Wiggins underwhelming in Giro time trial.

We were supposed to see Bradley Wiggins in pink today after he dominated the 55k time trial. He'd make up for his bad luck in the first week by scorching his rivals on the road to Saltara.

This was his discipline, he's the Olympic Time Trial champion and the fastest knight on two wheels. His win was almost guaranteed by the experts and pundits. Then at last perhaps he'd come out and speak with the media instead of rushing to the safety of the team bus, leaving team manager David Brailsford to explain what went wrong.

No, today was to be the Wiggo show, the cornerstone of Sky's Giro plan, his personal road to victory and the maglia rosa. To steal the title of his autobiography, the time trial was "My Time."

Only it wasn't.

Sir Brad had his troubles on the first half of the difficult TT, punctured, changed bikes, lost momentum, misplaced his rhythm and was forced to ride like hell on the flatter second half to make up time. How many Pinarello changes has Wiggins endured in this first week? The man is going through bikes like crazy.

Instead, it was his rival Vincenzo Nibali who made the dramatic news, taking fourth and conceding a mere 11 seconds to Wiggins. Nibali found himself in pink, took the coveted leader's jersey and surprised the fans with his strong fourth place ride.

The Italian climber is thrilled to be 1:16 up on the English chrono champion with the long time trial behind him and the mountains ahead. Who saw that one coming?