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Denis Menchov still in pink at Giro after Vesuvius stage

Russia’s Denis Menchov clung on to the Giro d’Italia pink leader’s jersey with two days remaining after Friday’s 19th stage climb up Mount Vesuvius.

Spain’s Carlos Sastre, last year’s Tour de France champion, completed the 164km run from Avellino in 4 hours, 33 minutes and 23 seconds to go fourth overall.

Rabobank’s Menchov stuck close to second-placed Danilo Di Luca’s wheel as the 2007 winner tried to break away on the climb to the finish line near the volcano’s crater.

The LPR rider sprinted in ahead of Menchov on the final straight to cut the Russian’s lead to 18 seconds but he may have missed his last chance.

Yesterday the riders were to have a relatively easy 203km from Naples to Anagni before the centenary edition of the three-week race finishes with today’s time trial in Rome.

“I tried in every way to break away from him, but nothing,” Di Luca said. “We’ll see in the time trial in Rome, but for the moment he’s the favorite because he’s still in front.”

Sastre pulled away with about 2km to go from Ivan Basso, who had attacked early on the climb. He then held off a late surge from the Italian’s Liquigas teammate, Franco Pellizotti, to claim his second stage of this year’s race after Monday’s win at Monte Petrano.

Pellizotti finished 21 seconds later and remains third overall, although the gap with Menchov is down to 1 minute, 39 seconds.

American Lance Armstrong, racing in his first Giro having recovered from a broken collarbone, got back up quickly after falling on a winding descent on the Amalfi coast and came home 16th.

The American is out of contention for victory, 13 minutes, 29 seconds back in 12th, but looks in good shape as he prepares for a crack at an eighth Tour de France title in July after coming out of retirement.

Meanwhile, Armstrong’s crisis-hit Astana team will likely survive for another few weeks, but it’s unclear if it will make it to the Tour de France.

The International Cycling Union (UCI) had set a deadline of today for the team to straighten out its financial situation or risk suspension.

“I think they’ll meet the deadline,” UCI president Pat McQuaid told reporters on Friday. “The deadline we’ve given them is a bank-guarantee deadline and the payments are up to schedule.”

Astana receives most of its financial support from Kazakh state holding company Samruk-Kazyna, but the Central Asian nation’s economy has been badly hit by the ongoing global financial crisis.

While Armstrong is riding for free this season, the rest of the team’s riders were missing two months of salary. The missed payments have forced Armstrong and seven other team members to protest by wearing jerseys with the sponsor names faded out in the Giro.

“They’ve paid sums of money in recent weeks,” McQuaid said before the start of the 19th stage of the Giro.

Armstrong said before the Giro that he was talking to US sponsors about taking over the team himself.

The Texan returned this season after three-and-a-half years of retirement and is planning to go for an eighth Tour title in July.

“There’s still no guarantees that the team will ride the Tour de France,” McQuaid said, adding that the UCI had not received any long-term assurances from Kazakhstan.

“There was a deadline for the bank guarantee and for the payments, but we’ve asked for other things since then,” McQuaid said. “We’ve also asked the Kazakhs for other guarantees about the team for the rest of the year.”

If Astana does not present long-term guarantees, it could lose its ProTour license.
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