Pre-race favorite Ivan Basso staged a short-lived attack on the pink jersey Sunday but couldn't sustain an advantage as overall leader Denis Menchov retained top spot of the Giro d'Italia for another day.
Italian Leonardo Bertagnolli took the solo victory on Stage 15 in Faenza. The 31-year-old was the sole survivor of a 16-man breakaway pack that formed about 11 miles into the 99 mile stage.
Despite lots of drama in the rollercoaster stage that routed the peloton over five climbs, the leaders remained intact at the end of the day. At one point 3rd place cyclist Levi Leipheimer lost contact with the Menchov group, but the Astana rider was able bridge about 29 seconds back to the leaders' group.
Basso battles
Basso delivered much of that drama, as he attacked on the next to last climb — Monte Casale. The Liquigas rider had been quietly sitting about 3 minutes behind Menchov in 6th place overall, when he launched his attack.
He was followed by Stefano Garzelli, who sits further back in the competition. At one point, the two former Giro champions had gained more than a minute on Menchov's elite group. Heading into the last climb on Monte Trebbio, it looked like Basso might work his way into the top couple of riders in the general classification.
Then, No. 2 Danilo Di Luca attacked Menchov. The Russian couldn't ignore this challenge from a rider just 34 seconds behind him, so he chased him down.
This seemed to put new life into the Menchov group, and they sped down the slope and across the flats to the finish as Basso and Garzelli gave up their challenge. Meanwhile, Leipheimer had been dropped by the elite group of riders, but was able to catch up.
His teammate Lance Armstrong had been dropped by the elite riders earlier in the day, and lost a few more seconds on Menchov.
Breakaway
While some cyclists were waging a battle for the pink jersey, Bertagnolli and 15 other cyclists were making a play for the stage win.
That breakaway group of 16 had broken up to 7 members on the Monte Casale, then dwindled to four, then just two on the Monte Trebbio.
Bertagnolli, looking for his first-ever Giro victory, pushed ahead on the descent and crossed the finish 54 seconds ahead of four other cyclists who had formed the breakaway earlier in the day.
Overall leaders
1 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank
2 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) LPR Brakes – Farnese Vini, 0.34 behind
3 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana, 0.43
4 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas, 2.00
5 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Cervelo Test, 2.52
6 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas, 3.03
7 Michael Rogers (Aus) Team Columbia – Highroad, 3.05
8 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Lampre – N.G.C., 5.26
Final week
If anyone is going to successfully move on Menchov, it could be on Monday or Wednesday.
Monday's Stage 16 is a 147-mile race from Pergola to Monte Petrano with four climbs, including a mountaintop finish. Three of those climbs are steeper than the ones on Sunday.
After a rest day, Stage 17 on Wednesday is only 51 miles. The second half of the race, though, is a 7% climb to Blockhaus.
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