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Former Ferrari client wins second stage in Vicenza

Astana leader confident before final mountain stages

Vincenzo Nibali is targeting a stage win and Thursday's climbing TT has taken on increased importance with foul weather looming in the mountains. Photo: Graham Watson | www.grahamwatson.comVICENZA, Italy (VN) — More than 3,000 kilometers of racing at the 2013 Giro d’Italia could come down to little more than 20km of mountain pavement during Thursday’s climbing time trial. With winter-like weather threatening to neutralize parts of two dramatic climbing stages still on tap across the Dolomites, the 20.6km race against the clock from Mori to Polsa will take on added importance in the race for the pink jersey. “Tomorrow is a very important stage,” overall leader Vincenzo Nibali said. “It’s a decisive day in the balance of this Giro.” Nibali (Astana) will be looking to widen his lead to Cadel Evans (BMC Racing), still lurking in second, at 1:26. A strong ride by Nibali could eliminate most of his rivals and push the Italian over the top going into the final three days of racing in this Giro. “I usually do pretty well in climbing time trials,” Nibali said. “It’s an important gap to Cadel, but you can never let down your guard with him. Two minutes would be a better lead. Cadel has always been there at the front. He is pedaling well.” On paper, Thursday’s route certainly favors Nibali. The Italian will also have the advantage of starting last and will know the time differences to his direct rivals. The stage begins in on the track in Mori and remains flat for about one kilometer. From there, it kicks up at a steady grade of about six percent for six kilometers. A more moderate middle section provides a short breather, with a shallow descent through the town of Brentonico at 11km. The hardest part of the climb begins at 14km, with a final average grade of more than seven percent in the final 7km. The total elevation gain is 1,018 meters, with an average grade of 5.7 percent and ramps as steep as 10 percent. Nibali is still without a stage victory, but he said the most important challenge now is to defend and widen his grip on the maglia rosa. “I will only try to win one stage, whether it’s tomorrow or Friday or Saturday,” he said. “To defend a jersey like this is already a win. If I can, I will try to win a stage. The most important goal is to win the Giro.” Evans is the top threat for pink Evans remains Nibali’s most direct threat. The climbing time trial is one of four stages that the Australian had the chance to preview when he made the late decision to start the Giro. As Evans said in a rest-day press conference Monday, he will go out swinging. With the threat of route changes affecting the decisive climbing stages later this week, Evans admitted that tomorrow’s TT is even more important. “I look at it as three really important days for selection,” Evans said in a team release. “Obviously if you take out two of those, then a minute-and-a-half to take back in 20 kilometers is pretty difficult. The time trial was always going to be one of those [decisive stages] and it’s not a very long one. “But even if you have one percent more in the legs or a little bit better recovery, or you’ve had a little less effort in the two weeks leading into it, you can really make a difference. It’s pretty much up all uphill.” Rigoberto Urán (Sky), third at 2:46, said the climbing time trial would be a decisive moment in the 96th Giro. With Nibali and Evans better time trialists, the Colombian will be fighting to defend his podium position against threats from behind. “We’ve gotten this far, now we shall see. It’s a hard stage, and it’s very important for everyone,” Urán told VeloNews. “We can only help for better weather in the mountains. Everyone’s suffering with the cold. For sure, it’s going to be difficult.” For Nibali, tomorrow’

Astana leader confident before final mountain stages

1. Alex RASMUSSEN, Garmin-Sharp, in 4:34:05 2. Ben SWIFT, Sky, at :00 3. Juan Jose LOBATO DEL VALLE, Euskaltel-Euskadi, at :00 4. Gerald CIOLEK, MTN-Qhubeka, at :00 5. Davide CIMOLAI, Lampre-Merida, at :00 6. Nikias ARNDT, Argos-Shimano, at :00 7. Andreas SCHILLINGER, NetApp-Endura, at :00 8. Geraint THOMAS, Sky, at :00 9. Manuele MORI, Lampre-Merida, at :00 10. Johannes WEBER, Heizomat, at :00 11. Maxime BOUET, Ag2r La Mondiale, at :00 12. Raymond KREDER, Garmin-Sharp, at :00 13. Arnaud DEMARE, FDJ, at :00 14. David TANNER, Blanco, at :00 15. Adriano MALORI, Lampre-Merida, at :00 16. Jack BAUER, Garmin-Sharp, at :00 17. Heinrich HAUSSLER, IAM Cycling, at :00 18. Simon CLARKE, Orica-GreenEdge, at :00 19. Daryl IMPEY, Orica-GreenEdge, at :00 20. Fabian WEGMANN, Garmin-Sharp, at :00 21. Yauheni HUTAROVICH, Ag2r La Mondiale, at :00 22. Romain BARDET, Ag2r La Mondiale, at :00 23. Cyril GAUTIER, Europcar, at :00 24. Warren BARGUIL, Argos-Shimano, at :00 25. Theo REINHARDT, Rad-Net Rose, at :00 26. Aidis KRUOPIS, Orica-GreenEdge, at :00 27. Yoann OFFREDO, FDJ, at :00 28. Damiano CUNEGO, Lampre-Merida, at :00 29. Michel KREDER, Garmin-Sharp, at :00 30. Bram TANKINK, Blanco, at :00 31. Michael SCHWARZMANN, NetApp-Endura, at :00 32. Robert WAGNER, Blanco, at :00 33. Diego ULISSI, Lampre-Merida, at :00 34. Andreas STAUFF, MTN-Qhubeka, at :00 35. Roger KLUGE, NetApp-Endura, at :00 36. Nikodemus HOLLER, Thüringer Energie, at :00 37. Johannes FRÖHLINGER, Argos-Shimano, at :00 38. Grischa JANORSCHKE, Nutrixxion Abus, at :00 39. Silvio HERKLOTZ, Stölting, at :00 40. Martin ELMIGER, IAM Cycling, at :00 41. Ruben PEREZ MORENO, Euskaltel-Euskadi, at :00 42. John GADRET, Ag2r La Mondiale, at :00 43. Christopher SUTTON, Sky, at :00 44. Sam BEWLEY, Orica-GreenEdge, at :00 45. Jérémy ROY, FDJ, at :00 46. Stefan DENIFL, IAM Cycling, at :00 47. Ignatas KONOVALOVAS, MTN-Qhubeka, at :00 48. Jan-Niklas DROSTE, Heizomat, at :00 49. Marcel WYSS, IAM Cycling, at :00 50. Sebastian LANGEVELD, Orica-GreenEdge, at :00 51. Jasha SÜTTERLIN, Thüringer Energie, at :00 52. Mikel NIEVE ITURALDE, Euskaltel-Euskadi, at :00 53. Sergio PARDILLA BELLON, MTN-Qhubeka, at :00 54. Russell DOWNING, NetApp-Endura, at :00 55. Jan BARTA, NetApp-Endura, at :00 56. Christophe RIBLON, Ag2r La Mondiale, at :00 57. Laurent MANGEL, FDJ, at :00 58. Alexander WETTERHALL, NetApp-Endura, at :00 59. Mikael CHEREL, Ag2r La Mondiale, at :00 60. Maximilian WERDA, Stölting, at :16 61. Georg PREIDLER, Argos-Shimano, at :16 62. Florian SCHEIT, Rad-Net Rose, at :16 63. Martin REIMER, MTN-Qhubeka, at :16 64. Jan DIETEREN, Stölting, at :16 65. Jure KOCJAN, Euskaltel-Euskadi, at :16 66. Matteo BONO, Lampre-Merida, at :16 67. Thomas KOEP, Stölting, at :16 68. Thomas LÖVKVIST, IAM Cycling, at :18 69. Sebastian Körber, Nutrixxion Abus, at :19 70. Yohann GENE, Europcar, at :19 71. Dominic KLEMME, IAM Cycling, at :22 72. Martijn VERSCHOOR, Novo Nordisk, at :22 73. Patrick SCHELLING, IAM Cycling, at :22 74. Fabian SCHORMAIR, Heizomat, at :22 75. Jan BROCKHOFF, Thüringer Energie, at :22 76. Peter KENNAUGH, Sky, at :22 77. Max MERK, Heizomat, at :22 78. Pierre ROLLAND, Europcar, at :22 79. Alexander KRIEGER, Rad-Net Rose, at :22 80. David LELAY, Sojasun, at :22 81. William BONNET, FDJ, at :25 82. Ian STANNARD, Sky, at :34 83. Joseph Lloyd DOMBROWSKI, Sky, at :34 84. Lucas LIß, Rad-Net Rose, at :34 85. Moritz SCHAFFNER, Thüringer Energie, at :34 86. Davide MALACARNE, Europcar, at :36 87. Jonas AHLSTRAND, Argos-Shimano, at :36 88. Cyril LEMOINE, Sojasun, at :36 89. Simon GESCHKE, Argos-Shimano, at :36 90. Jerome COUSIN, Europcar, at :36 91. Bjorn THURAU, Europcar, at :36 92. Simon GERRANS, Orica-GreenEdge, at :36 93. Javier MEGIAS LEAL, Novo Nordisk, at :41 94. Alexander SCHMITT, Nutrixxion Abus, at :41 95. Tobias DOHLUS, Nutrixxion Abus, at :41 96. Benjamin SYDLIK, Nutrixxion Abus, at :41 97. Yannick TALABARDON, Sojasun, at :41 98. Jon ABERASTURI IZAGA, Euskaltel-Euskadi, at :43 99. Cédric PINEAU, FDJ, at :5

Giovani Visconti claimed Movistar’s third consecutive after launching a successful solo attack in the last 20km on Stage 17 of 2013 Giro d’Italia. The Italian had made his move towards the summit of the final ascent and bypassed Miguel Rubiano (Androni) and Danilo Di Luca (Vini Fantini) before time trialling home for his second victory of the race. Ramunas Navardauskas (Garmin-Sharp) finished second ahead of Luka Mezgec (Argos-Shimano). Navardauskas actually raised his hands in celebration, unaware that Visconti had claimed victory 19 seconds before. There was no significant change in the general classification, with Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) preserving his 1min 26sec advantage over BMC’s Cadel Evans, with Uran 1:20 further adrift. Race Report The 214km trek from Caravaggio to Vicenza had taken place under clement conditions and a four-man breakaway containing Rubiano, Luke Durbridge (Orica-GreenEdge), Gert Dockx (Lotto-Belisol) and Maxim Belkov (Katusha) moved clear early on and built a lead of over five minutes. After a leisurely and incident-free first half of the stage, the peloton stepped up its chase inside the last 50km and had reduced the gap to just over a minute by the time Belkov dropped out of the lead group with 30km to go. Durbridge and Dockx followed suit as they commenced the punchy climb to Crosara, but Rubiano ploughed on and was soon joined by Danilo Di Luca (Vini Fantini) and the voracious Visconi, who had both attacked from the peloton on the lower slopes. Di Luca fell away before Visconti injected fresh pace to shed Rubiano just short of the summit. Visconti descended with a 33-second lead over a reduced peloton of around 30 riders, but when the road levelled out, that fell to 22 seconds and it appeared his valiant effort would be in vain. However, rather than work together to haul Visconti back, several riders in the bunch began making solo bids for glory and the gap consequently held. Visconti had a scare when he almost overran a corner 2.5km out, but he quickly regrouped and pressed on for another hard-fought success. The racing continues tomorrow with Stage 18, a 20.6 km long uphill individual time trial. Information from Team Sky website used in the race report. Race Results Giro d'Italia (2013) - Stage 17 Caravaggio to Vicenza (214km) 22 May 2013 Stage 17 | Stage 16 | Stage 15 | Stage 14 | Stage 13 | Stage 12 | Stage 11 | Stage 10 | Stage 9 | Stage 8 (ITT) | Stage 7 | Stage 6 | Stage 5 | Stage 4 | Stage 3 | Stage 2 (TTT) | Stage 1 Stage Position Name Nationality Team Time 1 VISCONTI, Giovanni ITA MOVISTAR 5:15:34 2 NAVARDAUSKAS, Ramunas LTU Garmin-Sharp 19 3 MEZGEC, Luka SLO ARG 4 POZZATO, Filippo ITA LAMPRE - ISD 5 HONDO, Danilo GER Radioshack Leopard 6 PUCCIO, Salvatore ITA SKY PROCYCLING 7 MODOLO, Sacha ITA BARDIANI VALVOLE - CSF INOX 8 FELLINE, Fabio ITA ANDRONI GIOCATTOLI 9 VENTOSO ALBERDI, Francisco José ESP MOVISTAR 10 EVANS, Cadel AUS BMC RACING 11 SANTAMBROGIO, Mauro ITA FARNESE VINI 12 MAJKA, Rafal POL Saxo Tinkoff 13 TROFIMOV, Yury RUS KATUSHA 14 MOUREY, Francis FRA FDJ-BIG MAT 15 BOARO, Manuele ITA Saxo Tinkoff 16 LE BON, Johan FRA FDJ-BIG MAT 17 AGNOLI, Valerio ITA ASTANA 18 SANTAROMITA, Ivan ITA BMC RACING 19 NIBALI, Vincenzo ITA ASTANA 20 CATALDO, Dario ITA SKY PROCYCLING 21 URAN URAN, Rigoberto COL SKY PROCYCLING 22 SANCHEZ GONZALEZ, Samuel ESP EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI

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