STAGE 15 Preview 2013 Giro d'Italia

 

After several reports of route changes for Sunday’s stage 15 the latest update is that

The original Stage 15 Profile

race organizers RCS Sport have decided to shorten the finish climb to the Galibier by just 4.25 kilometers. The stage will now finish by the Marco Pantani memorial at 2295 meters of elevation, about 350 meters below the original finish at the summit (at 2642 meters). 

Of course the RCS will alter the route again if it is deemed necessary.

At this point they are still including the 2090-meter climb to Mont Cenis which comes at km 58.They will also start 30 minutes later than originally scheduled
 

The first climb, The Col du Mont Cenis

The Col du Mont Cenis is about 25.5 kms long averaging around 7%, with a maximum gradient of 10% in the middle, and if the weather permits, will take the riders over the 2000-meter elevation mark for the first time in the race.

The new finish line is right above the 11% Max mark

The category 2 Telegraphe climb from St. Michel de Maurienne is about 12 km at an average gradient between 7 and 7.5 %, maxing out at around 10% near the top, and boasting 14 hairpin bends. The riders have about a 5km descent to recover a little before passing through Valloire and onto the Galibier, which will now take the riders up to 2295 meters to the Pantani monument. Click the graphs to see the gradients. They will climb up about 14 kms of the Galibier to the Pantani monument, just above the max gradient of 11%.  With a rest day ahead, the contenders may choose to leave it all out on the road today. Although Nibali has shown that he is not a man who will give up time easily.

Il Pirata

The monument marks the point where the late Pantani launched the attack that won him the lead in the 1998 Tour de France. He would hold that lead all the way to Paris. Il Pirata attacked in the cold rain on the Galibier, which was the third of four big climbs on that stage 15 from Grenoble to Les Deux-Alpes. He turned his race around there, going from fourth place, down three minutes, to a cozy lead of almost four minutes. His 1998 Giro-Tour double win was only the seventh ever and stands as the last time that feat has been accomplished.

Here is a list of the 2013 Giro d’Italia abandonments so far:

BATTAGLIN Enrico	BAR
BENNATI Daniele	TST
BERARD Julien	ALM
BOBRIDGE Jack	BLA
BOUHANNI Nacer	FDJ
BRESCHEL Matti	TST
CASAR Sandy	FDJ
CATTANEO Mattia	LAM
CHICCHI Francesco	VIN
DEGENKOLB John	ARG
GEORGES Sylvain	ALM
GIL MARTINEZ Tomas Aurelio	AND
HESJEDAL Ryder	GRS
HOWARD Leigh	OGE
JEANNESSON Arnold	FDJ
JI Cheng	ARG
KROON Karsten	TST
LODEWYCK Klaas	BMC
MILLAR David	GRS
OSPINA NAVARRO Dalivier	COL
QUINTERO Carlos Julian	COL
STEEGMANS Gert	OPQ
TABORRE Fabio	VIN
URTASUN PEREZ Pablo	EUS
VANOTTI Alessandro	AST
VICIOSO ARCOS Angel	KAT
WIGGINS Bradley	SKY

STAGE 14 Race Recap 2013 Giro d'Italia

Saturday May 18, 2013

Weather: Cold and rain, 12 c (53 F) at the start; thick fog, rain, snow and temperatures as low as 1 c (33 f) reported at the finish; More rain forecast;

Course: 180 kms (revised from 168), High Mountains (MTF); from Cervere to Bardonecchia;

This morning race organizers RCS made the cautious decision to cut the Sestriere climb from today’s stage 14 due to excessive snowfall on the 2000-meter high peak. The stage has been lengthened by 12km with a summit finish still expected at Jafferau. The riders will now race for 180 kilometres, through the Val di Susa valley before the final climb to the finish. 

Last night’s news that the stage 15 climb to the Galibier might be cut from the course is still being considered today. Weather on the 2642-meter high peak is persuading the organizers to shorten the climb by about 800 vertical meters to finish in Valloire after climbing the Telegraphe. The first planned climb up the Col du Mont Cenis may be cut from the stage as well, and the new course for stage 15 may be as short as 50 kms. The peloton generally praised the decision to err on the side of caution. Race director Mauro Vegni said he is waiting on further reports from local authorities, but he hopes to salvage the stage if possible.

UPDATE: Both of the high stage 15 climbs have been eliminated from the route.

The riders have begun stage 14 in Cervere.

Rain is falling hard on the course as the peloton take to the road.

Four more riders did not start this morning: Daniele Bennati and Karsten Kroon (TST), Gert Steegmans (OPQ) and Jack Bobridge (BLA).

After about 40 minutes some riders are starting to attempt escapes.

2013 Giro d'Italia STAGE 14 UPDATE:

This morning race organizers RCS made the cautious decision to cut the Sestriere climb from today’s stage 14 due to excessive snowfall on the 2000-meter high peak. The stage has been lengthened by 12km with a summit finish still expected at Jafferau. The riders will now race for 180 kilometres, through the Val di Susa valley before the final climb to the finish.

Last night’s news that the stage 15 climb to the Galibier might be cut from the course is still being considered today. Weather on the 2642-meter high peak is persuading the organizers to shorten the climb by about 800 vertical meters to finish in Valloire after climbing the Telegraphe. The first planned climb up the Col du Mont Cenis may be cut from the stage as well, and the new course for stage 15 may be as short as 50 kms. The peloton generally praised the decision to err on the side of caution. Race director Mauro Vegni said he is waiting on further reports from local authorities, but he hopes to salvage the stage if possible.

Here is the revised profile for today's stage:

Revised Stage 14 Route

STAGE 14 Preview 2013 Giro D'Italia

 

Now there's a happy Manxman

Mark Cavendish held up four fingers when he crossed the stage 13 finish line today, one for each stage he has won. He posted back-to-back wins yesterday and today, but you can bet your life savings that he won’t make it three.

*[You can see my entire recap of today’s and every day’s stage by clicking on the relevant link to the right. Previews for each stage are there too. After a few days the pages can be found under "Blog Archives"]*

Nibali: mentally prepared for the Alps

The stage started without ex-protagonists Bradley Wiggins (Sky) and Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp) who were both ailing and losing time. Matty Breschel has withdrawn from the race following stage 13 as well.

Friday the race moved west across northern Italy. Saturday's Stage 14 takes the riders through the Piedmont region, northwest into the Alps. It finishes on top of the 1908-meter high Jafferau climb in Bardonecchia, right by the French border. On the way the riders will have to make the very long haul up to Sestriere—which itself is 2035 meters high.

Stage 14 Profile

This “easy side” of the Sestriere is a category 2 climb that summits with 43 kms to go. It averages under 4%, but it goes on and on and can drain a lot of energy before the finish climb in Bardonecchia. The peloton will have effectively been climbing for 60 kms by the time they hit the KOM line at the top of the famous Olympic ski village. The measured climb is taped at 17.53 kms, climbing 685 vertical meters, for an average of 3.9%. The main climb is really just over 9 kms long averaging closer to 5.5%, then finishes with a short sprint to the KOM line.

The climb to the finish

After a 21 km descent to Oulx the riders will start climbing again, and after 160kms in the saddle they’ll begin the steep ascent to Bardonecchia. The Jafferau climb to Bardonecchia is 7 kms averaging 9%, but mostly over 10%, and with a maximum close to 15%. The last couple kms average over 10%, so no pretenders will win tomorrow.

Several riders will look for a way to chip away at Nibali’s lead. I think the top GC guys will probably wait until the last couple of kilometers before trying anything serious though. They will need energy for stage 15’s climbing bonanza to the Galibier.

STAGE 14 PICKS:

LIKELY PICKS: One of the pure climbers like Domenico Pozzovivo or Darwin Atapuma. Michele Scarponi and Vincenzo Nibali are also good picks.

DARK-HORSE PICK: Egoi Martinez (Euskatel). If the Basque climber is not stuck chaperoning his team leader Sammy Sanchez up the climbs, he is one of the few experienced veterans out there who could have a chance of winning from a break on a stage that the GC contenders will be gunning for. He is far enough back on GC (at over eighteen minutes down) that he could be allowed to ride away. Whether anyone will be able to stay away is another matter.

MY PICK: Carlos Betancur (Ag2R). The 23-year old is one of several Colombian mountain goats who have a good shot at this stage. He posted good results in some of the Classics this year (3^rd at Fleche Wallone and 4^th at Liege-Bastogne-Liege), he had two top-5 mountaintop finishes at the Tour of the Basque Country in April, and he finished 2^nd on top of the Altopiano climb on stage 10 just a few days ago.

 

STAGE 13 Recap and Results 2013 Giro d'Italia

 
 

Friday May 17, 2013

STAGE 13

254 kms  From Busseto to Cherasco   mostly flat, rolling last 50k

Clear at start, rain forecast, 19c; wind NNW 9 kph; Humidity 65%

The longest stage of this year’s edition starts without two pre-race favorites. Many people’s overall favorite, Bradley Wiggins of Team Sky, dropped out after losing time over several rainy stages. He seemed to fall behind on every descent on the parcours. He and defending champ, Ryder Hesjedal of Garmin-Sharp both became ill during the race. Wiggins was over five minutes off the leading pace and Hesjedal had lost over 32 minutes to race leader Vincenzo Nibali. After another grueling wet stage on Thursday both riders’ teams pulled the plug on their respective leaders. So Hesjedal’s shot at a repeat win is over, as is Wiggins’ hope for the Giro-Tour double.

STAGE 13 Preview 2013 Giro d'Italia

 

Congratulations are due to Mark Cavendish for clocking his 100^th career win as a professional cyclist. The Manx Missile came from a chaotic pack that was still chasing down the breakaway group in the last 500 meters of the stage. In characteristic form he torpedoed through a swell of sprinters to take his third stage win of this Giro d’Italia. Behind him Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ) and Luca Mezgec (ARG) fought over the scraps. The win also earned Cav the Red points jersey, previously held by Cadel Evans.

The Manx Missile's milestone win

The General Classification was mostly unchanged, and Vincenzo Nibali retained the Pink Jersey. The big loser today was Bradley Wiggins who dropped from 4^th place to 13^th on GC. His team reported this morning that he is suffering from a cold and a chest infection, and today’s soaking trek could not have been any help. He fell behind after the only categorized climb and despite the aid of all his teammates, other than the still-contending Colombian duo of Sergio Henao and Rigoberto Uran, team Sky’s leader could not make it back up to the hard-chasing peloton. He finished over three minutes behind the Maglia Rosa group and lost his high placement on GC. Sky’s GC hopes are still very much alive however, with Uran currently riding in 3^rd place overall, and Henao not far back in 11^th.

Cavendish takes his 3rd win of the Giro, and 100th career

The short stage was largely characterized by the torrential rain that showered the riders over the entire 134-kilometer course. The finish was very technical with several corners on some newly paved roads so the race directors wisely chose to neutralize the last 3 kilometers to avoid unnecessary disasters. The original finish line would still see the sprint point for the stage win however.

A quintet of escapees consisting of Maxim Belkov (KAT-winner of stage 9), Bert de Backer (ARG), Fabio Felline (AND), Mauris Lammertink and Marco Marcato (VCD) controlled the lead almost to the finish, but for the late catch by the sprinters.  They had a scare when four of the five escapees crashed on a slippery curve about 30 or 35 kms into the stage. They were all up and back on the road after a few bike swaps. The 3:00 lead they had before the pile-up was maintained afterward as the peloton slowed significantly to take that same wet curve.

Stage 13 Profile

Rain is forecast again for Stage 13 on Friday. The stage features another possible sprint stage finish—or does it?  At 254 kilometers it is the longest stage of the race. To get an idea of the length of this stage, after 182 kms of racing on flats, instead of a finish line the riders will just be hitting the first intermediate sprint point.

A single category 3 hill comes at km 211, the summit tops out about 35 kms before the finish. Regardless of the specs (looks like it climbs 482 vertical meters over 10.1 kms; that would be a little under 5% average) that far from the finish, the climb should not be decisive.

More likely to produce a disruptive move is the 2.5 km climb to Narzole near the finish. The road is narrow and has some steep hairpins up through town that could offer an escape opportunity to a puncheur with some fuel left in the tank after 245 kms of racing in the rain. The uncategorized hill tops out with 6 kms of flats to go, so a comfortable lead would be needed to stay away to the line. If a large peloton makes it to Narzole near the front, a lot of riders will lick their chops for this stage because they’ll be lucky just to get through the next two stages in the mountains. It is even possible that the pure sprinters might not get another shot until the last stage into Brescia ten days from now.

STAGE 13 PICKS:

LIKELY PICKS: I guess one of the stronger sprinters would be the safest bet, maybe Movistar’s Francisco Ventoso or Bardiani’s Sacha Modolo?

DARK-HORSE PICK: Laurent Pichon (FDJ)

MY PICK: This could be another stage that looks tasty to Katusha’s stage-3 winner Luca Paolini.

STAGE 12 Race Recap and Results

 

Thursday May 16, 2013

STAGE 12

134 kms  From Longarone to Treviso   mostly flat

CONSTANT HEAVY RAIN, 18c, winds SE 25 kph

 

2 categorized climbs today, both are small cat. 4’s. The first climb is the Muro de Ca' del Poggio, which the peloton will hit at about km 57. In 1.15km of climbing, the road kicks up to gradients of 18% and 16%. The second climb, the Montello Santa Maria Della Vittoria at km 93, is 3.6 kms long but less steep at a 7% average, with only one early section of 14%.

The final run in is flat, but technical.  Eight turns and a roundabout mark the last 7.5 kilometers, with four of them coming between 3 and 1.5 kms to go.

STAGE 12 Preview 2013 Giro d'Italia

 

Stage 11 winner Navardauskas

It took a long time for an escape group to form on the 11th stage to Vajont, but once they did they stayed away. The peloton allowed the break plenty of room since no threats to the overall classification were up front. Patrick Gretsch rode a long solo break in the front before being reeled in by a couple of his erstwhile break-mates. He was one of the escapees on stage 4 also. In the end it was Ramunas Navardauskas, Team Garmin-Sharp’s Lithuanian TT champ, who stayed away to claim the win on top of the 800-meter high Diga del Vajont.

The GC favorites finished together a few minutes later, so the overall situation is basically the same. No jerseys changed hands.

STAGE 12 Profile

Thursday’s stage 12 from Longarone to Treviso will be short and fast. I can’t imagine the sprinters’ teams will allow those few bumps in the profile to keep them from a bunch sprint finish. This will be one of their last chances to get one, so they will want it here. Rain is definitely expected again tomorrow. On their home turf are Guardini, Viviani and Modolo, who will likely want to steal the show. Will we get a Cavendish-Ferrari showdown?

STAGE 12 PICKS:

LIKELY PICK: Mark Cavendish (OPQ)

DARK-HORSE PICK: Nathan Haas (GRS)

MY PICK: Cavendish of course, but I’d like to see Danilo Wyss get a high placing.

STAGE 11 Recap and Results

 

Wednesday May 15, 2013

182k from Tarvisio to Vajont

I am going to call this one a hilltop finish

Weather: partly cloudy, 18 c, wind S 15kph, Humidity 61%

Sun forecasted but some rain reported early. Wet roads on the mountains from snowmelt;

Stage 11 Profile

A long category 2 climb makes up the middle of the stage. The 30-km long Sella Ciampigotto summits 55km to the base of the final climb at Codissago. It is a mostly descending ride to the final climb which covers about 7 kms averaging only about 5%, with a max of 9% briefly, before a short descent to the finish line. A large group may contest the finish if a breakaway does not succeed. Half the teams still have their full contingent of riders in the race.

STAGE 11 Preview 2013 Giro d'Italia

 

 Stage 10 wrap-up: 

Carlos Betancur on the attack

We were treated to another great stage today with the General Classification contenders attacking each other on the final category 1 climb up to Altopiano del Montasio. Vincenzo Nibali did a great job defending the Maglia Rosa, and Sky’s Rigoberto Uran climbed his way to the stage win and third place overall. Rafal Majka, with an inspired climb reclaimed the young rider's jersey.

Androni’s Jackson Rodriguez was the main animator and road leader for much of the stage—until the contenders organized for the final climb. Bradley Wiggins looked to be struggling to stay on terms in the last, steep kilometers to the finish near the Slovenian border. But he stayed in his rhythm and limited his losses, finally conceding 49 seconds to Nibali, with the :08 time bonus calculated in that Nibali got for 3^rd place today.

My pick for today, Michele Scarponi of Lampre, looked great for most of the climb, but struggled to keep contact with the select Nibali group that got away in the last kilometers to chase Uran to the line. That group consisted of Nibali, Evans, Pozzovivo, Betancur, Majka, and for a while, Kiserlovski. Scarponi and his teammate Niemiec came in just behind 10^th place Wiggins. It was good to see my dark-horse pick, Trofimov, right in there at the end finishing along with Scarponi and Niemiec.

Sammy Sanchez and Giampaolo Caruso lost significant time, but the big loser of the day has to be last year’s champ Ryder Hesjedal. The Garmin climber started to fall behind on the day’s first climb, but was able to rejoin the lead group for a while before really beginning to suffer on the final climb. Hesjedal finally came in 71^st, in a group almost 21 minutes behind the winner. There go the Canadian’s hopes for a repeat victory (or even a top 10 finish), up in flames. 

Several riders are still dealing with illness after the cold wet stages, today young Nibali helper Fabio Aru reported ill.

 The 3^rd place to 6^th place riders on GC are all within ten seconds of each other, and a few others who might have something to say about a podium spot are not far behind; so we will continue to see heated attacks in pursuit of Nibali’s prized shirt, and a podium position in Brescia. 

STAGE 11

 

Tomorrow’s stage 11 also ends with a climb to the finish. This one will not match stage 10’s finish however. Tomorrow’s cat. 2 finish climb to Vajont is neither as steep nor as long. A long cat. 2 makes up the middle of the stage and, along with the finish, may encourage another successful breakaway. From the summit of the mid-stage climb (the 1790m-high, 30km long Sella Ciampigotto) the riders have 55 km of mostly descending to the base of the final climb at Codissago. The Diga del Vajont climb at the end is basically 7km at 5% avg. with a brief max at 9% around 2km in, and a short descent to the finish.

The STAGE 11 Finish

The GC favorites can’t expect to gain much, if any time on their rivals on this finish, so expect a successful breakaway--whether from an early escape group or a late break.

I could see Sky’s Dario Cataldo being unleashed for a stage like this, or BMC’s Steve Morabito maybe.

STAGE 11 PICKS:

LIKELY PICKS: Peter Weening (OGE); almost anyone from Euskatel.

DARK-HORSE PICK: Simone Stortoni (LAM)

MY PICK: Fabio Duarte (Colombia)

STAGE 10 Recap and Results 2013 Giro d'Italia

 

Tuesday 14 May 2013

167 km MTF from Cordenons to Altopiano del Montasio

weather: clear and dry, temp about 18 c (64 f) early on, and 10c (50 f) at finish;

rain predicted 50/50;

Very narrow, technical descents color the back of today’s 1^st climb, the Passo Cason di Lanza. If Il Falco Paolo Savoldelli’s comments about Wiggins’ descending problems being due to nerves is true, then Wiggins will have a hard time on those sketchy roads down to Pontebba. [the rest of the descent to Chiusaforte is supposed to be less demanding, on wider roads]. Wiggins said himself, ”I descended like a girl”.

Today’s stage is dedicated to the tifosi, the fans. The roads have been painted with hundreds of tweets from fans.

News yesterday that DCM are dropping their secondary sponsorship of the Vacansoleil team after this season.

Congratulations to Colombia’s Janier Acevedo for his impressive win on the mountain top finish of stage 2 of the Tour of California yesterday. Another very beautiful race.

We lost a couple riders on the rest day:

DNS: John Degenkolb: abandoned citing fatigue; Angel Vicioso (KAT): after stage 9 crash Vicioso was examined and the hospital found a fracture of the second finger of his left hand, a fracture of two ribs (left hemithorax), a fracture of the upper angle of his right shoulder blade, splenic contusion and left renal contusion.

A smattering of attacks try for the early breakaway without success;

Km 12 (-155km to the finish): 4 escape but are caught by km 15;

14 riders get free: Daniele Bennati (Saxo-Tinkoff), Kenny Dehaes (Lotto Belisol), Elia Viviani (Cannondale), Tiago Machado and Yaroslav Popovych (RadioShack Leopard), David Millar and Thomas Dekker (Garmin-Sharp), Maarten Tjallingii (Blanco), Jackson Rodriguez (Androni Giocattoli), Serge Pauwels (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), Oscar Gatto (Vini Fantini, Pim Ligthart (Vacansoleil-DCM), Pavel Brutt (Katusha);

Several sprinters in the break today.

Ligthart in another break. He could get a strong foot-hold on the Fuga Premio with all the kilometers he is logging in the lead.

-127k: 14-man break has a lead of 1:40 over the peloton.

-115km lead up to 4:15;

First hour raced fast at 49.5 kph;

After about 60kms some light rain falls on the riders;

Fabio Taborre abandoned;

Approaching the feed zone the leaders have a lead of over 7 minutes.

Skies are clear now.

-72k lead @ 7:50;

Onto the lower slopes of the first climb the leaders jockey for position; stretching out the legs from the rest day; Jackson Rodriguez leads the break uphill;

De Haes showing some pain on the climb;

Sky join Astana at the front of the peloton;

-60k: Aru in difficulty;

The break is led by the powerful and experienced Yaroslav Popovich.

In the peloton, Sky are putting the pressure on, pedaling hard, trying to exhaust Nibali’s support riders;

Rodriguez is taking it to the break now;

Nibali dropped his chain and takes a little time getting back to the peloton;

Gap down to 4:35 as Rodriguez is chased by Popo, Pauwels and Gatto;

Hesjedal is on the back of the peloton; the Canadian reigning Giro champ does not look good;

Local favorite, Pellizotti attacks out of the 40-man Pink Jersey group with teammate Diego Rosa;

Hesjedal dropped by Sky group, Tom D. drops back to help;

Sammy Sanchez in trouble now, too; on the back with Weening;

Sky and Nibali power on; Scarponi isolated;

Henao and Zandio dropped, but Wiggins still has Uran, Cataldo and Siutsou;

 The climb is steep and narrow here;

Still dry; Snow increasing on the side of the road;

Pellizotti passes Ligthart (?) from the break;

Pauwels and Gatto still together in the middle somewhere;

Popo is still chasing Jackson Rodriguez;

-50k: over the summit, Rodriguez has :18 to Popo; 1:12 to G3 Pauwels and Gatto;

1:48 to G4 (Machado?), 1:53 to G5 (Pellizotti?); 2:10 to Viviani group;

3:28 to 1 guy; 3:35 to NIbali group;

Down the hairpin descent the road is still dry.

Going away so early, Rodriguez has left himself a tall order to stay away to the finish.

Chasers reorganizing behind.

-37.6k: Pellizotti down on the road in mid chase, gets up and goes on;

-35k: Pellizotti +:2:39;  3:45 to the pink jersey group with wiggo, evans, scarponi…

Hesjedal long gone;

Rodriguez, up front, has gear problem, calls for team car; may be stuck in one gear.

-33.4 k: Pellizotti is now with Dekker and Viviani, chasing at +2:40, gaining.

Agnoli (AST) goes back for water. Hey, get me a coke.

Betancur, at the back of the bunch, seems to still be waiting for his team car or something; Capecchi there, too;

-30k: Pink jersey group at +3:45

Pellizotti, viviani, Dekker, Machado, are the 1^st chase group behind Rodriguez;

Gatto has dropped back for Santambrogio;

*Rodriguez finally gets a bike change from Gianni Savio himself. It was not a fast change. Now riding, he’s getting saddle adjustments from the car;

*-25.2k Pauwels catches Rodriguez from out of nowhere;

Let’s see if they can work together;

Zandio is back driving the front of the pink jersey grp. With three Sky mates, but not Wiggins;

Brutt, Machado, and Pellizotti riding together; Pellizotti may need a stop;

The pink jersey group includes: Nibali, Kangert, Agnoli (AST), Zandio, Uran, Siutsou, leading the group and Wiggins riding in the back (SKY), Gesink +1 (GRS), Scarponi +2 LAMs, Santambrogio, Viviani +1CAN, 2 VCD, etc.

Several more riders getting back onto the main peloton now;

4 SKY men continue to ride tempo;

*ANOTHER bike change for Rodriguez, and Pauwels might have dumped him like an empty bidon, but he waits so they can continue to work together. It’s lonely at the top.

-20k pink peloton trail by 2:15;

Weather at the top of the mountain is beautiful; some clouds in the distance;

Great beauty shots of the mountains, local scenery, a waterfall…

Inside 15k to go, the gap from 2 leaders down to peloton is 1:30;

-13k 1:10;

Lloyd and Kirby saying their French friends picked Scarponi today. They’ve hardly mentioned him at all, but he was my pick for today, too.

-10k: the peloton are closing in on the 2 leaders.

*-9.8k: Leaders caught. The Sky-led peloton is now the front of the race;

The pace is going up with the incline. Stef Clement and Egoi Martinez hanging off the back; Kelderman and Rubiano losing contact; De Greef, Valls…

Sanchez dangling back! Atapuma, too. Kangert,

A lot of the favorites are up here in the group;

Henao has made it back;

*Coming through the tunnel at 8k to go, Uran has jumped off the front for SKY;

The lead group has been strung out and winnowed down to about 20 riders;

Astana are now driving the peloton, of course, with some help from Di Luca for VINI, as Uran cruises away alone. He’s got :25 at about -6.5k.

Di Luca’s hard work is over; he falls back.

-5k: Uran has :45 on the bunch. He’s pulling away

Incline steepening…

Nibali accelerates;

2^nd INT: Nibali pips Scarponi at the sprint line to take 2^nd. Uran was first of course.

Evans moves up to the front quickly; Kiserlovski, Santambrogio all gunning for the front; Betancur, Wiggins, Pozzovivo and Niemiec are right there too;

A fan falls over off the side. Hope he’s ok.

-4k Uran is still pulling away up front.

Behind his teammate Henao is losing contact again;

Scarponi on the front, follows with Niemiec when Majka attacks;

Santambrogio comes around to the front, Intxausti attacks as Betancur falls off the back;

Now it’s Pozzovivo, Kiserlovski, Nibali riding at the front;

Betancur is back on somehow;

3k to go: My dark-horse pick Trofimov is in there trying to hang on to the lead chasers;

Scarponi, showing fatigue, drops behind Intxausti, and Wiggins; all 3 losing ground;

Pozzovivo has put space between his wheel and the leading chasers:

Nibali, Betancur, Kiserlovski, and Majka.

-2.9k the 4 chasers just about catch Pozzovivo, clocked at :28 behind Uran;

But he stays away, and gets a gap again;

Evans and Santambrogio get onto 2^nd chase group with Nibali, et al;

Niemiec has dropped back to help Scarponi. Too bad for him. He had a good GC shot going.

2k to go: Nibali doing all the work to pull Pozzo back, now Evans comes up to help;

*The situation: Uran leads, approaching the top of the steeps before the easier run to the line. He has :24 on a hard-chasing Pozzovivo.  6 chasers are closing in on Pozzovivo now (Evans, Nibali, Santambrogio, Majka, Betancur and Kiserlovski), they join him when Uran hits -1.5 km and form the 7-man-strong first chase group on the road.

Wiggins is maintaining a rhythm behind. Can he make it back?

Evans takes over the pace for the G2 chase group;

-1.5k Betancur attacks the other 6 and gets space; His buddy Pozzovivo hangs in back of the elite chasing group;

-1k for Uran;

Just as Evans comes around on a big acceleration and attacks the chasers, Nibali has a mechanical! It’s gear problems. Terribly inopportune.

The defenseless Sicilian gets the gear back in and fights to recover. Evans slows his attack down;

Back down the hill, Bradley Wiggins is buying ice cream from a vendor.

Just kidding.

Uran flies down the easy finale;

Behind him at the sumit, Nibali attacks and Evans responds;

They’ll be fighting for 2^nd place.

Uran at the line.

:19 to Betancur

:30 to that elite chase group who look like they all got the same time;

Here comes Intxausti, Wiggins, Scarponi, Niemiec, Gesink…

Nibali extends his lead over most of his competitors.

Majka moves up into the top 10.

DNS: John Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano)
DNS: Angel Vicioso (Katusha)

 Stage 10 Results

		Result
1	Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Sky Procycling	4:37:42
2	Carlos Alberto Betancur Gomez (Col) Ag2R La Mondiale	0:00:20
3	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team	0:00:31
4	Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia
5	Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team
6	Rafal Majka (Pol) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
7	Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Ag2R La Mondiale
8	Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) RadioShack Leopard	0:00:47
9	Benat Intxausti Elorriaga (Spa) Movistar Team	0:01:06
10	Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:01:08
11	Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Lampre-Merida	0:01:10
12	Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre-Merida
13	Yury Trofimov (Rus) Katusha
14	Robert Gesink (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team	0:01:16
15	Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli	0:02:11
16	Damiano Caruso (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling
17	Dario Cataldo (Ita) Sky Procycling
18	Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team	0:02:25
19	Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Col) Sky Procycling	0:03:14
20	Francis Mourey (Fra) FDJ	0:03:16
21	Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team
22	Darwin Atapuma Hurtado (Col) Colombia	0:03:19
23	Diego Rosa (Ita) Androni Giocattoli	0:03:28
24	Rafael Valls Ferri (Spa) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team	0:03:53
25	José Herrada Lopez (Spa) Movistar Team	0:04:01
26	Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi	0:04:22
27	Francis De Greef (Bel) Lotto Belisol
28	Eros Capecchi (Ita) Movistar Team	0:04:38
29	Tiago Machado (Por) RadioShack Leopard	0:05:19
30	Evgeny Petrov (Rus) Team Saxo-Tinkoff	0:05:45
31	Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team	0:05:48
32	Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Astana Pro Team	0:06:36
33	Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia
34	Miguel Angel Rubiano Chavez (Col) Androni Giocattoli
35	Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Sky Procycling	0:07:02
36	Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Katusha
37	Jackson Rodriguez (Ven) Androni Giocattoli	0:08:12
38	Jose Rodolfo Serpa Perez (Col) Lampre-Merida	0:08:30
39	Hubert Dupont (Fra) Ag2R La Mondiale
40	Stef Clement (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team	0:08:47
41	Serge Pauwels (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick Step	0:09:46
42	Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
43	Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi	0:10:32
44	Ivan Santaromita (Ita) BMC Racing Team	0:12:14
45	Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team	0:12:43
46	Pavel Brutt (Rus) Katusha
47	Petr Ignatenko (Rus) Katusha
48	Emanuele Sella (Ita) Androni Giocattoli	0:12:45
49	Daniele Bennati (Ita) Team Saxo-Tinkoff	0:14:51
50	Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) RadioShack Leopard
51	Thomas Damuseau (Fra) Team Argos-Shimano
52	Dalivier Ospina Navarro (Col) Colombia
53	Mads Christensen (Den) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
54	Robert Vrecer (Slo) Euskaltel-Euskadi
55	Elia Viviani (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling	0:15:00

Other notable times:
71. Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin)  + 20:53
84. Tom Danielson (Garmin)   20:53
96. Peter Weening (Orica-Green Edge)  20:53
188. Fabio Aru (Astana) 29:38
 

General classification after stage 10

		Result
1	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team	38:57:32
2	Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team	0:00:41
3	Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Sky Procycling	0:02:04
4	Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:02:05
5	Robert Gesink (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team	0:02:12
6	Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre-Merida	0:02:13
7	Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia	0:02:55
8	Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Lampre-Merida	0:03:35
9	Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Ag2R La Mondiale	0:04:17
10	Rafal Majka (Pol) Team Saxo-Tinkoff	0:04:21
11	Benat Intxausti Elorriaga (Spa) Movistar Team	0:04:23
12	Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Col) Sky Procycling	0:05:06
13	Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team	0:05:08
14	Carlos Alberto Betancur Gomez (Col) Ag2R La Mondiale	0:05:26
15	Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) RadioShack Leopard	0:05:57
16	Yury Trofimov (Rus) Katusha	0:06:08
17	Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli	0:06:55
18	Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi	0:07:46
19	Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team	0:08:06
20	Rafael Valls Ferri (Spa) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team	0:08:41
21	Damiano Caruso (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling	0:08:43
22	Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team	0:08:55
23	Francis De Greef (Bel) Lotto Belisol	0:11:43
24	Darwin Atapuma Hurtado (Col) Colombia	0:12:52
25	Evgeny Petrov (Rus) Team Saxo-Tinkoff	0:13:09
26	Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Katusha	0:13:19
27	Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia	0:13:46
28	Jose Rodolfo Serpa Perez (Col) Lampre-Merida	0:13:52
29	Ivan Santaromita (Ita) BMC Racing Team	0:16:45
30	Francis Mourey (Fra) FDJ	0:18:16
31	Tiago Machado (Por) RadioShack Leopard	0:20:26
32	Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi	0:20:46
33	Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin-Sharp	0:23:45
34	Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Blanco Pro Cycling Team	0:26:13
35	Thomas Danielson (USA) Garmin-Sharp	0:26:17
36	José Herrada Lopez (Spa) Movistar Team	0:26:54
37	Diego Rosa (Ita) Androni Giocattoli	0:28:30
38	Stefano Pirazzi (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox	0:29:27
39	Fabio Andres Duarte Arevalo (Col) Colombia	0:29:28
40	Michal Golas (Pol) Omega Pharma-Quick Step	0:30:13

Points classification

		Result
1	Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team	73
2	Elia Viviani (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling	60
3	Mark Cavendish (GBr) Omega Pharma-Quick Step	58
4	Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Sky Procycling	53
5	Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia	52
6	Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox	45
7	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team	45
8	Carlos Alberto Betancur Gomez (Col) Ag2R La Mondiale	43
9	Maxim Belkov (Rus) Katusha	41
10	Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Belisol	39
11	Luca Paolini (Ita) Katusha	35
12	Benat Intxausti Elorriaga (Spa) Movistar Team	35
13	Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling	34
14	Jarlinson Pantano (Col) Colombia	32
15	Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) FDJ	31
16	Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin-Sharp	30
17	Fabio Felline (Ita) Androni Giocattoli	28
18	Matthew Harley Goss (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge	28
19	Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team	27
20	Alex Dowsett (GBr) Movistar Team	25
21	Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia	25
22	Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) RadioShack Leopard	25
23	Cameron Wurf (Aus) Cannondale Pro Cycling	24
24	Pim Ligthart (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team	22
25	Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Col) Sky Procycling	22
26	Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) RadioShack Leopard	22
27	Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar Team	20
28	Damiano Caruso (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling	19
29	Manuele Boaro (Ita) Team Saxo-Tinkoff	18
30	Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi	17
31	Rafael Andriato (Bra) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia	16
32	Pieter Weening (Ned) Orica-GreenEdge	16
33	Paul Martens (Ger) Blanco Pro Cycling Team	16
34	Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Katusha	15
35	Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Team Argos-Shimano	15
36	Emanuele Sella (Ita) Androni Giocattoli	14
37	Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre-Merida	14
38	Robert Gesink (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team	13
39	Rafal Majka (Pol) Team Saxo-Tinkoff	13
40	Danilo Hondo (Ger) RadioShack Leopard	13

Mountains classification

		Result
1	Stefano Pirazzi (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox	38
2	Robinson Eduardo Chalapud Gomez (Col) Colombia	23
3	Jackson Rodriguez (Ven) Androni Giocattoli	17
4	Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar Team	16
5	Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Sky Procycling	15
6	Emanuele Sella (Ita) Androni Giocattoli	13
7	Maxim Belkov (Rus) Katusha	13
8	Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Belisol	12
9	Jarlinson Pantano (Col) Colombia	12
10	Willem Wauters (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team	9
11	Carlos Alberto Betancur Gomez (Col) Ag2R La Mondiale	9
12	Tiago Machado (Por) RadioShack Leopard	9
13	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team	6
14	Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia	5
15	Serge Pauwels (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick Step	5
16	Manuele Boaro (Ita) Team Saxo-Tinkoff	5
17	Cameron Wurf (Aus) Cannondale Pro Cycling	3
18	Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia	3
19	Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team	3
20	Guillaume Bonnafond (Fra) Ag2R La Mondiale	3
21	Dominique Rollin (Can) FDJ	3
22	Oscar Gatto (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia	3
23	Patrick Gretsch (Ger) Team Argos-Shimano	3
24	Pim Ligthart (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team	3
25	Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team	2
26	Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team	2
27	Evgeny Petrov (Rus) Team Saxo-Tinkoff	2
28	Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Blanco Pro Cycling Team	2
29	Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Astana Pro Team	2
30	Ben Gastauer (Lux) Ag2R La Mondiale	2
31	Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team	2
32	Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Team Argos-Shimano	2
33	Marco Canola (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox	2
34	Ioannis Tamouridis (Gre) Euskaltel-Euskadi	2
35	Brian Bulgac (Ned) Lotto Belisol	2
36	Rafal Majka (Pol) Team Saxo-Tinkoff	1
37	Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Col) Sky Procycling	1
38	Pieter Weening (Ned) Orica-GreenEdge	1
39	Martijn Keizer (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team	1
40	Pavel Brutt (Rus) Katusha	1
41	Alan Marangoni (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling	1

Fuga Pinarello classification

		Result
1	Pim Ligthart (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team	290
2	Emanuele Sella (Ita) Androni Giocattoli	278
3	Ioannis Tamouridis (Gre) Euskaltel-Euskadi	263
4	Cameron Wurf (Aus) Cannondale Pro Cycling	221
5	Jackson Rodriguez (Ven) Androni Giocattoli	217
6	Ricardo Mestre (Por) Euskaltel-Euskadi	204
7	Brian Bulgac (Ned) Lotto Belisol	204
8	Miguel Minguez Ayala (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi	197
9	Alan Marangoni (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling	178
10	Rafael Andriato (Bra) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia	177
11	Johan Le Bon (Fra) FDJ	176
12	Jarlinson Pantano (Col) Colombia	167
13	Manuele Boaro (Ita) Team Saxo-Tinkoff	167
14	Dirk Bellemakers (Ned) Lotto Belisol	167
15	Willem Wauters (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team	167
16	Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ	151
17	Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Belisol	147
18	Bert De Backer (Bel) Team Argos-Shimano	145
19	Jack Bobridge (Aus) Blanco Pro Cycling Team	118
20	Dominique Rollin (Can) FDJ	112
21	Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team	112
22	Maxim Belkov (Rus) Katusha	79
23	Stefano Pirazzi (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox	72
24	Robinson Eduardo Chalapud Gomez (Col) Colombia	44
25	Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar Team	33
26	Martijn Keizer (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team	26
27	Guillaume Bonnafond (Fra) Ag2R La Mondiale	26
28	Marco Canola (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox	26
29	Serge Pauwels (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick Step	16
30	Ben Gastauer (Lux) Ag2R La Mondiale	13

Young rider classification

		Result
1	Rafal Majka (Pol) Team Saxo-Tinkoff	39:01:53
2	Carlos Alberto Betancur Gomez (Col) Ag2R La Mondiale	0:01:05
3	Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team	0:04:34
4	Darwin Atapuma Hurtado (Col) Colombia	0:08:31
5	Diego Rosa (Ita) Androni Giocattoli	0:24:09
6	Jarlinson Pantano (Col) Colombia	0:34:59
7	Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox	0:42:30
8	Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Orica-GreenEdge	0:45:16
9	Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team	0:46:11
10	Francesco Manuel Bongiorno (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox	0:48:02
11	Fabio Felline (Ita) Androni Giocattoli	0:48:38
12	Stefano Locatelli (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox	0:53:13
13	Nelson Filipe Santos Simoes Oliveira (Por) RadioShack Leopard	1:00:07
14	Thomas Damuseau (Fra) Team Argos-Shimano	1:02:40
15	Martijn Keizer (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team	1:04:40
16	Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Sky Procycling	1:12:22
17	Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Team Argos-Shimano	1:16:24
18	Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Garmin-Sharp	1:18:39
19	Gert Dockx (Bel) Lotto Belisol	1:20:11
20	Elia Viviani (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling	1:20:12

Teams classification

		Result
1	Sky Procycling	116:17:04
2	Blanco Pro Cycling Team	0:05:29
3	Astana Pro Team	0:09:53
4	Lampre-Merida	0:10:20
5	Movistar Team	0:13:31
6	Katusha	0:24:07
7	Ag2R La Mondiale	0:25:07
8	Androni Giocattoli	0:33:43
9	Vini Fantini-Selle Italia	0:35:33
10	BMC Racing Team	0:36:49
11	Team Saxo-Tinkoff	0:42:23
12	Euskaltel-Euskadi	0:44:06
13	RadioShack Leopard	0:44:29
14	Colombia	0:56:39
15	Cannondale Pro Cycling	1:10:33
16	Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling	1:26:23
17	Garmin-Sharp	1:30:35
18	Omega Pharma-Quick-Step	1:45:22
19	FDJ	1:46:47
20	Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox	1:48:28
21	Lotto Belisol	1:53:16
22	Orica-GreenEdge	2:14:35
23	Team Argos-Shimano	2:36:12