photo credit: VeloNews

Now if they pasted that headline above a story, I’d read it.

Eddy Merckx says the Giro’s new golden boy (relatively speaking) can hold onto the maglia rosa if he wins Thursday’s now-pivotal time trial. But in the spirit of a man who has truly embraced the pundit’s need to be ambivalent and bland, Merckx managed to still not pick Di Luca, despite the Italian’s dominance so far in his country’s premier cycling event.

“Di Luca could win the Giro if he defends the maglia rosa in the Cinque Terre time trial,” Merckx said. “My favorite still is Leipheimer. He has a strong team, we saw Armstrong coming better today and he has experience. Also watch out for Menchov, who is also very good. I don’t think anything will be decided until the final time trial.”

So basically, Di Luca will win if he wins Thursday. Unless he doesn’t, cuz there are all these other good cyclists in the field too. Who would have guessed?