Cycling

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1. Mauro SANTAMBROGIO, Vini Fantini-Selle Italia, in 4:42:55 2. Vincenzo NIBALI, Astana, at :00 3. Carlos Alberto BETANCUR GOMEZ, Ag2r La Mondiale, at :09 4. Samuel SANCHEZ GONZALEZ, Euskaltel-Euskadi, at :26 5. Rigoberto URAN URAN, Sky, at :30 6. Cadel EVANS, BMC Racing, at :33 7. Domenico POZZOVIVO, Ag2r La Mondiale, at :33 8. Robert KISERLOVSKI, RadioShack-Leopard, at :33 9. Sonny COLBRELLI, Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox, at :55 10. Damiano CARUSO, Cannondale, at :58 11. Rafal MAJKA, Saxo-Tinkoff, at :59 12. Yury TROFIMOV, Katusha, at :59 13. Franco PELLIZOTTI, Androni Giocattoli-Venezuela, at 1:04 14. Diego ROSA, Androni Giocattoli-Venezuela, at 1:08 15. Przemyslaw NIEMIEC, Lampre-Merida, at 1:08 16. Fabio Andres DUARTE AREVALO, Colombia, at 1:15 17. Benat INTXAUSTI ELORRIAGA, Movistar, at 1:24 18. Michele SCARPONI, Lampre-Merida, at 1:28 19. Luca PAOLINI, Katusha, at 1:41 20. Sergio Luis HENAO MONTOYA, Sky, at 1:48 21. Tanel KANGERT, Astana, at 2:16 22. Thomas DANIELSON, Garmin-Sharp, at 2:32 23. Danilo DI LUCA, Vini Fantini-Selle Italia, at 2:40 24. Daniele PIETROPOLLI, Lampre-Merida, at 2:53 25. Evgeny PETROV, Saxo-Tinkoff, at 3:21 26. Darwin ATAPUMA HURTADO, Colombia, at 3:21 27. Eros CAPECCHI, Movistar, at 3:21 28. Hubert DUPONT, Ag2r La Mondiale, at 3:25 29. Fabio FELLINE, Androni Giocattoli-Venezuela, at 3:39 30. Egoi MARTINEZ DE ESTEBAN, Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 4:01 31. Jose Rodolfo SERPA PEREZ, Lampre-Merida, at 4:05 32. Juan Manuel GARATE, Blanco, at 4:16 33. Wilco KELDERMAN, Blanco, at 4:16 34. Steven KRUIJSWIJK, Blanco, at 4:16 35. Robert GESINK, Blanco, at 4:16 36. Francis MOUREY, FDJ, at 4:16 37. Peter STETINA, Garmin-Sharp, at 4:16 38. Thomas DAMUSEAU, Argos-Shimano, at 4:16 39. Tiago MACHADO, RadioShack-Leopard, at 4:16 40. José HERRADA LOPEZ, Movistar, at 4:16 41. Francis DE GREEF, Lotto-Belisol, at 4:30 42. Valerio AGNOLI, Astana, at 4:58 43. Fabio ARU, Astana, at 4:58 44. Jarlinson PANTANO, Colombia, at 5:18 45. Rob RUIJGH, Vacansoleil-DCM, at 5:43 46. Rafael VALLS FERRI, Vacansoleil-DCM, at 5:43 47. Dario CATALDO, Sky, at 5:50 48. Jorge AZANZA SOTO, Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 5:50 49. Emanuele SELLA, Androni Giocattoli-Venezuela, at 6:18 50. Ben GASTAUER, Ag2r La Mondiale, at 6:24 51. Johan LE BON, FDJ, at 6:24 52. Fredrik Carl Wilhelm KESSIAKOFF, Astana, at 6:56 53. Matteo RABOTTINI, Vini Fantini-Selle Italia, at 6:56 54. Giampaolo CARUSO, Katusha, at 6:56 55. Stef CLEMENT, Blanco, at 7:06 56. Steve MORABITO, BMC Racing, at 7:06 57. Vladimir GUSEV, Katusha, at 7:42 58. Kanstantsin SIUTSOU, Sky, at 7:54 59. Petr IGNATENKO, Katusha, at 7:54 60. Pieter WEENING, Orica-GreenEdge, at 7:57 61. Giovanni VISCONTI, Movistar, at 9:11 62. Fabio SABATINI, Cannondale, at 10:08 63. Dominique ROLLIN, FDJ, at 10:08 64. Adam HANSEN, Lotto-Belisol, at 10:08 65. Lars Ytting BAK, Lotto-Belisol, at 10:08 66. Frederik WILLEMS, Lotto-Belisol, at 10:08 67. Kristijan DURASEK, Lampre-Merida, at 10:08 68. Dmitry KOZONTCHUK, Katusha, at 10:08 69. Stephen CUMMINGS, BMC Racing, at 10:08 70. Patrick GRETSCH, Argos-Shimano, at 10:08 71. Danilo WYSS, BMC Racing, at 10:08 72. Koen DE KORT, Argos-Shimano, at 10:08 73. Matteo TRENTIN, Omega Pharma-Quick Step, at 10:17 74. Manuele BOARO, Saxo-Tinkoff, at 11:14 75. Christian KNEES, Sky, at 11:23 76. Ivan SANTAROMITA, BMC Racing, at 11:27 77. Alessandro PRONI, Vini Fantini-Selle Italia, at 12:05 78. Francisco José VENTOSO ALBERDI, Movistar, at 12:17 79. Hayden ROULSTON, RadioShack-Leopard, at 12:28 80. Robert VRECER, Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 12:59 81. Simone STORTONI, Lampre-Merida, at 13:02 82. Jesse SERGENT, RadioShack-Leopard, at 13:31 83. Ricardo MESTRE, Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 13:31 84. Nelson Filipe SANTOS SIMOES OLIVEIRA, RadioShack-Leopard, at 13:31 85. Robinson Eduardo CHALAPUD GOMEZ, Colombia, at 13:35 86. Daniel OSS, BMC Racing, at 14:22 87. Manuel BELLETTI, Ag2r La Mondiale, at 14:22 88. Tiziano DALL’ANTONIA, Cannondale, at 14:22 89. Salvatore PUCCIO, Sky, at 14:22 90. Danny PATE, Sky, at

Vincenzo Nibali strengthened his grip on the maglia rosa after finishing second behind Mauro Santambrogio on a weather-affected stage 14 of the Giro d'Italia.

This story originally appeared on Cyclingnews.comMauro Santambrogio (Vini Fantini-Selle Italia) won the 14th stage of the Giro d'Italia, finishing first atop the Jafferau in horrid weather conditions which forced organisers remove the Col di Sestriere from the stage. He finished just ahead of maglia rosa Vincenzo Nibali (Astana), who didn't contest the win. Carlos Betancur (AG2R-La Mondiale) was third, eight seconds later.The real winner of the day, however, was the weather. It started raining heavily shortly after the stage started, and that was just a harbinger of things to come. Only an hour before the start, organisers announced that the Sestriere was being taken out due to bad weather, and that the riders would ride through the Val di Susa for an additional 12 kilometers on the day. There were variously heavy fog and even snowfall at the finish during the stage.A break got away early and built up a lead of up to 10 minutes and Astana gave up interest in pursuing early on. Several teams combined in the final climb to catch the remaining two riders who were away, and Nibali jumped late on the Jafferau to further cement his overall lead.Nibali once again increased his lead, as Cadel Evans (BMC) finished 33 seconds later. That dropped the second-placed Australian to 1:26 down. Sky's Rigoberto Uran stayed in third at 2:46, with Santambrogio directly behind him at 2:47. Robert Gesink (Blanco) lost enough time on the final climb to drop him from the top ten.How it happenedFour riders didn't take to the start: Daniele Bennati and Karsten Kroon (both Saxo-Tinkoff), Gert Steegmans (OPQS) and Jack Bobridge (Blanco).As has so often been the case in this Giro, heavy rainfall started shortly after the start of the stage. That didn't stop a group from forming after about 14 kilometers. Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel), Pieter Weening (Orica-GreenEdge), Luca Paolini (Katusha), Peter Stetina (Garmin-Sharp), Daniele Pietropolli (Lampre), Sonny Colbrelli (Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox) and Matteo Trentin (OPQS) started off together.However, in an odd coincidence, the three non-Italians all soon crashed apparently due to the wet roads, and fell back, leaving Italians Paolini, Pietropolli, Colbrelli and Trentin in the lead. The foursome proved to be speedy, building up a 7:10 lead by kilometre 50.A "brutal" crash, as the Gazzetta dello Sport called it, took down Alessandro Vanotti (Astana), Enrico Battaglin (Bardiani Valvole-CSF-Inox) and Robinson Chalapud (Colombia). The first two were forced to leave the race.The gap only increased, as Astana showed little interest in giving serious chase. After 100km, and with 80km left to go, the time difference was nine minutes.As the gap grew to nearly 10 minutes, Cannondale, Androni Giacattoli and Sky moved to the head of the field. Their work helped the gap come down only slowly, though. Their efforts finally showed effect on the final climb, as the gap had dropped to 5:35 with 25km remaining.Trentin suffered on the climb but was able to hold on. However, a puncture at 20km to go, put an end to his slim hold on the group.Sky led the charge from behind, apparently hoping to launch their new leader Uran to make up time on maglia rosa Nibali.The closer the finish line climb, the smaller the gap became. A greatly reduced field of 30-40 riders was giving furious chase, with Sky setting a blistering pace. It started getting nip-and-tuck for the three leaders, as the gap hovered around four minutes with 5km to go.It was not Uran but Henao who was sent up the road for Sky. He was marked by Androni's Diego Rosa, whose teammate Franco Pellizotti had earlier attacked but was unable to sustain his lead.The fog and mist which had left the finish line returned, of course, in time for the finish. Colbreli was dropped as the finish line – and the maglia rosa group - approached.The first rider to emerge from the fog with 400 meters to go was Santambrogio, followed closely by Nibali, who had obviously jumped from the chase

Domestic teams switch goals to stage wins

Vincenzo Nibali gained more time on his GC rivals in Saturday's stage 14. Photo: Graham Watson | www.grahamwatson.comMauro Santambrogio (Vini Fantini-Selle Italia) won stage 14 of the Giro d’Italia on Saturday, while Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) padded his overall lead in the three-week grand tour. Santambrogio matched Nibali’s attack with 3 kilometers left on the final climb of Jafferau, and the pair rode together to the finish after picking off the three stage leaders. Carlos Betancur (Ag2r-La Mondiale) was third. Nibali extended his GC lead over Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) to 1:26, while Rigoberto Uran (Sky) is now 2:46 behind in third. Santambrogio is now fourth in the GC, 2:47 behind Nibali. “I still haven’t realized what this means for me. It was a hard day, cold and rain. Then with the snow in the end,” Santambrogio said. “Nibali attacked with about 3km [left]. I felt good and followed him. We worked together to catch the breakaway. They stayed with us a bit, but we dropped them. It’s good for him, too, with a 12-second bonus.” Nibali appeared to soft pedal close to the finish line, allowing his fellow Italian to earn the victory. “It was a long, hard day. Very cold, especially at the end in the snow,” Nibali said. “This is a long Giro, not over yet. It was a good test at the end. [Santambrogio] won, but I was able to make a good gap on my rivals.” An early break developed about 19km into the 168km stage, and the riders stayed together until the Jafferau climb. The group began to fracture, with Matteo Trentin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) initially dropping back. Eventually, Santambrogio and Nibali dropped the other three riders — Luca Paolini (Katusha), Daniele Pietropolli (Lampre-Merida), and Sonny Colbrelli (Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox. Weather alters course Earlier Saturday, race organizers announced the climb of Sestriere was removed from the stage 14 course because of bad weather that featured snow at the summit. The concern was not the ascent but rather the descent, which would have required the peloton to carefully navigate the fast and technical snowy roads. The decision was also made to change the route for Sunday’s stage 15. Gone is the climb of Mont Centis early in the stage, and the finish on the summit of the famed Col du Galibier was moved 4.2km below the top. The original re-routing plan was to have the stage finish 15km before the summit. The weather also forced the grounding of helicopters and airplanes above Saturday’s course, so there were no live television images of the race until the finish. The weekend of climbing was expected to sort out the GC picture, but the altered route changed that. The race for the pink will be now be sorted out in the final week of racing, which ends with next Sunday’s 197km stage 21 from Riese Pio X to Brescia. Four riders did not start Saturday’s stage: Jack Bobridge (Blanco), Gert Steegmans (Omega Pharma), Daniele Bennati (Saxo-Tinkoff), and Karsten Kroon (Saxo). Three others abandoned during the stage: David Millar (Garmin-Sharp), Alessandro Vanotti (Astana), and Enrico Battaglin (Bardiani Valvole).

Tejay van Garderen brings a sizeable lead into Saturday's penultimate stage at the Amgen Tour of California. Photo: Casey B. Gibson | www.cbgphoto.comSAN JOSE, Calif. (VN) — For the podium contenders, or those daring to fly the coup solo today, there is but one true mountain remaining in the 2013 Amgen Tour of California. And it’s a big one. Saturday’s stage, from Livermore to Mount Diablo, ends on the hors categorie climb and represents the last real chance to knock Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing) from what would be his first major stage-race win. The South Gate Road ascent of Diablo covers 16.4 kilometers at an average of 5.7 percent. According to Strava, the rider with the best ascent time via South Gate is none other than 5-Hour Energy’s Nate English — so who better to ask about the climb that will make or break the Amgen Tour for van Garderen than the King of the Mountain holder. English has ridden the mountain in 45:28 at an average clip of 23 kilometers per hour. “It’s a relatively long climb, 40-45 minutes. It’s not a climb for pure climbers necessarily. There’s even some flat parts in it. Definitely helps to know it because there are some parts where you can attack and get out of sight pretty quickly,” English told VeloNews. “The wind can definitely make a couple minutes difference. It’ll probably be hot this year. It’s a good day for someone like Tejay who’s not a pure climber but is super strong and is able to hold it if he attacks early. A lot of people want to win that stage.” Well, KOM, would you like to win it? “I would love to win it, but it’s a super tall order for someone like me,” he said. “[There’s] definitely people who can climb better than me. It’s one of my favorite climbs and I’d like to be in a position to go for it.” The climb, English said, flattens out a bit in the middle, kicks up again, and serves up a harsh final 200 meters. The move, English and van Garderen said, will come in the final third of the climb. Van Garderen said he knows the climb, and thought much of the same. “I expect it to come on the upper third of the climb. That’s where it gets a little bit steeper. And that’s where guys are going to start to suffer a little bit. But I think we’re going to have a strong team,” he said. “I think the usual suspects are still the dangerous guys. Like [Michael] Rogers and [Janier] Acevedo and [Philip] Deignan.” As it stands now, van Garderen has more than a minute on his rivals. Rogers is in second, but seems to know that unless he pulls off something brilliant, the writing is on the wall. “It’s uphill, I know that,” Rogers said of the climb. “I only know what’s on the course profile. It’s not so steep, I’m not expecting it to be like the finish into Palm Springs. At the end of the day it’s the riders who make the race. I’m sure a lot of the guys who are just out of the top 10 will be trying to make an attack from a long way out. Obviously BMC have a very strong team, and all the reason in the world to defend the jersey, and I’m sure they will.” What about Rogers’ GC chances? “Every kilometer that passes and every second more makes it that much more difficult to close. I’ve been around long enough to know that anything can happen,” he said. “As I said it gets harder, and Tejay has a strong team. It will be hard to bring back, but it’s certainly not over until you cross the line.” As for that KOM, English thought it may stand. “If people are just looking around at each other I could see Acevedo going in the last half mile and holding it,” he said. “If it’s all together going into the climb there’s no reason to go hard from the bottom. I see it more likely playing out that people won’t go hard until at least halfway.”

Continued snowfall too much for the race

Wondering what your favorite pro riders were using at the time trial of this year's Amgen Tour of California? Here's a visual rundown of nearly every team racing (sorry, Orica-GreenEdge!).Click through the gallery at the right for an up-close look at the latest go-fast gear.Lucas Euser doesn't have two arm rests so much as one pad

Cycling clothing company Champion System used its factory team to test out a new 'speed suit' during this year's Amgen Tour of California time trial. It's rather unusual looking but, according to VP of sales and marketing Charlie Issendorf, its unconventional construction is also the key to its claimed aero advantage.The main difference on Champion System's novel skinsuit design is the back-mounted zipper. According to Issendorf, this leaves a smoother surface on the front of the garment for cleaner airflow – something that isn't likely to matter much for most enthusiast riders but potentially huge for top-level competitors. The zipper comes partway down the backOther features include mesh panels across the entire back and the back of the thighs to boost breathability, silicone-injected grippers around the leg openings, and carbon-infused fabrics around the arms with articulated elbows for increased compression and a sleeker fit.Issendorf acknowledges that the rear-mounted zipper does come with trade-offs, such as the inability to increase ventilation on the fly during a climb, for example. In fact, team riders can't even zip up the garment themselves.Champion System may still put the new skinsuit design into production depending on team rider feedback. After all, speed is speed and there's always someone willing to pay more to get it. Final pricing is to be determined but if it makes it into the marketplace, don't expect it until the 2014 model year.