Alberto Contador once for all proved that the Giro is his by making all the other contenders look like slackers. When Scarponi made a half-hearted attempt at a break, Contador quickly responded and blew past him, and with around 6km to go no one could match his pace excepting the diminutive Venezuelan climber, Jose Rujano. The pair swapped the work to stretch their lead over anyone that mattered in the GC to around 1’30″, sealing the GC for Contador barring any disasters in the two mountain stages still to come.
In other news, the big climb up Mt Crostis tomorrow has been cancelled making for a rather easier stage than many had hoped for – probably further reducing the chance that Contador can be challenged at this point.
Stage Results
1 José Rujano Guillen (Ven), Androni Giocattoli, 4:45:54
2 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Saxo Bank Sungard
3 John Gadret (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
4 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
5 Igor Anton Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
6 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Pro Team Astana
7 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre – ISD
8 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
9 Vasili Kiryienka (Blr) Movistar Team
10 Denis Menchov (Rus) Geox-TMC
Overall Classification
1 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Saxo Bank Sungard
2 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale, 0:03:09
3 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre – ISD, 0:03:16
4 David Arroyo Duran (Spa) Movistar Team, 0:03:25
5 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Pro Team Astana,0:03:29
6 Kanstantsin Sivtsov (Blr) HTC-Highroad, 0:03:53
7 Igor Anton Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi, 0:04:02
8 John Gadret (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale, 0:04:06
9 Matteo Carrara (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team, 0:04:35
10 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale, 0:04:38
