BOLOGNA, Italy -- Australian Simon Gerrans showed immense stamina to win the 14th stage of the Giro d'Italia after a punishing uphill finish on Saturday. The Cervelo rider pulled away from the pack to win in four hours, 16 minutes, 48 seconds following a 172-kilometer mountainous route from Campi Bisenzio in scorching heat.
"It was very, very tough," the 2006 Tour Down Under winner told reporters. "At the start I thought I could win."
Russia's Denis Menchov of the Rabobank team, who took the pink jersey off Italy's 2007 winner Danilo Di Luca on Thursday, kept the overall lead comfortably.
The twice Tour of Spain champion finished 1:04 behind Gerrans in 13th but finished on the same time as 11th-placed Di Luca to stay 34 seconds ahead of the LPR rider overall.
Diquigiovanni's Rubens Bertogliati was second on the stage, the first of four tough days through the Apennine mountains, while Francesco Gavazzi came in third.
Kenya's Christopher Froome was second heading up the hill just outside Bologna but he lost control of the bike as temperatures and the gradient rose.
Lance Armstrong had another steady run as he builds up his fitness for July's Tour de France and lies 7:28 behind Menchov.
Stage 13 winner Mark Cavendish was pulled out of the race by Team Columbia on Friday to allow the Briton to concentrate on his preparations for the Tour.
Sunday's 15th stage is a 161-kilometer journey from Forli to Faenza. The three-week race finishes in Rome on May 31.
0 comments:
Post a Comment