Following Saturday's time trial to Valdobbiadene on stage 14, the time trial to Piacavallo on stage 15 of the Giro d'Italia, Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb), with many big names losing time in the Dolomites, was Milan's He was confirmed as the main contender to win.

The Dutchman finished the day in second place, two seconds behind Tao Geoghegan Hart (Ineos Grenadiers), and although he did not lead the race, he is now firmly in the driver's seat before a tough final week full of mountain stages.

Neo-pro Joao Almeida (Deceuninck-Quick Step) chased deep alone to keep hold of Maglia Rosa. However, his lead was reduced to just 15 seconds, with three more mountain stages and a final 15km time trial stage to come. For the young but brave Dečuninck-Quick-Step rider, a podium battle is likely to be a more realistic goal than overall victory.

Among the big losers on the day were experienced favorites, led by two-time Giro winner Vincenzo Nibali (Trek-Segafredo).

The 35-year-old Nibali, who has looked out of form in recent seasons, finished 1:36 behind Geoghegan Hart in Piacavallo. When Team Sunweb ran hard for Kelderman, he could not keep pace and lost important teammates Giulio Ciccone and Gianluca Brambilla in the last 24 hours. He will probably never be given up on, but the road to Milan will be a lonely one.

Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) and Pello Bilbao (Bahrain McLaren) finished in the same group as Nibali, but their past GC performances are not comparable to Lo Squalo. Bilbao dropped two places to fifth overall, 3:10 behind Almeida, and Nibali dropped two places to seventh, 3:29 behind, while Fuglsang remained in 12th place, 5:07 behind.

Another veteran, Domenico Pozzovivo (NTT Pro Cycling), has been a team presence on many stages and has looked one of the strongest so far. However, the 37-year-old also lost a lot of time, dropping to 8th place overall, 1:54 behind.

Aside from Kelderman, the big performers on GC were teammate Jai Hindley and stage winner Geoghegan Hart.

Hindley supported Kelderman on the climb, and after finishing third, he jumped from 10th to third overall. Geoghegan Hart, meanwhile, moved up from 11th to third; the two are now 2:56 and 2:57 behind Almeida and are part of a new generation in good form.

Elsewhere, Rafau Mayka (Bora-Hansgrohe) remains in sixth place, 1:22 behind fifth on the stage. Teammate Patrick Conrad lost another 7 seconds to hold on to 9th place.

Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) had a brilliant time trial on Saturday, but finished 15th in Piancavallo.

Almeida's second-in-command Fausto Masnada also dropped two places, finishing 11th in the stage.

Even though the weekend shook up the race and many riders tried to save as much as possible, the overall contenders will be glad to have had a second day of rest on Monday.

They will face a hilly stage in Friuli on Tuesday, followed by the Madonna di Campiglio, Laghi di Cancano, and Sestriere mountain stages before the final Milan time trial.

Much has already happened, but this year's Giro d'Italia is not yet decided or over.