Nibali solos into Asolo

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Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Doimo) won stage 14 of the Giro d'Italia to Asolo as the Monte Grappa climb revealed the real strengths and weaknesses of the overall contenders as the final week of racing in the mountains begins.

The Italian jumped out of a group containing his teammate Ivan Basso, World Champion Cadel Evans (BMC Racing Team) and Michele Scarponi (Androni Giocattoli) on the day's climb, and used his fantastic descending and time trial skills to solo in to the win.

The stage also saw a change in the overall lead, as Saxo Bank's Richie Porte was unable to stay with the best on the 18.9km climb. Caisse d'Epargne's David Arroyo fared better and so moved into the lead. But Porte lost little time on the Spaniard and so remains second overall, only 39 seconds down.

Nibali took off after the arduous climb, using his descending skills to open a 23-second gap on Basso, Evans and Scarponi.

“Me and Ivan worked perfectly today just by looking at each other in the eye,” he said. “Tomorrow will be another important day but if I'm feeling good, I'll be up there and have a go again," Nibali said.

"I think the Giro has changed from today,” he continued. “We all made a mistake on the stage to L'Aquila but that's all in the past and we're looking to the final week."

"A lot of people expected things from me and now I've managed to do it. Basso started the Giro as the team leader but I was right up there with him. I tried to attack today because there was a long descent. I rode to win the stage. Ivan could attack tomorrow and win again for us. Whatever happens we've shown we're up there."

Arroyo finished in a chase group, 2:25 behind Nibali. With Porte finishing at 4:46, it was enough for the Spaniard to pull on the pink jersey. "This is a great day for me. It was a beautiful stage and a beautiful day. Pulling on the pink jersey makes me really happy," he said.

"I have to thank the team for all the help that they gave me. Having the pink jersey is a dream come true. Can I win it overall? There are a lot of strong riders here and so I'll take things day by day. I've got a strong team to help me, that knows how to ride for a race leader, so we can do well."

While the top placings were shuffled, the more important changes took place a little lower down. Despite finishing 2:25 down on the day, Carlos Sastre (Cervelo TestTeam) moved from eighth to sixth. Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky), Nibali, Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana), Evans, and Basso all moved up to places seven to eleven respectively, giving hints of what might be expected as the Giro moves into its final – and high mountain – stages. Scarponi made the biggest jump, from 22nd to 12th after another strong ride, while fellow Italian Stefano Garzelli (Acqua & Sapone) cracked and lost a massive 18:50.

Monte Grappa shakes things up

There was only one mountain climbed during the stage, the Monte Grappa, and no doubt all the riders were ready for a drop of the same-named local drink afterwards. The climb had a stronger kick than the drink. The category one climb consisted of nearly 19 km of climbing, with an average gradient of 7,9% and a maximum of 14%.

It did what had been expected: it broke things up. The lead group and the favorites' group fell apart, with the gruppetto crossing the line 26:22 after Nibali.

As well as the ascent, there was also the descent, made even more dangerous by rain and wet roads. The conditions helped Nibali get away and win.

Sunshine and a long escape

Before Monte Grappa, all 162 riders remaining in the race after the dramatic last few days set off from Ferrara in nice weather, an unusual occurrence in this year's Giro. However things got off to a nervous start, with multiple attacks forming and failing.

Finally, after 35km, Markus Eibegger of Footon-Servetto launched a successful attack. He was soon joined by William Bonnet (Bbox Bouygues Telecom). Damien Monier (Cofidis), Alessandro Bisolti (Colnago – CSF Inox), and Steven Cummings (Sky). Italian Champion Filippo Pozzato (Katusha) quickly made his way forward, and the day's group was formed. They took off and the bunch let them go, resulting that the first hour of riding had been covered at an average of 51km/h. Their lead grew equally quickly, hitting a high of 8:05 at the 60km marker.

With 125km to go, Damiano Cunego sent his Lampre-Farnese Vini men to the front of the peloton. Acqua & Sapone thought about their captain, Michele Scarponi, and joined in the lead work. Only 25 km later the gap had already dropped to just over six minutes.

The ups and downs

Pozzato led the way onto the climb of the day, the category one Monte Grappa, but the break quickly fell apart. The favourites charged their way up, dropping domestiques and sprinters mercilessly off the back. Up front, Cummings and Bisolti pulled away from their break companions, but Cummings was unable to stay with the Italian for long.

Among those dropped from the main field were maglia rosa Richie Porte (Saxo Bank), and veteran Gilberto Simoni (Lampre), as Liquigas-Doimo set a furious pace.

Bradley Wiggins attacked out of the ever-smaller favourites' group, and made his way forward to teammate Cummings who helped set the pace. Cummings soon fell back, leaving the Olympic champion to power his way on alone. But also he was unable to stay away, and soon fell back into the favourites' group and was eventual dropped.

Nibali was the first to attack out of the front group, with Scarponi right behind him. Evans fought his way up to the two, bringing Basso with him. But Vinokourov was struggling. The quartet caught and passed Bonnet and Bisolti, who had stayed in the lead from the break. Sastre broke out and caught Vinokourov on the climb. The two rivals stayed together in their grim chase up the relentless climb.

The climb was so high, it went above the tree line, meaning the riders were met with wind and rain. Basso led the way over the packed summit, with Evans dropping back shortly before the descent. They dived down the other side, as Vinokourov and Sastre followed them about 30 seconds later.

The rain and wet, newly-paved roads made the technical descent even tricker. Nibali took off and went solo into the lead, while the others, especially Evans, rode more carefully. Vinokourov also went all out, with Sastre riding conservatively. It was a test of nerves as much as a test of strength.

The sun made only a brief appearance, and a few raindrops appeared again close to the bottom, as both Nibali and Vinokourov put on impressive displays of descending skills. Nibali was going for a stage win, while Vino desperately tried to catch his main rivals. Behind him, Sastre fell back into the Wiggins group, which also got larger as more riders caught up from behind.

Nibali hit the finish line in Asolo, with his followers 23 seconds back. Basso had not worked in the chase group, to protect teammate Nibali, but sprinted for second place and the bonus seconds. Nibali picked up an extra 20 seconds, while Basso took 12. Scarponi took third and so collected eights bonus seconds.

Porte could thank his huge lead from Wednesday for the fact that he was able to finish so far back and still hold onto second overall. He was faithfully accompanied on the climb and down again by teammate Chris Anker Sorensen. His group made up a lot of time on the descent and the way into the finish, but it wasn't enough for him to hold on the pink jersey. His moment of glory was over for now. It is now Arroyo's turn to wear the maglia rosa.