Giro d'Italia: Belkov solos to victory in Florence

Maxim Belkov (Katusha) won an engrossing stage 9 of the Giro d’Italia from Sansepolcro to Florence, attacking on the descent of the Vallombrosa with over 50 kilometres to go. The Russian finished 44 seconds clear of Carlos Betancur (Ag2r) and Jarlinson Pantano (Colombia), while Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) maintained his lead overall.

Defending champion Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp) was dropped on the two final climbs of the 170 kilometre stage and lost further ground on his rivals.

Bradley Wiggins’s difficult Giro d’Italia continued as he was constantly put under pressure on the wet roads leading to Florence. At one stage the Tour de France champion was a minute behind Nibali with Sky teammates Sergio Henao and Rigoberto Uran instructed not to wait for their leader. Wiggins eventually clawed his way back to the main group and despite a few nervous moments, survived to finish with the main bulk of GC contenders.

But it was another successful day for Katusha who came into the race without their talisman Joaquim Rodriguez. The Russian team was granted a place in the WorldTour earlier this year after a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport and justified that with Luca Paolini already winning a stage and wearing the maglia rosa.

Belkov’s march to victory began early on stage 9 when he infiltrated an early break that included Stefano Pirazzi (Bardiani Valvole), Giovanni Visconti (Movistar), Juan Manuel Garate (Blanco), Fabio Felline (Androni Giacattoli), Robinson Chalapud and Jarlinson Pantano (Colombia), Ricardo Mestre (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Michel Golas (Omega Pharma-QuickStep), Tobias Ludvigsson (Argos-Shimano), Alessandro Proni (Vini Fantini-Selle Italia) and Evgeni Petrov (Saxo-Tinkoff).

Ahead lay four classified climbs and over 4,000ft of ascents. To make matters worse the clouds soon gathered, turning the roads into ice rinks on the treacherous descents as the race headed north.

With Astana now leading the race it was now Nibali’s turn to monitor the pace of the moving peloton and as the break raced towards the Vallombrosa they built up a tentative lead over the Astana-led bunch.

On the foot of the Vallombrosa Belkov latched onto the coattails of Chalapud and Pirazzi and must have been puzzled to see the pair attack each other on the slower slopes of the climb. The Russian dropped back and even when Chalapud and Pirazzi came to a standstill in order to wait for the Russian, he allowed them to distance him once again as the climb steepened.

On the descent the Russian’s class handling skills rose to the fore and he quickly passed Pirazzi and Chalapud, who then waited for the chase group to reel them in.

Belkov’s measured ride then saw him build up a lead with an advantage of over three minutes as he raced towards the two final climbs of the day.

As the battle for stage win raged on up the road, the fight for pink began to intensify within the peloton. Throughout the race Wiggins has looked tentative and nervous on the wet descents that have littered this year’s race. Today was no different and Sky’s captain began to lose ground on the descent of the Vallombrosa. Astana took control and within a few kilometres Sky’s pre-race leader had lost close to a minute. Uran and Henao had been told to stay with Nibali, but Sky’s remaining domestiques began a frantic chase.

Garmin-Sharp, BMC and Vini Fantini-Selle Italia allied with Nibali and it wasn’t until the final 25 kilometres that Wiggins had his rivals and Colombian teammates in sight as the peloton approached the lower slopes of the Vetta Le Croci. In his light blue Sky rain jacket, Wiggins cut a lonely figure as he stalked the tail end of the field, as an aggressive Nibali urged his team to continue with their pace setting. It was clear that Nibali would not seek to defend his lead but push ahead and fight for every second Wiggins’s caution could give up.

Up the road Belkov’s shoulders were starting to rock as Pantano launched a vicious turn of speed from the chase group. While the Russian lurched, the Colombian looked to be flying but by the summit Belkov still had an advantage of over 1:30 with Ludvigsson joining Pantano.

On the final climb Hesjedal began to crack. It was a major shock to see the defending champion lose ground. He had shown weakness in the stage 8 time trial but he was expected to bounce back as he had done after losing time in the TTT at the start of the race.

Lampre-Merida, with a resurgent Scarponi, pushed on at the head of the field with Wiggins still dangling at the back of the main group.

Betancur attacked from the main group on the final run to the finish and overhauled Pantano and Ludvigsson, but he could do nothing to stop Belkov.