All eyes on No. 2 finisher in Saturday's Giro bike race

A thrilling solo attack by Oscar Gatto marked the Stage 8 win in Tropea for the Giro d'Italia on Saturday.

It was the second place finish by Alberto Contador, however, that will probably have the most impact on the final outcome of the three-week bike race.

With the peloton facing two demanding climbs up Mount Etna on Sunday, Contador moved himself up from 9th into 5th place overall, just 13 seconds behind Pieter Weening, who remained in the overall lead.

Flat stage

The flat 217km (135-mile) route along the coast from Sapri to Tropea promised to give the sprinters a rare chance for glory in this year's mountain Giro course. But a sharp, steep climb at the finish with a couple of switchbacks in the final 2 kilometers spoiled the lead-out efforts of the sprinters' teams.

A two-man breakaway spent most of the day out front. Mirko Selvaggi (Vacansoleil) and Leonardo Giordani (Farnese Vini-Neri Sottoli) attacked within the first 2 miles of the start and stayed out front until 4.5 miles from the finish line.

The sprinters' teams of HTC-Columbia, Saxo Bank, Sky, and Lampre pulled the peloton up to the two escapers.

Crashes

The speed fractured the peloton and caused a few minor crashes. Stefano Garzelli (Acqua-Sapone) got caught behind one of these and he had to fight his way back to the peloton behind the slipstreams of his teammates and team cars.

The peloton arrived largely en masse to the base of the steep climb with just 2 kilometers to go.

As they cornered around a couple of switchbacks, Gatto (Farnese Vini) shot off the front with just 1.4 kilometers left in the race. After he got his lead, Contador (Saxo Bank) surprised everyone by taking chase.

Jerseys

Although Contador didn't win the stage, he did gain 5 seconds at the finish line and received another 12-second time bonus for second place. He appears poised to take the overall lead at the Giro with Sunday's mountain stage looming.

Weening survived in the maglia rosa for another day.

Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre) retained the points jersey and Bart de Clerq (Rabobank) held onto the mountains jersey. Steven Kruijswijk (Rabobank) is the best young rider.

Top 10 overall