Mikel Landa fue el ganador de la etapa 19 del Giro de Italia y el Colombiano Nairo Quintana quien ingresó con el grupo de los clasificados en el top five, le sacó un minuto y 9 segundos al líder Tom Dumoulin para recuperar la camisa rosa de líder, ahora con 38 segundos de ventaja sobre el Holandés y con 43 sobre Vincenzo Nibali, despues de los 191 kiloemtros de exigente recorrido y con final en ascenso en Piancavallo.
La etapa 20 de este sabado se disputará entre Pordenone y Asiago sobre 190 kilometros con 3 premios de montaña, 2 de primera categoria, para cerrar el domingo con una contra reloj individual sobre 29 kilometros entre el autodormo de Monza y Milan.
Los primeros de la general estan asi…
On another day of high drama and controversy Mikel Landa rescued Team Sky’s Giro d’Italia with a hard fought win at Piancavallo on stage 18. The Spaniard attacked his breakaway companions inside the final 10 kilometres with Rui Costa (UAE Emirates) and Pierre Rolland (Cannondale Drapac) rounding out the top three.
While the break decided the stage, the brief early morning truce called between race leader Tom Dumoulin and his primary rivals, Vincenzo Nibali and Nairo Quintana after the stage 17 polemics, was dissolved within the opening kilometres with the race leader caught behind an early split in controversial circumstances.
Although he was able to regain contact, Dumoulin cracked on the final climb and Quintana moved into the pink jersey with two stages remaining after putting a minute into the maglia rosa. Quintana now leads Dumoulin by 38 seconds, with Nibali a further five seconds in arrears.
The change in race leader, however, only told part of the story as Nibali and the impressive Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) also gained time. However, Dumoulin, who had looked imperious until now, managed his bad day well enough to remain the race favourite with one more individual time trial to come.
For Nibali, Quintana and now Pinot, there is still hope of winning the race, with stage 20 providing one last opportunity to explore whether Dumoulin’s Giro foundations are about to crumble.