Giro d'Italia, stage 18 summary

[Bob Martin]

Stage 18 : May 23, Mori - Polsa (ITT), 20.6 km

1 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0.44.29
2 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.58
3 Damiano Caruso (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling 1.20
4 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre-Merida 1.21
5 Rafal Majka (Pol) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 1.25
6 Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Sky Procycling 1.26
7 Carlos Alberto Betancur Gomez (Col) Ag2R La Mondiale 1.32
8 Stef Clement (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team 1.36
9 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Sky Procycling 1.41
10 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia 1.52


Changes in GC, stage 18 compared to stage 17 :

Biggest gainers by position :
+5 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez
+4 Xabier Zandio Echaide
+4 Vladimir Gusev
+4 Thomas Danielson
+4 Miguel Minguez Ayala
+3 Willem Wauters
+3 Stephen Cummings
+3 Sonny Colbrelli
+3 Salvatore Puccio
+3 Sacha Modolo

Biggest losers by position :
-9 Manuel Belletti
-6 Jens Keukeleire
-5 Oscar Gatto
-3 Cristiano Salerno
-3 Guillaume Bonnafond
-3 Matteo Trentin
-2 Cayetano Jose Sarmiento Tunarrosa
-2 Egoi Martinez De Esteban
-2 Luka Mezgec
-2 Mauro Santambrogio
-2 Michal Golas

Biggest gainers by time :

Biggest losers by time :
-14:31 Manuel Belletti
-11:47 Davide Appollonio
-11:42 Adam Blythe
-9:33 Cristiano Salerno
-9:28 Oscar Gatto
-9:07 Jens Mouris
-8:53 Kenny Dehaes
-8:47 Cayetano Jose Sarmiento Tunarrosa
-8:38 Marco Canola
-8:28 Stefano Pirazzi
-8:22 Bert De Backer

Favourites by position :
+5 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez
+4 Thomas Danielson
+1 Steven Kruijswijk
+1 Juan Jose Cobo Acebo
-2 Robert Gesink

Favourites by time :
-0:58 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez
-1:21 Michele Scarponi
-1:26 Rigoberto Uran Uran
-1:59 Wilco Kelderman
-2:11 Domenico Pozzovivo
-2:21 Thomas Danielson
-2:36 Cadel Evans
-2:48 Steven Kruijswijk
-2:55 Robert Gesink
-4:16 Christian Vande Velde
-4:38 Juan Jose Cobo Acebo

Top 10 and favourites GC standings (previous stage in parens) :
1 Vincenzo Nibali 73:55:58 (unchanged)
2 Cadel Evans 4:02 (was 2nd at 1:26)
3 Rigoberto Uran Uran 4:12 (was 3rd at 2:46)
4 Michele Scarponi 5:14 (was 4th at 3:53)
5 Przemyslaw Niemiec 6:09 (was 5th at 4:13)
6 Rafal Majka 6:45 (was 8th at 5:20)
7 Carlos Alberto Betancur Gomez 6:47 (was 7th at 5:15)
8 Mauro Santambrogio 7:30 (was 6th at 4:57)
9 Benat Intxausti Elorriaga 8:36 (was 9th at 5:47)
10 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez 9:34 (was 15th at 8:36)
11 Domenico Pozzovivo 9:45 (was 11th at 7:34)
12 Robert Gesink 10:19 (was 10th at 7:24)
.....
18 Wilco Kelderman 17:03 (was 18th at 15:04)
.....
24 Steven Kruijswijk 31:11 (was 25th at 28:23)
.....
56 Thomas Danielson 1:36:04 (was 60th at 1:33:43)
.....
108 Christian Vande Velde 2:37:08 (was 108th at 2:32:52)
.....
112 Juan Jose Cobo Acebo 2:41:51 (was 113rd at 2:37:13)

Top 10 on Points table with previous in parens:
1 Mark Cavendish 113 (unchanged)
2 Cadel Evans 109 (unchanged)
3 Vincenzo Nibali 103 (was 6th with 78 points)
4 Carlos Alberto Betancur Gomez 94 (was 5th with 85 points)
5 Mauro Santambrogio 89 (was 3rd with 89 points)
6 Giovanni Visconti 86 (was 4th with 86 points)
7 Rigoberto Uran Uran 86 (was 7th with 76 points)
8 Elia Viviani 72 (unchanged)
9 Ramunas Navardauskas 65 (was 10th with 65 points)
10 Giacomo Nizzolo 61 (was 11th with 61 points)

Top 10 on Mountains table with previous in parens:
1 Stefano Pirazzi 79 (unchanged)
2 Giovanni Visconti 45 (unchanged)
3 Jackson Rodriguez 41 (unchanged)
4 Carlos Alberto Betancur Gomez 32 (unchanged)
5 Robinson Eduardo Chalapud Gomez 31 (unchanged)
6 Vincenzo Nibali 24 (was 9th with 15 points)
7 Mauro Santambrogio 18 (was 6th with 18 points)
8 Rigoberto Uran Uran 17 (unchanged)
9 Emanuele Sella 13 (was 10th with 13 points)
10 Adam Hansen 12 (was 11th with 12 points)

Retirements to date : Stage
Maxim Belkov (Rus) Katusha 18 <<<
Hayden Roulston (NZl) RadioShack Leopard 17
Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ 16
Dmitry Kozontchuk (Rus) Katusha 16
Maarten Wynants (Bel) Blanco Pro Cycling Team 16
Matthew Harley Goss (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 16
Mattia Gavazzi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli 16
Nathan Haas (Aus) Garmin-Sharp 16
Taylor Phinney (USA) BMC Racing Team 16
Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) Astana Pro Team 14
Daniele Bennati (Ita) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 14
David Millar (GBr) Garmin-Sharp 14
Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox 14
Gert Steegmans (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick Step 14
Jack Bobridge (Aus) Blanco Pro Cycling Team 14
Karsten Kroon (Ned) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 14
Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling 13
Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) FDJ 13
Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin-Sharp 13
Dalivier Ospina Navarro (Col) Colombia 12
Matti Breschel (Den) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 12
Sylvain Georges (Fra) Ag2R La Mondiale 11
Angel Vicioso Arcos (Spa) Katusha 10
Carlos Julian Quintero (Col) Colombia 10
Fabio Taborre (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia 10
John Degenkolb (Ger) Team Argos-Shimano 10
Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) FDJ 9
Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia 9
Tomas Aurelio Gil Martinez (Ven) Androni Giocattoli 9
Julien Berard (Fra) Ag2R La Mondiale 8
Klaas Lodewyck (Bel) BMC Racing Team 7
Leigh Howard (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 7
Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Lampre-Merida 7
Ji Cheng (Chn) Team Argos-Shimano 6
Pablo Urtasun Perez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 5
Sandy Casar (Fra) FDJ 4
Total retirements : 36


(This report and archives etc can be seen at http://homepage.ntlworld.com/rvmartin2)