, the flat-earth conspiracy theorists of acidic dualism, who now see four UAE riders in the top seven and end up not understanding anything anymore, they no longer know who's against whom in the team, one could say everyone against everyone like at the Ivrea Carnival, they could say chaos and anarchy, total absence of strategy and lucidity, but really this is starting to become a bit excessive and unbelievable even in certain sophisticated heads.

Poor things, their disappointment. This old-fashioned gossip was so appealing, their hands and necks were already itching to tell a new Roche-Visentini story. Overwhelmed by insane passion, the most unbuttoned appears to be Giada Borgato, the female quota of the Dream Team Rai, who, following the two on a motorcycle, gets excited to the point of spasm in revealing this sensational backstage: "Regarding hierarchies, I can tell you that behind Ayuso there's a team car with a time trial bike and two regular bikes, while behind Del Toro there's a team car with a time trial bike and only one regular bike..." So much for the scandal. The UAE guys are so shameless that they want to make Del Toro understand who the real captain is by bringing one less bike to the race. Next time they'll remove his saddle.

Go figure, our conspiracy theorists. I don't know if they really believe it or if they're simply out of their minds with the desire to build up the UAE scandal. They're in Casa Vianello mode, with Ayuso and Del Toro as Sandra and Raimondo. Fantastic Giada, she must be followed. With this bike story she directly tops the Giro joke rankings, which is indeed dominated by Rai with half a dozen men in the top six, forget dualism, it's a crowd of captains fighting every day on the edge of hundredths.

Anyway: these are opinions, they should be reported and accepted. Here there's freedom of thought and freedom of joke. While waiting to see if Del Toro will make sparks fly because he has one less bike, in the background remains an undeniable fact: Roglic and our valiant Tiberi find themselves facing an army, capable from here on of inventing an infinite array of tactics and ambushes, as they say in the stadium without giving reference points to opposing defenders.

Better to bet on just one and put all the others at his service? It's an idea. But it remains a fact that it's still too early to choose. Four in the top seven is an unbridled luxury, blessed are those who can afford them. Four is better than two. If there's a problem, it's not in the Vianello house. First, it's more of a problem for the others.