Challengers attacked Giro d'Italia leader Alberto Contador through the mountains on Saturday. But at the end of the day the Spanish rider for Astana retained his 4-second lead in the three-week race that ends Sunday.
Italian rival Riccardo Riccò and Contador matched each other over the Passo Gavia, Passo del Mortirolo and the Aprica. Neither one gave up a second to the other, although Ricco sprinted in to finish just ahead of Contador.
The lead group attacked each other on the second climb of the day, the Mortirolo, with its average 7.9% gradient. But when climber Emanuele Sella attacked at the beginning of the smaller third climb, the Aprica, no one could match him.
Time trial
The Giro ends Sunday with a 17.7-mile time trial from Cesano Maderno to Milan. Ricco needs just 4 seconds to match Contador, but previous match-ups at the Giro show that he won't do it.
Contador finished 2nd in the Giro's first individual time trial, Stage 10. Ricco finished in 16th place, 1:56 behind Contador.
In the second individual time trial, Stage 16, Ricco finished just 8 seconds behind Contador. Sunday's flat time trial more closely resembles Stage 10; Stage 16 was the all-climbing contest.
Hat trick
Sella won his third stage of this year's Giro, followed by former Giro champion Gilberto Simoni in 1:04 who attempted to stage a comeback, or at least a stage victory, and Joaquin Rodriguez in 1:21.
Ricco's sprint at the end was an essentially meaningless gesture, as all the time bonuses were won by the previous three finishers.
The big loser on the day was defending champion Danilo Di Luca, who sat 21 seconds down in third place this morning. At the end of the day, he had dropped to 7th place, 4:18 out of first.
Mortirolo
Most of the day's action played out on the steep slopes of the Mortirolo. Several riders in the lead group with Contador attacked, including Simoni several times, but they were always pulled back.
The only rider to get away was Contador teammate Antonio Colom. He topped the Mortirolo first, then drifted back to help Contador on the Aprica summit. Another Contador teammate, Levi Leipheimer, helped him on the Gavia, while Andreas Kloden dropped out Saturday after Friday's huge effort.
The top 7 riders after Stage 20:
1. Alberto Contador (Spain), Astana
2. Riccardo Ricco (Italy), Saunier Duval, 0:04 behind
3. Marzio Bruseghin (Italy), Lampre, 2:00
4. Franco Pellizotti (Italy), Liquigas, 2:05
5. Emanuele Sella (Italy), CSF-Navigare, 2:35
6. Denis Menchov (Russia), Rabobank, 2:47
7. Danilo Di Luca (Italy), LPR, 4:18
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