Michele Scarponi (Lampre–ISD) showed his dissatisfaction at conceding 8” to Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) in the last kilometre of stage 19 in the Giro D’Italia. The two Italians who are fighting for what seems like second place on the podium, have been marking each other closely as race leader Alberto Contador enjoys a healthy lead. Scarponi trails Contador by 5’18” while Nibali is a further 5’52” back in the standings.
The rain-soaked day saw the pink jersey attack his rivals with blistering speed in the closing stages of the day that ended on the Mottarone climb. Contador finished the stage in second place behind former teammate Paolo Tiralongo (Astana). Nibali crossed the line 3” later in 3rd place but more importantly, gained much-needed time on Scarponi.
“I'm not happy, Nibali obtained some seconds, but I don't want to worry,” said Scarponi.
Two stages remain in this edition of the race. One of them is today’s tough mountainous stage that will see the riders tackle 242 km’s, finishing in Sestriere.
“I prefer to focus my attention on today’s stage that will be very tough and important. None of us can rely on too much energy anymore, that's why I give my compliments to Contador and Nibali that yesterday performed a good race. Maybe the last climb was not for pure climbers and this could be an explanation for not having being so competitive in the final part.”
Scarponi will have to have his wits about him on today’s final climb as it seems in a repeat of 2010, he and Nibali are fighting for a better position, a race that last year also came down to a matter of seconds. The younger Italian was riding in the service of captain and overall race winner Ivan Basso but still managed to finish on the podium, in third place. Scarponi finished in fourth place, 13” adrift of Nibali.
Going into the final two stages, Scarponi has a 34” advantage on Nibali in the General Classification. If the two men finish together on today’s mountain top finish, the position for second place on the podium will come down to the final stage tomorrow, a 26km time-trial in Milan. Last year Nibali beat Scarponi in the TT by 12”.