Race leader Gilberto Simoni finished second to fellow-Italian Dario Frigo on Thursday in a dramatic 18th stage in the Alps marred by rain, hail, cold and spills that might have decided the Giro d'Italia winner.
With three stages left, Simoni piled up a huge overall lead of 7:08 minutes over second place Stefano Garzelli, who, delayed by a fall, ended the stage more than five minutes behind the winner.
Frigo, of Fassa Bortolo team, edged Simoni by 10 seconds to score his second career victory in the Giro in an uphill finish at 1,815m of altitude in the northwestern Alps of Piedmont.
Frigo and Simoni left all opponents behind in the final kilometers as the road climbed to Valle Varaita.
During the ascent to the Colle di Sampeyre, the second pass of the day at more than 2,000m of altitude, the cyclists struggled with roads covered with hailstones.
In the slippery downhill section of Sampeyre, Garzelli and Marco Pantani fell at high speeds and suffered bruises.
Garzelli, of Vini Caldirola, was quicker to recover, while slipping out of contention for the Giro title.
Pantani took longer to resume and finished, battered and aching, 16 minutes behind the winner.
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