Russian Denis Menchov protected his lead over voracious rival Danilo Di Luca in the final stage time trial of the Giro d'Italia on Sunday, in spite of crashing on rain-slicked streets just a kilometer from the finish.
Riding hard on the 9-mile loop around ancient Rome, Menchov slipped on the wet street and crashed. After slidding along the pavement, Menchov immediately got up and picked up his bike. His mechanic in the trailing team car quickly handed him a new bike, enabling him to cross the finish in 10th place.
In spite of the fall, Menchov put an extra 21 seconds on his margin over Italy's Di Luca, who finished the race in second place, 41 seconds behind Menchov.
Levi and Lance
Levi Leipheimer was the highest placed US rider in the Giro, finishing in 6th place, 5:28 behind Menchov. Lance Armstrong, riding his first-ever Giro d'Italia, finished in 12th place, 15:59 behind Menchov.
Ignatas Konovalovas of Cervelo Test team won the final individual time trial, one second ahead of Bradley Wiggins of Garmin-Slipstream. Konovalovas is the Lithuanian time trial champion. Wiggins looked to be on his way to a stage win before the rain started to fall.
Franco Pellizotti of Liquigas finished in third place, 1:59 behind Menchov. On the podium after the race, Menchov gave Di Luca a friendly hug and handshake.
Points jersey
Di Luca did not go home empty handed, though. The winner of the Giro d'Italia in 2007 won the points jersey in 2009. (Stefano Garzelli won the mountain classification, as well as the combativity classification.)
Early in his ride, it looked like Di Luca might actually have a chance to unseat Menchov, who captured the pink jersey from Di Luca in the 12th stage individual time trial.
Di Luca was fastest at the first time check, but his speed failed as he tired toward the finish. He ended the race in 17th place, 45 seconds by the winner.
Leipheimer, usually competitive in the time trial, took no chances in the rain. He finished 53 seconds behind the winner. Astana teammate Armstrong finished in 53rd place, 1:19 behind the day's winner.
The top 10
1 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank
2 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) LPR Brakes – Farnese Vini 0.41
3 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas 1.59
4 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Cervelo Test Team 3.46
5 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas 3.59
6 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana 5.28
7 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone – Caffe Mokambo 8.43
8 Michael Rogers (Aus) Team Columbia – Highroad 10.01
9 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) AG2R La Mondiale 11.13
10 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Lampre – N.G.C. 11.28
US riders:
6 Levi Leipheimer, Astana, 5:28 behind
12 Lance Armstrong, Astana, 15:59
63 Jason McCartney, Team Saxo Bank, 2:11:57
78 Thomas Danielson, Garmin – Slipstream, 2:33:02
111 Ted King, Cervelo Test Team, 3:15:04
144 Danny Pate, Garmin – Slipstream, 4:01:57
152 David Zabriskie, Garmin – Slipstream, 4:10:55
More results and reporting at CyclingNews and VeloNews.
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