Giro 2017: Landa solos to victory, Quintana new leader

The 19th stage in the Giro amounts to 191 kilometres and takes in four climbs. Mikel Landa soloes to victory, while maglia rosa Dumoulin succumbs to repeated attacks. Quintana is the new leader, 38 seconds ahead of Dumouin and a few seconds more ahead of Nibali. Pinot is also close behind. (Slideshow route/profile)

Results 19th stage 2017 Giro d’Italia

1. Mikel Landa (spa)
2. Rui Costa (por) + 1.48
3. Pierre Rolland (fra) + 1.54
4. Pello Bilbao (spa) + 2.12
5. Sebastián Henao (col) + 3.06
6. Evgeny Shalunov (rus) + 3.51
7. Luis León Sánchez (spa) + 3.51
8. Matteo Busato (ita) + 5.05
9. Lorenzo Rota (ita) s.t.
10. Ilia Koshevoy (blr) + 6.44

11. Thibaut Pinot (fra) + 8.09
12. Domenico Pozzovivo (ita) + 8.15
13. Ilnur Zakarin (rus) + s.t.
14. Bob Jungels (lux) + 8.21
15. Adam Yates (gbr) s.t.
16. Nairo Quintana (col) s.t.
17. Bauke Mollema (nld) + 8.23
18. Vincenzo Nibali (ita) s.t.
22. Tom Dumoulin (nld) + 9.30

GC after 19th stage
1. Nairo Quintana (col)
2. Tom Dumoulin (nld) + 0.38
3. Vincenzo Nibali (ita) + 0.43
4. Thibaut Pinot (fra) + 0.53
5. Ilnur Zakarin (rus) + 1.21
6. Domenico Pozzovivo (ita) + 1.30
7. Bauke Mollema (nld) + 2.48
8. Adam Yates (gbr) + 6.35
9. Bob Jungels (lux) + 7.03
10. Steven Kruijswijk (nld) + 7.37

11. Davide Formolo (ita) + 9.37
12. Jan Polanc (slo) + 14.13
13. Maxime Monfort (bel) + 14.32
14. Jan Hirt (cze) + 17.38

Race report
Maciej Paterski, Pello Bilbao and Daniel Teklehaimanot are the first to crest the first climb, Passo di Monte Croce di Comelico. In the descent Chevrier, Boem, Mühlberger, Rolland, Ludvigsson, Shalunov, Devenyns, Van den Broeck, Costa, Herrada and Koshevoy bridge across and they race to lead of almost 6 minutes.

Then the race ignites when Movistar, Bahrain, FDJ and Katusha join forces with 130 km to go. The peloton breaks and Dumoulin, Mollema, Kruijswijk and Yates are in the second group. Four teams against four teams.

The front group is caught on the Sella Chianzutan and halfway up the climb Yates closes the gap with Dumoulin et al on his wheel. Pierre Rolland, Rui Costa, Sebastian Henao, Pello Bilbao, Evgeniy Shalunov and Luis León Sánchez go on the attack. They crest the top 1 minute ahead of the GC-contenders, while another group leaves the peloton during a slight lull in pace after the drop. Rojas, Herrada, Landa, Koshevoy, Plaza, Visconti, Busato, Capecchi, Boem, Chevrier, Rota and Molard are chasing.

They re-join the leaders on the flat run-in to the last climb and put 12 minutes into the maglia rosa group.

Just before tackling the last climb Sánchez and Molard escape and they tackle the lower slopes with an advantage of half a minute. The peloton is 10 minutes in arrears. Sánchez heads out on his own, while Costa’s chases him down to leave him alone. A moment later Landa bridges across to the front of the race before he goes solo.

Dumoulin is dropped. Kruijswijk too, and he is left alone by Dumoulin. Meanwhile, Pinot leaves the other GC-contenders behind. Both Nibali and Quintana have nothing left in the tank to react.

Landa soloes to victory, while Zakarin and Pozzovivo attack in the last kms, too. Differences on the line are small though, the only GC-contender who suffered a blow is Tom Dumoulin. He hands over his maglia rosa to Quintana, albeit with a margin that will not feel confident for the Colombian given the ITT on Sunday. Moreover, both Nibali and Pinot are close behind also. The Frenchman seems to be the strongest climber and could strike tomorrow.

Read about the route of the 19th stage in the 2017 Giro d’Italia