Giro d'Italia 2014 - 19th stage : Bassano del Grappa - Cima Grappa, individual time trial - 26.8 km

Nairo Quintana convinced in the second individual time trial and further extended the lead in the overall classification. Fabio Aru had completed another good stage and can claim a podium finish in the overall classification for the first time.

by Bruno Fleckenstein

This time trial had it in itself. After 7, 5 km it went after Semonzetto almost 20 kilometers only uphill and it was overcome 1538 meters of altitude. The crowd counted down from 10 to zero at the start podium and then Nairo Quintana started this stage. Like others, after a little over 10 minutes of riding, with the beginning of the long mountain passage, he changed the handlebars and, in his case, the helmet.

On the narrow mountain road, the spectators cheered him on, tried to paw him, cheer him on and almost got in his way. Fabio Aru had already finished the course ahead of him with a fast time of 1:05:54, but the leader undercut that and extended his overall lead over his closest rival, Rigoberto Uran. Uran lost 1:26 minutes to Quintana. Pierre Rolland finished fourth, 1:57 minutes behind the day's winner. Domenico Pozzovivo followed in 5th place, 2:24 min late. Rafal Majka finished the stage 3:27 min after the winning time and Cadel Evans 4:26 min after Quintana's time. As a result, there were some shifts in the overall top ten, with Fabio Aru taking the biggest step forward and now on a podium for the first time. The chances are good that he can hold this until the end.

Overall standings after the 19th stage
1st Nairo Quintana (Movistar) 79h03:45
2nd Rigoberto Uran (Omega-Quick Step) +3:07min.
3rd Fabio Aru (Astana) +3:48min.
4th Pierre Rolland (Europcar) +5:26min.
5th Domenico Pozzovivo (AG2R La Mondiale) +6:16min.
6th Rafal Majka (Tinkoff-Saxo) +6:59min.
7th Cadel Evans (BMC) +9:25min.
8: Wilco Kelderman (Belkin) +9:29min.
9th Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp) +10:11min.
10th Robert Kiserlovski (Trek) +13:59min.

Nairo Quintana (Movistar)