With everyone watching the showdown between Denis Menchov and challenger Danilo Di Luca, Belgium's Philippe Gilbert slipped out of the lead group with less than a mile to go and won Stage 20 in Agnani on Saturday.
Menchov and Di Luca finished together in the pack. Italy's Di Luca actually lost 2 seconds in his bid to dislodge Menchov from first place.
The result means that Menchov carries a 20-second lead over Di Luca as they prepare for Sunday's final stage, a 9-mile individual time trial around the streets of Rome. Menchov, who gained the leader's pink jersey from Di Luca in the Stage 12 individual time trial, is expected to retain that lead.
Menchov's surprise
Overall, there were no changes in the lineup after Saturday's stage, with Astana's Levi Leipheimer sitting in 6th place overall as the highest placed US cyclist.
Before the stage, Di Luca had talked about his need win the stage for the bonus time seconds to get ahead of Menchov. In the end, however, Menchov actually widened the margin with bonus points.
Menchov, Rabobank's cyclist from Russia, added to his margin by making a surprise attack for an intermediate sprint bonus. Menchov took second place in the sprint, but could have earned more with a first had not Di Luca's LPR Brakes teammate Alessandro Petacchi realized what Menchov was attempting. The sprinter charged ahead and took first, while Di Luca took third.
Menchov's ploy gave him an overall 20 second margin over Di Luca, who had been whittling away at the Russian's lead for the past few days.
Finish
Toward the finish, the peloton had pulled in an early breakaway and a second breakaway of four riders that briefly held a lead under 6 miles to go.
As Rabobank and LPR Brakes prepared for the final battle in Agnani, Gilbert of Silence-Lotto silently attacked along the right side. He was followed by Thomas Voeckler and Yaroslav Popovych, but neither could stay on his wheel and Popovych actually faded at the end.
Petacchi tried to lead out Di Luca in the final kilometer, but the sprinter fell off the pace when he hit a climb near the finish. The lead pack rushed past, with Di Luca unable to gain on Menchov.
Top 12
1 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank
2 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) LPR Brakes – Farnese Vini, 0.20 behind
3 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas, 1.43
4 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Cervelo Test Team, 2.44
5 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas, 3.37
6 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana, 4.59
7 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone – Caffe Mokambo, 8.44
8 Michael Rogers (Aus) Team Columbia – Highroad, 9.36
9 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) AG2R La Mondiale, 10.46
10 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Lampre – N.G.C. ,11.36
11 David Arroyo (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne, 11.58
12 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana, 15.04
More results and reports at CyclingNews and VeloNews.
Stage 21 is a 9-mile individual time trial around the ancient buildings of historic Rome. A live video stream will be broadcast by on the Universal Sports cycling dashboard page.
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