Category: Giro d'Italia

Surpassing Saturday's winning effort, Emanuele Sella drove a breakaway for all of Stage 15 and survived the six major climbs to cross the finish line with a two-minute gap at Passo Fedaia.

Spain's Alberto Contador, left, fought his own battle among the GC contenders, eventually grabbing a half-minute lead over his nearest rivals for the pink jersey. Five riders sit a minute or less behind Contador, however.

Monday's individual time trial may be the stage that solidifies the lead for an overall champion for the Giro d'Italia, which ends next Sunday. The 7.9-mile race against the clock climbs right to the summit of Plan de Corones, at times taking a 16%, 20% and even 24% gradient to the top …

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Italy's Emanuele Sella won the mountainous Stage 14 of the Giro d'Italia by more than 4 minutes with a solo breakaway some 30 miles from the mountaintop finish in Alpe di Pampeago.

The high mountain passes on Saturday also served to shake up the overall lead, with Gabriele Bosisio taking the pink jersey, leading Astana's Alberto Contador by just 5 seconds.

On Sunday the real fun begins, though, as Stage 15 features six climbs over 94 miles, including the mountaintop finish at Passo Fedaia. Expect more changes in the overall standings …

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Mark Cavendish scored his second win at the 2008 Giro d'Italia of Friday with a commanding two-bike length sprint finish at the walled city of Cittadella.

The 23-year-old passed 3-stage winner Daniele Bennati in the sprint. Teammates on High Road, which is now a US-based team, led out the peloton in the final kilometers.

Although the overall leaders remained unchanged, with Italy's Giovanni Visconti in No. 1, Saturday's stage from Verona to a mountaintop finish at Alpe di Pampeago might shake things up …

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Italy's Daniele Bennati scored a Giro d'Italia hat trick on Thursday with this third win in 12 stages, with 9 stages remaining in the three-week tour.

The 27-year-old sprinter for Liquigas beat Team High Road's Mark Cavendish in a photo finish, both slightly ahead of Australia's Robbie McEwen of Silence-Lotto.

Bennati's dominance this year is amazing, considering that he's in his 7th year as a pro and he had never before won at the Giro…

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With a little help from his QuickStep team, Giovanni Visconti, left, held onto the pink leader's jersey for another day at the 2008 Giro d'Italia on Wednesday in spite of being dropped twice and crashing once.

But it was Alessandro Bertolini who stole the show, winning the 123-mile mountainous Stage 11 from Urbania to Cesena in a sprint he won after a one of his breakaway companions crashed in the final kilometer.

It marked the first Giro d'Italia win ever for the 36-year-old on the team Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni. Bertolini and another rider attaked earlier in the race and were caught by three other cyclists who all battled for a stage win…

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Although Giovanni Visconti held onto the overall lead of the Giro d'Italia after Tuesday's individual time trial, you could see the favorites climbing in the standings.

Despite a fractured elbow suffered on Saturday, Alberto Contador finished 2nd overall for the day, climbing from 8th into 4th place, 6:59 behind the leader. Astana's Andreas Kloden and Levi Leipheimer also made big gains, as the German rose from 15th to 6th overall and the US's Leipheimer rose from 22nd to 14th.

More changes are expected in the leader board on Wednesday, after a 123-mile mountainous stage between Urbania and Cesena. There are four mountain passes, including Monte Carpegna which features a 14% section and the short, but not so sweet Sorrivoli…

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As the Giro d'Italia begins its second week, the Italians remain very much in control of the race in spite of its international cast.

On Saturday's Stage 8, Riccardo Riccò of Saunier Duval won again (also Stage 2) in a bunch sprint in Tivoli, and Quick Step's Giovanni Visconti, left, held on for another day as winner of the overall leader's pink jersey.

Except for Slipstream-Chipotle's initial team time trial win on Stage 1 that put Christian Vande Velde in the lead, Italians Visconti and Franco Pellizoti have held the maglia rosa for 7 of 8 stages …

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For the second day in a row on Thursday, the breakaway arrived first at the finish line at the Giro d'Italia and seriously shook up the overall lead.

The 11-man bunch shattered the standings after this 143-mile stage, dropping the previous leaders by 9 minutes or more down the general classification.

Italy's Matteo Priamo of CSF Group Navigare won the stage in Peschici. Another member of the breakaway, Italian cyclist Giovanni Visconti of Quick Step took the overall lead. …

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A perfectly executed breakaway with four other cyclists put Slipstream's David Millar, left, in the perfect position for a Stage 5 win on Wednesday at the Giro d'Italia.

But with about a kilometer to go on a 9% climb to the finish at Contursi Terme, the Scotsman's chain broke as he strained to keep up with eventual winner Pavel Brutt (Tinkoff). Millar threw his bike over the barrier in disgust and waited for a replacement to finish the race.

The rest of the peloton finished about 30 seconds later, leaving Italian Franco Pellizotti of Liquigas in the overall lead, with Slipstream's Christian Vande Velde 1 second behind. …

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Team High Road's Mark Cavendish missed a final kilometer crash to win Stage 4 at the Giro d'Italia on Tuesday.

The UK sprinter passed Monday's winner, Daniele Bennati (Liquigas), in the sprint to the finish. Milram tried to deliver Erik Zabel, but the German sprinter couldn't accelerate to win.

Franco Pellizotti (Liquigas) remains in first place overall, with a one-second lead over American cyclist Christian Vande Velde of Slipstream Chipotle…

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