Giro d'Italia 2014 Stage 19

Nairo Quintana cemented his lead in this year’s Giro d’Italia, after winning today’s 26.8 kilometer uphill individual time trial event in Bassano del Grappa. 

The Colombian rider clocked the fastest time of 1.05:37, beating Astana’s Fabio Aru and Rigoberto Uran (Omega Pharma-QuickStep).

As a result of his performance today, Quintana extended his lead in the general classification to 3:07 over his closest rival – Uran. 

Meanwhile, Aru moved up into third spot in the GC at 3:48 back, while Pierre Rolland (Europcar) dropped to fourth at 5:27, with Domenico Pozzovivo in fifth at 6:16 back.

Rajal Majka (Tinkoff-Saxo) is now in sixth place in the GC at 6:59 behind the leader. 

Today’s stage began with 7.5 kilometers of flat roadway before pitching uphill at the base of the category 1 climb of the Monte Grappa. The climb featured no fewer than 28 hairpin turns, with an average gradient of 8 percent, and 10 percent during the final 3 kilometers. 

Aru initially set the fastest time of the day, with a lead of more than two minutes over his closest rival.  However, that benchmark would later fall prey to Quintana, who ultimately beat the Astana rider by 17 seconds. 

Indeed, the Colombian rider really upped his pace during the final 2 kilometers, especially in the remaining 200 meters, where he was seen out of the saddle and pushing hard.  

Today’s victory brings Qunitana one step closer to winning this year’s Grand Tour. 

The Giro continues tomorrow with the brutal ascent of the famed Monte Zoncolan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RHv4ESCggo

Stage 19 Results
COL 1 QUINTANA ROJAS, Nairo Alexander (MOVISTAR) 1:05:37
ITA 2 ARU, Fabio (ASTANA) + 17
COL 3 URAN URAN, Rigoberto (OMEGA PHARMA – QUICK-STEP) + 1:26
FRA 4 ROLLAND, Pierre (EUROPCAR) + 1:57
ITA 5 POZZOVIVO, Domenico (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 2:24
ITA 6 PELLIZOTTI, Franco (ANDRONI GIOCATTOLI) + 3:22
POL 7 MAJKA, Rafal (TINKOFF-SAXO) + 3:28
COL 8 HENAO GOMEZ, Sebastian (SKY) + 3:48
BEL 9 WELLENS, Tim (LOTTO BELISOL) + 4:00
ITA 10 CATALDO, Dario (SKY) + 4:10
AUS 11 EVANS, Cadel (BMC RACING) + 4:26
ITA 12 PIRAZZI, Stefano (BARDIANI CSF) + 4:34
AUT 13 ZOIDL, Riccardo (TREK FACTORY RACING) + 4:42
ITA 14 ZARDINI, Edoardo (BARDIANI CSF) + 4:46
FRA 15 MOUREY, Francis (FDJ.fr)
NED 16 KELDERMAN, Wilco (BELKIN) + 4:52
ITA 17 BATTAGLIN, Enrico (BARDIANI CSF) + 5:11
FRA 18 GENIEZ, Alexandre (FDJ.fr)
FRA 19 DUPONT, Hubert (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 5:20
COL 20 TORRES AGUDELO, Rodolfo Andres (COLOMBIA) + 5:22
CRO 21 KISERLOVSKI, Robert (TREK FACTORY RACING) + 5:26
ITA 22 CATTANEO, Mattia (LAMPRE – MERIDA) + 5:28
ITA 23 BONGIORNO, Francesco Manuel (BARDIANI CSF) + 5:29
ESP 24 MORENO FERNANDEZ, Daniel (KATUSHA) + 5:33
COL 25 ANACONA GOMEZ, Winner (LAMPRE – MERIDA) + 5:35
CAN 26 HESJEDAL, Ryder (GARMIN SHARP) + 5:39
BEL 27 MONFORT, Maxime (LOTTO BELISOL) + 5:53
FRA 28 QUEMENEUR, Perrig (EUROPCAR) + 6:14
ITA 29 SELLA, Emanuele (ANDRONI GIOCATTOLI) + 6:15
NED 30 POELS, Wouter (OMEGA PHARMA – QUICK-STEP)
BEL 31 ARMEE, Sander (LOTTO BELISOL) + 6:21
FRA 32 BOUET, Maxime (AG2R LA MONDIALE)
ITA 33 COLBRELLI, Sonny (BARDIANI CSF) + 6:26
IRL 34 DEIGNAN, Philip (SKY)
AUT 35 PREIDLER, Georg (GIANT-SHIMANO)
ITA 36 CUNEGO, Damiano (LAMPRE – MERIDA) + 6:30
BEL 37 DE GENDT, Thomas (OMEGA PHARMA – QUICK-STEP) + 6:31
FRA 38 VUILLERMOZ, Alexis (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 6:35
ITA 39 TIRALONGO, Paolo (ASTANA) + 6:37
POR 40 CARDOSO, Andre Fernando S. Martins (GARMIN SHARP)
ITA 41 BOEM, Nicola (BARDIANI CSF) + 6:42
RUS 42 PETROV, Evgeny (TINKOFF-SAXO) + 6:51
GBR 43 SWIFT, Ben (SKY) + 6:52
BEL 44 HERMANS, Ben (BMC RACING) + 6:58
ESP 45 SANCHEZ GONZALEZ, Samuel (BMC RACING) + 7:05
POL 46 POLJANSKI, Pawel (TINKOFF-SAXO) + 7:08
ITA 47 BASSO, Ivan (CANNONDALE) + 7:12
ESP 48 LANDA MEANA, Mikel (ASTANA) + 7:14
RUS 49 BELKOV, Maxim (KATUSHA) + 7:35
NED 50 GOOS, Marc (BELKIN) + 7:36

General Classification after Stage 19
COL 1 QUINTANA ROJAS, Nairo Alexander (MOVISTAR) 79:03:45
COL 2 URAN URAN, Rigoberto (OMEGA PHARMA – QUICK-STEP) + 3:07
ITA 3 ARU, Fabio (ASTANA) + 3:48
FRA 4 ROLLAND, Pierre (EUROPCAR) + 5:26
ITA 5 POZZOVIVO, Domenico (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 6:16
POL 6 MAJKA, Rafal (TINKOFF-SAXO) + 6:59
AUS 7 EVANS, Cadel (BMC RACING) + 9:25
NED 8 KELDERMAN, Wilco (BELKIN) + 9:29
CAN 9 HESJEDAL, Ryder (GARMIN SHARP) + 10:11
CRO 10 KISERLOVSKI, Robert (TREK FACTORY RACING) + 13:59
FRA 11 VUILLERMOZ, Alexis (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 22:33
FRA 12 GENIEZ, Alexandre (FDJ.fr) + 24:29
ITA 13 BASSO, Ivan (CANNONDALE) + 28:37
ITA 14 PELLIZOTTI, Franco (ANDRONI GIOCATTOLI) + 30:26
BEL 15 MONFORT, Maxime (LOTTO BELISOL) + 31:09
FRA 16 DUPONT, Hubert (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 33:35
ITA 17 RABOTTINI, Matteo (NERI SOTTOLI) + 37:34
ITA 18 CUNEGO, Damiano (LAMPRE – MERIDA) + 45:48
POR 19 CARDOSO, Andre Fernando S. Martins (GARMIN SHARP) + 47:19
AUS 20 ROGERS, Michael (TINKOFF-SAXO) + 52:42
COL 21 HENAO GOMEZ, Sebastian (SKY) + 53:10
ESP 22 HERRADA LOPEZ, José (MOVISTAR) + 55:06
NED 23 POELS, Wouter (OMEGA PHARMA – QUICK-STEP) + 55:26
SUI 24 MORABITO, Steve (BMC RACING) + 56:59
ESP 25 SANCHEZ GONZALEZ, Samuel (BMC RACING) + 58:47