Stage 20
Today’s time trial is mostly uphill and after a week of climbing, it will take a true warrior to endure this 13km uphill time trial. Dekker was one of the favorites coming in, but he was too tired from the past few days of racing, and had to settle for 10th. He did a lot of work to help me in the race so I can’t blame him for being tired.
In 5th place was Fuglsang, who held on to 3rd place overall. If you didn’t know his name before the race you should know it now. He spent the first half of the race working for Schleck but when Schleck cracked, Fuglsang was there to carry the torch for Saxobank.
In 4th place only 1 second faster than Fuglsang and only 2 seconds behind 3rd place was Posthuma who put on another great time trial performance for Rabobank.
In 3rd place was Gesink, who will probably be disappointed by his performance in the Giro. He was one of the pre-race favorites and only finished 7th in the GC.
I was feeling great today and from the moment I left the start gate, I knew I had a chance to win it.
As I approached the finish line I realized I had beaten Gesink by 12 seconds and it looked like I would take my first Giro stage win. But of course, not 2 minutes had gone by when Nibali came in and shattered my times. He beat me by 32 seconds in a time trial that was only 13km long.
This stage pretty much sums up how the Giro has been for me so far. I’ve been 2nd best since day one.
Stage Results
1 Vincenzo Nibali Liquigas 18'01
2 Daniel Martin Garmin - Slipstream + 32
3 Robert Gesink Quick·Step + 44
4 Joost Posthuma Rabobank + 46
5 Jakob Fuglsang Team Saxo Bank + 47
6 André Steensen Team Saxo Bank + 55
7 Sergio Pardilla CarmioOro - A-Style + 1'03
8 Maxime Monfort Team Columbia - High Road s.t.
9 Domenico Pozzovivo CSF Group - Navigare + 1'06
10 Thomas Dekker Garmin - Slipstream + 1'09
11 Giovanni Visconti Cofidis, le crédit en ligne + 1'11
12 Michele Gaia CSF Group - Navigare + 1'16
13 Marco Pinotti Team Columbia - High Road s.t.
14 Dani Moreno Caisse d'Epargne + 1'19
15 Danilo Di Luca LPR Brakes Farnese Vini + 1'21
16 Andrey Amador Barloworld + 1'22
17 Michele Scarponi Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni - Androni Giocattoli + 1'24
18 Franco Pellizotti Quick·Step + 1'26
19 Stef Clement Rabobank + 1'27
20 Mauricio Soler Barloworld + 1'29
21 Lars Boom Rabobank + 1'34
22 Mikhail Ignatiev Team Katusha + 1'35
23 Fränk Schleck Team Saxo Bank s.t.
24 Jose Rujano Cofidis, le crédit en ligne s.t.
25 José Serpa Team Katusha s.t.
26 Alberto Losada Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
27 Bauke Mollema Rabobank s.t.
28 Gianpaolo Caruso Ceramica Flaminia - Bossini Docce + 1'43
29 Luis Pasamontes Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
30 Tom Stubbe Silence - Lotto s.t.
31 Maxim Iglinskiy Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team s.t.
32 Yuri Trofimov Team Saxo Bank s.t.
33 Enrico Zen LPR Brakes Farnese Vini + 1'46
34 Alessandro Bisolti Ceramica Flaminia - Bossini Docce + 1'48
35 Tanel Kangert AG2R La Mondiale s.t.
36 Oliver Zaugg Liquigas + 1'51
37 Alexander Dyachenko Astana Cycling Team s.t.
38 Francesco De Bonis Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni - Androni Giocattoli s.t.
39 Iván Velasco Euskaltel - Euskadi + 1'54
40 Francesco Masciarelli Quick·Step + 1'57
GC
1 Vincenzo Nibali Liquigas 83h29'50
2 Daniel Martin Garmin - Slipstream + 4'31
3 Jakob Fuglsang Team Saxo Bank + 8'26
4 Mauricio Soler Barloworld + 9'16
5 Michele Scarponi Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni - Androni Giocattoli + 9'49
6 Michele Gaia CSF Group - Navigare + 11'32
7 Robert Gesink Quick·Step + 12'28
8 Danilo Di Luca LPR Brakes Farnese Vini + 13'46
9 Thomas Dekker Garmin - Slipstream + 14'56
10 Domenico Pozzovivo CSF Group - Navigare + 16'19
11 Alessandro Bisolti Ceramica Flaminia - Bossini Docce + 16'21
12 Franco Pellizotti Quick·Step + 16'33
13 Andrey Amador Barloworld + 16'57
14 Iván Velasco Euskaltel - Euskadi + 18'57
15 Enrico Zen LPR Brakes Farnese Vini + 19'13
16 Sergio Pardilla CarmioOro - A-Style + 21'34
17 Francesco Masciarelli Quick·Step + 21'59
18 Gianpaolo Caruso Ceramica Flaminia - Bossini Docce + 22'20
19 Giovanni Visconti Cofidis, le crédit en ligne + 23'13
20 Dani Moreno Caisse d'Epargne + 23'20
21 Manuel Vázquez Euskaltel - Euskadi + 26'09
22 Leonardo Duque Cofidis, le crédit en ligne + 27'02
23 Yuri Trofimov Team Saxo Bank + 27'06
24 Alberto Losada Caisse d'Epargne + 31'13
25 John Gadret Astana Cycling Team + 32'59
26 José Serpa Team Katusha + 33'24
27 Jose Rujano Cofidis, le crédit en ligne + 33'54
28 Francesco De Bonis Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni - Androni Giocattoli + 35'20
29 Leonardo Moser Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni - Androni Giocattoli + 35'46
30 Clément Lhotellerie Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team + 35'56
31 Piergiorgio Camussa Ceramica Flaminia - Bossini Docce + 35'57
32 André Steensen Team Saxo Bank + 37'52
33 Fabio Negri Lampre - N.G.C + 38'52
34 Trent Lowe Garmin - Slipstream + 39'01
35 Alexander Efimkin AG2R La Mondiale + 40'11
36 Mikel Nieve Euskaltel - Euskadi + 40'20
37 Maxime Monfort Team Columbia - High Road + 40'35
38 Cristiano Salerno LPR Brakes Farnese Vini + 41'23
39 Luca Pierfelici LPR Brakes Farnese Vini + 41'25
40 Maxim Iglinskiy Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team + 43'00
