Carlos Sastre exploded out of the pack on the final climb at the Giro d'Italia on Monday to win Stage 16 and bring himself closer to overall leader Denis Menchov.
Along the way, last year's Tour de France champion overtook breakaway leader Yaroslav Popovych, who appeared ready to hand his Astana team its first win of the 2009 Giro.
Team Astana suffered more disappointment as their favorite to win the Giro, American Levi Leipheimer, crossed the finish line nearly 3 minutes behind the winner and fell three places to 6th, 3:21 behind Menchov. He was pulled across the finish line at Monte Petrano by teammate Lance Armstrong.
On the final climb, Giro leader Menchov marked most of the attacks and ended up catching everyone but Sastre. Finishing in second place, 25 seconds behind Sastre, he gained another 6 seconds on 2nd place rival Danilo Di Luca.
Tuesday is a rest day, followed by Stage 17 on Wednesday. While the stage is only 51 miles, the entire second half of the race, though, is a 7% climb to Blockhaus. If Menchov can defend his position that day, I'd say he's good for the championship.
Breakaway
Popovych joined a 20-man breakaway formed within the first 12 miles of the 147-mile race. The Ukranian was the only survivor of that breakaway to within 3 miles of the summit when Sastre passed him.
His lead developed on the next to last climb when Damiano Cunego made repeated attacks on Monte Catria to drop all but three of the remaining breakaway riders. Once over the top, Popovych attacked on the descent and put 30 seconds into Cunego which he couldn't make up as he fizzled on the climb.
Sastre had been biding his time in Menchov's group of riders that trailed the leaders by 3 to 5 minutes over the second half of the race. Sitting 2:52 behind Menchov in the overall standings, Sastre attacked several times and was chased back by Menchov.
Finally, Menchov let him go. Poor Popovych could only shake his head as Sastre rocketed past in the final kilometers. Riding for Cervelo Test, Sastre pulled himself up to 3rd place overall (the position formerly held by Leipheimer) and sits 2:19 behind the leader.
Top overall
1 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank
2 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) LPR Brakes – Farnese Vini, 0.39
3 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Cervelo Test Team, 2.19
4 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas, 3.08
5 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas, 3.19
6 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana, 3.21
7 Michael Rogers (Aus) Team Columbia – Highroad, 5.54
8 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone – Caffe Mokambo, 8.24
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