The most difficult stage of this year's Giro d'Italia was marked by a 23-year-old cyclist winning the stage and the beleaguered leader gaining time on his rivals.
Riccardo Ricco of Saunier Duval won the Giro's 15th stage, crossing over three mountain passes before the mountaintop finish at Tre Cime Di Lavaredo.
Meanwhile his team leader, Gilberto Simoni, lost some of the time that he had gained on Saturday against overall leader Danilo Di Luca of the Liquigas team. Simoni dropped to 3-minutes-19 behind Di Luca, even though he climbed one place to fourth.
Di Luca's 2nd place challenger (Marzio Bruseghin) fell to 10th place overall, and his nearest rival Eddy Mazzoleni of Astana, is 1-minute-51 behind. He maintained his lead in the race because he didn't crack as other riders attacked, and finished in sixth place, 2-minutes-53 behind the winner.
Ricco and teammate Leonardo Piepoli rode much of the day together; Piepoli waved Ricco across to take the finish, as Ricco helped Piepoli take the overall lead in the mountains competition.
More race details and results at VeloNews and CyclingNews.
The Giro takes a day off on Monday, then begins its final week of racing.
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