Giro d'Italia 2011 / stages

This article summarizes the stages of the Giro d'Italia 2011 .

1st stage on May 7th from Venaria Reale to Turin (19.3 km; MZF )

Result of the 1st stage
Stage winner	HTC highroad	20:59 min
Second	Team RadioShack	+ 0:10 min
Third	Liquigas-Cannondale	+ 0:22 min
Fourth	Omega Pharma Lotto	+ 0:22 min
fifth	Team Garmin-Cervélo	+ 0:24 min
Sixth	Lampre ISD	+ 0:24 min
seventh	Rabobank Cycling Team	+ 0:26 min
Eighth	Saxo Bank SunGard	+ 0:30 min
Ninth	Sky ProCycling	+ 0:37 min
Tenth	Vacansoleil DCM	+ 0:37 min
Intermediate result after the 1st stage
First	Marco Pinotti	20:59 min
Second	Lars Bak	equal time
Third	Kanstanzin Siuzou	equal time
Young talent evaluation	Bjorn Selander	21:09 min
Second	Eros Capecchi	+ 0:12 min
Third	Klaas Lodewyck	+ 0:12 min
Team evaluation	HTC highroad	20:59 min
Second	Team RadioShack	+ 0:10 min
Third	Liquigas-Cannondale	+ 0:22 min

The start of the 94th Giro d'Italia took place on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Italian unity in Turin, the first capital of all of Italy. A team time trial led the 23 teams from the Royal Castle into Turin on a flat course.

The Omega Pharma-Lotto team was the first team to leave the launch pad at 3:50 p.m. They set a time of 21:21 minutes at the finish. The Androni Giocattoli team made a little false start and was a second faster in the meantime, but at the finish they were behind the Belgian team, just like most of the teams that started after them. The Rabobank Cycling Team is the first team to come close to the best time, just four seconds behind. Only the HTC-Highroad team was able to set a new record at the finish with 20:59 minutes, although some other teams were able to undercut the time of the Omega Pharma Lotto in the meantime. Team RadioShack took second place, ten seconds behind . In front of the surprisingly strong Omega team at the same time, Liquigas-Cannondale was able to move up to third place. The Euskaltel-Euskadi team only finished last, which meant that the Spaniard Igor Antón lost the most time of all the favorites. The Movistar team started as the last team . For the second time in his career after 2007, the overall leader's pink jersey was taken over by the Italian time trial champion Marco Pinotti , who was the first driver of his team to cross the finish line.

Intermediate result

Intermediate time measurement point (9.1 km)

First	HTC highroad	9:48 min
Second
Third
Fourth
fifth
Sixth
seventh
Eighth
Ninth
Tenth

2nd stage on May 8th from Alba to Parma (244 km)

Result of the 2nd stage
Stage winner	Alessandro Petacchi	5:45:40 h
Second	Mark Cavendish	equal time
Third	Manuel Belletti	equal time
Fourth	Roberto Ferrari	equal time
fifth	Borut Božič	equal time
Sixth	Davide Appollonio	equal time
seventh	Tyler Farrar	equal time
Eighth	Robbie McEwen	equal time
Ninth	Wouter Weylandt	equal time
Tenth	Matteo Montaguti	equal time
Intermediate result after the 2nd stage
First	Mark Cavendish	6:06:39 h
Second	Kanstanzin Siuzou	+ 0:12 min
Third	Craig Lewis	+ 0:12 min
Scoring	Alessandro Petacchi	25 p.
Second	Mark Cavendish	20 p.
Third	Manuel Belletti	16 p.
Mountain scoring	Sebastian Lang	3 p.
Second	Valerio Agnoli	2 p.
Third	Cristiano Salerno	1 P.
Young talent evaluation	Bjorn Selander	6:06:49 h
Second	Jan Bakelants	+ 0:10 min
Third	Device Dockx	+ 0:12 min
Team evaluation	HTC highroad	20:59 min
Second	Team RadioShack	+ 0:10 min
Third	Liquigas-Cannondale	+ 0:22 min

The longest stage to Parma at 244 kilometers, but completely flat except for a small mountain classification, was determined for a long time by the German Sebastian Lang from the Omega Pharma-Lotto team , who pulled away from the field after three kilometers and as a soloist at the top for up to 20 minutes Lead out. In the intermediate sprint, however, the lead was only around 3:30 minutes, Wouter Weylandt achieved second place here. After winning the only mountain classification of the day 33 kilometers from the finish of the day, Lang dropped back into the field, now with a lead of just over two minutes. Another attack by eight riders, initiated by Leonardo Giordani , was thwarted by the field, which also resulted in Eduard Worganow's fall .

So it came to a mass sprint, in which Alessandro Petacchi from Lampre-ISD won the race under violent protest from runner-up Mark Cavendish ( HTC-Highroad ), who wanted to have recognized a handicap on the part of the Italian. Thanks to the time bonus of twelve seconds for the runner-up, Cavendish took over the "Maglia Rosa" from his team-mate Marco Pinotti .

Intermediate sprint

Intermediate sprint in Salsomaggiore Terme (202.6 km)

First	Sebastian Lang	5 p.
Second	Wouter Weylandt	4 p.
Third	Jan Bakelants	3 p.
Fourth	Alan Marangoni	2 p.
fifth	Valerio Agnoli	1 P.
Sixth	Matteo Tosatto	0 p.

Mountain scoring

Tabiano Castello , category 4 (210.4 km)

First	Sebastian Lang	3 p.
Second	Valerio Agnoli	2 p.
Third	Cristiano Salerno	1 P.

3rd stage on May 9th from Reggio nell'Emilia to Rapallo (173 km)

Result of the 3rd stage
Stage winner	Ángel Vicioso	3:57:38 h
Second	David Millar	equal time
Third	Pablo Lastras	equal time
Fourth	Daniel Moreno	equal time
fifth	Christophe Le Mével	equal time
Sixth	Bram Tankink	+ 0:12 min
seventh	Jérôme Pineau	+ 0:12 min
Eighth	Sacha Modolo	+ 0:21 min
Ninth	Fabio Taborre	+ 0:21 min
Tenth	Matteo Montaguti	+ 0:21 min
Intermediate result after the 3rd stage
First	David Millar	10:04:29 h
Second	Ángel Vicioso	+ 00:07 min
Third	Kanstanzin Siuzou	+ 00:09 min
Scoring	Alessandro Petacchi	28 p.
Second	Ángel Vicioso	25 p.
Third	David Millar	20 p.
Mountain scoring	Gianluca Brambilla	05 p.
Second	Christophe Le Mével	03 p.
Third	Sebastian Lang	03 p.
Young talent evaluation	Jan Bakelants	10:04:58 h
Second	Eros Capecchi	+ 00:02 min
Third	Diego Ulissi	+ 00:04 min
Team evaluation	Team Garmin-Cervélo	29:31:38 h
Second	HTC highroad	+ 0:18 min
Third	Team RadioShack	+ 0:28 min

The third section led over 173 kilometers from Reggio Emilia to the sea coast to Rapallo. In addition to the sprint, two mountain ratings had to be completed, one in the 3rd and one in the 4th category, which ultimately prevented a mass sprint.

Bart De Clercq from Omega Pharma-Lotto , Gianluca Brambilla ( Colnago-CSF Inox ), Pavel Brutt from Katjuscha and Davide Ricci Bitti ( Farnese Vini-Neri Sottoli ) formed the breakaway group of the day, which had formed after about 30 kilometers and a maximum advantage of about six minutes. Mark Cavendish was involved in a first fall of the day, which briefly left him behind. At the Passo del Bocco, a six-kilometer mountain classification in the third category, there were several attacks at the top, with Brambilla being victorious and wearing the green jersey of the best in the mountains. Bitti lost touch with the other three, but caught up with the leading trio on the descent. However, the group was overtaken before the following mountain classification. A group of six attacked by Fabian Wegmann ( Leopard Trek ), while overall leader Mark Cavendish lost touch with the field. Christophe Le Mével from the Garmin-Cervélo team won the mountain classification ahead of Pablo Lastras from the Movistar team and Daniel Moreno ( Katjuscha ). Then the three were able to pull away together with Ángel Vicioso ( Androni Giocattoli ). Jérôme Pineau , meanwhile, was the closest attacker. On the descent and a subsequent short wave, Le Mével's team-mate David Millar caught up with the leaders, who could no longer be caught by the peloton and who finally won the day among themselves. The Spaniard Ángel Vicioso was unbeatable in the sprint, the second Millar took over the pink jersey. Bram Tankink and Pineau, who had also left the field, were the first to cross the finish line, twelve seconds behind. Sacha Modolo won the peloton's sprint for eighth place. Cavendish finally rolled across the finish line in a detached group.

Weylandt's death

The sporting event was overshadowed by the fatal accident of Belgian professional Wouter Weylandt , who brushed the pedal of his bike on a curb on the descent from Passo del Bocco, whereby the pedal came off and Weylandt was thrown about twenty meters through the air and against one Mauer crashed before succumbing to severe head injuries shortly afterwards despite attempts by the rescue team to resuscitate. As a result, the award ceremony was canceled after the end of the stage.

Intermediate sprint

Intermediate sprint in Chiavari (160.1 km)

First	Matteo Tosatto	5 p.
Second	Marco Marzano	4 p.
Third	Alberto Contador	3 p.
Fourth	Alyaksandr Kuschynski	2 p.
fifth	Danilo Hondo	1 P.
Sixth	Stefano Garzelli	0 p.

Mountain ratings

Passo del Bocco , category 3 (133.3 km)

First	Gianluca Brambilla	5 p.
Second	Pavel Gross	3 p.
Third	Bart De Clercq	2 p.
Fourth	Davide Ricci Bitti	1 P.

Madonna delle Grazie , category 4 (164 km)

First	Christophe Le Mével	3 p.
Second	Pablo Lastras	2 p.
Third	Daniel Moreno	1 P.

4th stage on May 10th from Genoa / Quarto dei Mille to Livorno (216 km)

On the fourth day, the path should lead the field over the Passo del Bracco, a mountain classification of the third category, and over Pisa to Livorno. About 18 kilometers from the finish, a mountain classification in the fourth category offered the opportunity to attack.

However, one day after the death of Belgian Wouter Weylandt , the section was neutralized at the request of the drivers, with the closed Leopard Trek team from Weylandt and his good friend Tyler Farrar from the Garmin-Cervélo team at the head of the last five kilometers Pelotons drove and visibly moved arm in arm crossed the finish line. The overall results in all the classifications that resulted after the third stage were retained on that day.

5th stage on May 11th from Piombino to Orvieto (191 km)

Result of the 5th stage
Stage winner	Pieter Weening	4:54:49 h
Second	Fabio Duarte	+ 0:08 min
Third	José Serpa	+ 0:08 min
Fourth	Christophe Le Mével	+ 0:08 min
fifth	Oscar Gatto	+ 0:08 min
Sixth	Vincenzo Nibali	+ 0:08 min
seventh	Alberto Contador	+ 0:08 min
Eighth	Michele Scarponi	+ 0:08 min
Ninth	Joaquim Rodríguez	+ 0:08 min
Tenth	Roman Kreuziger	+ 0:08 min
Intermediate result after the 5th stage
First	Pieter Weening	14:59:33 h
Second	Marco Pinotti	+ 00:02 min
Third	Kanstanzin Siuzou	+ 00:02 min
Scoring	Alessandro Petacchi	28 p.
Second	Christophe Le Mével	26 p.
Third	Pieter Weening	25 p.
Mountain scoring	Martin Kohler	10 p.
Second	Gianluca Brambilla	8 p.
Third	Christophe Le Mével	5 p.
Young talent evaluation	Steven Kruijswijk	15:00:01 h
Second	Fabio Duarte	+ 00:15 min
Third	Peter Kennaugh	+ 00:22 min
Team evaluation	Movistar team	44:17:26 h
Second	Pro team Astana	+ 0:18 min
Third	Geox-TMC	+ 0:34 min

David Millar in the "Maglia Rosa"

The fifth stage took the riders from the coastal town of Piombino inland to Orvieto. After a fairly flat beginning, a slightly longer hill followed after a small climb, on which the intermediate sprint of the day was taken. After a short descent, the terrain rose again for the first mountain classification in the third category. Another mountain classification in the same category was due a little later, but the uphill road was not asphalted or paved. Another gravel section followed before reaching the finish.

After Wouter Weylandt's death, his Leopard Trek team and good friend Tyler Farrar withdrew from the race. Man of the fifth day was the Swiss Martin Kohler from the BMC Racing Team , who led the race as a soloist with a maximum advantage of almost 13 minutes. He had broken away from the field after twelve kilometers. On his solo trip he won the sprint classifications and both mountain classifications, with which he secured the Maglia Verde . While his lead was narrowing again, the overall leader David Millar fell behind him 75 kilometers from the finish and suffered several bleeding wounds. On the gravel climb Croce di Fighine, the gap between the field and Kohler was further shortened, Jaroslaw Popowytsch attacked in front of the hilltop but was unable to break away. Other escape attempts also failed. A smaller group of favorites formed, which crossed the mountain classification together. On the descent, among others, Vincenzo Nibali and Giovanni Visconti managed to break away , but all drivers were caught again. Bram Tankink and Dario Cataldo were finally able to break away, John Gadret and Rafael Valls and other drivers took up the chase. After a fall and a defect, Tankink and Cataldo were caught up again and even fell back. David Millar, who had been suspended in the meantime, came up to the other favorites again, while numerous drivers with defects or crashes fell behind on the following gravel sections, including Millar again. Tom Slagter suffered a serious fall . 15 kilometers from the end, Pieter Weening ( Rabobank Cycling Team ) and John Gadret ( Ag2r La Mondiale ) attacked, followed by Marco Pinotti but could not reach them. Weening and Gadret soon caught up with Kohler. Weening then withdrew alone while Gadret and Kohler were caught up. Behind him there were more tempo increases and attacks, among others by Michele Scarponi , while Weening, who achieved a maximum advantage of forty seconds, clinched the stage win alone. Fabio Duarte leads the chasing group, eight seconds behind. Since David Millar had been left behind on the final climb to Orvieto, it was enough for Weening to wear the pink jersey.

Intermediate sprint

Intermediate sprint in Arcidosso (106.6 km)

First	Martin Kohler	5 p.
Second	Jan Bakelants	4 p.
Third	Tiziano Dall'Antonia	3 p.
Fourth	Murilo Fischer	2 p.
fifth	Danilo Hondo	1 P.
Sixth	Klaas Lodewyck	0 p.

Mountain ratings

Saragiolo , category 3 (120.4 km)

First	Martin Kohler	5 p.
Second	Gianluca Brambilla	3 p.
Third	Christophe Le Mével	2 p.
Fourth	Filippo Savini	1 P.

Croce di Fighine , category 3 (155 km)

First	Martin Kohler	5 p.
Second	Roman Kreuziger	3 p.
Third	Michele Scarponi	2 p.
Fourth	Stefano Garzelli	1 P.

6th stage on May 12th from Orvieto to Fiuggi (216 km)

Result of the 6th stage
Stage winner	Francisco José Ventoso	5:15:39 h
Second	Alessandro Petacchi	equal time
Third	Roberto Ferrari	equal time
Fourth	Danilo Di Luca	equal time
fifth	Davide Appollonio	equal time
Sixth	Michele Scarponi	equal time
seventh	Christophe Le Mével	equal time
Eighth	Gerald Ciolek	equal time
Ninth	Paolo Tiralongo	equal time
Tenth	Ruggero Marzoli	equal time
Intermediate result after the 6th stage
First	Pieter Weening	20:15:12 h
Second	Kanstanzin Siuzou	+ 00:02 min
Third	Marco Pinotti	+ 00:02 min
Scoring	Alessandro Petacchi	48 p.
Second	Christophe Le Mével	35 p.
Third	Roberto Ferrari	30 p.
Mountain scoring	Martin Kohler	10 p.
Second	Gianluca Brambilla	8 p.
Third	Christophe Le Mével	5 p.
Young talent evaluation	Steven Kruijswijk	20:15:40 h
Second	Fabio Duarte	+ 00:15 min
Third	Peter Kennaugh	+ 00:22 min
Team evaluation	Movistar team	60:04:23 h
Second	Pro team Astana	+ 0:18 min
Third	Geox-TMC	+ 0:34 min

The sixth part of the day ran on undulating terrain past Italy's capital Rome over 216 kilometers to the south. Only 42 kilometers after the start was the only mountain classification, followed by an intermediate sprint later. The last kilometers to Fiuggi were uphill.

Jussi Veikkanen ( Omega Pharma-Lotto ) and Kristof Vandewalle ( Quick Step ) initiated the breakaway group of the day, which was later joined by Sacha Modolo ( Colnago-CSF Inox ), Jaroslaw Popowytsch ( Team RadioShack ) and Frederik Veuchelen ( Vacansoleil-DCM ) . They were able to pull out a temporary lead of 5:30 minutes and stayed together until Modolo, who won the mountain classification, fell back on a small climb 45 kilometers from the finish. 23 kilometers before the finish, Veikkanen also had to tear down on a further incline, while the young Italian Stefano Pirazzi from the Colnago-CSF Inox team launched an attack that was over after less than ten kilometers. Before that, Modolo and Veikkanen were overtaken from the leading group. At the beginning of the ascent to the finish, Kristof Vandewalle left his escape companions behind, after Popowytsch had been in the lead for a long time, and the peloton soon caught up with them. Behind the field a group of disconnected drivers formed again. Numerous attacks from the field followed, including David Millar , Robert Kišerlovski , Emanuele Sella and the Swiss Mathias Frank , but none of them led to success. Vandewalle's long day as an outlier also ended at the two-kilometer mark, so that a mass sprint had to decide the day's victory. The Spaniard Ventoso from the Movistar team was able to prevail against Alessandro Petacchi in the Maglia Rosso. In the overall standings there were no changes in the time gaps for the top places, but Kanstanzin Siuzou and Marco Pinotti swapped places.

Intermediate sprint

Intermediate sprint in Cave (159.8 km)

First	Kristof Vandewalle	5 p.
Second	Jussi Veikkanen	4 p.
Third	Sacha Modolo	3 p.
Fourth	Frederik Veuchelen	2 p.
fifth	Yaroslav Popovych	1 P.
Sixth	Leonardo Giordani	0 p.

Mountain scoring

Soriano nel Cimino , category 4 (41.7 km)

First	Sacha Modolo	3 p.
Second	Yaroslav Popovych	2 p.
Third	Jussi Veikkanen	1 P.

7th stage on May 13th from Maddaloni to Montevergine di Mercogliano (110 km)

Result of the 7th stage
Stage winner	Bart De Clercq	2:54:47 h
Second	Michele Scarponi	equal time
Third	Roman Kreuziger	equal time
Fourth	Stefano Garzelli	equal time
fifth	Vincenzo Nibali	equal time
Sixth	Joaquim Rodríguez	equal time
seventh	José Rujano	equal time
Eighth	Dario Cataldo	equal time
Ninth	Alberto Contador	equal time
Tenth	Christophe Le Mével	equal time
Intermediate result after the 7th stage
First	Pieter Weening	23:09:59 h
Second	Kanstanzin Siuzou	+ 00:02 min
Third	Marco Pinotti	+ 00:02 min
Scoring	Alessandro Petacchi	48 p.
Second	Christophe Le Mével	41 P.
Third	Michele Scarponi	38 P.
Mountain scoring	Bart De Clercq	11 p.
Second	Martin Kohler	10 p.
Third	Federico Canuti	9 p.
Young talent evaluation	Steven Kruijswijk	23:10:57 h
Second	Roman Kreuziger	+ 00:16 min
Third	Robert Kišerlovski	+ 00:24 min
Team evaluation	Movistar team	68:49:01 h
Second	Pro team Astana	+ 0:01 min
Third	Geox-TMC	+ 1:06 min

After a long transfer, the first mountain finish of the race was on the only 110 kilometers short seventh stage. Before that, a mountain classification in the 2nd category had to be conquered. The final climb up to Montevergine di Mercogliano was also classified in the 2nd category and brought the favorites forward in the overall standings.

Federico Canuti ( Colnago-CSF Inox ), Lars Bak ( HTC-Highroad ), the Italian champion Giovanni Visconti ( Farnese Vini-Neri Sottoli ), Matteo Montaguti ( Ag2r La Mondiale ) and Jérôme Pineau ( Quick Step ) identified as outliers up to the first Mountain of the day the happenings. They were able to break away from a top group of ten originally, which was initiated by Canuti, Pineau, Julien Bérard , and Eduard Worganow . At Monte Taburno, in which the leading group went 2:30 minutes ahead, it was first Sebastian Lang and Pierre Cazaux who attacked from the main field. Both were caught up again, however, Lang due to a technical defect. Instead, birthday boy Johnny Hoogerland from Vacansoleil-DCM drove away. The mountain classification was won by Canuti, who briefly pulled away, fell and was overtaken by his pursuers. After the descent from Taburno, Hoogerland caught up to the top and sat alone at the top for a short time and then often took over the leadership of the group. In the meantime Montaguti won the intermediate sprint. But at the back of the field, some teams, especially Acqua e Sapone , made pace, so that the gap before the start of the final climb was only a minute. Little by little the former leading drivers were overtaken, the last one being Lars Ytting Bak eight kilometers from the finish, who rode the last attack of the runaway. Meanwhile there had been several attacks in the back of the field, others followed, for example by Stefano Pirazzi , who also increased the pace shortly before the finish. But only the young Belgian Bart De Clercq ( Omega Pharma-Lotto ) managed to set himself apart. At the three-kilometer mark, he was still half a minute behind the group of favorites, but De Clercq was hit by the sprinting Michele Scarponi , Roman Kreuziger and Stefano Garzelli on the finish line and saved his greatest career success to date by just a few centimeters.

Intermediate sprint

Intermediate sprint in Avellino (89 km)

First	Matteo Montaguti	5 p.
Second	Giovanni Visconti	4 p.
Third	Lars Bak	3 p.
Fourth	Federico Canuti	2 p.
fifth	Johnny Hoogerland	1 P.
Sixth	Jérôme Pineau	0 p.

Mountain ratings

Serra della Strada , category 2 (66.1 km)

First	Federico Canuti	9 p.
Second	Jérôme Pineau	5 p.
Third	Giovanni Visconti	3 p.
Fourth	Lars Bak	2 p.
fifth	Matteo Montaguti	1 P.

Mountain arrival in Montevergine di Mercogliano , category 2 (110 km)

First	Bart De Clercq	9 p.
Second	Michele Scarponi	5 p.
Third	Roman Kreuziger	3 p.
Fourth	Stefano Garzelli	2 p.
fifth	Vincenzo Nibali	1 P.

8th stage on May 14th from Sapri to Tropea (217 km)

Result of the 8th stage
Stage winner	Oscar Gatto	4:59:45 h
Second	Alberto Contador	equal time
Third	Alessandro Petacchi	+ 0:05 min
Fourth	Alexander Kristoff	equal time
fifth	Roberto Ferrari	equal time
Sixth	Davide Appollonio	equal time
seventh	Francisco José Ventoso	equal time
Eighth	Rinaldo Nocentini	equal time
Ninth	Christophe Le Mével	equal time
Tenth	Klaas Lodewyck	equal time
Intermediate result after the 8th stage
First	Pieter Weening	28:09:49 h
Second	Kanstanzin Siuzou	+ 00:02 min
Third	Marco Pinotti	+ 00:02 min
Scoring	Alessandro Petacchi	64 P.
Second	Christophe Le Mével	48 p.
Third	Roberto Ferrari	42 P.
Mountain scoring	Bart De Clercq	11 p.
Second	Martin Kohler	10 p.
Third	Federico Canuti	9 p.
Young talent evaluation	Steven Kruijswijk	28:10:17 h
Second	Roman Kreuziger	+ 00:16 min
Third	Robert Kišerlovski	+ 00:24 min
Team evaluation	Movistar team	83:48:31 h
Second	Pro team Astana	+ 0:01 min
Third	Geox-TMC	+ 1:06 min

The first mountain finish of the race was followed by a long but flat section without a mountain classification and a sprint classification at 192 kilometers. The race was designed to end in a mass sprint.

The two Italians Mirko Selvaggi ( Vacansoleil-DCM ) and Leonardo Giordani ( Farnese Vini-Neri Sottoli ) set off on their own after two kilometers towards the goal. In the meantime, they increased their lead to just under eleven minutes. The HTC-Highroad team did the pace work for their sprinter Mark Cavendish after the chances of a mass sprint seemed to melt due to the large lead. The two Italians were able to defend their lead for a long time, with Selvaggi still winning the intermediate sprint until they were swallowed up by the peloton 7.5 kilometers from the finish. Thereupon the Farnese Vini-Neri Sottoli team took over the pace work and their driver Oscar Gatto was able to tear a small gap between him and the peloton two kilometers from the finish, only Alberto Contador was able to follow him. Gatto won the finish sprint against Contador and was able to secure the first stage win in a major tour of the country. The field crossed the finish line five seconds later, the sprinter from Lampre-ISD Alessandro Petacchi won the mass sprint for third place. There was no change in the top places in the overall ranking.

Intermediate sprint

Intermediate sprint in Vibo Valentia Marina (192 km)

First	Mirko Selvaggi	5 p.
Second	Leonardo Giordani	4 p.
Third	Patrick Gretsch	3 p.
Fourth	František Raboň	2 p.
fifth	Addy Engels	1 P.
Sixth	Marco Pinotti	0 p.

9th stage on May 15th from Messina to Mount Etna (169 km)

Result of the 9th stage
Stage winner	Alberto Contador	4:54:09 h
Second	José Rujano	+ 0:03 min
Third	Stefano Garzelli	+ 0:50 min
Fourth	Vincenzo Nibali	equal time
fifth	Roman Kreuziger	equal time
Sixth	David Arroyo	equal time
seventh	Kanstanzin Siuzou	equal time
Eighth	Igor Antón	+ 0:59 min
Ninth	John Gadret	+ 1:07 min
Tenth	Hubert Dupont	equal time
Intermediate result after the 9th stage
First	Alberto Contador	33:03:51 h
Second	Kanstanzin Siuzou	+ 00:59 min
Third	Christophe Le Mével	+ 01:19 min
Scoring	Alberto Contador	65 p.
Second	Alessandro Petacchi	64 P.
Third	Christophe Le Mével	53 P.
Mountain scoring	Filippo Savini	16 p.
Second	Alberto Contador	15 p.
Third	Bart De Clercq	11 p.
Young talent evaluation	Roman Kreuziger	33:05:32 h
Second	Francesco Masciarelli	+ 01:08 min
Third	Steven Kruijswijk	+ 01:15 min
Team evaluation	Pro team Astana	98:35:20 h
Second	Androni Giocattoli	+ 0:18 min
Third	Movistar team	+ 3:38 min

A big highlight of this year's race took place on the ninth day in Sicily , when the Etna volcano was the first mountain in the 1st category in 2011, which had to be climbed twice from two different slopes.

Nine drivers left the peloton fairly early in the race, including outsiders Giovanni Visconti ( Farnese Vini-Neri Sottoli ) and Jaroslaw Popowytsch ( Team RadioShack ), but also seventh in the overall standings, Pablo Lastras from the Movistar team . They extended their lead to a maximum of five minutes. Maxim Belkow ( Vacansoleil-DCM ) set out in pursuit but failed to reach the lead group. Filippo Savini won the first mountain classification crossing on Etna. After the chase of the main field had started, mainly by the Lampre-ISD team , the time shrank to 3:32 minutes, but in the meantime increased again to 4:27 minutes. The ascent to Mount Etna began twenty kilometers before the destination . With thirteen kilometers to go, the breakaway group, which also included Jan Bakelants from Omega Pharma-Lotto and Swiss Mathias Frank from the BMC Racing Team , had a lead of two and a half minutes over the favorites. Bakelants tried to distance themselves from the rest of the group, but the others followed suit. Frank later attacked, followed by counterattacks. A leading group of Bakelandts, Frank, Visconti and Lastras formed, who later had to be demolished. In the field, too, the pace has now increased, with Danilo Di Luca falling behind. The other outliers were caught again one after the other. Around ten kilometers from the finish, overall leader Pieter Weening could no longer follow the pursuers or favorites. Meanwhile, Bakelants was able to break away from the other two runaways and drove on solo. José Rujano ( Androni Giocattoli ) drove out of the group of favorites and was able to tear a gap between them. Shortly afterwards, Alberto Contador set out to close the gap again. Even Michele Scarponi to follow tried Contador, the high pace but could not follow. Both were able to catch up with Frank beforehand. Vincenzo Nibali was able to outrun Roman Kreuziger by increasing the speed and drove up to Scarponi. A larger group was formed from this, including Kanstanzin Siuzou . After Contador asked his colleague Rujano to do the pace work and he contradicted this, Contador set off solo and won the stage with a three-second lead over the Venezuelan . Despite his overall victory last year, he won his first stage in the Giro and took over the Maglia Rosa . The pursuers around Stefano Garzelli , Nibali, Kreuziger, David Arroyo and Siuzou lost a total of 50 seconds to the duo over the last two kilometers.

Intermediate sprint

Intermediate sprint in Acireale (122.7 km)

First	Pablo Lastras	5 p.
Second	Filippo Savini	4 p.
Third	Jan Bakelants	3 p.
Fourth	Yaroslav Popovych	2 p.
fifth	Joan Horrach	1 P.
Sixth	Alessandro Vanotti	0 p.

Mountain ratings

Etna , category 1 (90.2 km)

First	Filippo Savini	15 p.
Second	Mathias Frank	9 p.
Third	Jan Bakelants	5 p.
Fourth	Yaroslav Popovych	3 p.
fifth	Pablo Lastras	2 p.
Sixth	Giovanni Visconti	1 P.

Mountain arrival Etna (Rif.Sapienza) , category 1 (169 km)

First	Alberto Contador	15 p.
Second	José Rujano	9 p.
Third	Stefano Garzelli	5 p.
Fourth	Vincenzo Nibali	3 p.
fifth	Roman Kreuziger	2 p.
Sixth	David Arroyo	1 P.

10th stage on May 17th from Termoli to Teramo (159 km)

Result of the 10th stage
Stage winner	Mark Cavendish	4:00:49 h
Second	Francisco José Ventoso	equal time
Third	Alessandro Petacchi	equal time
Fourth	Roberto Ferrari	equal time
fifth	Davide Appollonio	equal time
Sixth	Francesco Chicchi	equal time
seventh	Klaas Lodewyck	equal time
Eighth	Sacha Modolo	equal time
Ninth	Alexander Kristoff	equal time
Tenth	Oscar Gatto	equal time
Intermediate result after the 10th stage
First	Alberto Contador	37:04:40 h
Second	Kanstanzin Siuzou	+ 00:59 min
Third	Christophe Le Mével	+ 01:19 min
Scoring	Alessandro Petacchi	80 p.
Second	Alberto Contador	65 p.
Third	Francisco José Ventoso	56 P.
Mountain scoring	Filippo Savini	16 p.
Second	Alberto Contador	15 p.
Third	Bart De Clercq	11 p.
Young talent evaluation	Roman Kreuziger	37:06:21 h
Second	Francesco Masciarelli	+ 01:08 min
Third	Steven Kruijswijk	+ 01:15 min
Team evaluation	Pro team Astana	110: 37: 47 h
Second	Androni Giocattoli	+ 0:18 min
Third	Movistar team	+ 3:38 min

After a day of rest and a long transfer from Sicily to the north, a flat stage to Teramo followed, with a fourth category mountain classification. The last uphill kilometers could have stood in the way of a mass sprint.

Almost immediately after the start, Fumiyuki Beppu ( Team RadioShack ) and Pierre Cazaux ( Euskaltel-Euskadi ) attempted to break away. Jurij Kriwzow from the ag2r La Mondiale team joined forces with the other two outliers and together they managed to extend the lead to more than six minutes. The Saxo Bank SunGard team then began working at pace to protect their overall leader Alberto Contador, with HTC-Highroad and other teams later taking over the lead. The Japanese Beppu, who had already won the mountain classification, did most of the pace work with the outliers and won the intermediate sprint at 98 kilometers from Cazaux and Kriwzow. With 50 kilometers to go, the lead had decreased to less than three minutes and therefore the peloton decided to slow down a little so as not to catch up with the breakaway too early and thus have to follow a possible second breakaway group. The pursuit work was later resumed, so that about eleven kilometers from the target, the escape group was caught and no one attempted a counterattack. The sprinter teams for HTC-Highroad for Mark Cavendish and the Movistar team for Francisco José Ventoso formed the front of the procession. Three kilometers from the finish, David Millar showed up again and tried to escape the peloton on the gently sloping terrain until the team around top sprinter Mark Cavendish caught up with him. Danilo Hondo prepared the sprint for Alessandro Petacchi and let him pull 250 meters from the finish. That was far too early, however, because 150 meters from the finish the Brit pulled up and had no problems overtaking Petacchi and securing his first stage win at this year's Giro. Even Francisco José Ventoso sprinted past the Italian and drove into second place, who was able to win the points jersey as a consolation.

Intermediate sprint

Intermediate sprint in Pescara (97.9 km)

First	Fumiyuki Beppu	5 p.
Second	Pierre Cazaux	4 p.
Third	Yuri Krivtsov	3 p.
Fourth	Jan Bakelants	2 p.
fifth	Davide Malacarne	1 P.
Sixth	Craig Lewis	0 p.

Mountain ratings

Vasto , category 4 (30.9 km)

First	Fumiyuki Beppu	3 p.
Second	Pierre Cazaux	2 p.
Third	Yuri Krivtsov	1 P.

11th stage on May 18th from Tortoreto Lido to Castelfidardo (144 km)

Result of the 11th stage
Stage winner	John Gadret	3:33:11 h
Second	Joaquim Rodríguez	equal time
Third	Giovanni Visconti	equal time
Fourth	José Serpa	equal time
fifth	Alberto Contador	equal time
Sixth	Roman Kreuziger	equal time
seventh	Dario Cataldo	equal time
Eighth	Michele Scarponi	equal time
Ninth	Pablo Lastras	equal time
Tenth	Vincenzo Nibali	equal time
Intermediate result after the 11th stage
First	Alberto Contador	40:37:51 h
Second	Kanstanzin Siuzou	+ 00:59 min
Third	Vincenzo Nibali	+ 01:21 min
Scoring	Alessandro Petacchi	80 p.
Second	Alberto Contador	77 P.
Third	Christophe Le Mével	59 P.
Mountain scoring	Filippo Savini	16 p.
Second	Alberto Contador	15 p.
Third	Bart De Clercq	11 p.
Young talent evaluation	Roman Kreuziger	40:39:32 h
Second	Francesco Masciarelli	+ 01:21 min
Third	Steven Kruijswijk	+ 02:40 min
Team evaluation	Pro team Astana	121: 17: 50 h
Second	Androni Giocattoli	+ 0:15 min
Third	Movistar team	+ 3:58 min

The 11th stage, leading further north, was not very long, but very wavy. Four mountain classifications in the 4th category were passed, and a short but steep hill also had to be conquered to reach Castelfidardo.

The race was accompanied by a moment of sadness, because the funeral of the fatally injured racing driver Wouter Weylandt took place on the same day . It therefore took a long time for some drivers to break away from the field, even though there were many attempts to break away. Daniel Moreno has meanwhile won the first mountain classification. Eleven drivers from ten different teams finally dared to break away, including two drivers from the Italian team Acqua & Sapone . The best in the overall ranking from this group was Christophe Le Mével ( Team Garmin-Cervélo ), who was in third place and had the chance to slip into the leading jersey. Carlos Betancur won the second mountain classification before Valerio Agnoli , the third mountain classification they passed in reverse order. Le Mével was now the virtual wearer of the pink jersey, as he was only 1:19 minutes behind and the lead was constant for two minutes over a long period of time. Behind them, the Saxo Bank-SunGard team did the pace work in the field, and later the Astana pro team too . The teamwork in the breakaway group came to an end when Daniel Moreno from the Katjuscha team tried to climb the last mountain alone 28 kilometers from the finish. Instead of waiting for the other competitors, especially Simone Stortoni , who followed him and increasing the chances of reaching the finish, he drove on at a high speed until nobody could follow him. He was also the first to cross the intermediate sprint. Meanwhile, Le Mével tried to narrow Moreno's lead in a chasing group, but had to be careful as Alberto Contador was getting closer. Then Ignatas Konovalovas from the Movistar team set off alone and managed to intercept Moreno 9.6 kilometers from the finish. Le Mével took up the chase in a group of five, from which Stortoni and Steven Kruijswijk briefly attacked. The duo's lead over the pursuers was around 45 seconds at this point. Up to three kilometers from the finish, the peloton had caught up with all of the other outliers. The pace work was done by Lampre-ISD in order to bring their captain and contender for overall victory Michele Scarponi further forward. On the last kilometer, the gap had melted to eleven seconds. Stefano Pirazzi attempted an attack but failed. The peloton managed to catch the breakaway except for the duo in front and John Gadret started the sprint 200 meters from the finish and got the timing right. He passed Moreno and crossed the finish line first, followed by Joaquim Rodríguez and Giovanni Visconti . The favorites Alberto Contador, Roman Kreuziger , Michele Scarponi and Vincenzo Nibali crossed the finish line at the same time as Gadret, so nothing changed in the overall standings.

Intermediate sprint

Intermediate sprint in Recanati (129.7 km)

First	Daniel Moreno	5 p.
Second	Christophe Le Mével	4 p.
Third	Ignatas Konovalovas	3 p.
Fourth	Steven Kruijswijk	2 p.
fifth	Simone Stortoni	1 P.
Sixth	Marco Marzano	0 p.

Mountain ratings

Monte Ripaberarda , category 4 (48.9 km)

First	Daniel Moreno	3 p.
Second	David Millar	2 p.
Third	Ivan Rowny	1 P.

Monte Vidon Combatte , Category 4 (73.1 km)

First	Carlos Betancur	3 p.
Second	Valerio Agnoli	2 p.
Third	Simone Stortoni	1 P.

Rapagnano , category 4 (91.3 km)

First	Valerio Agnoli	3 p.
Second	Carlos Betancur	2 p.
Third	Steven Kruijswijk	1 P.

Morrovalle , category 4 (115.9 km)

First	Daniel Moreno	3 p.
Second	Valerio Agnoli	2 p.
Third	Simone Stortoni	1 P.

12th stage on May 19th from Castelfidardo to Ravenna (184 km)

Result of the 12th stage
Stage winner	Mark Cavendish	4:17:25 h
Second	Davide Appollonio	equal time
Third	Alessandro Petacchi	equal time
Fourth	Roberto Ferrari	equal time
fifth	Gerald Ciolek	equal time
Sixth	Fabio Sabatini	equal time
seventh	Manuel Belletti	equal time
Eighth	Mirko Selvaggi	equal time
Ninth	Mark Renshaw	equal time
Tenth	Manuel António Cardoso	equal time
Intermediate result after the 12th stage
First	Alberto Contador	44:55:16 h
Second	Kanstanzin Siuzou	+ 00:59 min
Third	Vincenzo Nibali	+ 01:21 min
Scoring	Alessandro Petacchi	96 P.
Second	Alberto Contador	77 P.
Third	Mark Cavendish	70 p.
Mountain scoring	Filippo Savini	16 p.
Second	Alberto Contador	15 p.
Third	Bart De Clercq	11 p.
Young talent evaluation	Roman Kreuziger	44:56:57 h
Second	Francesco Masciarelli	+ 01:21 min
Third	Steven Kruijswijk	+ 02:40 min
Team evaluation	Pro team Astana	134: 10: 05 h
Second	Androni Giocattoli	+ 0:15 min
Third	Movistar team	+ 3:58 min

Before the start of the decisive racing phase in the Alps and Dolomites, the flat twelfth section of the day, on which there was only one sprint rating, offered the sprinters another chance.

On this rather easy stage, four drivers dared to break away relatively early. These were Stef Clement ( Rabobank Cycling Team ), Michał Gołaś ( Vacansoleil-DCM ), Miguel Mínguez ( Euskaltel-Euskadi ) and Davide Ricci Bitti ( Farnese Vini-Neri Sottoli ). But their breakaway attempt was very clear, as the lead was never more than four minutes, because the HTC Highroad team in the main field did the pace work for their sprinter Mark Cavendish . Bitti won the intermediate sprint. As the goal was reached, other teams in the field also helped with the speed work. After the outliers were caught up again twelve kilometers from the finish, the other teams stopped working. HTC stayed at the front to prepare for the mass sprint and to create a good starting position. Later, other sprinter teams got involved again. Lars Bak made the pace work on the last kilometers until he handed over to Alex Rasmussen 3.5 kilometers from the finish . Two kilometers before the end of the stage, fifteen riders fell in the middle of the field, including Robert Hunter from Team RadioShack , who had to change his front wheel. He blamed Sacha Modolo ( Colnago-CSF Inox ) for this, even though a driver from Androni Giocattoli caused the accident. But since the accident took place within the three-kilometer zone, they came to the finish line late, but with the same time as the rest of the field. Rasmussen sent Cavendish's driver Mark Renshaw into the race 600 meters from the finish . The sprint finally began 200 meters from the finish and Renshaw put Cavendish in a good position. Despite a head-to-head race with the Italian Davide Appollonio from Sky ProCycling , the Briton managed to secure his second stage win at this year's Giro. The leader in the points classification, Alessandro Petacchi , came third.

Intermediate sprint

Intermediate sprint in Cesenatico (134.1 km)

First	Davide Ricci Bitti	5 p.
Second	Michał Gołaś	4 p.
Third	Stef Clement	3 p.
Fourth	Miguel Mínguez	2 p.
fifth	Craig Lewis	1 P.
Sixth	František Raboň	0 p.

13th stage on May 20th from Spilimbergo to the Großglockner (167 km)

Result of the 13th stage
Stage winner	José Rujano	4:45:54 h
Second	Alberto Contador	equal time
Third	John Gadret	+ 1:27 min
Fourth	Hubert Dupont	+ 1:29 min
fifth	Igor Antón	equal time
Sixth	Roman Kreuziger	+ 1:36 min
seventh	Michele Scarponi	equal time
Eighth	Vincenzo Nibali	equal time
Ninth	Vasil Kiryenka	equal time
Tenth	Denis Menshov	equal time
Intermediate result after the 13th stage
First	Alberto Contador	49:40:58 h
Second	Vincenzo Nibali	+ 03:09 min
Third	Michele Scarponi	+ 03:16 min
Scoring	Alberto Contador	97 P.
Second	Roberto Ferrari	70 p.
Third	Michele Scarponi	59 P.
Mountain scoring	Alberto Contador	24 p.
Second	José Rujano	24 p.
Third	Branislau Samojlau	19 p.
Young talent evaluation	Roman Kreuziger	49:44:27 h
Second	Francesco Masciarelli	+ 01:59 min
Third	Steven Kruijswijk	+ 02:56 min
Team evaluation	Pro team Astana	148: 34: 50 h
Second	Androni Giocattoli	+ 0:43 min
Third	Movistar team	+ 3:56 min

The entry of the Giro into the Alps took place with a stage to Austria on the Grossglockner . Before the ascent to the finish at the Glocknerhaus , a mountain classification of the 1st category was held at Kasereck, and the two mountain ratings of the 2nd and the 3rd category before were tough too.

A total of ten drivers got out of the Giro because, from their point of view, there was nothing left to win. Among them were the sprinters Mark Cavendish , Mark Renshaw (both HTC-Highroad ), who wore the red jersey Alessandro Petacchi ( Lampre-ISD ), but also Gerald Ciolek from the Quickstep Cycling Team and Francisco José Ventoso . Therefore Alberto Contador also took the lead in the points classification. The race started with many attacks and counter-attacks, but no attack could be used to attempt a breakaway. Only after 41 kilometers did 16 drivers manage to break away from the field. The Movistar Team was with Pablo Lastras and Branislau Samoilau the only team that put two riders in the breakaway. The best in the overall standings was Pablo Lastras in 28th, just under seven minutes behind Contador. But it was not Contador's team Saxo Bank SunGard who set the pace, but the Spanish team Euskaltel-Euskadi , who wanted to help their team captain Igor Antón to his first stage win. Pablo Lastras won the sprint classification of the day and Branislau Samojlau the first two mountain classifications, making him the virtual holder of the Maglia Verdes. At the first mountain classification, the group's lead was a good five minutes and then fell slightly again. On the ascent to Iselsberg intensified Robert Kišerlovski the pace, left his former companions behind and won the mountains classification. The chase group was again led by Samoylau over the hilltop. Kiserlovski was at times more than a minute ahead of the other outliers, to which the main field led by the Euskaltel-Euskadi team came closer and closer. It slowly but surely caught up with the breakaway group that had dispersed on the climb to the Kasereck , only Pieter Weening and Cayetano Sarmiento tried to catch up with Kiserlovski, which they succeeded with thirteen kilometers before the end. But just a few minutes later, the strong mountain climbers set off alone on the way to the summit. José Rujano attempted a first attack, followed by Michele Scarponi . Together they drove a bit ahead of the favorite group. But they ultimately failed, just like Dario Cataldo . Alberto Contador later began to break away from the other drivers, only José Rujano, with whom he had already fought exciting duels for the ascent of Etna , was able to follow him. This time they work together and, eight kilometers from the summit, they left a significant gap on the pursuers around Scarponi and Vincenzo Nibali . The mountain classification on the Kasereck was ultimately won by Rujano. With his second place, Contador was also able to take the lead in the mountain classification. One kilometer from the finish, Contador showed no signs of sprinting to win and let the Venezuelan win the stage. It wasn't until a minute and a half later that the two French John Gadret and Hubert Dupont , both from the ag2r La Mondiale team, arrived and were able to set themselves apart from the other favorites. Igor Antón, who was also able to break away from this group, ended up in fifth place. The group around Nibali reached the finish line just seven seconds later.

Intermediate sprint

Intermediate sprint in Arta Terme (56.4 km)

First	Pablo Lastras	5 p.
Second	Alessandro Spezialetti	4 p.
Third	Cameron Meyer	3 p.
Fourth	Branislau Samojlau	2 p.
fifth	Alberto Losada	1 P.
Sixth	Kristof Vandewalle	0 p.

Mountain ratings

Passo di Monte Croce Carnico , category 2 (79.6 km)

First	Branislau Samojlau	10 p.
Second	Alessandro Spezialetti	6 p.
Third	Pieter Weening	4 p.
Fourth	Cayetano Sarmiento	2 p.
fifth	Pablo Lastras	1 P.

Gailbergsattel , category 3 (99 km)

First	Branislau Samojlau	5 p.
Second	Robert Kišerlovski	3 p.
Third	Alessandro Spezialetti	2 p.
Fourth	Cayetano Sarmiento	1 P.

Iselsbergpass , category 2 (127.5 km)

First	Robert Kišerlovski	9 p.
Second	Branislau Samojlau	5 p.
Third	Pablo Lastras	3 p.
Fourth	Alberto Losada	2 p.
fifth	Andrea Noè	1 P.

Kasereck , category 1 (159.8)

First	José Rujano	15 p.
Second	Alberto Contador	9 p.
Third	Michele Scarponi	5 p.
Fourth	Roman Kreuziger	3 p.
fifth	Vincenzo Nibali	2 p.
Sixth	David Arroyo	1 P.

14th stage on May 21st from Lienz to Monte Zoncolan (172 km)

Result of the 14th stage
Stage winner	Igor Antón	5:04:26 h
Second	Alberto Contador	+ 0:33 min
Third	Vincenzo Nibali	+ 0:40 min
Fourth	Michele Scarponi	+ 1:11 min
fifth	Denis Menshov	+ 1:21 min
Sixth	John Gadret	+ 1:38 min
seventh	Mikel Nieve	+ 1:52 min
Eighth	Hubert Dupont	+ 1:55 min
Ninth	Kanstanzin Siuzou	+ 2:05 min
Tenth	José Rujano	+ 2:11 min
Intermediate result after the 14th stage
First	Alberto Contador	54:45:45 h
Second	Vincenzo Nibali	+ 03:20 min
Third	Igor Antón	+ 03:21 min
Scoring	Alberto Contador	117 P.
Second	Michele Scarponi	73 P.
Third	Roberto Ferrari	70 p.
Mountain scoring	Alberto Contador	33 P.
Second	Gianluca Brambilla	27 P.
Third	José Rujano	24 p.
Young talent evaluation	Roman Kreuziger	54:52:25 h
Second	Steven Kruijswijk	+ 02:04 min
Third	Francesco Masciarelli	+ 11:08 min
Team evaluation	Pro team Astana	164: 05: 17 h
Second	Movistar team	+ 0:49 min
Third	Androni Giocattoli	+ 4:37 min

One of the most difficult stages in 2011 started in East Tyrol and led back to Italy . After two mountains of the 3rd and one of the 2nd category, two big challenges were planned with the Monte Crostis, after whose summit a gravel section would have to be completed, and the Zoncolan. A preliminary decision in the overall standings could have been made here. However, Monte Crostis was removed from the stage because the route there is very narrow and there was too high a risk for the drivers. Furthermore, the team vehicles would be difficult to get through the narrow street on the descent, which is why the use of motorcycles was planned. From the original 210 kilometers, the stage was initially shortened to 190, and later to 172 kilometers due to protests by construction workers who prepared the route to Monte Crostis. A planned mountain classification of the 2nd category to replace the Monte Crostis, which was supposed to be halfway in Tualis, was therefore dropped. The goal was still on Monte Zoncolan .

In Tualis, a village with 100 inhabitants, the residents had been preparing the Giro for weeks. The village square had been renamed Piazza Giro d'Italia ; a sculpture in the form of a bicycle had been erected there and a plaque had been embedded. The change in the route, which only became known on the evening before the start of the stage, caused great disappointment in the small town.

The main field, especially the Saxo Bank SunGard team led by Alberto Contador , took it slow and gave the three outliers Matteo Rabottini ( Farnese Vini-Neri Sottoli ), Bram Tankink ( Rabobank Cycling Team ) and Gianluca Brambilla ( Colnago-CSF Inox ) a big one Head Start. Since none of the three drivers are mountain specialists, the main field allowed them to give them a lead of up to ten minutes. Brambilla won all three mountain ratings left before the final climb. At the third mountain classification, the Passo della Mauria, Robert Kišerlovski and Filippo Savini sprinted for the last mountain points. As the peloton came closer to Monte Zoncolan , Vincenzo Nibali's team , Liquigas-Cannondale , began to accelerate the pace. When the Saxo Bank SunGard team also got involved, the lead melted. The outliers had four and a half minutes for the last ten kilometers. Normally that would mean that someone from this group would take the day's win. But since the route profile over these ten kilometers is so extremely steep, a victory of a favorite was still expected. No cars were allowed on the Zoncolan so as not to hinder the drivers. The main group was reduced significantly to around 30 drivers. 7.5 kilometers before the finish, Brambilla attacked from the previous group of leaders and was able to break away from Tankink a bit. Rabottini had fallen behind before. At the same time, Joaquim Rodríguez attacked from the circle of favorites, but Igor Antón and overall leader Alberto Contador followed, and later Michele Scarponi . Igor Antón followed suit and was able to pull away, Contador and Vincenzo Nibali followed, and later Michele Scarponi. Meanwhile, Brambilla was hanging in front of Tankink. Rodríguez later fell back into the group with Roman Kreuziger and Denis Menschow . Nibali tried again and again to shake off Contador and Scarponi, but he was not deterred and only gave him a small lead. Meanwhile, John Gadret drove up to the group with Menshov. Meanwhile, Antón overtook Rabottini and Brambilla, and later Tankink as well, and took the lead. Nibali, who was overtaken by Contador, repeatedly asked him to take part in the pace work, but the latter refused. Scarponi meanwhile fell back from this group. Meanwhile, Antón extended his lead to half a minute and won the stage. Behind him, Contador finally attacked Nibali twice and most recently passed Nibali just before the finish line and finished second seven seconds ahead of him. Scarponi took fourth place, Menshov placed behind and Gadret took a good sixth place.

Intermediate sprint

Intermediate sprint in Villa Santina (139.9 km)

First	Matteo Rabottini	5 p.
Second	Bram Tankink	4 p.
Third	Gianluca Brambilla	3 p.
Fourth	Michael Mørkøv	2 p.
fifth	Tiziano Dall'Antonia	1 P.
Sixth	Pablo Lastras	0 p.

Mountain ratings

Passo di Monte Croce Comelico , category 3 (54 km)

First	Gianluca Brambilla	5 p.
Second	Matteo Rabottini	3 p.
Third	Bram Tankink	2 p.
Fourth	Matteo Tosatto	1 P.

Passo di Sant'Antonio , category 3 (69.6 km)

First	Gianluca Brambilla	5 p.
Second	Bram Tankink	3 p.
Third	Matteo Rabottini	2 p.
Fourth	Filippo Savini	1 P.

Passo della Mauria , category 2 (96.2 km)

First	Gianluca Brambilla	10 p.
Second	Matteo Rabottini	6 p.
Third	Bram Tankink	4 p.
Fourth	Robert Kišerlovski	2 p.
fifth	Filippo Savini	1 P.

Mountain arrival on Monte Zoncolan , category 1 (172 km)

First	Igor Antón	15 p.
Second	Alberto Contador	9 p.
Third	Vincenzo Nibali	5 p.
Fourth	Michele Scarponi	3 p.
fifth	Denis Menshov	2 p.
Sixth	John Gadret	1 P.

15th stage on May 22nd from Conegliano to Gardeccia / Val di Fassa (229 km)

Result of the 14th stage
Stage winner	Mikel Nieve	7:27:14 h
Second	Stefano Garzelli	+ 1:41 min
Third	Alberto Contador	+ 1:51 min
Fourth	Michele Scarponi	+ 1:57 min
fifth	John Gadret	+ 2:28 min
Sixth	José Rujano	+ 2:35 min
seventh	Vincenzo Nibali	+ 3:34 min
Eighth	Joaquim Rodríguez	+ 3:34 min
Ninth	Roman Kreuziger	+ 4:01 min
Tenth	Steven Kruijswijk	+ 4:13 min
Intermediate result after the 14th stage
First	Alberto Contador	62:14:42 h
Second	Michele Scarponi	+ 04:20 min
Third	Vincenzo Nibali	+ 05:11 min
Scoring	Alberto Contador	133 P.
Second	Michele Scarponi	87 P.
Third	Vincenzo Nibali	75 p.
Mountain scoring	Stefano Garzelli	62 P.
Second	Mikel Nieve	39 P.
Third	Alberto Contador	38 P.
Young talent evaluation	Roman Kreuziger	62:23:40 h
Second	Steven Kruijswijk	+ 02:16 min
Third	Jan Bakelants	+ 24:46 min
Team evaluation	Pro team Astana	187: 01: 07 h
Second	Movistar team	+ 3:40 min
Third	AG2R La Mondiale	+ 8:30 min

Before the last day of rest of the race there was another difficult and long stage in the mountains. With a total of four mountains in the 1st category, including the Passo Fedaia and the mountain arrival in Val di Fassa, as well as a mountain classification in the 2nd category waiting for the field of drivers, it was the queen stage of this year's Giro. With the Passo Giau, the Cima Coppi , i.e. the highest point of this year's race at 2236 m , is also reached.

At this stage there were many attacks from the start, including by Emanuele Sella , initially without success. A little later he was able to break away from the peloton with six other drivers, including Jaroslaw Popowytsch , who also tried to break away with ten other drivers, but this venture also failed. They were followed by another group of eleven. Later, a driver from the leading group fell back into the chasing group. After about 50 kilometers, the two groups united. Prominent drivers like Stefano Garzelli , Danilo Di Luca , Carlos Sastre and Pieter Weening now belonged to the top group. Sella previously won the first mountain classification. In the descent, Jan Bakelants took up the chase and caught up with the leading group, while Olivier Kaisen fell back again. The group's time advantage grew and grew, and on the second climb they already had a lead of almost ten minutes. Liquigas-Cannondale , which like Saxo Bank-SunGard had no one in the top group, led the peloton with Vincenzo Nibali . Garzelli won the sprint for the mountain points of this second mountain classification. Then the top split into two groups, there was again a group of seven, including Di Luca and Popowytsch, and eleven pursuers. But there was another merger and the lead grew to over ten minutes. Johnny Hoogerland claimed the mountain classification on Passo Giau and the associated prize money by attacking. Sella tried to follow but couldn't get away. He quickly achieved a one-minute lead over his teammates, but Stefano Garzelli and Mikel Nieve teamed up and closed the gap to Hoogerland before the mountain classification. But Nieve fell back again, so that Garzelli caught up with Hoogerland alone and overtook him. Hoogerland and Nieve then briefly formed a chasing duo before the Dutchman fell back. Garzelli was able to put 45 seconds between himself and Nieve on the Cima Coppi , Hoogerland was 1:25 minutes behind, the other outliers 1:44 minutes. From the main field, Joaquim Rodríguez and David Arroyo set off together, behind them the group of other favorites, now led by Saxo-Bank, formed. Alberto Contador attacked in front of the summit and reached the summit with Rodríguez, Arroyo and José Rujano a few seconds ahead of the other favorites Michele Scarponi , Roman Kreuziger , Denis Menschow and Igor Antón as the fifth chasing group. In the descent, Vincenzo Nibali was able to pull away, his lead over Contador was around half a minute at times. He tried to catch up with Nieve and keep Contador at a distance, but after leaving he gave up the company. Behind him, the Contador and Antón groups reunited. Behind Garzelli, Nieve and Jan Bakelants drove together briefly, later Nieve broke away from him. On the fourth mountain, Arroyo attacked from the Contador group, later the overall leader himself and caught up with Arroyo and two companions. Nibali then fell out of the following group of favorites. Shortly afterwards, Hoogerland was caught again. Garzelli meanwhile also got the full number of mountain points at Passo Fedaia and had a lead of six minutes on Rujano on the climb. On the descent, Nibali was able to catch up with the Contador group again. However, Antón was no longer in this group, other drivers pulled away. Garzelli's forces slowly waned and Nieve managed to catch up with the Italian at the beginning of the final climb, just under six kilometers from the finish . Since Nieve was still fresher, he moved away. Contador attacked the favorite group again and caught Bakelants. Nieve won the stage confidently and in the end had a lead of 1:41 minutes over Garzelli, who took over the Maglia Verde. Alberto Contador finished third and was able to extend his lead over almost all competitors in the overall standings. The other favorites then arrived individually or in small groups. Nibali lost over a minute and a half to the Spaniard .

Intermediate sprint

Intermediate sprint in Rocca Pietore (190.4 km)

First	Stefano Garzelli	5 p.
Second	Jan Bakelants	4 p.
Third	Mikel Nieve	2 p.
Fourth	Kevin Seeldraeyers	2 p.
fifth	Emanuele Sella	1 P.
Sixth	Danilo Di Luca	0 p.

Mountain ratings

Piancavallo , category 1 (43.3 km)

First	Emanuele Sella	15 p.
Second	Johnny Hoogerland	9 p.
Third	Yaroslav Popovych	5 p.
Fourth	Kevin Seeldraeyers	3 p.
fifth	Francisco Javier Aramendia	2 p.
Sixth	Alyaksandr Kuschynski	1 P.

Forcella Cibiana , category 2 (123.1 km)

First	Stefano Garzelli	9 p.
Second	Emanuele Sella	5 p.
Third	Johnny Hoogerland	3 p.
Fourth	Jan Bakelants	2 p.
fifth	Johann Tschopp	1 P.

Passo Giau , Cima Coppi (171.8 km)

First	Stefano Garzelli	21 p.
Second	Mikel Nieve	15 p.
Third	Johnny Hoogerland	9 p.
Fourth	Danilo Di Luca	5 p.
fifth	Kevin Seeldraeyers	3 p.
Sixth	Jan Bakelants	2 p.
seventh	Philip Deignan	1 P.

Passo Fedaia , category 1 (210.4 km)

First	Stefano Garzelli	15 p.
Second	Mikel Nieve	9 p.
Third	Jan Bakelants	5 p.
Fourth	Emanuele Sella	3 p.
fifth	Kevin Seeldraeyers	2 p.
Sixth	José Rujano	1 P.

Mountain arrival in Val di Fassa , category 1 (229 km)

First	Mikel Nieve	15 p.
Second	Stefano Garzelli	9 p.
Third	Alberto Contador	5 p.
Fourth	Michele Scarponi	3 p.
fifth	John Gadret	2 p.
Sixth	José Rujano	1 P.

16th stage on May 24th from Belluno to Nevegal (12.6 km, mountain time trial)

Result of the 16th stage
Stage winner	Alberto Contador	28:55 min
Second	Vincenzo Nibali	+ 0:34 min
Third	Michele Scarponi	+ 0:38 min
Fourth	José Rujano	+ 0:39 min
fifth	Stefano Garzelli	+ 0:46 min
Sixth	Roman Kreuziger	+ 0:49 min
seventh	Denis Menshov	+ 0:52 min
Eighth	Marco Pinotti	+ 0:58 min
Ninth	Branislau Samojlau	+ 0:59 min
Tenth	Vladimir Miholjević	+ 1:04 min
Intermediate result after the 16th stage
First	Alberto Contador	62:43:37 h
Second	Michele Scarponi	+ 04:58 min
Third	Vincenzo Nibali	+ 05:45 min
Scoring	Alberto Contador	158 P.
Second	Michele Scarponi	103 P.
Third	Vincenzo Nibali	95 p.
Mountain scoring	Stefano Garzelli	64 P.
Second	Alberto Contador	53 P.
Third	Mikel Nieve	39 P.
Young talent evaluation	Roman Kreuziger	62:53:24 h
Second	Steven Kruijswijk	+ 02:51 min
Third	Jan Bakelants	+ 26:42 min
Team evaluation	Pro team Astana	188: 32: 21 h
Second	Movistar team	+ 3:48 min
Third	AG2R La Mondiale	+ 9:56 min

After the second day of rest, a mountain time trial on an increase in the 1st category brought further time gaps in the overall classification. The mountain to be conquered was a maximum of 14% steep.

Matthew Wilson opened the race. Stef Clement held the best time for some time with 30:28 minutes. It was first undercut by Branislau Samojlau , who achieved a time of 29:54 minutes. One second ahead of him was Marco Pinotti , whose time was shortened by Stefano Garzelli again by twelve seconds. Roman Kreuziger crossed the finish line three seconds behind him, another three seconds behind was Denis Menschow . The surprisingly strong José Rujano from Venezuela later undercut Garzelli's best time by another seven seconds. The overall third Vincenzo Nibali was five seconds faster. Michele Scarponi was behind him, four seconds behind. However, the overall leader who started last, Alberto Contador , was able to clinch victory with a 34-second lead over third party overall. Of the co-favorites for the overall win, the Spaniard Mikel Nieve , who was sixth, lost the most time in 36th.

This enabled Alberto Contador to extend his lead over second-placed Michele Scarponi to 4:58 minutes.

Intermediate results

1st intermediate time measuring point (5.3 km)

First	Vincenzo Nibali	7:44 min
Second	Stef Clement	+ 0:01 min
Third	Kanstanzin Siuzou	+ 0:02 min
Fourth	Joaquim Rodríguez	+ 0:03 min
fifth	Marco Pinotti	+ 0:04 min
Sixth	Stefano Garzelli	+ 0:05 min
seventh	Roman Kreuziger	+ 0:07 min
Eighth	Maxim Belkov	+ 0:09 min
Ninth	Michele Scarponi	equal time
Tenth	Branislau Samojlau	equal time

Mountain ratings

Nevegal Category 1 (12.6 km)

First	Alberto Contador	15 p.
Second	Vincenzo Nibali	10 p.
Third	Michele Scarponi	6 p.
Fourth	José Rujano	4 p.
fifth	Stefano Garzelli	2 p.
Sixth	Roman Kreuziger	1 P.

17th stage on May 25th from Feltre to Tirano (230 km)

Result of the 17th stage
Stage winner	Diego Ulissi	5:31:51 h
Second	Pablo Lastras	equal time
Third	Giovanni Visconti	equal time
Fourth	Jan Bakelants	+ 0:04 min
fifth	Fabio Taborre	+ 0:08 min
Sixth	Eduard Worganow	equal time
seventh	Hubert Dupont	equal time
Eighth	Jesús Hernández	equal time
Ninth	Robert Kišerlovski	equal time
Tenth	Kanstanzin Siuzou	+ 0:10 min
Intermediate result after the 17th stage
First	Alberto Contador	68:18:27 h
Second	Michele Scarponi	+ 04:58 min
Third	Vincenzo Nibali	+ 05:45 min
Scoring	Alberto Contador	158 P.
Second	Michele Scarponi	103 P.
Third	Vincenzo Nibali	95 p.
Mountain scoring	Stefano Garzelli	64 P.
Second	Alberto Contador	53 P.
Third	Mikel Nieve	39 P.
Young talent evaluation	Roman Kreuziger	68:28:14 h
Second	Steven Kruijswijk	+ 02:51 min
Third	Jan Bakelants	+ 23:41 min
Team evaluation	Pro team Astana	205: 14: 00 h
Second	Movistar team	+ 4:14 min
Third	AG2R La Mondiale	+ 9:07 min

On this stage, two mountains of category 2 and 3 were ridden. But the last seven kilometers were rather flat. The stage was originally supposed to be 16 kilometers longer, but the route was shortened due to safety concerns.

After about 50 kilometers, a 16-strong top group was able to break away, including Kanstanzin Siuzou , who was also looking for speed work. The group also included Christophe Le Mével , Jan Bakelants and Pablo Lastras . They were able to pull out more than seven minutes. In the field, the Liquigas-Cannondale team set the pace. Ben Gastauer won the first mountain classification, Leonardo Giordani fell back on this mountain and was later caught again by the field. In the descent, Geox-TMC also got into the pace work of the field, which further reduced the gap. Bakelants meanwhile won the intermediate sprint. On the second mountain the unity of the leading group ended and there were several attacks. Hubert Dupont , Siuzou and Mathias Frank did not manage to break up the group, from which other riders fell out, including Le Mével. Lastras finally won the mountain classification. The group's lead did not change significantly. After the departure, Lastras, Giovanni Visconti , Bakelandts and Diego Ulissi were able to pull away . The latter opened the sprint, with Visconti behind him. Ulissi closed the door for his compatriot, who in turn pushed him away. Lastras was the first to cross the finish line, but was distanced for this unsporting behavior and Ulissi was declared the stage winner before Lastras. Bakelants was fourth with a small residue. The remaining outliers were led by Fabio Taborre . Luca Mazzanti led the field, which was able to catch another outlier, almost three minutes behind the finish line. Shortly before, Le Mével reached the finish line as the last of the breakaway group, more than two and a half minutes behind.

Intermediate sprint

Intermediate sprint in Edolo (195.5 km)

First	Jan Bakelants	5 p.
Second	Kanstanzin Siuzou	4 p.
Third	Pablo Lastras	3 p.
Fourth	Hubert Dupont	2 p.
fifth	Giovanni Visconti	1 P.
Sixth	Alberto Losada	0 p.

Mountain ratings

Passo del Tonale , Category 2 (166.2 km)

First	Ben Gastauer	9 p.
Second	Hubert Dupont	5 p.
Third	Jan Bakelants	3 p.
Fourth	Alberto Losada	2 p.
fifth	Giovanni Visconti	1 P.

Aprica , category 3 (211.5 km)

First	Pablo Lastras	5 p.
Second	Giovanni Visconti	3 p.
Third	Kanstanzin Siuzou	2 p.
Fourth	Fabio Taborre	1 P.

18th stage on May 26th from Morbegno to San Pellegrino Terme (151 km)

Result of the 18th stage
Stage winner	Eros Capecchi	3:20:38 h
Second	Marco Pinotti	equal time
Third	Kevin Seeldraeyers	equal time
Fourth	Gianluca Brambilla	+ 1:20 min
fifth	Paolo Tiralongo	equal time
Sixth	Dario Cataldo	+ 2:49 min
seventh	Alberto Losada	+ 3:46 min
Eighth	Russell Downing	+ 4:34 min
Ninth	Oscar Gatto	equal time
Tenth	Jan Bakelants	equal time
Intermediate result after the 18th stage
First	Alberto Contador	71:45:09 h
Second	Michele Scarponi	+ 04:58 min
Third	Vincenzo Nibali	+ 05:45 min
Scoring	Alberto Contador	158 P.
Second	Michele Scarponi	103 P.
Third	Vincenzo Nibali	95 p.
Mountain scoring	Stefano Garzelli	64 P.
Second	Alberto Contador	53 P.
Third	Mikel Nieve	39 P.
Young talent evaluation	Roman Kreuziger	71:54:56 h
Second	Steven Kruijswijk	+ 02:51 min
Third	Jan Bakelants	+ 22:05 min
Team evaluation	Pro team Astana	215: 29: 22 h
Second	Movistar team	+ 07:31 min
Third	AG2R La Mondiale	+ 13:51 min

On the eighteenth section of the day, after the flat section, only the smaller Passo di Ganda stood in the way of the sprint classification.

The stage started extremely quickly with an hourly average of over 53 km / h in the first hour and none of the riders managed to break away. The Jan Bakelants won the hard intermediate sprint . Only then could a group of 17 break away, followed by three other drivers. Shortly thereafter, the groups merged. Immediately afterwards Jérôme Pineau was able to break away from this group , five other drivers followed him. Carlos Sastre and again Jan Bakelants were among the group of persecutors . On the second mountain, the Sextrett in front became a trio of Kevin Seeldraeyers , Marco Pinotti and Eros Capecchi . The latter won the mountain classification. Gianluca Brambilla and Paolo Tiralongo , who sat between the lead and the other pursuers, scored the last mountain points. Another trio of Ángel Vicioso , Pineau and Giovanni Visconti were still ahead of the remaining outliers, but fell back later. Capecchi won the top trio's sprint for the stage win. Pinotti made the Italian one- two perfect. Tiralongo and Brambilla cross the finish line more than a minute behind. The soloists Dario Cataldo and Alberto Losada followed . Russell Downing led the remaining eleven pursuers over four and a half minutes behind the finish line, two other drivers fell back into the field that reached the goal with over six minutes behind, led by Jurij Kriwzow . There were no changes to the top places in the overall ranking.

Intermediate sprint

Intermediate sprint in Bergamo (91.8 km)

First	Jan Bakelants	5 p.
Second	Bram Tankink	4 p.
Third	Marco Pinotti	2 p.
Fourth	Dario Cataldo	2 p.
fifth	Alberto Losada	1 P.
Sixth	Philip Deignan	0 p.

Mountain scoring

Passo di Ganda , category 2 (120.9 km)

First	Marco Pinotti	9 p.
Second	Eros Capecchi	5 p.
Third	Kevin Seeldraeyers	3 p.
Fourth	Gianluca Brambilla	2 p.
fifth	Paolo Tiralongo	1 P.

19th stage on May 27th from Bergamo to Macugnaga (209 km)

Result of the 19th stage
Stage winner	Paolo Tiralongo	5:26:27 h
Second	Alberto Contador	equal time
Third	Vincenzo Nibali	+ 0:03 min
Fourth	John Gadret	+ 0:06 min
fifth	Joaquim Rodríguez	equal time
Sixth	Steven Kruijswijk	equal time
seventh	Michele Scarponi	+ 0:08 min
Eighth	Roman Kreuziger	+ 0:21 min
Ninth	Hubert Dupont	+ 0:29 min
Tenth	Kanstanzin Siuzou	+ 0:34 min
Intermediate result after the 19th stage
First	Alberto Contador	77:11:24 h
Second	Michele Scarponi	+ 05:18 min
Third	Vincenzo Nibali	+ 05:52 min
Scoring	Alberto Contador	178 P.
Second	Michele Scarponi	112 P.
Third	Vincenzo Nibali	111 P.
Mountain scoring	Stefano Garzelli	67 P.
Second	Alberto Contador	56 P.
Third	Mikel Nieve	39 P.
Young talent evaluation	Roman Kreuziger	77:21:44 h
Second	Steven Kruijswijk	+ 02:36 min
Third	Peter Stetina	+ 33:37 min
Team evaluation	Pro team Astana	231: 51: 24 h
Second	Movistar team	+ 10:45 min
Third	AG2R La Mondiale	+ 13:07 min

The nineteenth part of the day ended again with a mountain arrival in Macugnaga, before the Mottarone had to be climbed. The intermediate sprint was held between the two mountains.

Lars Bak ( HTC-Highroad ), Jérôme Pineau ( Quick Step ) and Matteo Rabottini ( Farnese Vini-Neri Sottoli ) formed the top group of the day, which only managed to break away again after about 50 kilometers. The first mountain classification was won by Pineau. Stefano Garzelli , leader of the mountain classification, scored three points with an attack in fourth and caught up with the leading group on the descent. Mickaël Chérel ( Ag2r La Mondiale ) and Johann Tschopp ( BMC Racing Team ) formed a chasing duo and also caught up. The lead of the sextet quickly increased to well over three minutes. Bak won the intermediate sprint a little later. Craig Lewis fell badly and had to be evacuated by ambulance. Pinau attacked at the beginning of the final climb. Bak was already swallowed up by the field, which was only half a minute behind the front, shortly afterwards the other outliers were caught again, only Pineau and Rabottini were able to stay ahead for longer and initially expand their lead again, but were soon afterwards again caught up with the main group, which at that time still consisted of about 50 drivers. The first attacks occurred seven kilometers from the finish line, and Paolo Tiralongo , who was being followed by Danilo Di Luca , was able to pull away . Hubert Dupont started the next attack, Joaquim Rodríguez countered. Shortly before the finish line, Alberto Contador and Vincenzo Nibali also drove forward and overtook Tiralongo, who was still leading, but let him win the stage, but was able to extend his lead in the overall standings. Nibali finished in third place, Michele Scarponi lost some time on Contador in seventh.

Intermediate sprint

Intermediate sprint in Ornavasso (165 km)

First	Lars Bak	5 p.
Second	Johann Tschopp	4 p.
Third	Stefano Garzelli	2 p.
Fourth	Jérôme Pineau	2 p.
fifth	Mickaël Chérel	1 P.
Sixth	Matteo Rabottini	0 p.

Mountain ratings

Mottarone , category 1 (135.3 km)

First	Jérôme Pineau	15 p.
Second	Matteo Rabottini	9 p.
Third	Lars Bak	5 p.
Fourth	Stefano Garzelli	3 p.
fifth	Johann Tschopp	2 p.
Sixth	Mickaël Chérel	1 P.

Mountain arrival Macugnaga , category 3 (209 km)

First	Paolo Tiralongo	5 p.
Second	Alberto Contador	3 p.
Third	Vincenzo Nibali	2 p.
Fourth	John Gadret	1 P.

20th stage on May 28th from Verbania to Sestriere (242 km)

Result of the 20th stage
Stage winner	Vasil Kiryenka	6:17:03 h
Second	José Rujano	+ 4:43 min
Third	Joaquim Rodríguez	+ 4:50 min
Fourth	Carlos Betancur	+ 5:31 min
fifth	John Gadret	+ 5:54 min
Sixth	Michele Scarponi	+ 5:58 min
seventh	Steven Kruijswijk	equal time
Eighth	Alberto Contador	equal time
Ninth	Denis Menshov	equal time
Tenth	Roman Kreuziger	+ 6:16 min
Intermediate result after the 20th stage
First	Alberto Contador	83:34:25 h
Second	Michele Scarponi	+ 05:18 min
Third	Vincenzo Nibali	+ 06:14 min
Scoring	Alberto Contador	186 P.
Second	Michele Scarponi	122 P.
Third	Vincenzo Nibali	116 P.
Mountain scoring	Stefano Garzelli	67 P.
Second	Alberto Contador	58 P.
Third	José Rujano	43 P.
Young talent evaluation	Roman Kreuziger	83:45:03 h
Second	Steven Kruijswijk	+ 02:18 min
Third	Peter Stetina	+ 36:50 min
Team evaluation	Pro team Astana	251: 09: 02 h
Second	Movistar team	+ 09:30 min
Third	AG2R La Mondiale	+ 11:16 min

The penultimate part of the day was one of the longer stages and ended with the two difficult mountains Colle delle Finestre, which partly consisted of unpaved dirt road, and the mountain arrival in Sestriere. Before that, a sprint competition was held in Turin.

A larger group of leaders formed again, from which Sebastian Lang won the sprint ranking. At the mountain classification to Finestre, Wassil Kiryenka attacked from the top group and at that point had a lead of about four minutes. The Liquigas-Cannondale team did the pace work in the pursuit. José Rujano and Ángel Vicioso from the Androni Giocattoli team attacked on the incline, but shortly afterwards Rujano drove alone and set out to pursue Kiryjenka, initially reaching the rest of the breakaway group, which also included Jaroslaw Popowytsch . Meanwhile, Roman Kreuziger lost touch with the group around the Maglia Rosa . Rujano continued to drive forward, while Kiryjenka's lead over the group of favorites increased to well over five minutes. Meanwhile, Vincenzo Nibali also got into trouble. Rujano was 3:45 minutes behind in the mountain classification, Contador's group more than five minutes. Nibali was another 15 seconds behind, but came back on the descent and even pulled away. Rujano's deficit on Kiryjenka grew back to over four minutes on the final climb. Kreuziger also came up to the favorites group again and even attacked. Shortly afterwards, Joaquim Rodríguez attacked , followed by Denis Menschow and John Gadret . Rodríguez was later traveling alone, and Menshov was later in pursuit again. Meanwhile, Kiryenka's lead on the group of favorites increased to over seven minutes. Rodríguez drove up to the Colombian Carlos Betancur , who was driving in front of him . Gadret, who wanted to secure his fourth place in the overall standings, attacked and drove up to Menshov. Meanwhile, Kiryenka reached the finish and celebrated his sovereign stage victory. The attacks continued in the favorite group, and Nibali also briefly pulled away. Rujano finished second, 4:43 minutes behind, Rodríguez reached it another seven seconds later. Betancur and Gadret were next. The Contador group, which also included Scarponi, Steven Kruijswijk and Menschow, crossed the finish line just under six minutes behind. Another 18 seconds later, Kreuziger reached the target, Nibali another four seconds. This further increased the gaps in the overall standings.

Intermediate sprint

Intermediate sprint in Turin (144.1 km)

First	Sebastian Lang	5 p.
Second	Frederik Veuchelen	4 p.
Third	Luca Mazzanti	2 p.
Fourth	Kevin Seeldraeyers	2 p.
fifth	Miguel Mínguez	1 P.
Sixth	Vasil Kiryenka	0 p.

Mountain ratings

Colle delle Finestre , category 1 (214.4 km)

First	Vasil Kiryenka	15 p.
Second	José Rujano	9 p.
Third	Carlos Betancur	5 p.
Fourth	Joaquim Rodríguez	3 p.
fifth	Alberto Contador	2 p.
Sixth	Steven Kruijswijk	1 P.

Mountain arrival Sestriere , category 2 (242 km)

First	Vasil Kiryenka	9 p.
Second	José Rujano	5 p.
Third	Joaquim Rodríguez	3 p.
Fourth	Carlos Betancur	2 p.
Fourth	John Gadret	1 P.

21st stage on May 29th in Milan (26 km; EMZF )

Result of the 21st stage
Stage winner	David Millar	30:13 min
Second	Alex Rasmussen	+ 0:07 min
Third	Alberto Contador	+ 0:36 min
Fourth	Richie Porte	+ 0:43 min
fifth	Yaroslav Popovych	+ 0:55 min
Sixth	Jos van Emden	+ 1:02 min
seventh	Cameron Meyer	+ 1:04 min
Eighth	Patrick Gretsch	+ 1:08 min
Ninth	Tiago Machado	+ 1:12 min
Tenth	Kanstanzin Siuzou	+ 1:16 min
Final result after the 21st stage
First	Alberto Contador	84:05:14 h
Second	Michele Scarponi	+ 06:10 min
Third	Vincenzo Nibali	+ 06:56 min
Scoring	Alberto Contador	202 P.
Second	Michele Scarponi	122 P.
Third	Vincenzo Nibali	121 P.
Mountain scoring	Stefano Garzelli	67 P.
Second	Alberto Contador	58 P.
Third	José Rujano	43 P.
Young talent evaluation	Roman Kreuziger	84:16:42 h
Second	Steven Kruijswijk	+ 02:23 min
Third	Peter Stetina	+ 38:41 min
Team evaluation	Pro team Astana	252: 44: 52 h
Second	Movistar team	+ 10:00 min
Third	AG2R La Mondiale	+ 11:23 min

In the final individual time trial, there were two intermediate time measurement points at 8.9 and 18.1 km. The stage was originally supposed to be 5.5 km longer, but was shortened due to a runoff election for the post of Lord Mayor of the city.

The first driver started at 2:20 p.m. David Millar drove the distance in a time of 30:13 minutes, making him the stage winner. Alex Rasmussen finished second, seven seconds behind . Jaroslaw Popowytsch was now in fourth place, 55 seconds behind, twelve seconds behind Richie Porte . With 36 seconds behind, Alberto Contador is already in third place. In the first split time measurement, however, he was still a second ahead of Millar. He was able to extend his lead over Michele Scarponi in the overall standings to 6:10 minutes, as he crossed the finish line 1:28 minutes behind. Vincenzo Nibali needed 1:18 minutes longer than Millar for the route, which meant he was 42 seconds behind Contador and just ten seconds ahead of Scarponi. In the overall standings, Nibali was 6:56 minutes behind Contador. Roman Kreuziger was two seconds faster than Scarponi, which pushed him up to sixth place in the overall standings.

Individual evidence

↑ The Giro, which did not take place. In: radsport-news.com. April 23, 2015. Retrieved May 28, 2017 .

[radsport-103933-1] The Giro, which did not take place. In: radsport-news.com. April 23, 2015. Retrieved May 28, 2017 .