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2015 Giro d’Italia Stage 15: Mikel Landa wins mountain stage, Contador pads lead

May 24, 2015
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Astana took its second stage triumph of the 2015 Giro d’Italia Sunday, with Spaniard Mikel Landa winning a mountain stage, his first Grand Tour victory. Alberto Contador (Spain/Tinkoff-Saxo) took bonus seconds at both an intermediate sprint and at the top of the finishing Madonna di Campiglio climb and now leads Fabio Aru (Italy/Astana) by 2:35.

The pace was frantic in the first two hours of the 165-km stage with no breakaway able to establish itself. On the first of three climbs, the Cat. 2 La Fricca, blue mountains jersey owner Beñat Intxausti (Spain/Movistar), his Italian teammate Giovanni Visconti and Stage 11 winner Ilnur Zakarin (Russia/Katusha) darted away, with Intxausti taking the maximum points.

On the downhill and rolling hills afterwards, the escape grew to ten-riders, with Astana, Tinkoff-Saxo, Sky and Ag2r among the teams represented. They pulled out a gap from the Tinkoff-Saxo led peloton.

The final two climbs, both Cat. 1’s, came in the last 42-km. First up was the Passo Daone, 11.2-km of 5.1%, before the finishing ascent, and then the first in the Dolomites, the Madonna di Campiglio, 15.5-km of 5.9%.

With 58-km remaining, the breakaway split, with Visconti bolting alongside Kanstantsin Suitsou (Belorus/Sky), Brent Bookwalter (USA/BMC) and Hubert Dupont (France/Ag2r). The remaining six riders sat up and waited for the peloton. The leading quartet had a 2:37 buffer over the bunch at the start of the Daone. Bookwalter started to falter. Back in the peloton Richie Porte’s misery continued as he went out the back. Fourth place Rigoberto Uran (Colombia/Etixx-QuickStep) also couldn’t hang on.

It was Astana driving the pace of the bunch, shedding Contador’s teammates. Visconti was first over the Daone summit, with the trio keeping 1:37 of its gap. Astana kept its ears pinned back and created a 14-man pink jersey group with Contador isolated on the mild grades leading to the Madonna di Campiglio, the site of Marco Pantani’s final Giro victory in 1999.

Suitsou dropped back to pace Leopold Konig (Czech Republic) in the pink jersey group. Contador flashed out from the bunch to pick up two bonus seconds. Visconti fell back and Dupont carried on alone. Ryder Hesjedal was in a group 25-seconds behind Contador and Aru. Just as the final climb began, Dupont was brought to heel.

Hesjedal tried to bridge across to the lead group. Astana’s pace continued to shed riders from the front. The gap back to Hesjedal increased, but the Cannondale-Garmin man kept coming. With 3-km remaining, Landa attacked and Contador went with him. Aru couldn’t respond so Contador carried on the move. However, Aru and Yuri Trofimov (Russia/Katusha) made the junction within a kilometre.

Aru tried a dig but didn’t shake anyone loose. Landa surged again and Contador once more snagged him. Again the Italian and the Russian made it back and Trofimov immediately attacked just outside the red kite. Landa lit after the Russian in the final 500-metres. Landa swung around the Katusha man to take the win. Contador snatched third place’s bonus seconds.

Landa jumped up to fourth on GC from seventh, and he looks to be in an exciting podium scrap with the man who holds the position now, Andrey Amador (Costa Rica/Movistar).

Hesjedal crossed the line 3:08 down but jumped up a couple of places in GC to 13th.

Monday is the second and last rest day. Six stages, three of which are mountain stages, remain in the 2015 Giro d’Italia.

2015 Giro d’Italia Stage 15
1) Mikel Landa (Spain/Astana) 4:22:35
2) Yuri Trofimov (Russia/Katusha) +0:02
3) Alberto Contador (Spain/Tinkoff-Saxo) +0:05
12) Ryder Hesjedal (Cannondale-Garmin) +3:08
141) Hugo Houle (Canada/Ag2r) +31:38

2015 Giro d’Italia GC
1) Alberto Contador (Spain/Tinkoff-Saxo) 60:01:34
2) Fabio Aru (Italy/Astana) +2:35
3) Andrey Amador (Costa Rica/Movistar) +4:19
13) Ryder Hesjedal (Cannondale-Garmin) +11:17
123) Hugo Houle (Canada/Ag2r) +2:46:12