Pink jersey moves 17 seconds clear of second-placed Fabio Aru
Thursday 21 May 2015 17:24, UK
Alberto Contador extended his overall lead of the Giro d’Italia by finishing second on a rain-soaked and crash-strewn 12th stage won by Philippe Gilbert.
Gilbert (BMC Racing) emerged from an elite group of favourites with around 500m left of the short but sharp climb to the finish on Monte Berico in Vicenza and held on to win by three seconds from Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) and third-placed Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida).
Contador picked up six bonus seconds and sees his lead over second-placed Fabio Aru (Astana) in the general classification grow from three seconds to 17 after the Italian wilted on the final climb and could only finish 11 seconds down on the winner.
Team Sky’s Richie Porte crossed the line six seconds down on Gilbert in 12th, and remains in the same position overall.
Gilbert said: "It was a very hard stage. Today we had a big meeting and the sports directors gave us our morale back and our confidence and we said, 'OK, we go for it today'. We decided not to work at the start and save myself for the finish, and it was the right decision."
Contador, who proved to be the strongest of the riders who tried to chase Gilbert down, added: “We are trying to avoid any risks and problems and trying to use our intelligence. Astana are still very strong. It was another really good day for us.”
The Giro continues on Friday with a flat 147km stage from Montecchio Maggiore to Lido di Jesolo.
Stage 12 result
1 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing, 4:22:50
2 Alberto Contador (Esp) Tinkoff-Saxo, +3secs
3 Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre-Merida, same time
4 Simon Geschke (Ger) Giant-Alpecin, st
5 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Bardiani-CSF, st
6 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Astana, st
7 Ion Izagirre (Esp) Movistar, +6
8 Carlos Betancur (Col) Ag2r-La Mondiale, st
9 Jurgen van den Broeck (Bel) Lotto Soudal, st
10 Mikel Landa (Esp) Astana, st
Selected others
12 Richie Porte (Aus) Team Sky, st
26 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana, +11
General classification
1 Alberto Contador (Esp) Tinkoff-Saxo, 51:17:06
2 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana, +17secs
3 Mikel Landa (Esp) Astana, +55
4 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana, +1:30
5 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Tinkoff-Saxo, +1:55
6 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Etixx – Quick-Step, +2:19
7 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar, +2:21
8 Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing, +2:29
9 Andrey Amador (Cos) Movistar, +2:38
10 Leopold Konig (Cze) Team Sky, +2:44
Selected other
12 Richie Porte (Aus) Team Sky, +3:18
