Giro d'Italia: Kruijswijk extends race lead in uphill time trial to Alpe di Siusi

Alexander Foliforov (Gazprom-Rusvelo) took a hugely surprising win in the mountain time trial on stage 15 of the Giro d'Italia. He edged out race leader Steven Kruijswijk (Team LottoNl-Jumbo) by less than a second with Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team) resurrecting his Giro with third.

It was a day to forget for Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) who lost over two minutes. The Italian was already down on his rivals for the maglia rosa before dropping his chain and changing bikes.

Kruijswijk looked unflappable, unbreakable even, setting the fastest time at the first time check at 4.4km and carrying that momentum onto the stepper sections of the climb. He now leads Chaves by 2:21 as the race heads into the third rest-day. Nibali is at 2:51, while Valverde remains in fourth at 3:29.

Foliforov though caused perhaps the shock of the Giro d’Italia and providing second division Gazprom with their first ever Giro d'Italia stage win. The 24-year-old with little of a back ground in time trial had finished fourth in last year’s Tour de l'Avenir but few had him circled as a rider to watch ahead of the stage.

He soared up the climb, catching several riders on the way and dislodging Ian Boswell (Team Sky) from the hotseat.

There were still dozens of riders to come but the likes of Michele Scarponi (Astana) and Mikel Nieve (Team Sky) were unable to dislodge the stage leader.

How it unfolded

After yesterday's pivotal stage in the Dolomites the riders were faced with one last challenge before a well-deserved rest-day ahead of the final week.

The 10.8km time trial offered the GC riders the chance to extend or defend with Nibali and Valverde – both dropped on stage 13 – looking to resurrect their prospects.

The course, with its gentle start was a thorough slog, with constant pitches of 8 per cent throughout the climb.

At the first time check Ilnur Zakarin (Team Katusha) set the fastest time at 4.4km, even surpassing even Foliforov. Rafal Majka was 13 seconds down, with Chaves starting slow and 34 seconds off the pace. Valverde was the closest at three seconds before Nibali came through 21 seconds down.

That time seems marginally respectable until Kruijswijk swept through, resplendent in pink, nine seconds up on Zakarin and 30 clear of the shell shocked Italian.

It went from bad to worse for Nibali as the road began to rise. He was 56 seconds down a few seconds later on the climb and although he briefly rallied the mechanical totally disrupted his rhythm.

He tried to fix the problem himself before an Astana mechanic jumped in. They failed to put the chain back in place and Nibali climbed off, casting his Specialized towards a well-placed spectator at the side of the road. Although a new bike was dispatched from the car's roof in less than a minute, the damage was done. By the time the next time check came, Nibali was 90 seconds down on the maglia rosa and continuing to ship time.

Valverde was the best of the rest, finishing 23 seconds off Kruijswijk, with another Gazprom rider, Sergey Firsanov in fourth. Chaves claimed 6th at 40 seconds with Zakarin, Jungels and Majka all in the top ten.

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