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Sastre storms to second win

Image: Sastre: rode away from rivals on final ascent

Carlos Sastre took victory at Mount Vesuvius on stage 19 of the Giro d'Italia, while Denis Menchov retained the overall lead.

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Spaniard triumphs at Mount Vesuvius

Cervelo's Carlos Sastre took victory at Mount Vesuvius on stage 19 of the Giro d'Italia, while Rabobank rider Denis Menchov retained the overall leader's pink jersey. Sastre, the Tour de France champion, broke clear on the final climb up the famous volcano at the end of the 164-kilometre route along the Amalfi coast from Avellino. The Spaniard shed companion Ivan Basso 5km from the line and arrived at the finish alone for his second stage win of this year's race, having also triumphed on stage 16. But his victory could not propel him into a podium position in the overall standings as Liquigas rider Franco Pellizotti came home second on the stage, 21 seconds adrift, to keep hold of third place. Menchov saw his lead over LPR's Danilo Di Luca cut to just 18 seconds in the general classification. The pair finished together, nine seconds after Pellizotti, but Di Luca edged out his Russian rival in the sprint for third to earn an eight-second time bonus.

Armstrong crash

Lance Armstrong, meanwhile, escaped serious injury after taking a tumble mid-way through the stage. Armstrong appeared to touch the wheel of the rider in front of him as he negotiated a hairpin bend. He hit the pavement on his left side but immediately got back up, changed his rear wheel, and rejoined the main bunch. On Saturday the riders undertake a relatively flat 203km stage from Naples to Anagni before the Giro concludes the following day with a 14.4km time-trial in Rome. Stage 19 result:
1 Carlos Sastre (Spain/Cervelo) 4 hrs 33 mins 23 secs
2 Franco Pellizotti (Italy/Liquigas) +21 secs
3 Danilo Di Luca (Italy/Team LPR) +30"
4 Denis Menchov (Russia/Rabobank) "
5 Ivan Basso (Italy/Liquigas) +35"
6 Levi Leipheimer (US/Astana) +53"
7 Tadej Valjavec (Slovenia/AG2R) +1:14"
8 Serge Pauwels (Belgium/Cervelo) +1:15"
9 Jose Serpa (Colombia/Diquigiovanni) "
10 Stefano Garzelli (Italy/Acqua & Sapone) same time

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