French rider John Gadret used a late attack to win the 11th stage of the Giro d’Italia on Wednesday and dedicated his victory to rider Wouter Weylandt on the day of the Belgian’s funeral.
Alberto Contador retained the overall lead.
Gadret attacked on the uphill finish with a few hundred meters to go and clocked 3 hours, 33 minutes, 11 seconds over the hilly 144km route from Tortoreto Lido to Castelfidardo.
Photo: EPA
Joaquin Rodriguez of Spain crossed second and Italian champion Giovanni Visconti was third, both with the same time as Gadret.
Jose Serpa finished fourth ahead of Contador in fifth.
Two other race favorites — Michele Scarponi (eighth) and Vincenzo Nibali (10th) — also finished in the top 10.
Several riders attempted early breakaways, but they were all swallowed up by the main pack before another nine-man group got away with 80km to go. Two more riders then caught up to make it an 11-man breakaway.
The chasing pack caught Konovalovas and Moreno in the final kilometer, and that’s when Gadret launched his decisive attack.
Le Mevel fell behind the main pack at the finish and dropped from third to fourth overall, bumping Nibali up to third.
Contador remained 59 seconds ahead of Belarus rider Kanstantsin Sivtsov, with Nibali 1:21 back.
Stage 12 yesterday was a mostly flat 184km leg from Castelfidardo to Ravenna that should have been the final chance for sprinters to shine.
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