Rigoberto Urán moved into clean air in third place at the Giro d’Italia after a strong ride in an exciting finale to stage 16.
Intxausti takes stage, Pate makes break
Rigoberto Urán moved into clean air in third place at the Giro d’Italia after a strong ride in an exciting finale to stage 16.
The Colombian was able to follow a series of stinging attacks that ripped the peloton wide open on the third category Andrate climb and the subsequent descent as the big names made their presence felt.
Despite the relatively short nature of the climb the race exploded with Urán able to slip into a group of favourites, distancing nearest rival Mauro Santambrogio on the climb to put two minutes and 10 seconds into the Italian (Vini Fantini) at the finish.
Urán crossed the line in 11th alongside race leader Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) and Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) after a breathless finish had seen each of the contenders look to escape on the run down into Ivrea.
Three riders were able to carve out a 14-second gap in the closing kilometres and it was Benat Intxausti (Movistar) who prospered in the three-up sprint, the Spaniard holding off Tanel Kangert (Astana) and Przemyslaw Niemiec (Lampre-Merida) at the finish.
The end result saw the podium places on the general classification remain unchanged, yet Urán now holds an advantage of 1:07 back to the fourth placed rider Michele Scarponi (Lampre-Merida).
Pate off the front
Stage 16 took the riders on long and testing 239km ride east from Valloire to Ivrea over two categorised climbs.
The day started with the race’s second ascent of the category Col du Mont Cenis and ended with the steep category-three climb to Andrate, which summited 17.5km from the finish and was set to be a battleground between sprinters trying to set up a bunch finish and attackers bidding for solo glory.
Sixteen riders, including Danny Pate, broke clear of the peloton after 46km and another six men later joined them to form a group of 22. However, with Cannondale’s Damiano Caruso among them and just 9:57 down in the general classification, they were only allowed to build a maximum gap of five minutes.
When RadioShack-Leopard upped the pace on the front of the peloton and reduced the deficit to under three minutes, the breakaway riders began attacking each other in a bid to form a new group and reopen the advantage.
Wilco Kelderman (Blanco) and Emanuele Sella (Androni-Venezuela) eventually broke free and were later joined by Pate but as the big names hit out on the final climb the complexion of the day completely changed.
A move from Scarponi was quickly pounced on by Nibali and from there a tense but exciting finale ensued as the big names hit out after the rest day.
Day by day
After the stage Sports Director Marcus Ljungqvist was pleased to see a net gain for the team and a continuation of momentum in the final week.
“It was a hectic final and a big fight to the end," he admitted. "We knew the climb and we knew it was a hard one. You could see that from the profile but it still split up way more than people expected. It turned out well for us being able to put time into some of the riders behind us.
“All in all it was a good day. Danny had a good try in the break. But once Katusha and RadioShack decided to take it up it was always going to be difficult to stay away.
“Rigoberto is going well. We’re still taking it day by day and still looking to move up, whilst retaining what we have. Tomorrow should be relatively straightforward - or as straightforward as it can be at the Giro. Then the day after we have the uphill time trial so we’ll see what happens.”
