Colombia’s Nairo Quintana won Friday’s stage of the Giro d’Italia, consolidating his position at the top of the peloton heading into the penultimate stage of the Italian Grand Tour.
Friday’s 26.8km mountainous time trial was won by Nairo Quintana in 1:05:37, cementing his lead over fellow countryman Rigoberto Uran, who remains in overall second place after the stage.
The stage started down in the village of Bassano del Grappa and saw the riders tackle the climb up to Monte Grappa. With only one stage remaining before the formalities of Sunday’s finale, Quintana has gone a long way to effectively securing the race leaders pink jersey and claiming the Giro.
Fello Colombians, Rigoberto Uran came in third 0:01:26 behind Quintana, whilst Sebastian Henao clocked in 0:03:48 behind Quintana in 8th place.
Quintana’s overall lead now stands at 3:07 ahead of Rigoberto Uran. Italian rider, Fabio Aru, jumped to 3rd place, and now trails Quintana by 3:48 and threatens Uran’s position in second place.
Saturday’s 167km stage 20 will be one of the last chances for any change to occur in the overall standings as tradition dictates that Sunday’s ultimate stage is more a ceremonial procession for the race leader with only sprinters contesting the final kilometers.
Italy’s Fabio Aru, only 41 seconds behind Rigoberto Uran, will seek to close the gap and a Colombian 1-2 in the overall standings is by no means yet guaranteed.
Movistar rider, Quintana, was congratulated by his team on Twitter, as they gave him support for the last 48 hours of the race.
Sólo 48 horas más, y puede ser tuya. Hasta el final, #ForzaNairo. @NairoQuinCo @giroditalia #Giro pic.twitter.com/wxh2ea1KsB
— Movistar Team (@Movistar_Team) May 30, 2014
Stage 19 results
1 Nairo Quintana 1:05:37
2 Fabio Aru 0:00:17
3 Rigoberto Uran 0:01:26
4 Pierre Rolland 0:01:57
5 Domenico Pozzovivo 0:02:24
6 Franco Pellizzotti 0:03:22
7 Rafal Majka 0:03:28
8 Sebastian Henao 0:03:48
9 Tim Wellens 0:04:00
10 Dario Cataldo 0:04:10
General classification after stage 19
1 Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Col) Movistar Team 79:03:45
2 Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Omega Pharma – Quick-Step Cycling Team 0:03:07
3 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:03:48
4 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar 0:05:26
5 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 0:06:16
6 Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:06:59
7 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:09:25
8 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 0:09:29
9 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin Sharp 0:10:11
10 Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Trek Factory Racing 0:13:59