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Giro Stage 16: Intxausti Snatches Sprint; Santambrogio Chunks Climb

2013-05-21T15:27:03Z

Movistar got its second consecutive stage victory in the Giro d'Italia today when its captain Beñat Intxausti jumped a late attack from the maglia rosa group and outwitted Astana's Tanel Kangert and Lampre's Przemyslaw Niemiec in the sprint. The break occurred in the final 5km flat run-in to the stage conclusion in Ivrea, below the Italian Alps, from a group of elite climbers and descenders which separated itself on a small incline in the last 20km. In the sprint, Intxausti took up third wheel behind Kangert, accelerated when Niemiec faltered, and soloed home ahead of a charging Kangert by two bike lengths. For the Basque all-rounder, it was his first victory in a grand tour stage, and improved his overall position slightly from tenth place.

The day proceeded as expected, with a break on the loose for much of the flat section (following an early and calm return from France via Mont Cenis), only to be reeled in on the climb to Andrate. It was never likely to be a sprinters' stage, since this bump in the road was actually 6km of pretty stiff climbing, topping out at 13%, and starting downhill again with a mere 18km to go. The sprinters fell away at the base of the climb, which is about where the break was reeled in, and while the climb consisted mostly of the favorites staying together behind some KOM points skirmishing, the race got hot at the top, when Carlos Betancur of AG2R attacked over the summit. He was quickly joined by Samuel Sanchez of Euskaltel, a legendary descender, and overall leader Vincenzo Nibali of Astana (another crack downhiller) came up to the leaders before long, with Michele Scarponi in tow. That group proceeded to grow as the descent wound on, but Vini Fantini's Mauro Santambrogio and AG2R's Domenico Pozzovivo were not among them. Their ~~descending~~ failure on the climb and descent of the Andrate slope would eventually cost them some 2.23 to their closest GC competitors, a major blow to the podium hopes of Santambrogio in particular.

Results:

Beñat Intxausti, Movistar
Tanel Kangert, Astana, s.t.
Przemyslaw Niemiec, Lampre, s.t.
Ramunas Navardauskas, Garmin-Sharp, at 0.14
Cadel Evans, BMC, s.t.

GC:

Nibali

The Rás, By Tom Daly

2013-05-21T14:26:10Z

Title: The Rás: The Story of Ireland's Unique Bike Race
Author: Tom Daly
Publisher: The Collins Press
Year: 2003 (reissued 2012)
Pages: 342
Order: The Collins Press
What it is: A history of the Rás, Ireland's national tour.
Strengths: Packed to the gills with stories from Rásanna past, some of which can rival the stories told about bigger races
Weaknesses: In its re-issued form The Rás has been stripped of some of its statto delights and - sadly - no attempt has been made to bring the story up-to-date.

Bike races of all kinds have been used down through history to make political statements. It has been claimed, convincingly, that France, Italy and Spain have all used their Grand Tours as a way of promoting unity within diverse nations, while it is claimed of the Ronde van Vlaanderen that it is a sporting and political symbol of the disunity at the heart of the Belgian peoples. In most cases the attribution of such meaning to races is an attempt at rationalising history, the political symbolism is something that either the races later latched on to or has been ascribed to them by others. These races existed first as sporting and marketing exercises, and only later as political tools. In Ireland, from the get-go, the Rás wore its political symbolism publicly, proudly and defiantly.

A quick history and geography lesson for you. Ireland is an island that has been divided up into thirty-two counties. For most of the last eight hundred years its history has been intertwined with that of its noisy neighbour across the Irish Sea, Great Britain. A little under a hundred years ago Ireland got carved up after a War of Independence encouraged the British to leave Ireland to the Irish. But, breaking up being hard to do, the British held on to six counties in the north of the country, variously known today as Ulster, the Six Counties and Northern Ireland. That led to a Civil War in the South at the end of which the British still held on to the Six Counties and some still dreamed of a United Ireland.

Skip the story forward to 1947. Cycling in Ireland at this stage is governed by the National Cycling Association and the NCA considers itself to be an all-Ireland thirty-two county body. This was somewhat bothersome to the British cycling federation, who felt they governed the sport in the north of the country through the Northern Ireland Cycling Federation. So the British took their case to the UCI and the UCI told the NCA to confine themselves to the twenty-six counties or else. When the NCA told the UCI to feck off, the UCI fecked the NCA out of the international cycling family and banned all its licence holders from participating in UCI sanctioned events.

In 1949 a group of NCA splitters - including a couple of members of the McQuaid clan - grew bored of their international isolation, formed the Cumann Rothíochta na hÉireann (CRE) and promised the UCI they'd play fair and only concern themselves with the twenty-six counties. This was enough to ensure their re-admittance to the international cycling family. The NCA stayed as outcasts, their belief in nationalism stronger than their desire to win bangles and baubles internationally.

Skip forward to 1953 now. Road racing is taking off in Ireland and the NCA and the CRE are competing for the hearts and minds of people young and old taking up the sport. They're also competing with one and other to disrupt their rival's races, with tack attacks, road blocks and - on at least one occasion - an attempt to send a boulder crashing down a mountain and into the riders racing past below (later there would even be a bomb at an athletics stadium due to host a track meet featuring Fausto Coppi). Into this world the Rás was born, initially as a two-day event and then becoming an eight-day event the following year.

That first Rás, in 1953, showed its political roots by starting outside the GPO in Dublin, where the rebels held out against the British during the failed 1916 Rising, and by using as its turning point the memorial in Wexford to the men of the failed 1798 Rebellion, when Napoleon loaned Wolfe Tone a few ships and some soldiers in order to stir up some trouble for the British.

In the next Rás, 1954, the riders were taken north of the border the NCA's members disputed, into Northern Ireland. Two years later, in 1956, the race's passage through Northern Ireland caused a minor riot when the local police, the RUC, objected to an Irish tricolour being flown from the race's lead car. The upshot of which was the Rás being banned from Northern Ireland.

The link between Irish nationalism and the Rás was ever-present in the early years of the race, even without visits to the North. What wasn't present was much in the way of international competition. In the 1960s and 1970s this was rectified by the involvement of Soviet Bloc riders: Poland in 1963, Czechoslovakia in 1968 and then a full Soviet squad in 1970.

At the 1969 FSGT-organised GP de l'Humanité in France discussions had been opened with the Soviets with the aim of getting them to send a team from one of the smaller satellite nations to the 1970 Rás. With the Cold War in full flow and the Troubles in the North having kicked off in 1968 the Russians leapt at the chance to support a bit of revolutionary activity and, instead of one of the small satellite squads, sent a full-blown Soviet outfit.

Previous Rásanna had been dedicated to men like Roger Casement and organisations like the Fenians. The 1970 Rás was dedicated to two men: James Connolly, the Scottish-born labour organiser who had been executed by the British for his part in the 1916 Rising; and Vladimir Illyich Lenin, the Soviet leader who had praised Connolly and the other men of 1916. The Russians thanked the Rás organisers for this kindness by going out and massacring the Irish riders.

Alexander Gysiatiknov took the first stage. And the second. And the third. After that he decided to share. With his Soviet team-mates. Yuri Lavrouchkin - who would come back in 1977 and win the overall - took stage four. Gainan Saidchuchin, who had been on four Peace Race-winning teams - winning himself in 1962 - celebrated his birthday on the fifth day with victories in both parts of the day's split stage (making it six for six for the Soviets). At which stage the Irish realised they were in serious trouble. Yes, the Polish and Czech squads had thumped the hell out of them in '63 and '68, but guys like Gene Mangan, Christy Kimmage (Paul's father) and Shay O'Hanlon had all been able to win stages along the way, it wasn't a total lock-out. These Soviets though, well they were embarrassing the Irish.

Mangan - himself a former winner of the Rás - was at this stage acting as driver for the Russian officials. The night that Saidchuchin's birthday was celebrated Mangan suggested to the Soviet team manager that it might be politically expedient to let the Irish win something, backing up his plea for some crumbs from the table with the warning that the Soviets might not be welcomed back if they hogged everything for themselves. Whether the Soviet manager took this threat seriously, or whether he was simply fed up with Mangan spoiling Saidchuchin's birthday party, an offer was made to Mangan: a representative from each side would arm-wrestle for it. If the Soviet lost, the Irish could have a stage win.

Mangan agreed, a representative from each side was found and a table cleared. The two men locked hands. Their arm muscles seized. And nothing happened. And continued to not happen. After about ten minutes of nothing happening both men were looking distressed. Something was happening. And what looked like happening was that the Russian was about to crack. Which is when the Soviet manger stopped things before the wrong thing could happen. Mangan claimed victory for the Irish. The Soviet claimed there was no outcome, it was an honours-even draw.

The next day Gysiatiknov took charge once more and won his fourth stage. Seven from seven for the Soviets with just three to go. Mangan continued to press his case for some crumbs from the table. The Soviets continued to ignore him. Mangan persisted with his pleas during the following day's stage, from Castletownbere to Dungarvan. With a sigh the Soviet manager picked up the GC sheet and, pointing to a name, told Mangan to send him up the road and, if he could stay away, he could have the win. Mangan was shocked: whether by luck or by design the Soviet manager had picked the oldest man in the race, Mick Grimes. No one knew his exact age but it was known that his son had ridden the previous year's Rás, so he was definitely getting on a bit.

The stage was already about seventy kilometres done at this point, with another one-forty to go. Mangan tried to protest but realised he was being played. If the Irish wanted a stage win, Grimes was going to have dig in and do some spade work. Some hard spade work.

And so it was that Grimes was allowed slip off the front of the peloton outside Bandon and built up a lead of three minutes coming into Cork. By Youghal, with still thirty kilometres to go, he was four and a half minutes to the good. Then he started to tire. At which point one of the Soviets leapt out of the peloton and started to chase. And so the peloton upped tempo and chased the chaser. Grimes' lead fell to four minutes. Then Three. Two. One. With just thirty-seven seconds to spare Grimes raced into Dungarvan and, throwing a clenched fist into the air, crossed the finish line. Forty-three seconds behind the chasing Soviet the peloton roared home. The Irish had earned their gift from the Soviets.

They didn't earn anything else. The Soviets won the remaining stages and Gysiatiknov became only the second rider in the history of the Rás to wear the leader's jersey from first to last stage (Shay O'Hanlon was the first, in 1962, and when he did the same again in 1965 he didn't just hold the jersey for the duration of the race: in three straight editions of the Rás he was the only man to lead).

* * * * *

The names in that story may well be unfamiliar to you, and therefore you can't rate the riders against others you do know, judge the scale of their achievements against benchmarks. And that, to an extent, makes stories like that seem unimportant. But, to my mind, a story like that can challenge some of the best other races can throw at it. Even as an Irish person, I'm willing to admit that the Rás isn't exactly famous the world over, a must-have notch on everyone's palamarès. But that alone does not detract from the stories it is capable of generating. And that is why a book like Tom Daly's The Rás isn't just for Irish cycling fans, is a book for all cycling fans: it's chock-full of cracking stories.

Giro d'Italia Stage 16 LIVE

2013-05-21T09:10:04Z

Valloire - Ivrea 238 km

Heavy climbing early and a lot of hard work for the sprinters' teams if they want to give their guys a chance .

Girbecco's Guess : Marco Marcato

How do you pick a breakaway winner anyway? Marcato is to good not to win more races.

Official site , Stageinfo , Startlist

California Dreaming: When Will Tejay See Yellow Again?

2013-05-20T19:07:34Z

You could be forgiven for not paying the Tour of California a lot of attention in the past week. After all, the Giro is on, and after such an enthralling first 9 days of the race, who wouldn't want to turn their attention to Italy where the GC race was deeper and racing more aggressive? But, in the shadow of Italy something happened that is remarkable mostly because it has taken this long to happen - Tejay van Garderen, the young and ascendant stage race star on BMC, finally won a stage race in the professional ranks.

Now, van Garderen has won stage races before - as a U23 rider. In 2010, he ascended to the professional ranks and promptly finished third in the Critérium du Dauphiné, among the highest rated stage races outside of the grand tours. The next year he finished second in the Volta ao Algarve, third in the USA Pro Cycling Challenge, and fifth in the Tour of California. Most memorably, van Garderen assumed a leadership role in last year's Tour de France after defending champion Cadel Evans faltered, finishing fifth overall. Yet, despite finishing fifth in the biggest stage race in the world, Tejay has not managed to win a race of smaller calibre yet.

In fact, van Garderen has almost become more notable for those times where he has faltered and lost leadership of a race or otherwise underwhelmed than for the strength and consistency of his results. In the 2012 Tour of California, he appeared in position to take leadership of the race after the Stage 5 time trial, sitting just 34 seconds behind David Zabriskie, a level down in climbing ability. Instead, van Garderen had an implosion of sorts on the summit finish atop Mount Baldy, finishing the race in fourth overall. In Paris Nice earlier that year, he had a jour sans on Stage 5 of Paris - Nice, dropping from third to sixth on GC. Even Thomas Voeckler out-climbed van Garderen that day, a feat no follower of the sport would have seen coming.

When a rider has such apparent bad luck in stage races, those inevitable jour sans, one begins to wonder why they cannot pull it together for a whole race, and in fact if they ever will. Leadership of a race is stressful, especially when as young and talented as van Garderen is. Mind, and not legs, often leads to days of surprisingly bad performances. We ask if a rider has, mentally, the ability to take leadership of a race. Many questioned whether van Garderen would continue to improve or simply stay at the level he has shown, at least in the foreseeable future.

Last week, he finally won, shedding the monkey that has been on his back for the past two years. The field at California was not deep, so his victory does not show signs of physical improvement. Instead, it might show Tejay is becoming more comfortable with the idea of leading a team, directing older and very talented riders to do his bidding, and having confidence that he will be able to pull off the eventual victory. If one paid close attention, it was possible to notice a change in tone in his post-race interviews after the final decisive stage on Saturday and the race's conclusion on Sunday - he seemed more relaxed. And since confidence has never been lacking for the young rider, perhaps this is what he needed most.

Will van Garderen win the Tour de France this year, or next? Not likely, not with with Alberto Contador and Christopher Froome racing, among others. But could he pull on a yellow jersey at the Dauphiné this year, or in Paris-Nice next year? I will find it a lot harder to bet against him now.

Giro Rest Day No. 2: Five Up, Five Down

2013-05-20T18:09:06Z

Do I have a problem with lists? Is there such a thing as list-dependency? Should I see someone about it? This and many more questions answered in today's list column!

Five Up

1. Vincenzo Nibali

All that's left is for the Shark to seal the deal. No easy task, but there is plenty of evidence which says he can and will. First off, last time he rode a Giro uphill ITT, he won it. So that's Thursday's stage, tilted in his favor. Friday and Saturday are the standard/extreme array of high mountain passes in the Dolomites where, again, he's had plenty of success. Then there's the fact that right now, he is climbing as well or better than anyone else in the race. Oh, and you want to make up time on him? Plan on doing it on the final climb. Because of his descending skills, it's pointless to get much of a lead earlier in the stage.

Speaking of which, it's funny that this was the decisive factor in Week 1 of the Giro, but promises not to be a factor in the hair-raising descents of the Dolomites. Evans, the closest challenger, is no slouch headed downhill. Sammy Sanchez, creeping back into contention, is another crack downhiller. I wish I could say more about the other guys on the GC (other than that Domenico Pozzovivo apparently isn't so hot at it), but regardless, Vinny's ability just shrinks the real race down to a couple very, very small margins.

2. Carlos Betancur/AG2R

On stage 8's long time trial, Betancur dropped 5.19 to the stage winner and 4.58 to Nibali, dropping him a ways down the general classification. He presently sits 5.15 out of the maglia rosa, unable to gain much time on Nibali (except in a bonus), but check out his performances in the interregnum: second (to Belkov) at Firenze, second (to Uran) at Montasio, third (behind Nibali and Santambrogio) at Bardonecchia, and second (behind Visconti) on the Galibier. Did I say nobody was climbing better than Nibali? Hm, might revise that slightly.

The trick will be for him to nail the uphill time trial, and he doesn't have much history of doing so, but he's also only 24 and that Nevegal ITT (won by Nibali) was when Betancur was a 22-year-old stagiare. He took 15th in the Pais Vasco rolling event, a good sign, so maybe Betancur can at least hold his own on Thursday. Meanwhile, for AG2R it's another triumphant Giro, possibly trumping 2011 when they got John Gadret on the podium (a year later, after Contador was DQ'd). Pozzovivo is doing his usual back-of-the-top-ten thing, so the excitement is all about the young Colombian. But as France's delegate to actually doing something at the Giro, AG2R are padding their resume... and raising a grand tour threat of their own to boot.

3. Team Sky/British Cycling

Their Veni, Vidi, Descendere Simile Femina act didn't win Team Sky the dominant sequel to last year's Tour de France they aimed for, but the last week wasn't nearly the disaster for British fans that one might be tempted to assume it was. First off, they re-signed Richie Porte, who will almost certainly deliver the team a grand tour this summer, presumably to someone besides himself. Porte is Levi-Plus right now, a guy who thrives on a strong team in a low-to-medium pressure role. And while it's a bit difficult to picture him off and winning the Tour de France (just yet), it's not that hard to imagine him being completely overlooked while other teams chase down Wiggins and Froome, and occupying a dangerous position. Or at least shredding the field en route to launching the team captain.

And speaking of captains, nobody made out better this week than the British Press. Whether that's a win for anyone else is hard to say, but this, um, institution lives for two things: to catalogue the daily movements of the Royal Family (in case of any signs of human failings) and to make the rest of the world's press look calm and measured. [Want proof? No you don't.] Well, this week we saw the full-on launching of the Wiggins-Froome polemica that -- mark my words -- will devour the 2013 Tour de France. Or at least the media coverage of it. Really, sometimes polemici are a bit oversold... but even that's a win for... wait for it... Team Sky.

As to the merits, Sky have been quite adamant up and down the chain that Froome-dawg is the leader for the Tour. So there you go. Wiggins has consistently gone slightly off the script -- not challenging Froome but not disavowing his own ambitions. And honestly, it's hard to see how he wouldn't. He's the reigning winner. I don't recall him promising Froome this year's win if he gave anything up last year (LeMond, recall, gave up a near-certain win of the '85 Tour for Hinault). Froome certainly deserves his chance but I don't see why Wiggins can't go for it too.

4. Mauro Santambrogio

I've kind of talked him up enough this week, you can see what he's done. Unlike Betancur, Santa's not hitting the time bonuses, which is a bummer for him given that he's one second off the podium at the moment. But there's plenty of cycling left to do.

Is Danilo Di Luca a good teammate? You always want to have a guy up there with you, and I don't know enough about their personal interactions but I assume it's good. Still, when your teammate tends to launch himself alone, I mean, I guess there's some value there if he succeeds in exhausting someone else's guys from the chase. I dunno. Di Luca, in his defense, should be worthless in the high mountains anyway, so whatever you get from him should probably be considered a bonus.

5. Mark Cavendish

Here's what I said about the guy ten days ago:

By my estimation, he needs to get to the line and take a top-two spot in 12, 13 and 21 to be in range of the 150 points it'll take to win this competition. My guess? He falls short.

Here's what he did in stages 12 and 13:

Stage 12: win
Stage 13: win

Any questions? I think they have the bit between their teeth now. Still gonna be close. [See this fanpost for exactly how close.]

Bonus! Samuel Sanchez

He's back from the dead, that much I know. Will the resurgence continue? Will we all be happy if it does? Hell yeah.

Five Down

1. Bradley Wiggins

Apart from the polemics, I do think Sir Bradley took a hit this week... to his credentials as a patron. He came to Italy looking to add another jersey to his collection, like a good patron would and should do. Wiggins' ascension comes a bit late in his career to go on a big run of grand tours which would earn him real patron standing, though he's so powerful that you could maybe picture him putting together a dominant phase. Worse, his own team isn't going to make that easy for him. Worst of all, though, is that the single most compelling story of the Giro is how Wiggo's toolbox apparently doesn't come with a descending widget. You can't be a patron if you show weakness in one of the major elements of cycling.

2. Robert Gesink

Speaking of weakness... WTF? Is it time to downgrade Gesink, the biggest talent of the recent wave of Dutch talent, to one-week and one-day excellence, with a side of meh-ness in the big tours? It's possible he's got one in him, but that all the pieces have to fall perfectly into place. Someday he'll join the list of the Carlos Sastres and JJ Cobos of the world who get their due on a very big stage, perhaps. But it won't be this month.

3. Ryder Hesjedal

Hesjedal is approaching an awkward position in his team, following this Giro where he got sick or something and went home. Did he get sick or did he just burn himself out in week 1? Not sure we'll ever know the details, but let's face it, Hesjedal was always on the cusp of grand tour ability. Thru determination and guile he got his Giro last year, and on a good day the guy kicks some ass. But after this, one has to ask, should Garmin shift its focus significantly toward starting the Talansky Era and away from supporting secondary threats from Hesjedal?

4. Fans/ the Giro

What do Hesjedal, Gesink and Wiggins have in common, besides poor performance? They were the respective reasons we were all so extra excited about this year's Giro GC, anticipated as the most competitive in years. Well, now it's more of a two-man race, and one of them looks like a strong bet to win. Familiar?

Rain is the primary culprit. It's ironic, the Giro had some new roads built in places like Abruzzo where the smooth tarmac would have been grand tour worthy on a dry day... but instead turned into a skating rink as oil seeped from the fresh surface. Rain made it fun for a bit... for the fans. But the incessant rain has sapped the strength of the race a bit. From what I know, it is simply more depleting to the body to race in cold (especially wet/cold) conditions like this. Not good for business. As great as the first week was, last week was kind of a downer.

And let the record reflect that Jens did not arrive in the region until late Thursday. "It was like that when I got here," he claims.

5. Lists

Let's face it, they're what keep USA Today in business. And that's not a good thing.

Giro d'Italia: On the Scene at Les Granges du Galibier for Stage 15

2013-05-20T17:27:55Z

It wasn't until after the post-stage press conference the night before in Bardonecchia that the official word finally went out: the Galibier stage was on! Shortened by just four kilometers, the stage dedicated to the memory of Marco Pantani would climb to the Pantani monument at Les Granges du Galibier, 2295 meters above sea level.

It was an easy drive from Bardonecchia to the stage headquarters in Valloire, at the base of the Galibier climb. I arrived in plenty of time for a nice lunch before heading up to the finish on the press shuttle. I could tell I was in France because (a) the bread was good, and (b) the cafe's bathroom was down a winding staircase in the basement.

After lunch I ran into a couple of Italian newspaper journalists having a coffee in another cafe, and I asked them about the navetta (shuttle) to the finish area. They weren't going up, and they warned me that if I went up, it might be a long time before I could come back down. When I said I would probably not be down in time for the press conference, they laughed and said I might not be down until the next day.

Undeterred, I climbed onto the shuttle with a bunch of other crazy photographers (though not nearly as many as there are at most stage finshes), and we were off. We took a large bus about half way up, then transferred to vans for last 5 kilometers or so of the trip.

With the road closed to both non-official vehicles and cyclists, it was like a Giro stage finish on the moon. Nothing but mountains, and snow, and the Giro.

Despite the smaller crowd of photographers at the finish, chaos ensued when Visconti crossed the line for the stage win. And for once, it wasn't our fault!

Although the soigneurs were supposed to stay back behind the photographers, two Movistar swannies ran right up to the finish line and embraced Visconti, basically pulling him off his bike and leaving it lying on the road. That stopped the team car, and created a traffic jam right at the finish line, with other riders, not to mention dozens of cars and motorcycles, fast approaching.

In the bedlam that followed, I completely missed the next few riders' finishes, but with much shouting, shoving, and blowing of whistles, order -- or at least, what passes for order at a Giro mountain stage finish -- was restored by the time i big finished, 54 seconds after Visconti.

Uran and Santambrogio:

Samuel Sanchez:

Sergio Henao:

Cadel Evans was all bundled up, but he still looked cold as he started the ride down to the team buses.

Michele Scarponi:

Rafal Majka:

The gruppetto's suffering in the cold and snow lasted 27 minutes and 54 seconds longer than Visconti's did.

p.s., I didn't get many usable photos in the gruesome conditions at Bardonecchia-Jafferau so I'm not doing a post from that stage, but I wanted to share this, the best Giro individual stage poster I've seen. I was happy to find that they had them for sale at the tourist office.

Tour of California Stage 8 LIVE

2013-05-19T17:22:08Z

San Francisco - Santa Rosa 131.4 km

Grand Levi-finale

Honorary Levi of the Day: Peter Sagan

Who else could win?

Official site , Stageinfo , Startlist

Giro Stage 15: Visconti Hangs On

2013-05-19T15:52:15Z

Giovanni Visconti gave his Movistar team a massive boost with a win in stage 15 on the Col du Galibier, while overall leader Vincenzo Nibali remained calm and in charge of this Giro d'Italia. Amid snowbanks and snowflakes, the peloton climbed to the Granges des Galibier with numerous attacks by the top climbers outside the top five of the general classification, but among the leaders of the race it was a day when they all stayed on their respective limits and limited attacks amongst each other.

Visconti survived alone from a long day on the attack, and while various attacks formed on the Col du Telegraphe and Col du Galibier, the only one which survived was a late grouping led by Carlos Betancur and Przemyslaw Niemiec, which finished 40 seconds behind Visconti and 30" ahead of the gruppo maglia rosa.

For Visconti the win is his first stage triumph in the Giro d'Italia. The multiple Italian Champion and winner of a handful of one-day races had worn the maglia rosa for a week in 2008, but before today had never taken a Giro stage win or a major mountain victory in any grand tour. For Movistar, there had been little to cheer prior to today, but this grand victory on the famous slopes of the Tour de France gives them a day to enjoy. For everyone else, the day simply ended, cold and wet, and leaving everyone grateful for tomorrow's rest day.

Giovanni Visconti, Movistar
Carlos Betancur, AG2R, at ??
Przemyslaw Niemiec, s.t.

Vincenzo Nibali, Astana