Home > News

2015 Giro d’Italia Stage 19: Fabio Aru wins long mountain stage, Hesjedal keeps climbing GC

May 29, 2015
Share on SMS

Fabio Aru (Italy/Astana) won’t win the 2015 Giro d’Italia, but he can take solace in grabbing a fine win on a tough, long day in the mountains. Aru jumped back up to second place on GC over teammate Mikel Landa (Spain). Aru now has stage victories in three consecutive Grand Tours. Alberto Contador (Spain/Tinkoff-Saxo) stayed comfortably in pink.

The day’s breakaway started seven strong, with a revitalized Carlos Betancur (Colombia/Ag2r) first over a Cat. 3 climb at the 85-km mark of the 236-km stage. The group began to fracture even before the first of three Cat. 1 climbs, the Saint-Barthélemy, with the remaining quartet left to labour over 16.5-km of 6.7%. Back in the peloton, Beñat Intxausti (Spain/Movistar), once the holder of the blue mountains jersey, took off in pursuit of points. The leader of the mountains classification, Dutchman Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo) lit out after him.

Intxausti’s Italian teammate Giovanni Visconti surged ahead of his breakmates to crest the Saint-Barthélemy in the lead. He was now third in the mountains competition. Intxausti pipped Kruijswijk at the peak and took back the mountains lead. On the descent, the fugitives got a reinforcement who had been distanced on the climb.

There wouldn’t be much respite before the next Cat. 1, Col Saint-Pantaléon at 16.5-km of 7.2%. Tinkoff-Saxo had been whipping along the bunch, and since the race had already rolled 191-km by the time it hit the foot of the ascent with Astana taking over, the rest of the climbing was sure to shatter the field.

The fugitives’ lead was 2:20 at the start of the Saint-Pantaléon. Two-time stage winner Visconti surged away from the others on the steep opening slopes. Visconti summited with 2:12 of his gap remaining and started the short downhill. Kruijswijk flashed out from the peloton in an attempt to take the third most points at the top, but Intxausti thwarted the Dutchman.

The final ascent of Cervinia was the climb where Ryder Hesjedal first took the pink jersey off Joaquim Rodriguez in 2012. It was the longest (19.2-km) Cat. 1 of the stage, but the mildest (5%). Visconti’s lead shrank quickly in the opening kilometres. Astana’s frenetic pace brought the intrepid Italian back with 10.5-km remaining. Visconti waved at the motorcycle camera, found himself overwhelmed and went right out the back of the 30-man pink jersey group.

A move by Konstantsin Siutsou (Belarus/Sky) at the 9.5-km to go mark lit the cannon. Contador, Landa and Hesjedal flew away from the others. Then Fabio Aru (Italy/Astana) make the junction before attacking. Hesjedal counterattacked. Aru, Landa, Contador and Kruijswijk formed a chase, with Aru reaching the Canadian at the 6.2-km to go mark.

Aru immediately pounced and Hesjedal couldn’t respond. Leopold Konig (Czech Republic/Sky), Tanel Kangert (Estonia/Astana), Mikel Nieve (Spain/Sky) and Rigoberto Uran (Colombia/Etixx-QuickStep) bolstered the chase group. Hesjedal kept in the space between Aru and the pink jersey gang and came in 28-seconds behind the clearly relieved Aru. Uran’s third place will be consolation for the Colombian who has had a disappointing Giro.

Hesjedal jumps up over Kruijswijk and Damiano Caruso (Italy/BMC) on GC to take over 7th. If he keeps 7th, it will be his third best Grand Tour result.

Saturday’s penultimate stage is the final day for GC changes, with a double climb to the finish, the Cat. 1 Cima Coppi ascent of Colle delle Finestre, with 9-km of gravel, and then a Cat. 3 haul to Sestriere.

2015 Giro d’Italia Stage 19
1) Fabio Aru (Italy/Astana) 6:24:13
2) Ryder Hesjedal (Canada/Cannondale-Garmin) +0:28
3) Rigoberto Uran (Colombia/Etixx-QuickStep) +1:10
105) Hugo Houle (Canada/Ag2r) +44:47

2015 Giro d’Italia GC
1) Alberto Contador (Spain/Tinkoff-Saxo) 78:48:40
2) Fabio Aru (Italy/Astana) +4:37
3) Mikel Landa (Spain/Astana) +5:15
7) Ryder Hesjedal (Canada/Cannondale-Garmin) +12:05
116) Hugo Houle (Canada/Ag2r) +4:24:09

Categories: News |