Andray Amadar holds on to take the stage as Canadian wins the overall battle behind him
An attack in the final three kilometres of stage 14, on the climb to Cervinia, saw Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Barracuda) seize back the Maglia Rosa that was taken from him in Assisi. The Canadian jumped away from a select group of riders, which had been whittled down by the pace set by Liquigas-Cannondale, and incumbent race leader Joaquim Rodríguez (Katusha) could do nothing to stop him.
Hesjedal was unable to catch up the the three remaining riders from the stage’s long breakaway however, and Andrey Amador (Movistar) outsprinted Jan Barta (NetApp) and Alessandro De Marchi (Androni Giocattoli-Venezuela) to become the first Costa Rican to win a stage of the Giro. The Garmin-Barracuda rider finished just 20 seconds behind Amador, while Paolo Tiralongo (Astana) led the Rodríguez group over the line after 46 seconds.
The 26 seconds gained were enough for Hesjedal to take back the Maglia Rosa, with the Canadian taking a slim nine second lead.
"The guys started to accelerate a little bit on the climb," said Hesjedal immediately after receiving his new Maglia Rosa. "I knew it eased off after three kilometres. My legs felt good, I decided to give it a go and test myself a little bit. I tested the race as well…"
Rodríguez tried to chase Hesjedal down once it became clear that he could sustain his attack, but this only had the effect of dropping a number of riders and the Catalan was unable to pull him back.
“That’s good..." said Hesjedal. "I just felt good, I wasn’t thinking about anything, just putting in an effort and seeing what the other guys were up to. It worked out well, I’m back in the jersey, so that is great."
The stage set out from Cherasco at a vey high speed but, after 60km, the break finally went clear. With Amador, Barta and De Marchi were Matteo Montaguti (AG2R La Mondiale), Pier Paolo De Negri (Farnese Vini-Selle Italia), Olivier Kaisen (Lotto-Belisol), Nelson Oliveira (RadioShack-Nissan) and Nikolas Maes (Omega Pharma-Quick Step); by the time they arrived at the foot of the Col de Joux, with 68km to go, they were 13 minutes clear.
Barta attacked early in the climb and was alone over the top; he was caught and passed on the descent by Amador however, who began the final climb alone. De Marchi and then Barta fought their way back up to the Costa Rican and, despite occasional attacks, arrived at the finish together.
Behind the break Liquigas-Cannondale was controlling the peloton, and gradually closing the gap. Jose Rujano (Androni Giocattoli-Venezuela ) and Damiano Cunego (Lampre-ISD) attacked close to the top of the Col de Joux but, although Cunego managed to start the final climb clear, the peloton was all together as it closed in on the breakaway.
"I think Ivan [Basso] is serious about winning the race…" said Hesjedal about the Liquigas-Cannondale tactics. "He knows he is capable and his team is strong enough. He feels he knows what he is doing, and [if Liquigas-Cannondale rides] that’s fine by me."
Into the final five kilometres the attacks began, with Gianluca Brambilla (Colnago-CSF Inox), Tiralongo, and Mikel Nieve (Euskaltel-Euskadi) all trying to get away; but Hesjedal’s was the only move that stuck, and the Canadian rode himself back into the race lead.
Finally the race hits the proper mountains
After two weeks of sprints, time trials and ‘medium mountains’, the 2012 Giro d’Italia finally arrived in the mountains. Since it started a long way south though, the 206km course would consist of 137km of flat before the climbing would begin. The summit of the relatively unknown Co de Joux would come with 46km to go, which would be followed by a long, fast descent the bottom of the climb to the finish.
Cervinia had not been used by the race since 1997, where it saw eventual winner Ivan Gotti take the Maglia Rosa from defending champion Pavel Tonkov.
With so many riders eager to get into the break, the stage started extremely fast, with 50.8km covered in the first hour. Finally though, after 60km, Amador, Barta, De Marchi, Montaguti, De Negri, Kaisen, Oliveira and Maes managed to get away and, as they arrived at the foot of the Col de Joux, they had built a lead of 13 minutes over the peloton.
Aas heavy rain began to fall, Barta attacked in the early kilometres of the climb and, as the others gave chase, Kaisen, Oliveira and Maes were dropped. Liquigas-Cannondale had taken upon itself to lead the peloton behind the break, and had cut the gap to 10’30” with 50km to go.
With the pace hard and steady, but not too hard, Rujano attacked as the summit approached, and was followed by Cunego. Barta was almost a minute clear of the rest of the break as he rolled over the top, but an attack from Amador as the chasers reached the summit saw the Costa Rican catch him and drop him on the fast descent.
Rujano was eight minutes behind, just ahead of Cunego, and they too had almost a minute over their pursuers. On the way down the other side Rujano suffered the same fate as Barta as the superior descending skill of Cunego soon passed him, and the Venezuelan was caught before he reached the bottom.
Rodríguez himself was leading the peloton on the descent, until the Astana team took over the chase.
The gaps are wide as the final climb to the finish begins
At the Traguaro Volante sprint, in Châtillon with 28km to go - just before the climb to Cervinia began, Amador was 31 seconds ahead of Montaguti, with De Negri and Barta just behind him. De Marchi too was back in the chase group as the climb began but, under the 25km banner Amador was 50 seconds ahead.
Cunego was just 7’44” behind as he began the climb, but Liquigas-Cannondale was leading again, with Astana and Lampre-ISD in attendance, and gradually closing on the 2004 race winner. At 25km to go, the peloton was 1’12” behind, which meant that, in the virtual standings, Cunego was was now just 25 seconds behind Rodríguez.
Amets Txurruka (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Marzio Bruseghin (Movistar) both attacked fro the peloton, and made their way up to Cunego; meanwhile De Marchi attacked the chase group, which was 1’03” behind with 20km to go.
Liquigas-Cannondale was gaining on the trio though, as they passed Maes, Kaisen and Oliveira from the original break. Txurruka attacked with 16km to go, and Cunego and Bruseghin caught a kilometre later; the Euskaltel-Euskadi rider was soon also back in the peloton.
Up the road De Marchi was gaining on Amador, and caught him with 11.3km to go. With 10km to go the duo was 25 seconds ahead of a chasing Barta, while the peloton was at 5’35”, and closing. Liquigas-Cannondale was still setting its fierce, but steady pace. All of the top riders were still there, but the green and blue team was steadily ridding them of their teammates.
With 6.9km to go, Barta caught up with the two leaders, just as Montaguti and De Negri were picked up by the peloton behind them. The Czech rider was struggling to hold on initially, but just hanging on as the final five kilometres approached.
Three racing for the stage but the fight for pink is behind them
Under the five kilometre banner Rujano attacked again, but Sylwester Szmyd - who was the last remaining Liquigas-Cannondale rider ahead of Basso - pulled the peloton back up to him. The shrinking group was now just 2’42” behind the leaders, and shortly afterwards Basso himself took over on the front.
With 3.6km to go De Marchi tried to escape the leaders, but couldn’t get far; behind Tiralongo, Hesjedal and Brambilla attacked the peloton, but they too were unsuccessful in creating a gap.
Brambilla tried again though, with Nieve following. The Euskaltel-Euskadi captain passed the Astana rider as Hesjedal attacked again, and rode up to him. Dani Moreno (Katusha) was now chasing the one chasing, but Hesjedal was now alone and just 1’30 behind the three leaders.
Rodríguez himself attacked under the 3km banner, with Domenico Pozzovivo leading the chase, ahead of Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD), but this just had the effect of shrinking the select group even further, and made little progress on Hesjedal.
Still present with Rodríguez, Pozzovivo and Scarponi were Basso, Rigoberto Uran and Sergio Henao (both Team Sky), Fränk Schleck (RadioShack-Nissan), Tiralongo, Thomas De Gendt (Vacansoleil-DCM), and John Gadret (AG2R La Mondiale). The rest of the chasers, including Astana captain Roman Kreuziger, were scattered on the road behind them.
Hesjedal was still clear as he entered the final two kilometres, and the road began to level out, and was still gaining on the leaders. With 1.3km to go De Marchi tried yet again, but the three were together into the final kilometre; the neutral service car was pulled out of the gap though, indicating that the Canadian was getting closer.
Amador led into the final corners, but Barta came around him into the finishing straight and launched his sprint first. The Czech just couldn’t hold off the Movistar rider though, and Amador came past in final metres to take the first ever stage for Costa Rica.
Hesjedal crossed the line just 20 seconds later, and faced an anxious wait to see how far back Rodríguez and the rest were. As the group fanned out to sprint for the line, Tiralongo managed to get his wheel in front of Uran’s; Rodriguez looked up at the clock as he rolled over, knowing that the Canadian had done just enough to take the Maglia Rosa from him.