There were some new characters crossing among the leaders at the finish line of the Giro d' Italia today. You can credit an early breakaway and the steep climb up Sammome'.
The new, Spanish rider Koldo Gil Perez of Liberty Seguros. He won the stage after joining a breakaway early in the 131-mile stage race between Grosseto and Pistoia.
The old, Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) and Damiano Cunego (Lampre). They finished second and third, respectively, with Di Luca winning back the pink jersey of the overall leader.
The early breakaway included 21 riders (including Michael Barry of Discovery) who gained as much as 30 minutes on the peloton.
The only survivor of that breakaway was Koldo Gil Perez. He was joined by Steve Zampieri (Phonak) and Angel Gomez Gomez (Saunier Duval) in a breakaway from the lead group about 20 miles from the finish.
A chase group containing Damiano Cunego and Danilo Di Luca crossed about a minute later; the finish order puts the overall leader's pink jersey back on the shoulders of Di Luca, who takes it from Paolo Bettini. Di Luca has won two previous stages and wore the pink one day.
According to Giro d' Italia results at CyclingNews, the top 10 in the overall standings include several former Giro champions and hopefuls this year, such as Cunego, Gilberto Simoni (4th, Lampre) and Discovery Channel's Pro Cycling team favorite Paolo Savoldelli (8th). Team CSC's Ivan Basso, also a favorite, is in 9th place, followed by Bettini, who has led the Giro this year on three days.
Daily live reports from the Giro are available at CyclingNews and VeloNews. Also, OLN's tape delayed coverage is scheduled from 5-7 p.m. (ET) on Saturday and Sunday.
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