On Bicycles, and.... what else is there?

Yesterday's Giro stage finished on the epic Zoncolan climb, a truly brutal slope which I've vowed to climb myself some day. If numbers alone can induce pain, these numbers surely qualify: Zoncolan profile: ouch!!! I watched the last 50 km on Justin.tv (linked via CyclingFans ): absolutely riveting stuff. Sure, L'Alpe d'Huez has its character and history, but the mighty Zoncolan is in a separate category of "beyond". With the pathological gearing used by riders on the stage (for example, 34-52 front with 11-29 back), riders were at least able to maintain a decent cadence, but that couldn't hide the brutality of the slopes. This hill is truly every rider for himself. Given this, it's interesting to see what the numbers say about what transpired on the mountain. I took a few time checks from the main group (ignoring the break) starting at the 10 km to go point. The climb "officially" begins 100 meters sooner. But it didn't appear to...