40 years ago, Pierfranco Vianelli won on the Grossglockner. Since then, the Austrian giant has not been used by the Giro. While not travelling to the summit, the riders will end the day 2,137m above sea level.
Their first climb of the day is the Passo di Monte Croce Carnico. At its peak, the riders will no longer by on Italian soil. Before the Grossglockner, two smaller peaks, the Gailbergsattel and the Iselbergpass, will have to be dealt with.
Today will mark the beginning of three days of hellish parcours. A bad day will be disastrous for any riders with GC ambitions.
With so many KOM points up for grabs, Filippo Savini wanted to get into the day's breakaway.
Savini tries to get into a break.
He tried and tried, but couldn't escape the peloton's grasp.
Fischer entered the day only 6 points down on Savini for the KOM competition. Knowing this, Pirazzi pushed the pace on the climbs, making it impossible for Fischer to eat into the lead. The Brazilian gained no points on the day.
Pirazzi leads the group into Austria.
The breaks lead was 5'25 at this point.
Pirazzi was also the first over the Gailbergsattel. The lead had crept out to 6'44.
On the Iselbergpass, Pirazzi's pace was beginning to wear on his companions.
The break begins to string out, suffering from Pirazzi's relentless riding.
Near the top of the climb, Pirazzi had ridden the entire group off his wheel. He was alone against the rest of the peloton. He summitted the Iselbergpass, 1'09 ahead his closest rival. The peloton had picked up its pace and was only 4'14 back.
Pirazzi alone against the rest.
In the valley between the Iselbergpass and the Grossglockner, Movistar took command of the pace-setting in the peloton. Thus far, Vasil Kiryienka has been very impressive, still sitting in 2nd place overall. Last year, then called Caisse d'Epargne, David Arroyo was the squad's surprising runner-up.
Movistar set the pace leading up the Grossglockner.
On the bottom of the climb, Pirazzi began suffering from his efforts. Despite being no danger to the overall, the peloton wasn't giving this stage away.
However, soon, Pirazzi was out of the gas. He ended up finishing all the way down in 70th but had protected Savini's KOM lead, for now...
With a small respite at Kasereck, 5km from the line approaching, and Pirazzi cooked, Domenico Pozzovivo attacked.
Pozzovivo attacks.
He quickly connected with Pirazzi, who desperately tried to give his all for his team leader, even if for a meter or two. Once he was used up, Pozzovivo was off again. He reached Serpa with his second burst. The two were 50" ahead of the peloton.
Pozzovivo and Serpa now lead the race.
Just at the top of the climb, Pozzovivo cracked Serpa.
The other favorites were a bit slow to respond to Pozzovivo's move. Finally, Ivan Basso (Liquigas - Cannondale) broke from the field.
After Kasereck, Basso goes after Pozzovivo.
Basso caught Pozzovivo as they begin the final ascent. Behind them, the other favorites were trying to organize a response.
High in the Alps, the Mosquera fights to reach the two Italians.
On one of the final switchbacks, Mosquera bridged the gap to the two leaders. He had left Rujano behind, who was now in the chasing group. This group was being led by Michele Scarponi (Lampre - ISD) and Igor Antón (Euskaltel - Euskadi). Kiryienka was still present, but looking very tired.
Mosquera grabs a bit of food for the final push.
The three reached the flamme rouge first.
However, just then, Scarponi came bursting on the left with a blistering attack.
Scarponi played the waiting game.
The Italian had timed his attack to perfection. He rocketed past the other riders in the final kilometer to take an emphatic win. At times, Scarponi has looked vulnerable, but such a win sent a reminder to everyone that he couldn't be counted out. He jumped past Pozzovivo in the overall.
14 seconds later, Basso crossed the line, extending his overall lead over everyone else. Mosquera completed the podium, 18" behind Scarponi.
Thanks to his 2nd place, Basso took over the points and KOM competitions as well.
Pozzovivo, who struggled with the late attacks held onto 4th, 28 seconds behind. With him was Antón who was now the closest rider to Basso. Kiryienka moved down to third overall.
The gaps weren't major today. While Basso's lead may be too much, there is still much to play for in the coming days.
@ Pellizotti2: Don't get my hopes up! Kiryienka has been really strong in the high mountains, limiting losses well.
@ Spilak23: KOM jersey is going to almost impossible with Basso. Savini needed to get into many more breaks, but he was unlucky/too tired.
@ tsmoha: Thanks!
@ baia: Thanks. Trying to get that stage win however I can.
Giro d'Italia: Stage 14
Lienz - Monte Zoncolan: 210.1km
Today is easily one of the most difficult stages in recent GC history. Over 200km in distance and 5 categorized climbs, the last two being the Monte Crostis and the unforgiving Monte Zoncolan. Last year, Ivan Basso (Liquigas - Cannondale) cracked the competition on the testing slopes of the Zoncolan.
Starting in Austria, the peloton will shortly move back into Italy, slowly climbing towards the Passo di Monte Croce Comelico, the Passo di Sant'Antonio, and the Passo Della Mauria. The three climbs happen in quite quick succession and could be jump off point for the peloton.
The Avaglio climb, 142.6km into the day, signals trouble ahead. The next 50km of the race will be incredibly difficult. First is the 15.4km, 9.3% Monte Crostis. From there, the peloton will make a harrowing descent into Ovaro.
With barely any respite, they will soon head straight back up, this time up Monte Zoncolan. The climb is unambiguous, and only the strongest will prevail.
Savini, still wearing the jersey because Basso is in pink, in the break.
Savini was the only rider in the break interested in mountain points, and easily collected them over the Passo di Monte Croce Comelico. The break was 5'21 ahead of the peloton.
At the Passo di Sant'Antonio their advantage had grown to 7'27.
Back in the peloton, Vasil Kiryienka (Movistar Team) fell on the descent.
The Belarusian goes down hard.
He was able to recover and get back with the peloton, but his pedaling began to look labored.
The Colombian has been very aggressive in the mountains.
Serpa began making up good time on the breakaway. Savini once again led the group over the climb, now 9'25 ahead of the main field. Serpa was only 5'21 behind and gaining.
A tribute to a fallen rider.
In the riding before Monte Crostis, there was little action. Serpa made the bridge with the breakaway, while the peloton had greatly increased its speed. The break went through the sprint point, right at the base of the climb, 5'32 ahead of the peloton.
Almost at the bottom of the climb, the pace of Savini and Serpa was too much for the other riders. They were soon clear of the rest of the breakaway.
Savini and Serpa move on ahead.
In the peloton, Euskaltel - Euskadi was doing the lion's share of the work. The had managed to isolate Basso, which, given his team, isn't too hard. Even so, the favorites may have to work together to take any real time off him.
Euskaltel at the front with Basso, alone, monitoring.
The pace of race quickly began to wear on the riders. Kiryienka was one of the first big names to be dropped. Ultimately, he finished in 56th, 23'50 off the winning pace. This dropped him all the way down to 20th overall. A shame given how well he's ridden.
The next to be dropped was Stefano Garzell (Acqua & Sapone), Richie Porte (Saxo Bank SunGard), and John Gadret (AG2R La Mondiale).
Favorites began dropping, quite early on the Monte Crostis.
It wasn't long before the maglia rosa group was reduced to 10 riders.
However, with 5km to go to the top, the size was cut in half. Domenico Pozzovivo was dropped. Along with him were teammate Simone Stortoni, Michele Scarponi (Lampre - ISD), Luis León Sánchez (Rabobank Cycling Team), and Peter Velits (HTC - Highroad).
Pozzovivo, Scarponi, et al. will need to work hard to reduce losses.
Sensing his rivals were in trouble, Basso went to the front of his group to press the advantage. Only 4 other riders were in this first chasing group; Ezequiel Mosquera (Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team), Igor Antón, Mikel Nieve, and Iván Velasco (Euskaltel - Euskadi). Serpa and Savini were still leading the race up the road.
Basso puts the pressure on the dropped riders.
Nearing the summit of Monte Crostis, Savini and Serpa were engulfed by the huge crowds. The tifosi were out in strength, especially from the United States and Flanders.
The fans cheer the leading riders on.
For a while, Pozzovivo's group was being lead by his teammate Stortoni. He did a good job stabilizing the gap, but was not able to cut into Basso's lead. Empty, it was now time for Pozzovivo to assume the workload. He moved to the front of his group and began to claw back the advantage.
Pozzovivo's group chasing Basso's; the later just around the bend.
1 kilometer from the top, Basso's group, which had since been reduced to just him, Mosquera, and Antón, caught Serpa and Savini.
The lead group on the road.
The narrow roads and the congestion of riders helped Pozzovivo, who had maintained a steady pace up the climb. His group caught up with Basso's just at the KOM sprint.
Serpa had attacked just at the top to claim the KOM points.
Basso, Antón, Mosquera, Scarponi, Pozzovivo, Velits, and Savini go over the Monte Crostis.
At this point, the riders were all over the climb in small groups.
2'11 behind was Stortoni, Velasco, Yuri Trofimov (Katusha Team), Bauke Mollema (Rabobank Cycling Team), and Thomas Löfkvist (Sky ProCycling).
The next group was 3'48 behind. Only Janez Brajkovic (Team RadioShack), Giampaolo Caruso (Katusha Team), and Vladimir Miholjevic (Acqua & Sapone) were there.
8'12 down, was current poor Kiryienka.
The lead group took the dangerous descent of the Crostis carefully. With no one wanting to crash, riders from behind, who were taking chances, began coming back.
Thankfully, everyone descended the Crostis safely.
In Ovaro, the lead group was now made up 20 riders. The best placed riders not included were Kiryienka, Brajkovic, and Marco Pinotti (HTC - Highroad).
The riders take a left turn into Hell.
Basso, despite not needing to, took the responsibility of the pace-setting. This was a very dangerous situation for the rest of the group, but his pace was so high, very few could do anything about it.
Pozzovivo sat just behind him, monitoring the situation.
Basso leads the group at the beginning of the climb.
Feeling good, about halfway up the climb, Pozzovivo took to the front. The small Italian is suited for such a climb; he is a rhythm climber like Basso, not explosive like Antón or Mosquera.
Pozzovivo moves to the front and ups the pace.
Up the unrelenting climb, Pozzovivo continued to set a steady pace. Soon, riders were dropping off the back. First, it was minor riders. Then, Niemec and Kruijswijk.
Pozzovivo's pace is too much.
2.5km from the top, Pozzovivo was still going strong. On a particularly tough section, his pace drops everyone but Basso! His tempo riding had left Scarponi, Antón, Mosquera, Velits, and Rujano behind.
Pozzovivo and Basso move clear.
To this point, Pozzovivo had done nearly all the work. Basso moved past him, and, in short order, dropped his fellow countryman. He did not accelerate, but just kept turning the screws, and made a pace Pozzovivo could not.
Basso moves clear of the field, again.
Basso was gone once again, but Pozzovivo still had a good advantage over his closest rivals. Everyone was clearly exhausted and it was going to be a struggle for anyone to make a serious move.
At the flamme rouge, Pozzovivo was 40 seconds ahead.
Mosquera and Antón desperately trying to catch Pozzovivo.
As stated, no one was going to catch Basso. He once again dominated the field, finishing in 6h32'51. He improved his lead in all 3 competitions, and barring disaster, should easily capture his 3rd Giro d'Italia.
1'09 later, Pozzovivo came in, holding onto 2nd place! The performance saw him climb into 4th overall, jumping past Scarponi and Kiryienka.
1'41 later, Antón, Mosquera, and Velits crossed the line. Other than passing Kiryienka, there were no changes in their overall orders.
2'01 down came Scarponi, who now moved back into 5th.
Antón, the closest to Basso was 4'28 behind. However only 3'43 separated 2nd from 6th. There was still everything to play for in the minor placings.
26 riders didn't finish the race today, meaning only 157 riders remain.
Great ride with Pozzovivo, especially after being dropped before. Those 2 cimbs are the toughest I've ever raced in PCM, both like hell with big time gaps... So really great ride!
@ all: Thanks! I was really pretty shocked when Pozzovivo was able to drop the other riders. Basso is unbeatable, but the focus is now on a podium position.
Giro d'Italia: Stage 15
Conegliano - Gardeccia/Val di Fassa: 227.0km
If yesterday was one of most difficult stages in recent history, today's may be one of the most difficult ever. A bold claim, but today's stage features 5 monster climbs, including the Cima Coppi; all after consecutive finishes on the Grossglockner and Monte Zoncolan.
After 30 flat kilometers, the riders will spend the rest of their time either climbing or descending. The day climaxes with a summit finish in Val di Fassa.
Filippo Savini again fought to get into the breakaway. He was fighting hard for the maglia verde, but Basso's dominance in the summit finishes was making it an uphill battle, pun intended.
The 13.3km climb had an average gradient of 8.5%. From the very beginning of the day, riders suffered. Far from the battle for the maglia rosa, a battle to make to the time limit would be waged.
Savini led the break over the first climb, 5'46 ahead of the peloton.
Savini collects the KOM points at Piancavallo.
The next climb on the day was the Forcella Cibiana. The peloton began to increase their pace with Euskaltel - Euskadi at the head of the group.
Euskaltel lead the chase; Colnago is at the front too, keeping a close eye on the action.
With 109km to go, still on the Forcella Cibiana, Marco Pinotti (HTC - Highroad) attacked. He is currently in 16th overall, well off the pace. Pinotti came into the race as the HTC leader, but has seen Peter Velits take that role.
He was 9'18 behind the break when he left the comfort of the peloton.
Pinotti attacks on the Forcella Cibiana.
Savini once again led the break over the climb. He was closing in on Basso's total. Even so, he needed to win the Cima Coppi to have a chance.
The breakaway was 9'11 ahead of the peloton at the top of the Forcella Cibiana; Pinotti was only 6'21 behind.
Savini had done a bulk of the work on the first two climbs. On the descent of the Forcelle Cibiana he took it easy. As he moved off the front, the break's momentum slowed. The riders were trying to save energy for the upcoming Passo d Giau. The Giro's highest point, the Cima Coppi topped out at 2,236km after 15.9km of climbing.
The slower pace allowed Pinotti to bridge with 68km remaining. In a shade over 40km, he had made up over 9 minutes. The peloton was now 6'20 back.
Pinotti makes the junction with the breakaway.
As the break began to tackle the climb, Pinotti and Betancourt pushed the pace. Savini was trying to hang on.
De Clerq, Malacarne, Gusev, Zaugg, and Marzano were the first to go.
Then with 6km left, Peterson was dropped.
Finally, with 5km left in the climb, Savini couldn't keep up. There would be no Cima Coppi for him. This likely finished any chances of winning the maglia verde.
Savini sees any hopes of the maglia verde climb away.
Pinotti kept making the pace up the rest of the climb. The veteran claimed the Cima Coppi without too much fight. Only Betancourt could hang with the Italian.
Failli and Possoni were 56" behind; Savini, 1'24.
The peloton remained calm, still maintaining a disadvantage around 6'30.
Pinotti claims the Cima Coppi; now he will go for a dramatic stage win.
Everyone made the descent into Rocca Pietore safely.
The riders have no respite, as next up is the Passo di Fedaia. 13km in length @ 8.1%, the riders will begin climbing almost as soon as they finish with the Passo di Giau.
With 38km to go, Emanuele Sella (Androni Giocattoli) attacked. Normally a very aggressive rider, this is the first time Sella has been visible in the Giro.
Pozzovivo thought about going with the move, but hesitated. He wasn't worried about Basso or Rujano; the former was too far ahead, the later, too far behind. But Velits was worrying. He had tried to go with Basso on Etna and cracked. Pozzovivo hoped the same would happen here.
Nonetheless, Colnago organized the chase, picking up the stragglers from the break.
Colnago begin to chase down Velits; Savini is picked up, exhausted.
Soon, the chase group was reduced to 20. Igor Antón (Euskaltel - Euskadi) and Ezequiel Mosquera (Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team) got on the front to make the pace. Pozzovivo was suffering in the rear.
The chase group, about to pick up Betancourt. Pozzovivo is not looking good.
Up the climb, the chase group was reduced to the real contenders. With Pinotti still at the head, followed by Basso, Velits, and Rujano, Pozzovivo now found himself in the third group on the road. With him was Antón, Mosquera, Scarponi, Luis León Sánchez and Steven Kruijswijk (Rabobank Cycling Team).
The small chase group; the maglia rosa group is just up the road.
With Basso's group making good headway, Antón, Mosquera, and Scarponi jumped from the chase group. Pozzovivo and the Rabobank boys were left behind.
Antón, Scarponi, and Mosquera go after Basso, dropping Pozzovivo in the process.
Pinotti was the first over the Passo di Fedaia.
1'05 back was Basso. A further 16 seconds back was Rujano. Velits was 7 seconds behind Rujano.
The next group on the road was made up of Antón, Mosquera, and Scarponi. They were 2'00 down on Pinotti.
3'05 back was Pozzovivo, Sánchez, and Kruijswijk.
The good news for Pozzovivo was Sánchez is an excellent descender. With a long descent and some flat ground before the Gardeccia, maybe he could claw back some of that advantage.
Sánchez leads his teammate Kruijswijk and Pozzovivo down the climb.
Up the road, Basso reached Pinotti at the bottom of the descent. After a great ride, Pinotti's chances for a stage victory seem to be fading fast.
Basso is at the head of the race.
With 10km left to go, Basso and Pinotti were joined by Antón, Mosquera, Scarponi, Velits, and Rujano.
Pozzovivo's group was 1'28 behind.
The maglia rosa group; the first elite selection Pozzovivo has missed.
The maglia rosa group got onto the Gardeccia climb first. Basso was at the head of this group, at this point just asserting his dominance over the field.
Basso is just silly strong.
Pozzovivo's group reached the climb with the front group in sight. They seemed tantalizingly close. However, the climb to Val di Fassa averaged 9.5% meaning the slightest gap produced big time differences.
Sánchez moved off the front and Pozzovivo took over the pace setting with 5km to go.
The front group, just out of the reach of Pozzovivo.
Sensing vulnerability, Scarponi attacked with 4km. Velits went with him.
Scarponi and Velits go. Both are making bids for the podium.
Their attack put Pinotti and Mosquera in trouble. The two created a little separation and started working together.
Behind them, Pozzovivo had dropped his Rabobank buddies. He was slowly grinding his way up the climb. With 2.5km to go, he was 56" behind Scarponi and Velits. However, he was inching ever closer to Mosquera and Pinotti.
Pozzovivo fighting hard to limit his losses.
At the same time as Pozzovivo was slowly coming back, Basso attacked. He shot out of the group, and within seconds, had burst past a stunned Scarponi and Velits. Once again, Basso was gone.
Everyone move aside, Basso is the king of this year's Giro.
Basso easily soloed to the stage win, extending his already impressive lead. In the last two kilometers, he took out amazing chunks of time from everyone else, winning by 1'27. It took him over 7 hours to finish the day!
A familiar sight.
Scarponi held on to 2nd place. He was able to drop Velits and hold off a charging Antón. The pair came in together and now occupy the podium places.
Velits came in 20 seconds after the pair with Rujano. Velits remains in 6th overall, while Rujano moves into the Top 10 for the first time.
In the end, Pozzovivo caught up with Mosquera and Pinotti, coming in with them 2'23 behind Basso. Both Pozzovivo and Mosquera move down in the overall standings due to their poor days. Overall, Pozzovivo did a good job fighting back and limiting losses.
23 riders missed the time cut. Only Movistar Team, Androni Giocattoli, and Colnago - CSF Inox remain with their full compliment of riders.
Tomorrow is a well deserved rest day for the peloton.
A tough day for Pozzovivo, he still has a lot to fight for.
Epic report! Pozzo did well in the end, I think. He looked worse on penultimate climb and managed to stay within reach to Scarponi. A huge fight.. no words for Basso though
