Monte Zoncolan has arrived. The last big test of the Giro. And what a test!
Taylor Phinney took the race lead after Stage 7, and holds a 1'30 lead on Angel Madrazo. Two mountain stage victories to his credit already, the Spaniard needs to replicate his Stage 16 time trial gap out on the road. Not an easy ask, but he couldn't ask for a better platform than Zoncolan to do that on.
Simon Spilak sits in prime position for the final podium spot. The Giro podium is usually all-Italian, and there is a prospect of no Italian being on it this year. Vincenzo Nibali is best placed to save the day, but trails Spilak by 1'08. Markus Fothen is a further 1'05 behind.
Defending champion Riccardo Ricco will have to do well to improve on 6th, while Emanuele Sella has hit top form and will be eyeing up the 42 seconds between himself and Ricco.
It's such a close battle for the final Top 10 spots as well. 21 seconds separate Yuri Trofimov, Romain Sicard, Nico Keinath and Peter Velits. Sergio Luis Henao Montoya has over a minute to make up to join that battle, but has been climbing well so don't rule it out.
Twelve men form together in the first attack to form the breakaway - there is to be no repeat of Gavia's frenzied first 50 kilometres.
Leopold König was sat at the front of the peloton watching who went forward, looking to see if he too needed to get involved to defend his King of the Mountains lead.
He isn't in the move, and it's a risk, because a rider in there could take enough points to beat him.
Matteo Rabottini Jocelin Maillet Yonathan Monsalve Tom Stubbe Alex Howes Mickaël Delage Moris Possoni Mohammad Saufi Mat Senan Johann Tschopp Tim Kennaugh Maciej Paterski Santo Anza
Stubbe lies 5th in the King of the Mountains standings, despite failing to take full advantage of being in two previous breakaways. 21 points is his deficit to Konig, and 26 points are available without including Zoncolan!
But he just isnt interested. Passo Fadalto is the first climb, and it is stage winner Maillet who is first over - Stubbe only 3rd.
And then no points follow over the next two climbs. Possoni won the Cat 3 Pieve di Cadore, while Rabottini led over the 2nd Cat Passo di Mauria.
As with the rest of the race, Wikipedia have been in full control of the peloton.
The 4th Cat Cima Corso marks the final climb prior to Zoncolan and 34km to the finish line. Monsalve won that one from the breakaway - their lead is a big 9 minutes.
There's something about going early in this race for Simply Red Bull. Juan van Heerden does it in every sprint, and it doesn't particularly help. Emanuele Sella did it on the Gavia stage and won in impressive fashion.
And on the descent of the Cima Corso, he goes on the attack! Daniel Navarro, Manuel Lloret and Yevgeni Nepomnyachsniy join him.
They are quickly brought back however - it might be a good idea to save attacking energies for the actual uphill part!
The lead of the breakaway is starting to fall now, quickly losing a minute and a half as the 12 of them enter the final 20km.
Sella went for another descending move, this time alongside Fabio Duarte.
That didn't work, but after seeing Navarro get a small gap, a 3rd attack followed from Sella.
As he rode past the Spaniard, a more important Spaniard was following a counter move! Angel Madrazo already looking to break clear of the peloton, alongside Romain Sicard and Sergio Luis Henao Montoya.
It's too early and too 'flat', so no gap is kept. More of a warm up move for Madrazo perhaps?
The steep section of Zoncolan which makes it so mythical is almost here. The break hold a lead of 6'30 on Sella and Navarro, with another 20 second to the peloton. Tschopp, Howes and Mat Senan trying to attack away from the rest of the group.
Sella, alongside Navarro, finds himself again caught by Wikipedia, still going strong at the head of a fairly large peloton.
Next to try are Peter Velits, Ryan Eastman and Nico Keinath.
Velits and Keinath in particular have the target of Trofimov today, the former currently finding himself just outside of the Top 10. It's a bit surprising to see them attacking though - maybe not the best use of energy?
Emanuele Sella just can't stand seeing others attack without him, and makes a 4th move.
The trio are caught as Sella tries to make a gap work this time, and he enters into the final 10 kilometres.
Lloret, Sicard and Henao tried to attack up to him but couldnt break the peloton's grip. And while Wikipedia are down to just two workers, the French pair of Christoph Mai and Thibaut Pinot, ranked 24th and 26th overall, are strong enough to really peg Sella back. Hopes of a 2 minute gap for him today seem bleak.
Being caught only leads him to try for a 5th time! Navarro looking to follow.
It's all going nowhere though.
Having dropped back after his first move, Madrazo has now moved back towards the front of the peloton to inspect the situation - Wikipedia perhaps starting to weaken? Augustyn is leading Spilak into a good position as well.
You can see Henao sat 2nd wheel, and he soon sets off on an attack. In past mountain stages, once the Colombian has attacked on the steeper parts of the climb, he has gotten a gap and kept it.
But today he doesnt manage it, as Taylor Phinney himself takes over from last teammate Pinot to cross the gap. The American is just 5km away from sealing his Giro victory - and the forgotten breakaway now come into view. It looks like the GC riders will have a stage win to battle for, as well as time.
Phinney is 5 kilometres away from overall triumph - but Angel Madrazo is not about to make that an easy 5 kilometres. Finally, he attacks!
He stops without getting a gap, but only briefly, as he charges off again. Taking full advantage of the breakaway being caught and using them as a separator between himself and his rivals.
Madrazo is flying! Tschopp was in the lead, chased by Mat Senan - but Madrazo's aggression takes him comfortably past both of them.
Now the pressure is really on. Bernhard Kohl tries to attack clear, but it is all about how Phinney responds now!
The gap is already up at a minute. Madrazo closing in on the Maglia Rosa...
It is of course up to Phinney to do the leading. The biggest time trial of his life lies ahead, as the peloton really starts to splinter and split behind him.
There's an American fan running alongside Madrazo, but if he is trying to be a distraction it is not working, with the gap edging out to 1'06.
Madrazo needs 1'31 to take the race lead outright. Take away a 20 second time bonus and that is 1'11. But of course we have to add any time bonus that Phinney can take.
And it seems likely that he will get some sort of time bonus, as now only Nibali and Spilak can stay with him. The Slovenian puts in an attack, which Phinney immediately looks to counter - will this provide a bit of acceleration needed to reduce that gap?
No, because the gap is now up to 1'12!
It is chaos behind Phinney. There is a 9 man chasing group with Fothen, Ricco, Maillet, Henao, Sicard, Monsalve, Kohl, Kiserlovski and Faiers. Great news for Sicard as his closest rivals are not here, while this is the best climbing of the race for Kiserlovski and the Pendleton's duo, while Maillet and Monsalve from the breakaway are climbing well to stay here and support their team leader.
The next 6 riders are Duarte, Lopez Garcia and 4 of the breakaway - it seems Sella is now suffering from his earlier aggression, as he rides just infront of Eastman.
We are into the final 2 kilometres, and still fighting hard Phinney can see his target up in the distance.
Markus Fothen has hit the front of his group. The only 4 riders ahead of him are already infront of him overall as well, so it is mainly pride that he is riding for now.
And the race could be shifting back into the hands of Taylor Phinney! The gap to Madrazo has been cut to 1'03, and he has dropped Nibali and Spilak! A 12 second time bonus for 2nd means that Madrazo needs a gain of 1'23 - so that is a current 20 second cushion for Phinney.
Fothen has ridden off the front of his group now looking to chase down Nibali and Spilak. Ricco chases after him.
Madrazo is into the final kilometre, having to find some extra energy as well now as his lead threatens to fall below a minute.
In the battle for 3rd on the stage, and 3rd overall, Spilak is keeping himself on the wheel of Nibali, looking good to defend his position.
Emanuele Sella has got his head back in gear and ridden away from his group - Sicard could be threatening his 7th overall here, as his attacking game is forced to change to defense. Trofimov, Keinath and Velits are currently inseparable - which is good news for the Russian, but not so good for Velits.
Angel Madrazo is finishing quickly, and his lead is starting to rise once again - even though he starts to celebrate his stage victory earlier than he needs to!
The clock will start at he crosses the line, it's going to be close.
Does Phinney have anything left? Just these final few hundred metres left for him.
Taylor Phinney has done it! He KEEPS the race lead - by 13 seconds!
Vincenzo Nibali wins the sprint for 3rd on the stage, but Simon Spilak will be on the final podium instead. Their gap to Madrazo was 1'32. If Phinney hadn't ridden away from them, the Maglia Rosa would have changed hands.
Markus Fothen takes 5th place, 1'51 behind
And then it is Riccardo Ricco at 2;09. The finishing order on Zoncolan is closely matching the overall standings as far as the Top 6 is concerned.
Romain Sicard sprints home for 7th place to secure at least 8th overall. He needs 58 seconds on Sella to make that 7th, as the Italian rounds the final corner. Kiserlovski is looking for 1'13 on Eastman, while Henao wants 1'21 on Velits, and slightly more for a Top 10 finish.
8th today for Bernhard Kohl won't improve his GC position of 15th, but it is Pendleton's first Top 10 finish of the entire race.
Emanuele Sella struggles home for a 3'15 gap - enough to stay ahead of Sicard.
Duarte finished solo for 15th - clearly one of his 'good' days, of which were few and far between this race.
Yuri Trofimov was just behind him, and being ahead of Velits and Keinath secures his Top 10 GC place.
The gap to Madrazo is 3'41, but the more important gap to the Sicard/Henao/Kiserlovski group is 1'01. So Trofimov will take 9th overall, and Keinath will complete the Top 10. Velits misses out, with Henao also falling just short of gaining enough on the climbs. Eastman will keep 13th ahead of Kiserlovski.
David López Garcia's strong finish inside this group will see him climb from 22nd to 19th - pushing fellow Spaniard Manuel Lloret out of the Top 20.
54th on the stage for Leopold König sees him drop 2 spots to 22. Into his place in 20th goes fellow Czech Martin Hacecký. The big news for König though is that he has secured his King of the Mountains jersey! Madrazo moves into 2nd in the competition after his stage win, but it was not enough to catch up with the Milka rider.
The Zoncolan delivered on it's promise and the end result looks set to be the smallest margin of victory ever in a ManGame Giro - the gap of 13 seconds beating last year's winning gap of 18 seconds. Taylor Phinney is a deserving race leader after stepping up to the plate, and fending off the toughest challenges of them all from Madrazo today.
All 198 riders finished - so no time limit withdrawals in this year's race, unusually.
1
Angel Madrazo
Santander
4h30'43
2
Taylor Phinney
Wikipedia
+ 1'09
3
Vincenzo Nibali
UBS - BMC
+ 1'32
4
Simon Spilak
Aker - MOT
s.t.
5
Markus Fothen
Festina-Canal+
+ 1'51
6
Riccardo Ricco
Team Bacardi
+ 2'09
7
Romain Sicard
Pearl Adidas
+ 2'40
8
Bernhard Kohl
Pendleton's
s.t.
9
Sergio Luis Henao Montoya
Milka - AVG
s.t.
10
Robert Kiserlovski
Hollister Pro Cycling
s.t.
11
Yonathan Monsalve
Hollister Pro Cycling
s.t.
12
Jocelin Maillet
Pearl Adidas
s.t.
13
Thomas Faiers
Pendleton's
s.t.
14
Emanuele Sella
Simply Red Bull
+ 3'15
15
Fabio Duarte
Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi
+ 3'33
16
Yuri Trofimov
Koenigsegg
+ 3'41
17
David López Garcia
Santander
s.t.
18
Teodoro Costagli
Wiggle Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
19
Ryan Eastman
Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms
Matteo Rabottini
Jocelin Maillet
Yonathan Monsalve
Tom Stubbe
Alex Howes
Mohammad Saufi Mat Senan
Johann Tschopp
Tim Kennaugh
Maciej Paterski
