Teams, Stages with results, Predictions

Previous Giros

Final 2005 Giro d'Italia General Classification:

1. Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery) 91hr 25min 51sec

2. Gilberto Simoni (Lamnpre) 28sec

3. Jose Rujano (Colombia-Selle Italia) @ 45sec

4. Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) @ 2min 42sec

5. Juan Manuel Garate (Saunier Duval) @ 3min 11sec

6. Serhiy Honchar (Domina Vacanze) @ 4min 22sec

7. Vladimir Karpets (Illes Balears) @ 11min 15sec

8. Pietro Caucchioli (Credit Agricole) @ 11min 38sec

9. Marzio Bruseghin (Fassa Bortolo) @ 11min 40sec

10. Emanuele Sella (Panaria) @ 12min 33sec

Points (Purple Jersey)

1. Paolo Bettini: 162 points

2. Alessandro Petacchi 154

3. Danilo Di Luca 136

4. Paolo Savoldelli 124

5. Ivan Basso 114

6. Erik Zabel 92

Climber (Green Jersey)

1. Jose Rujano 143 points

2. Ivan Parra 57

3. Gilberto Simoni 45

4. Ivan Basso 41

5. Danilo Di Luca 29

The Stages

2005 Giro Prologue, Saturday, May 7: Reggio Calabria (individual time trial), 1.15 km

1. Brett Lancaster (Panaria), 1min 20sec

2. Matteo Tosatto (Fassa Bortolo) @ 1sec

3. Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo),s.t.

4. Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery), s.t.

5. Olaf Pollack (T-Mobile) @ 2sec.

6. Stuart O'Grady (Cofidis), s.t.

7. Jaan Kirsipuu (Credit Agricole), s.t.

8. Mark Renshaw (FDJ), s.t.

9. Sergio Escobar (Illes Balears), s.t.

10. Sven Krauss (Gerolsteiner), s.t.

Prologue map. Just a straight 1.15 km (in red).

Stage 1, Sunday, May 8: Reggio Calabria-Tropea, 208 km.

Paolo Bettini scoots away on the climb to the finish to get his first Giro stage and his first Pink Jersey.

1. Paolo Bettini (Quicik Step) 5hr 9min 32sec

2. Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) @ 3sec

3. Alesandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) @ 4sec

4. Baden Cooke (FDJ) s.t.

5. Manuele Mori (Saunier Duval) s.t.

6. Erik Zabel (T-Mobile) s.t.

7. Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) s.t.

8. Mirko Celestino (Domina Vacanze) s.t.

9. Damiano Cunego (Lampre) s.t.

10. Mauricio Alberto Ardila (Davitamon-Lotto) s.t.

GC after Stage 1:

1. Paolo Bettini (Quick Step) 5hr 10min 35sec

2. Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) @ 12sec

3. Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) @ 14sec

4. Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery) @ 22sec

5. Marco Velo (Fassa Bortolo) @ 25sec

6. Damiano Cunego (Lampre) s.t.

7. Filippo Pozzato (Quick Step) s.t.

8. Baden Cooke (FDJ) s.t.

9. Danilo Di Luca (Liquigass) s.t.

10. Juan Manuel Garate (Saunier Duval) @ 26sec

Stage 1 route map, missing a piece off the toe, but you can see how the riders will circle around back north up the east side.

Stage 2, Monday, May 9: Catanzaro Lido - Santa Maria del Cedro, 182 km.

Giro Stage 2 sprint. McEwen gets a close one. Picture credit, Fotoreporter Sirotti.

Results:

1. Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) 4hr 34min 47sec

2. Isaac Galvez-Lopez (Illes Balears) s.t.

3. Robert Forster (Gerolsteiner) s.t.

4. Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) s.t.

5. Baden Cooke (FDJ) s.t.

6. Francisco Ventoso (Saunier Duval) s.t.

7. Stuart O'Grady (Cofidis) s.t.

8. Steven de Jongh (Rabobank) s.t.

9. Paride Grillo (Panaria) s.t.

10. Uros Murn (Phonak) s.t.

GC after Stage 2:

1. Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) 9hr 45min 14sec

2. Paolo Bettini (Quick Step) @ 8sec

3. Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) @ 22sec

4. Isaac Galvez-Lopez (Liies Balears) @ 27sec

5. Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery) @ 30sec

6. Marco Velo (Fassa Bortolo) @ 33sec

7. Damiano Cunego (Lampre) @ 33sec

8. Filippo Pozzato (Quick Step) s.t.

9. Baden Cooke (FDJ) s.t.

10. Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) s.t.

Giro Stage 2 map and profile

Stage 3, Tuesday, May 10: Diamante - Giffoni Valle Piana, 205 km. To get a sense of where the Giro is now, Salerno, the large city near the finish is ESE of Naples.

And they say baseball is a game of inches! Di Luca gets the precious 20-second time bonus by barely taking Stage 3 from Cunego. Fotoreporter Sirotti picture.

Results:

1. Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) 5hr 24min 17sec. 37.929 km/hr. 20sec time bonus.

2. Damiano Cunego (Lampre) s.t. 12sec time bonus

3. Stefano Garzelli (Liquigas) s.t. 8sec time bonus.

4. Mirko Celestino (Domina Vacanze) s.t.

5. Francisco Ventoso (Saunier Duval) s.t.

6. Paolo Bettini (Quick Step) s.t.

7. Luca Mazzanti (Panaria) s.t.

8. Cristian Moreni (Quick Step) s.t.

9. Christophe Le Mevel (Credit Agricole) s.t.

10. Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery) s.t.

18. Gilberto Simoni (Lampre) s.t.

22. Ivan Basso (CSC) s.t.

50. Tom Danielson (Discovery) st..

Zabel, Petacchi, McEwen, etc at 1min 2sec

GC after Stage 3:

1. Paolo Bettini (Quick Step) 15hr 9min 35sec

2. Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) @ 9sec

3. Damiano Cunego (Lampre) @ 17sec

4. Stefano Garzelli (Liquigas) @ 23sec

5. Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery) @ 26sec

6. Juan Manuel Garate (Saunier Duval) @ 30sec

7. Dario David Cioni (Liquigas) @ 31sec

8. Mauricio Alberto Ardila (Davitamon-Lotto) @ 32sec

9. Gilberto Simoni (Lampre) @ 33sec

10. Serhiy Honchar (Domina Vacanze) s.t.

14. Ivan Basso (CSC) @ 36sec

Note: Two riders quit today, Christophe Detilloux (FDJ) and Tom Steels (Davitamon-Lotto). I believe both are sick.

The finish. Liquigas had the numbers and gave their man, Danilo Di Luca the leadout he needed. Damiano Cunego challenged him, but Di Luca took it. Paolo Bettini was in the front group, so he shoud re-take the Pink Jersey.

8 km to go. Over the top, Liquigas is in charge for the moment. They took the first three places of the GPM (the Giro's Mountain competition): Dario Cioni, Stefano Garzelli and Di Luca . Danilo Di Luca is feeling frisky and is hammering the lead group. Petacchi and the other sprinters went over the top at least a minute behind. About 30 went over together, but now the lead group has grown to 50.

15 km to go. On the Tecla climb the big dogs started throwing high heat. Bettini attacked and took Di Luca, Savoldelli, Simoni, Cunego among others. The sprinters are at the back, suffering.

Km 174: Van Hout gets caught by the field.

Only 8 kilometers into the race, Russel Van Hout (Colombia-Selle Italia) broke away. By km 46 he had about 17 minutes on the pack. Now, at km 154, he has about 4 minutes.

Climbs:

Km 143.5, Scorzo, 474 meters elevation

Km 195.2, Santa Tecla, 365 meters. 3rd category climb. This should break things up. A mass sprint is highly unlikely with 6 kms of climbing just 9 kms before the finish.

Stage 4, Wednesday, May 11: Giffoni Valle Piana-Frosinone, 211 km.

Results. Bettini was first across the line but was relegated to 4th because he didn't hold his line in the sprint. He ran Baden Cooke (FDJ) into the barriers. Cooke crashed but was able to walk the final meters across the line

Top: Cooke goes into the barrier. Middle: Bettini thinks he's got it as Cooke gets stoved in. Bottom: Bettini argues his case and loses. Fotoreporter Sirotti pictures.

Results:

1. Luca Mazzanti (Panaria) 5hr 10min 9sec

2. Dario David Cioni (Liquigas) s.t.

3. Michele Scarponi (Liberty Seguros) s.t.

4. Paolo Bettini (Quick Step) s.t.

5. Mirko Celestino (Domina Vacanze) @ 2sec

6. Filippo Pozzato (Quick Step) @ 4sec

7. Erik Zabel (T-Mobile) st.

8. Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) s.t.

9. Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) s.t.

10. Cristian Moreni (Quick Step) s.t.

11. Damiano Cunego (Lampre) s.t.

GC after Stage 4:

1. Paolo Bettini (Quick Step) 20hr 19min 44sec

2. Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) @ 13sec

3. Luca Mazzanti (Panaria) @ 16sec

4. Dario David Cioni (Liquigas) @ 19sec

5. Damiano Cunego (Lampre) @ 21sec

6. Stefano Garzelli (Liquigas) @ 27sec

7. Michele Scarponi (Liberty Seguros) @ 32sec

8. Mauricio Alberto Ardila (Davitamon-Lotto) @ 36sec

9. Mirko Celestino (Domina Vacanze) @ 37sec

10. Gilberto Simoni (Lampre) s.t.

11. Serhiy Honchar (Domina Vacanze) s.t.

12. Ivan Basso (CSC) @ 40sec

Stage 5, Thursday, May 12: Celano - L'Aquila, 223 km. This stage takes place east and northeast of Rome.

Climbs:

Passo del Diavolo, 1,400 meters, category 2.

Valico Monte Godi, 1564 meters, category 2.

Goriano Sicoli, 742 meters, category 1.

Above: Fassa's Bruseghin may have gone just a bit too early. Di Lucagets the stage win and the Pink Jersey. Below: I love these pictures of the racers descending switchbacks. Fotoreporter Sirotti pictures.

Results:

1. Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) 6 hr 1min 18sec

2. Marzio Brusghin (Fassa Bortolo) s.t.

3. Mauricio Alberto Ardila (Davitamon-Lotto) @ 2sec

4. Bjorn Leukemans (Davitamon-Lotto) s.t.

5. Ivan Basso (CSC) s.t.

6. Damiano Cunego (Lampre) s.t.

7. Stefano Garzelli (Liquigas) s.t.

8. Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery) s.t.

9. Patrice Halgand (Credit Agricole) s.t.

10. Luca Mazzanti (Panaria) s.t.

GC after Stage 5:

1. Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) 26hr 20min 55sec

2. Paolo Bettini (Quick Step) @ 3sec

3. Luca Mazzanti (Panaria) @ 25sec

4. Dario David Cioni (Fassa Bortolo) @ 28sec

5. Damiano Cunego (Lampre) @ 30sec

6. Stefano Garzelli (Liquigas) @ 36sec

7. Mauricio Alberto Ardila (Davitamon-Lotto) @ 37sec

8. Michele Scarponi (Liberty Seguros) @ 41sec

9. Mirko Celstino (Domina Vacanze) @ 46sec

10. Gilberto Simoni (Lampre) s.t.

12. Ivan Basso (CSC) @ 49sec

28. Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery) @ 1min 18sec

The finish. Di Luca takes the sprint, and with the time bonus, I assume, the Pink Jersey.

Km 218, 5 to go. Rodriguez was caught with about 24 km to go. Bettini and 3 others were caught with with a little less than 20 to go. Liquigas and the CSC went to the front of the peloton and pushed it hard. Now the remaining 4 breakaways have been caught. It's all together.

Km 183. I expected the surging peloton to catch the breakaways on the Goriano Sicoli climb, but that didn't happen. With about 40 kilometers to go Joaquin Rodriguez (Saunier Duval) is away alone, being chased at about a half minute by what's left of the 21-man break, now down to 8, but still including Bettini. The peloton is another 2 1/2 minutes back.

Km 155. On the long descent after the Monte Godi climb, 21 riders including Giro leader Paolo Bettini got away. At one point their lead approached 9 minutes. With the final category 1 climb to Goriano Sicoli coming up, the lead has been cut to 3 1/2 minutes. By the way, Bettini has continued to insist that he did nothing wrong in the sprint yesterday. He even threatened to pull out of the Giro after being relegated by the race jury. But that threat was really a bit of Italian opera. He's wearing the Pink Jersey, after all. Baden Cooke, feeling a bit sore, started the stage today

The real Giro contenders should show themselves on this stage. With an average gradient of 8.3% and a maximum of 14% things will really break up.

Stage 6, Friday, May 13: Viterbo-Marina di Grosseto, 153 km

The day's only important climb: Km 93, Scansano, 500 meters

By winning the Intergiro sprint, Bettini gained 6 bonus seconds, enough to reclaim the Pink Jersey. Alessandro Petacchi's leadout train came off the rails. In the finishing circuit in Grosseto they took a corner too wide and crashed. Petacchi is OK, but still no wins for Fassa in this Giro. By making the Giro a Pro Tour race a higher level of talent is here. Fassa Bortolo cannot dominate the Giro as they did in years past when the field was made up of a lot of Second-Division squads.

Hey guys, be cool. I've got it under control. McEwen takes the sprint in stage six after his teammate Henk Vogels, who went early, died less than 50 meters from the line.

Results:

1. Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) 3hr 37min 17sec. 42.248 km/hr.

2. Jaan Kirsipuu (Credit Agricole) s.t.

3. Volodymyr Bileka (Discovery) s.t.

4. Isaac Galvez (Illes Balears) s.t.

5. Henk Vogels (Davitamon-Lotto) s.t.

6. Stuart O'Grady (Cofidis) s.t.

7. Thomas Ziegler (Gerolsteiner) s.t.

8. Paride Grillo (Panaria) s.t.

9. Markus Fothen (Gerolsteiner) s.t.

10. Olaf Pollack (T-Mobile) s.t.

GC after Stage 6:

1. Paolo Bettini (Quick Step) 29hr 58min 9sec

2. Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) @ 3sec

3. Luca Mazzanti (Panaria) @ 28sec

4. Dario David Cioni (Liquigas) @ 31sec

5. Damiano Cunego (Lampre) @ 33sec

6. Stefano Garzelli (Liquigas) @ 39sec

7. Mauricio Alberto Ardila (Davitamon-Lotto) @ 40sec

8. Michele Scarponi (Liberty SEguros) @ 44sec

9. Mirko Celestino (Domina Vacanze) @ 49sec

10. Gilberto Simoni (Lampre) s.t.

Stage 7, Saturday, May 14: Grosseto-Pistoia, 205 km.

We're in the heart of Tuscany now. The riders will go through Pistoia and then up into the hills north of the city before descending and finishing in town. I've ridden both climbs (the details are below). My memory is that the descent of the north face of San Baronto is really fast. I'll bet the sprinters get back on before the second climb. The 6 kilometer climb to Sammomme should really make a difference. I don't see the sprinters getting back on after that ascent.

The major climbs:

San Baronto, 348 meters elevation

Sammommè, 553 meters

Top: Koldo Gil beats the other into to town by almost a half minue. Bottom: No Damiano, you didn't win the stage. Mr.Gil is already having a soda and a rubdown.

Results:

1. Koldo Gil (Liberty Seguros) 5hrn 8min 17sec

2. Damiano Cunego (Lampre) @ 26sec

3. Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) s.t.

4. Mirko Celestino (Domina Vacanze) s.t.

5. Patrice Halgand (Credit Agricole) s.t.

6. Sandy Casar (FDJ) s.t.

7. Matthia Kessler (T-Mobile) s.t.

8. Christophe Brandt (Davitamon-Lotto) s.t.

9. Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery) s.t.

10. Theo Eltink (Rabobank) s.t.

GC after Stage 7:

1. Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) 35hr 6min 41sec

2. Damiano Cunego (Lampre) @ 26sec

3. Mirko Celestino (Domina Vacanze) @ 54sec

4. Gilberto Simoni (Lampre) s.t.

5. Dario David Cioni (Liquigas) @ 1min 6sec

6. Stefano Garzelli (Liquigas) @ 1min 14sec

7. Mauricio Alberto Ardila (Davitamon-Lotto) @ 1min 15sec

8. Michele Scarponi (Liberty Seguros) @ 1min 16sec

9. Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery) @ 1min 26sec

10. Ivan Basso (CSC) @ 1min 27sec

Points leader (Purple Jersey):

1. Danilo Di Luca 85 points

2. Robbie McEwen 77

3. Paolo Bettini 71

Mountain leader (Green Jersey):

1. Koldo Gil 21 points

2. Jose Rujano 13

3. Thorwald Veneberg 7

The rest of the race: Koldo Gil got away from the rest of his breakaway companions on the San Baronto climb. He made it stick. At the top of the Sammomme climb he still had a minute in hand. The rest of the 21 breakaways were caught. Behind Gil, with about a kilometer to go on the Sammome climb, Gilberto Simoni put the hammer down. All the important GC men went with him. About 500 meters from the crest Ivan Basso came off this group. It seems that with each stage, this next great hope for stage racing loses little bits of time. That's how you lose a stage race. Tomorrow is a 45-kilometer individual time trial. We're getting ever closer to Thursday's Stage 11 appointment with the high mountains.

Km 140. The gap is now down to about 9 minutes. No more updates. I'll post the results around 10:30 PDT.

Km 82. A break of 21 riders went away at about km 32. They now have a lead of 13 minutes. Quick Step is at the front of the pack, working ot defend Bettini's Pink Jersey. La Gazzetta dello Sport gives the names and backnumbers of the escapees as: E. PETROV (4), L. LEFEVRE (16), T. MARICHAL (35), I. PARRA (41), P. HALGAND (59), C. BRANDT (62), M. BARRY (72), M. CELESTINO (84), M. FERTONANI (85), S. CASAR (118), M. STRAUSS (128), CARRASCO GAMIZ (131) , D. BARANOWSKI (142), K. GIL PEREZ (145)C. WEGELIUS (159), S. ZAMPIERI (169), C. MORENI (176), T. ELTINK (182), A. GOMEZ GOMEZ (192), J. RODRIGUEZ OLIVER (196), M. KESSLER (212).

Sprinter Ivan Quaranta has retired from the Giro.

Stage 8, Sunday, May 15: Lamporecchio-Firenze (individual time trial), 45 km

Top, Basso delivers. Bottom, Zabriskie has every reason to look pleased. Nice work! Fotoreporter Sirotti pictures.

Results:

1. David Zabriskie (CSC) 58min 31sec. 46.140 km/hr

2. Ivan Basso (CSC) @ 17sec

3. Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery) @ 44sec

4. Marzio Bruseghin (Fassa Bortolo) @ 45sec

5. Serhiy Honchar (Domina Vacanze) @ 51sec

6. Vladimir Karpets (Illes Balears) @ 1min 7sec

7. Markus Fothen (Gerolsteiner) @ 1min 15sec

8. Thomas Dekker (Rabobank) @ 1min 23sec

9. Jan Hruska (Liberty Seguros) @ 1min 34sec

10. Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) @ 1min 35sec

11. Stefano Garzelli (Liquigas) @ 1min 56sec

16. Damiano Cunego (Lampre) @ 2min 24sec

23. Gilberto Simoni (Lampre) @ 2min 52sec

GC after Stage 8:

1. Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) 36hr 6min 47sec

2. Ivan Basso (CSC) @ 9sec

3. Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery) @ 35sec

4. Damiano Cunego (Lampre) @ 1min 15sec

5. Dario David Cioni (Liquigas) @ 1min 27sec

6. Stefano Garzelli (Liquigas) @ 1min 35sec

7. Marzio Bruseghin (Fassa Bortolo) @ 1min 38sec

8. Serhiy Honchar (Domina Vacanze) @ 1min 39sec

9. Markus Fothen (Gerolsteiner) @ 2min 10sec

10. Gilberto Simoni (Lampre) @ 2min 11sec

Points leader (Purple Jersey):

1. Danilo Di Luca 92 points

2. Robbie McEwen 77

3. Paolo Bettini 71

Mountain leader (Green Jersey):

1. Koldo Gil 21 points

2. Jose Rujano 16

3. Thorwald Veneberg 7

The race so far: With 104 of the Giro's 186 riders having finished the stage, David Zabriskie (CSC) has the best time at 58min 31sec (46.140 km/hr)

Saturday the riders went over the San Baronto climb to get over the Albano hills. For this challenging time trial they're taking a different road, but over the hills they are going. The riders face a maximum gradient of 8 percent and the Giro is awarding climber's points for getting over the mountain in this time trial. The first rider, Russel Van Hout of Colombia-Selle Italia, will take off at 12:53 PM (3 AM PDT.) Danilo Di Luca, being first in the GC will be the last man off at 4:15 PM (7:15 AM PDT). The schedule expects the riders to generally take between 52 and 57 minutes to complete the course.

Stage 9, Monday, May 16: Florence - Ravenna, 139 km

The day's only major climb:

Passo del Muraglione, 907 meters

At last Petacchi and his Fassa Bortolo train get one! Fotoreporter Sirotti picture.

Results:

Tom Danielson (Discovery), winner of this year's Tour de Georgia, retired after a few kilometers into today's stage. Knee pain has been troubling the rising star. Get well soon.

1. Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) 3hr 15min 32sec. 46.140 km/hr

2. Paolo Bettini (Quick Step) s.t.

3. Aurelien Clerc (Phonak) s.t.

4. Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) s.t.

5. Erik Zabel (T-Mobile) s.t.

6. Paride Grillo (Panaria) s.t.

7. Isaac Galvez (Illes Balears) s.t.

8. Robert Forster (Gerolsteiner) s.t.

9. Andrea Moletta (Gerolsteiner) s.t.

10. Simone Cadamuro (Domina Vacanze) s.t.

GC after Stage 9:

1. Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) 39hr 22min 19sec

2. Ivan Basso (CSC) @ 9sec

3. Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery) @ 35sec

4. Damiano Cunego (Lampre) @ 1min 15sec

5. Dario David Cioni (Liquigas) @ 1min 27sec

6. Stefano Garzelli (Liquigas) @ 1min 35sec

7. Marzio Bruseghin (Fassa Bortolo) @ 1min 38sec

8. Serhiy Honchar (Domina Vacanze) @ 1min 39sec

9. Markus Fothen (Gerolsteiner) @ 2min 10sec

10. Gilberto Simoni (Lampre) @ 2min 11sec

Points leader (Purple Jersey):

1. Danilo Di Luca 92 points

2. Robbie McEwen 91

3. Paolo Bettini 91

4. Damiano Cunego 62

Mountain leader (Green Jersey):

1. Koldo Gil 21 points

2. Jose Rujano 16

3. Thorwald Veneberg 7

Tuesday, May 17: RIPOSO (Rest Day)

Stage 10, Wednesday, May 18: Ravenna-Rossano Veneto, 212 km. It's a dead-flat trip across the Po River plain, past Venice and Padua. Tomorrow will bring on the high mountains. This is the last chance for a while for the sprinters to have their way. There are three circuits around Rossano Veneto at the end of the stage. With rain almost certain at the finish (90% chance) this has to be worrisome for the riders.

Another very close one: Lined up from left to right, Zabel, McEwen, Petacchi, O'Grady. Sirotti photo.

Results:

1. Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) 5hr 29min 21sec

2. Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) s.t.

3. Stuart O'Grady (Cofidis) s.t.

4. Erik Zabel (T-Mobile) s.t.

5. Paolo Bettini (Quick Step) s.t.

6. Isaac Galvez (Illes Balears) s.t.

7. Robert Forster (Gerolsteiner) s.t.

8. Filippo Pozzato (Quick Step) s.t.

9. Aurelien Clerc (Phonak) s.t.

10. Mirco Lorenzetto (Domina Vacanze) s.t.

GC after Stage 10:

1. Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) 44hr 51min 40sec

2. Ivan Basso (CSC) @ 9sec

3. Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery) @ 35sec

4. Damiano Cunego (Lampre) @ 1min 15sec

5. Dario David Cioni (Liquigas) @ 1min 27sec

6. Stefano Garzelli (Liquigas) @ 1min 35sec

7. Marzio Bruseghin (Fassa Bortolo) @ 1min 38sec

8. Serhiy Honchar (Domina Vacanze) @ 1min 39sec

9. Markus Fothen (Gerolsteiner) @ 2min 10sec

10. Gilberto Simoni (Lampre) @ 2min 11sec

Points leader (Purple Jersey):

1. Robbie McEwen 116

2. Paolo Bettini 106

3. Danilo Di Luca 92

4. Alessandro Petacchi 79

5. Damiano Cunego 62

Mountain leader (Green Jersey):

1. Koldo Gil 21 points

2. Jose Rujano 16

3. Thorwald Veneberg 7

Stage 11, Thursday, May 19: Marostica-Zoldo Alto, 150 km. This is the day, boys and girls. Gilberto Simoni has been saying that the real Giro starts here. There are some monster climbs. But will this indeed blow things wide open? Can Di Luca, who has defended his Pink Jersey against most predictions, ride in the thin air with Basso, Cunego and Simoni? Can Simoni, now 33 years old, stay with the others? This should be some fantastic racing.

The start city, Marostica, is almost due north of Vicenza and about 75 kilometers northeast of Venice.

Climbs:

Passo di Cereda, 1369 meters. 7.6% average gradient, maximum of 16%. 649 meters of elevation gain. 8.5 km long.

Forcella Aurine, 1299 m

Passo Duran,1601 meters. 7.6% average gradient, 14% maximum. 10 km of this climb has an average of 8.9%. 995 meters elevation gain, 13 km long.

Zoldo Alto, 1520 m, hilltop finish. 6.9% average gradient with a maximum of 11%. 599 meters elevation gain. 8.7 km long.

Top: The final five. From the left, Rujano, Savoldelli, Simoni, Di Luca, Basso. Middle: Savoldelli scoots by Basso for the stage win. Bottom: A nice place and a nice day for a bike ride in Italy.

Results:

1. Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery) 4hr 13min 43sec. 35.472 km/hr

2. Ivan Basso (CSC) s.t.

3. Gilberto Simoni (Lampre) @ 21sec

4. Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) @ 1min 1sec

5. Daniel Atienza (Cofidis) @ 1min 50sec

6. Wim Van Huffel (Davitamon-Lotto) @ 2min 3sec

7. Pietro Caucchioli (Credit Agricole) s.t.

8. Serhiy Honchar (Domina Vacanze) s.t.

9. Michele Scarponi (Liberty Seguros) @ 2min 17sec

10. Jose Rujano (Colombia-Selle Italia) @ 2min 19sec

20. Matthias Kessler (T-Mobile) @ 3min 57sec

27. Damiano Cunego (Lampre) @ 6min 2sec

32. Stefano Garzelli (Liquigas) s.t.

The sprinter's group came in at 32min 5sec.

GC after Stage 11:

1. Ivan Basso (CSC) 49hr 5min 20sec

2. Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery) @ 18sec

3. Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) @ 1min 4sec

4. Gilberto Simoni (Lampre) @ 2min 27sec

5. Serhiy Honchar (Domina Vacanze) @ 3min 45sec

6. Marzio Bruseghin (Fassa Bortolo) @ 4min 34sec

7. Michele Scarponi (Liberty Seguros) @ 4min 48sec

8. Dario David Cioni (Liquigas) @ 5min 25sec

9. Emanuele Sella (Panaria) @ 5min 58sec

10. Markus Fothen (Gerolsteiner) @ 6min 10sec

16. Damiano Cunego (Lampre) @ 7min 20sec

17. Stefano Garzelli (Liquigas) @ 7min 40sec

Points (Purple Jersey):

1. Robbie McEwen: 116 points

2. Paolo Bettini 112

3. Danilo Di Luca 106

4. Alessandro Petacchi 79

5. Paolo Savoldelli 77

Climber (Green Jersey):

1. Jose Rujano: 31 points

2. Koldo Gil 21

3. Ivan Basso 18

4. Paolo Savoldelli 17

5. Gilberto Simoni 10

The race so far:

The finish. Basso keeps working, seemingly unconcerned about the stage win. Savoldelli outsprints Basso and wins the stage but Basso is the new Pink jersey. Simoni comes in about 20 seconds later. Di Luca a minute back.

Km 149. Simoni is dropped. It's just Savoldelli and Basso with Basso driving hard. Di Luca is about 45 seconds back.

Km 136. Savoldelli used his fantastic descending skills to get a gap that he has held part way up the final climb. Basso, Di Luca and Simoni chased. Di Luca came off first. Then Simoni, who came off Basso's wheel earlier, made it back up to Basso. Simoni and Basso are together now with Savoldelli

Km 132. Over the top of the Duran, the elite 5 were together: Basso, Simoni, Savoldelli, Rujano (Colombia-Selle Italia) and Di Luca. Di Luca was seeing stars getting back up to the front group.

Near the top of the Duran. Now it's just Basso and Savoldelli. Di Luca is back about 20 seconds getting back up to Savoldelli and Rujano who are now about 15 seconds behind Simoni and. Basso. Cunego is about 2 minutes back.

Km 128. Now Basso has gone to the front and set a very hot pace. Only Simoni, Di Luca and Savoldelli can stay with him. Cunego is toast, a minute back.

Km 120. On the Passo Duran. Halgand has been caught. Simoni has attacked, as expected. Basso and Di Luca have responded. Cunego and Garzelli are in trouble, about 10 seocnds back. The pack is being shredded. Cunego has clawed his way back up to the front group. It looks like about 20 riders have formed an elite selection at the front. Savoldelli is in the front group. And Cunego is off the front group.

Km 114. In the valley before the start of the Passo Duran climb. Patrice Halgand is away alone with a 38sec advantage. Lampre has been policing the field. The big guns are still in the pack. Pink Jersey Di Luca has been sitting about five riders back.

Stage 12, Friday, May 20: Alleghe - Rovereto, 178 km

Climb: Passo di S. Pellegrino, 1918 meters

No mistakes this time. The Fassa train brought Petacchi to the front and he delivered. Sirotti photo.

Results:

1. Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) 5hr 29min 21sec. 36.206 km/hr

2. Paride Grillo (Panaria) s.t.

3. Isaac Galvez (Illes Balears) s.t.

4. Robert Forster (Gerolsteiner) s.t.

5. Jaan Kirsipuu (Credit Agricole) s.t.

6. Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) s.t.

7. Stuart O'Grady (Cofidis) s.t.

8. Aurelien Clerc (Phonak) s.t.

9. Simone Cadamuro (Domina Vacanze) s.t.

10. Baden Cooke (FDJ) s.t.

11. Erik Zabel (T-Mobile) s.t.

GC after stage 12. No change to the top 10:

1. Ivan Basso (CSC) 53hr 55min 20sec

2. Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery) @ 18sec

3. Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) @ 1min 4sec

4. Gilberto Simoni (Lampre) @ 2min 27sec

5. Serhiy Honchar (Domina Vacanze) @ 3min 45sec

6. Marzio Bruseghin (Fassa Bortolo) @ 4min 34sec

7. Michele Scarponi (Liberty Seguros) @ 4min 48sec

8. Dario David Cioni (Liquigas) @ 5min 25sec

9. Emanuele Sella (Panaria) @ 5min 58sec

10. Markus Fothen (Gerolsteiner) @ 6min 10sec

Points (Purple Jersey):

1. Robbie McEwen: 126 points

2. Paolo Bettini 119

3. Danilo Di Luca 106

4. Alessandro Petacchi 104

5. Paolo Savoldelli 77

Climber (Green Jersey):

1. Jose Rujano: 41 points

2. Koldo Gil 21

3. Ivan Basso 18

4. Paolo Savoldelli 17

Km 168, 10 to go. It's all together.

Km 80: Although there were a few attempts to get away on the San Pellegrino climb, it was all together part way down the descent. Right now Colombia-Selle Italia's Schnyder has a 1min 20sec lead on the rolling descent. I can't see that the sprinter's teams will lose a good chance in this week in the mountains.

Stage 13, Saturday, May 21: Mezzocorona - Ortisei, 218 km

Climbs:

Passo di Costalunga, 1,745 meters elevation

Passo Sella, 2,244 meters. 792 meters of elevation gain. 11 km long. 72.% average gradient with a maximum of 12%

Passo Gardena, 2,121meters. 260 meters elevation gain. 5.8 km long. 4.5 % average gradient, 10% maximum.

Passo delle Erbe, 2004 meters. 1070 meters elevation gain.15.2 km long. 8.7% average gradient. 16% maximum. This comes early in the climb. The second half of the climb, after a short descent, averages 9.4%.

Pontives, 1,103 meters. 635 meters elevation gain. 9.3 km long. 6.8% average gradient, 12% maximum. This come on the way up to the finsh line at Ortisei.

Ivan Parra wins on of the Giro's toughest stages, solo, after being away for over 180 kilometers.
That's Jose Rujano in the Giro Climbing Leader's Green Jersey and Vittoria Shoes tucked in with Ivan Parra.
Today's stage went around a massive limestone massif called the "Gruppo Sella". As you can see from this small piece of it, it is one of the most spectacular sights in the world.

Results:

1. Ivan Parra (Colombia-Selle Italia) 6hr 31min 34sec. 33.404 km/hr

2. Juan Mauel Garate (Saunier Duval) @ 23sec

3. Jose Rujano (Selle Italia) s.t.

4. Pietro Caucchioli (Credit Agricole) @ 27sec

5. Tadej Valjavec (Phonak) @ 1min 46sec

6. Matthias Kessler (T-Mobile) @ 2min 57sec

7. Giampaolo Caruso (Liberty Seguros) @ 3min 3sec

8. Wladimir Belli (Domina Vacanze) @ 3min 48sec

9. Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery) @ 4min

10. Gilberto Simoni (Lampre) @ 4min 7sec

11. Danilo Di Luca (Laiquigas) s.t.

15. Damiano Cunego (Lampre) @ 4min 38sec

21. Ivan Basso (CSC) @ 5min 8sec

GC after Stage 13:

1. Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery) 60hr 31min 12sec

2. Ivan Basso (CSC) @ 50sec

3. Danili Di Luca (Liquigas) @ 53sec

4. Gilberto Simoni (Lampre) @ 2min 16sec

5. Juan Mauel Garate (Saunier Duval) @ 2min 39sec

6. Pietro Caucchioli (Credit Agricole) @ 3min 25sec

7. Serhiy Honchar (Domina Vacanze) @ 4min 5sec

8. Jose Rujano (Colombia-Selle Italia) @ 4min 23sec

9. Marzio Bruseghin (Fassa Bortolo) @ 4min 54sec

10. Dario David Cioni (Liquigas) @ 6min 17sec

Points (Purple Jersey)

1. Paolo Bettini: 119 pointsw

2. Danilo Di Luca 111

3. Alessandro Petacchi 104

Climber (Green Jersey)

1. Jose Rujano 73 points

2. Ivan Parra 28

3. Koldo Gil 21

On the final climb to Ortisei: Parra attacked his breakways and just flew up the hill. In the Basso group, Basso was clearly having trouble, riding at the back of his group. Simoni attacked and Basso was dropped. Savoldelli was able to go with Simoni. Savoldelli applied some heat of his own and Simoni was dropped. Di Luca got up to Simoni but Savoldelli was gone and that's about how they came in. The first 8 finishers were those who were was left of the big break.

Km 205. Basso's growing group starts the climb about three and a half minutes behind the break.

Km 160. Simoni and Cunego attack on the Erbe climb. Basso did not react but let his teammates slowly bring him back. The now greatly reduced Pink Jersey group with Simoni and Cunego went over the top of the Erbe about 5 minutes behind the break, which was now down to about 12 riders.

Km 140: Before the Passo delle Erbe. The 19 breakaways still have seven and a half minutes on the pack.

Km 80. The riders are abandoning all over the place. Before the Passo Sella here are the guys who have decided to watch the finsh on TV: L. Bertagnolli, Steven De Jongh, T. Ziegler, M. Fertonani , Ryder Hesjedal, Thorwald Veneberg, D. Navas-Chica, Joseba Beloki.

There's a group of about 20 off the front. The highest placed looks to be Juan Manuel Garate, who's about 7 minutes down on the GC.

At the start of today's stage: Only 177 riders started. The following riders didn't show up to race today: Stefano GARZELLI (2000 Giro winner), Robbie MCEWEN, Stuart O'GRADY, Jaan KIRSIPUU, Aart VIERHOUTEN, Baden COOKE. McEwen had made it known for days that he didn't want to overcook himself in the Giro and would withdraw before the mountains.

To get a sense of where we are, the big road that goes through Bolzano, north up to Bressanone is the Brenner Pass, the ancient highway that leads from Verona in Italy to Innsbruck in Austria.

Stage 14, Sunday, May 22: Egna - Livigno, 210 km

This is it, the incredible Stelvio. 48 switchbacks, the highest point of the 2005 Giro and a legend in cycling history. After climbing the famous north face they'll do a hairy descent including some narrow, dark tunnels. Yesterday Ivan Basso cracked on the final climb because of stomach problem. Let's hope that he's well for some great racing and a fair contest.

Climbs:

Frassineto, 1080 meter elevation. 832 meters elevation gain. 10.2 km long. Average gradient of 8.2% with a maximum of 12%

Passo dello Stelvio, 2758 m, (Cima Coppi, the Giro's highest point). 1,851 meters elevation gain. 24.7 km long. Average gradient of 7.5% with a maximum of 12%

Passo di Foscagno, 2291 meters elevation. 947 meters elevation gain. 15 km long. Average gradient of 6.4% with amaximum of 11%

Two monster Giro stages in a row for Ivan Parra!
The Stelvio pass, covered in snow. Both photos by Sirotti.

Results: Basso's stomach problems continued as the former Pink Jersey holder lost over 40 minutes.

1.Again, Ivan Parra !!(Colombia-Selle Italia) 6hr 46min 33sec

2. Tadej Valjavec (Phonak) @ 1min 50sec

3. Jose Rujano (Colombia-Selle Italia) s.t.

4. Unai Osa (Ille Balears) @ 2min 51sec

5. Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) @ 3min 15sec

6. Gilberto Simoni (Lampre)

7. Juan Manuel Garate (Saunier Duval) s.t.

8. Emanuele Sella (Panaria) s.t.

9. Markus Fothen (Gerolsteiner) @ 3min 43sec

10. Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery) s.t.

GC after Stage 14:

1. Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery) 67hr 21min 28sec

2. Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) @ 25sec

3. Gilberto Simoni (Lampre) @ 1min 48sec

4. Juan Manuel Garate (Saunier Duval) @ 2min 11sec

5. Jose Rujano (Colombia-Selle Italia) @ 2min 18sec

6. Pietro Caucchioli (Credit Agricole) @ 3min 25sec

7. Serhiy Honchar (Domina Vacanze) @ 4min 5sec

8. Emanuele Sella (Panaria) @ 5min 50sec

9. Dario David Cioni (Liquigas) @ 6min 40sec

10. Vladimir Karpets (Illes Balears) @ 6min 44sec

Points (Purple Jersey)

1. Danilo Di Luca 123

2. Paolo Bettini 120

3. Alessandro Petacchi 104

Climber (Green Jersey)

1. Jose Rujano 107 points

2. Ivan Parra 55

3. Koldo Gil 21

In 2002 I rode several of the climbs in Saturday's and Sunday's stages. Pictures, history of the Stelvio and diary.

	Here are two views of some of the Stelvio and its 48 switchbacks.
The great Franco Bitossi leads Vittorio Adorni up the south face of the Stelvio in the 1965 Giro.
Elevation detail of the Stelvio. There is no place to rest. Once the climb proper begns at Gomagoi it never flattens.

Stage 15, Monday, May 23: Livigno - Lissone, 205 km. Lissone is just on the northeast edge of the big metropolitan spider of Milan.

The day's important climb: Forcola di Livigno, 2315 meters (Cancelled)

Zabel comes close, but Petacchi wins one on wet streets. Note the arm warmers and knickers on the other riders.

Results:

1. Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) 3hr 32min 41sec

2. Eik Zabel (T-Mobile) s.t.

3. Paolo Bettini (Quick Step) s.t.

4. Simone Cadamuro (Domina Vacanze) s.t.

5. Marco Velo (Fassa Bortolo) s.t.

6. Paride Grillo (Panaria)s.t.

7. Henk Vogels (Davitamon-Lotto) s.t.

8. Robert Forster (Gerolsteiner) s.t.

9. Isaac Galvez (Illes Balears) s.t.

10. Sven Krauss (Gerosteiner) s.t.

GC after Stage 15:

1. Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery) 67hr 21min 28sec

2. Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) @ 25sec

3. Gilberto Simoni (Lampre) @ 1min 48sec

4. Juan Manuel Garate (Saunier Duval) @ 2min 11sec

5. Jose Rujano (Colombia-Selle Italia) @ 2min 18sec

6. Pietro Caucchioli (Credit Agricole) @ 3min 25sec

7. Serhiy Honchar (Domina Vacanze) @ 4min 5sec

8. Emanuele Sella (Panaria) @ 5min 50sec

9. Dario David Cioni (Liquigas) @ 6min 40sec

10. Vladimir Karpets (Illes Balears) @ 6min 44sec

Points (Purple Jersey)

1. Paolo Bettini 142 Points

2. Alessandro Petacchi 129

3. Danilo Di Luca 123

4. Paolo Savoldelli 90

Climber (Green Jersey)

1. Jose Rujano 107 points

2. Ivan Parra 55

3. Koldo Gil 21

At the start: Bad weather on the Forcola di Livigno has forced the Giro organizers to shorten the stage by 50 kilometers. The riders drove to the far side of the day's only climb and started in Villa di Tirano at the bottom of the climb. 159 riders started. Michael Rasmussen quit.

Tuesday, May 24: RIPOSO (Rest Day)

Stage 16, Wednesday, May 25: Lissone-Varazze, 210 km

Bric Berton, 773 meters. This climb averages a little over 3%, but it has a spot of 12% gradient.

A late attack paid handsomely for Le Mevel.

Results: A break got away from a rather disinterested peloton.

1. Christophe Le Mevel (Credit Agricole) 4hr 50min 51sec

2. Christophe Brandt (Davitamon-Lotto) @ 9sec

3. Alessandro Vanotti (Domina Vacanze) @ 16sec

4. Dimitry Fofonov (Cofidis) s.t.

5. Addy Engels (Quick Step) s.t.

6. Frank Schleck (CSC) s.t.

7. Alberto Ongarato (Fassa Bortolo) @ 50sec

8. Uros Murn (Phonak) s.t.

9. Lilian Jegou (FDJ) s.t.

10. Andre Korff (T-Mobile) s.t.

Pack came in at 22min 46sec. Ho-hum. Wait 'til tomrrow!

GC after Stage 15:

1. Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery) 76hr 7min 16sec

2. Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) @ 25sec

3. Gilberto Simoni (Lampre) @ 1min 48sec

4. Juan Manuel Garate (Saunier Duval) @ 2min 11sec

5. Jose Rujano (Colombia-Selle Italia) @ 2min 18sec

6. Pietro Caucchioli (Credit Agricole) @ 3min 25sec

7. Serhiy Honchar (Domina Vacanze) @ 4min 5sec

8. Emanuele Sella (Panaria) @ 5min 50sec

9. Dario David Cioni (Liquigas) @ 6min 40sec

10. Vladimir Karpets (Illes Balears) @ 6min 44sec

Points (Purple Jersey)

1. Paolo Bettini 142 Points

2. Alessandro Petacchi 129

3. Danilo Di Luca 123

4. Paolo Savoldelli 90

Climber (Green Jersey)

1. Jose Rujano 107 points

2. Ivan Parra 55

3. Juan Manuel Garate 20

4. Ivan Basso 18

Stage 17, Thursday, May 26: Varazze-Limone Piemonte, 194 km

Climbs:

Colle di Cadibona, 436 meters

Madonna del Colletto, 1304 meters, 603 meters elevation gain, 7.8m km long. 7.8% average gradient, but most of it is 8.7%. Maximum gradient of 11%

Colletto del Moro, This is nasty, brutish and short: 949 meters, 346 meters elevation gain. 3.7 km long,. Average gradient 8.9% with a leg-busting patch of 21%

Limone Piemonte- Colle di Tenda, 1795 meters, hilltop finish. 822 meters elevation gain. 13.5 km long. 6.1% average gradient with a maximum of 11%.

	Redemption for Basso! Fotoreporter Sirotti photo.

Results:

1. Ivan Basso (CSC) 5hr 15min 46sec

2. Jose Rujano (Colombia-Selle Italia) @ 1min 6sec

3. Gilberto Simoni (Lampre) s.t.

4. Wim Van Huffel (Davitamon-Lotto) @ 1min 32sec

5. Ivan Parra (Colombia-Selle Italia) @ 1min 48sec

6. Juan Manuel Garate (Saunier duval) s.t.

7. Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery) s.t.

8. Serhiy Honchar (Domina Vacanze) s.t.

9. Tadej Valjavec (Phonak) s.t.

10. Vladimir Karpets (Illes Balears) s.t.

16. Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) @ 2min 49sec

GC after Stage 17:

1. Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery) 81hr 24min 50sec

2. Gilberto Simoni (Lampre) @ 58sec

3. Jose Rujano (Colombia-Selle Italia) @ 1min 24sec

5. Juan Manuel Garate (Saunier Duval) @ 2min 11sec

6. Serhiy Honchar (Domina VAcanze) @ 4min 5sec

7. Pietro Caucchioli (Credit Agricole) @ 4min 26sec

8. Emanuele Sella (Panaria) @ 6min 27sec

9. Vladimir Karpets (Illes Balears) @ 6min 44sec

10. Dario David Cioni (Liquigas) @ 6min 47sec

Points (Purple Jersey)

1. Paolo Bettini 142 Points

2. Alessandro Petacchi 129

3. Danilo Di Luca 123

4. Paolo Savoldelli 99

Climber (Green Jersey)

1. Jose Rujano 118 points

2. Ivan Parra 57

3. Ivan Basso 38

Stage 18, Friday, May 27: Chieri - Torino (individual time trial), 34 km

One climb: Colle di Superga, 620 meters

Results: Savoldelli remains the leader, but it's closer than I thught it would be after today's time trial. Simoni did far better against the clock than I had predicted. Tomorrow, the Giro's penultimate stage with it's three major climbs, will decide the winner.

1. Ivan Basso (CSC) 45min 5sec. 45.249 km/hr

2. Vladimir Karpets (Illes Balears) @ 9sec

3. David Zabriskie (CSC) @ 20sec

4. Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery) @ 23sec

5. Dario David Cioni (Liquigas) @ 28sec

6. Serhiy Honchar (Domina Vacanze) @ 40sec

7. Marzio Bruseghin (Fassa Bortolo) @ 1min 2sec

8. Juan Manuel Garate (Saunier Duval) @ 1min 25sec

9. Paolo Bettini (Quick Step) @ 1min 28sec

10. Gilberto Simoni (Lampre) @ 1min 34sec

14. Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) @ 1min 55sec

16. Jose Rujano (Colombia Selle Italia) @ 1min 59sec

52. Damiano Cunego (Lampre) @ 4min 11sec

GC after Stage 18:

1. Paolo Savoldelli (Lampre) 82hr 10min 18sec

2. Gilberto Simoni (Lampre) @ 2min 9sec

3. Jose Rujano (Colombia-Selle Italia) @ 3min

4. Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) @ 3minn 8sec

5. Juan Manuel Garate (Saunier Duval) @ 3min 13sec

6. Serhiy Honchar (Domina Vacanze) @ 4min 22sec

7. Vladimir Karpets (Illes Balears) @ 6min 30sec

8. Dario David Cioni (Liquigas) @ 6min 52sec

9. Pietro Cauccioli (Credit Agricole) @ 6min 53sec

10. Marzio Bruseghin (Fassa Bortolo) @ 8min 21sec

28. Ivan Basso (CSC) @ 37min 22sec

Points (Purple Jersey)

1. Paolo Bettini 149 Points

2. Alessandro Petacchi 129

3. Danilo Di Luca 120

4. Paolo Savoldelli 115

Climber (Green Jersey)

1. Jose Rujano 120 points

2. Ivan Parra 57

3. Ivan Basso 41

The race: At the 15.7 km check point Savoldelli is 14 seconds ahead of Simoni.

Savoldelli went through the 8.7 km time check only 5 seconds faster than Simoni. He's going to need some time in hand for tomorrow's savage day in the mountains.

With 137 riders in and everyone at least started, Basso has completed his ride and is now ahead. Honchar and Savoldelli have good, but winning intermediate times:

1. Ivan Basso: 45min 5sec

2. David Zabriskie @ 20sec

3. Paolo Bettini @ 1min 28sec

At the second time check point (15.7 km), Ivan Basso is 30 seocnds ahead of Zabriskie.

There are 158 riders left in the Giro. With 90 riders in the barn, CSC's David Zabriskie, who won the stage 8 time-trial, has again scorched the course. He's currently leading with 44min 25sec or 44.917 km/hr. The current second place is Rabobank's Thomas Dekker, down 1min 34sec. It will be a while before the big guns at the top of the GC are finished.

Stage 19, Saturday, May 28: Savigliano - Sestriere, 190 km. The final 8 kilometers of the Finestre climb is a dirt road. Simoni is down by 2min 9 sec to Savoldelli and has vowed to either win the Giro or blow himself up attacking. Rujano has to be thinking that he might try to ding Savoldelli for three minutes on the tough mountain and surprise everyone. Should be a terrific race.

Sestriere (first crossing), 2034 meters, 498 meters elevation gain. 9.8 km long. Average gradient 5.1 % with a maximum of 8%

Colle delle Finestre, 2178 meters, 1,694 meters elevation gain. 18.5 km long. 9.2% average gradient with a maximum of 14%

Sestriere, 2034 m, hilltop finish

On the dirt section of the Finestre, Savoldelli (in pink) chasing. All photos by Sirotti.
Rujano, Simoni and Di Luca on the Finestre before Di Luca cracked.
Stage winner and Green Jersey holder Jose Rujano.
Rujano, Simoni and Di Luca on the Finestre.

Results:

1. Jose Rujano (Colombia-Selle Italia) 5hr 49min 30sec

2. Gilberto Simoni (Lampre) @ 26sec

3. Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) @ 1min 37sec

4. Juan Manuel Garate (Saunier Duval) @ 1min 53sec

5. Wim Van Huffel (Davitamon-Lotto) @ 1min 55sec

6. Serhiy Honchar (Domina Vacanze) s.t.

7. Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery) s.t.

8. Tadej Valjavec (Phonak) s.t.

9. Mauricio Alberto Ardila (Davitamon-Lotto) @ 2min 38saec

10. Emanuele Sella (Panaria) @ 5min 6sec

GC after Stage 19:

1. Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery) 88hr 1min 43sec

2. Gilberto Simoni (Lamnpre) 28sec

3. Jose Rujano (Colombia-Selle Italia) @ 45sec

4. Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) @ 2min 42sec

5. Juan Manuel Garate (Saunier Duval) @ 3min 11sec

6. Serhiy Honchar (Domina Vacanze) @ 4min 22sec

7. Vladimir Karpets (Illes Balears) @ 11min 15sec

8. Pietro Caucchioli (Credit Agricole) @ 11min 38sec

9. Marzio Bruseghin (Fassa Bortolo) @ 11min 40sec

10. Emanuele Sella (Panaria) @ 12min 33sec

Points (Purple Jersey)

1. Paolo Bettini 151 Points

2. Danilo Di Luca 136

3. Alessandro Petacchi 129

4. Paolo Savoldelli 124

Climber (Green Jersey)

1. Jose Rujano 143 points

2. Ivan Parra 57

3. Gilberto Simoni 45

4. Ivan Basso 41

The Race.

The finish. Rujano crosses the line first. Simoni is second at 22 sec. Di Luca is third at about a minute and a half. Savoldelli comes in at 1min 55sec. He's still in pink.

2 km to go. Rujano is 20 seconds ahead of Simoni. Savoldelli is about 1 min 35sec behind Rujano, so unless something amazing happens in the next few minutes, Savoldelli should win the Giro.

4 to go. Rujano drops Simoni. There goes the 20 second bonus and probably the Giro for Simoni.

8 to go. The gap is 1min 23sec. Simoni will need to do more than that to get the Pink. Di Luca is back 25 seconds. Assuming Savoldelli is denied the third place time bonus because Di Luca satys between Rujano/Simoni and Savoldelli, Simoni needs to come in 1min 50 sec ahead of Savoldelli.

Km 180, 10 to go. We're on the second time up to Sestriere. The gap is only 1min 37sec!!

14 km to go. Di Luca has been dropped by Simoni and Rujano. The gap back to Savoldelli is just a touch over 2 minutes. Rujano had not been working before and now he is. Looking at yesterday's time trial (14th place, 4 seconds slower than Di Luca), Rujano should be able to really contribute. The Giro is going to come down to these few kilometers. And remember, the stage winner gets a 20-second bonus. Second place is 12 seconds and third is 8 seconds.

Less than 20 km to go. Savoldelli has pulled back a little time on the descent. He's about 2min 5sec back.

Over the top... Di Luca, who did most of the work on the climb, led Simoni and Rujano. Savoldelli accompanied by Atienza and Ardila followed at 2min 19sec. I am sure Savoldelli is going to just fly down the mountain. This will be something. Don't write off Simoni, He is a superb descender.

Near the Finestre summit. Savoldelli has stabilized things a bit. The gap is 2min 8sec.

Km 166: Now Ivanov has been caught and dropped by Simoni, Di Luca and rujano. Savoldelli is 2 minutes back. Nope, now is 2min 12sec. Simoni is the virtual Pink Jersey.

Km 165. Up front it's down to Simoni, Di Luca and Rujano. The Savoldelli group is 1min 10sec behind.

The gap has now grown to 1min 40 sec. Simoni is 2min 9sec behind Savoldelli in the General Classification so he's close to the gap he needs.

Km 163: Simoni has Di Luca, Honchar, Atienza and Rujano with him. They are already about a minute ahead of the Savoldelli group. Basso was dropped by the front group and then by the Savoldelli group. Savoldelli has only Ardila and Wladimir Belli with him. He's got to do this himself. Belli is a teammate of Honchar up the road. The Simoni group is now on the dirt section of the pass.

Km 162. BAM! Colombia-Selle Italia rider Illiano dropped the hammer. Gaps opened up immediately and Savoldelli either didn't or couldn't react. Simoni, Basso, Di Luca and Cunego did go with him.

Km 149: Ivanov and Niermann have gone through Susa, which is at the bottom of the Finestre climb. Renshaw has been caught by the peloton, which is now 8 1/2 minutes behind the break. At the front of the peloton, CSC, Colombia-Selle Italia and Lampre have been working today. That should give a clear idea of who has ambitions. Savoldelli announced that his plan was to ride defensively and avoid time loss.

Now Ivanov has dropped Niermann.

Km 135. Everyone is on the long descent to the base of the Finistre climb. A Category 1 climb in the Giro is usually the same as an "Hors Category" climb in the Tour de France. But for the Finestre, The Giro organizers have given it a "Categoria Speciale" rating. While there has been a lot of focus on Savoldelli's amazing descending abilities, Simoni is also a very fine descender. If he gets away from Savoldelli on the climb, he may just be able to hold the lead on the way down. Maybe. The breakaway duo is about 12 minutes ahead of the pack with Renshaw about smack in the middle.

Km 105: Ivanov led Niermann over the top of the Sestriere climb. Renshaw is about 6 minutes back and the pack is a bit more than 14 minutes beind the leading duo.

Km 83. 154 riders started today. On the lower slopes to Sestriere: Mark Renshaw, Grischa Niermann and Ruslan Ivanov broke away in the first 15 minutes of the stage. Now Renshaw is between the pack and his former breakways. The break is about 16min ahead of the pack with Renshaw 1 min 30sec behind the leaders.

Stage 20, Sunday, May 29: Albese con Cassano - Milano, 119 km. The Giro's final stage includes 12 circuits in downtown Milan.

Saturday's stage was about the best bicycle racing, or sport of any kind for that matter, that I have ever seen. All the great racers were stripped of their domestiques. Up and down the Alps, with the virtual lead changing hands, all were going just as hard as their bodies would allow. Di Luca's cramps on the descent of the Finestre and Simoni's cracking just a couple of kilometers from the finish showed that these men had no more to give.

On thing that struck me. After 5 hours of all-out racing, these men were doing the final climb to Sestriere in the BIG RING! Incredible.

That makes 4 stage wins for Petacchi in this Giro. And as Porky Pig says, "a-blee, a-blee, That's all folks." Sirotti photo.

Results:

1. Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) 3hr 24min 8sec. 35.329 km/hr.

2. Erik Zabel (T-Mobile) s.t.

3. Robert Forster (Gerolsteiner) s.t.

4. Mirko Lorenzetto (Domina Vacanze) s.t.

5. Marco Velo (Fassa Bortolo) s.t.

6. Paride Grillo (Panaria) s.t.

7. Isaac Galvez (Illes Balears) s.t.

8. Mark Renchaw (FDJ) s.t.

9. Manuele Mori (Saunier Duval) s.t.

10. Henk Vogels (Davitamon-Lotto) s.t.

11. Paolo Bettini (Quick Step). I believe that for Bettini to keep his purple points jersey, he had to do no worse than 13th if Petacchi won the stage.

Final 2005 Giro d'Italia GC after Stage 20:

1. Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery) 91hr 25min 51sec

2. Gilberto Simoni (Lamnpre) 28sec

3. Jose Rujano (Colombia-Selle Italia) @ 45sec

4. Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) @ 2min 42sec

5. Juan Manuel Garate (Saunier Duval) @ 3min 11sec

6. Serhiy Honchar (Domina Vacanze) @ 4min 22sec

7. Vladimir Karpets (Illes Balears) @ 11min 15sec

8. Pietro Caucchioli (Credit Agricole) @ 11min 38sec

9. Marzio Bruseghin (Fassa Bortolo) @ 11min 40sec

10. Emanuele Sella (Panaria) @ 12min 33sec

Points (Purple Jersey)

1. Paolo Bettini: 162 points

2. Alessandro Petacchi 154

3. Danilo Di Luca 136

4. Paolo Savoldelli 124

5. Ivan Basso 114

6. Erik Zabel 92

Climber (Green Jersey)

1. Jose Rujano 143 points

2. Ivan Parra 57

3. Gilberto Simoni 45

4. Ivan Basso 41

5. Danilo Di Luca 29

Total distance: 3,464 km

The Teams. Provisional Giro rider start list:

Official Giro list of entrants.

Predictions:

Our fearless panel of experts have started to send us their predictions for the Giro. Thanks to Valeria Paoletti for her help.

Gianni Bugno, 1991, 1992 Champion of the World, Giro winner:

General Classification: 1. Damiano Cunego, 2. Gilberto Simoni, 3. Stefano Garzelli

Sprinter: Alessandro Petacchi

Climber: Gilberto Simoni

Franco Bitossi, 147 pro wins including Tour de France points jersey (1968) and 3 times KOM in the Giro:

General Classification: 1. Gilberto Simoni, 2. Damiano Cunego, 3. Ivan Basso.

Sprinter: Alessandro Petacchi

Climber: A Spaniard or Colombian, to difficult to tell.

Felice Gimondi, Il Campionissimo. Tour, Giro winner, World Champion:

General Classification: 1. Gilberto Simoni, 2.Damiano Cunego, 3. Ivan Basso. Signor Gimondi thinks Simoni is in better condition than last year

Paolo Guerciotti, former champion of Italy, sponsor of many top pro teams and world famous bike maker:

General Classification:1° Cunego, 2° Simoni, 3° Basso

Sprinter: 1° Petacchi, 2° Zabel, 3° McEwen

Climber 1° Cunego, 2° Basso, 3° Simoni

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