Denis Menchov retains overall lead in Giro with 1 stage left; Philippe Gilbert wins 20th stage

Menchov edges closer to Giro d’Italia victory

ANAGNI, Italy — Denis Menchov of Russia moved closer to victory in the Giro d’Italia, keeping the leader’s pink jersey with only one stage left in the cycling classic.

Menchov padded his overall lead by two seconds, while Philippe Gilbert of Belgium won the 20th stage in a two-way sprint after a late breakaway. Menchov finished ahead of Danilo Di Luca in a mid-race sprint and holds a 20-second lead over the Italian entering Sunday’s final time trial in Rome.

“I can only say well done to Menchov. He was the strongest in the time trial and one of the strongest on the climbs, so he deserves to win the Giro,” Di Luca said.  

Franco Pellizotti of Italy remained third overall, trailing Menchov by 1 minute, 43 seconds.

Gilbert finished in 4 hours, 30 minutes, 7 seconds over the 126-mile leg from Naples to Anagni. Thomas Voeckler of France finished second, and Stefano Garzelli of Italy was third.

Menchov and Di Luca finished with the main pack, seven seconds behind.

Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong dropped back shortly before the finish as riders completed a circuit around Anagni twice. The Texan crossed 1:38 behind and remained 12th overall, 15:04 behind Menchov.

Menchov is considered better at time trials than Di Luca and it would take an enormous effort from Di Luca and a bad day from Menchov to change the standings.

“Anything could happen in the time trial,” Di Luca said. “The gap is small. It’s a special course, very technical, but Menchov has shown he is strong.”

Menchov won the marathon-like 37.6-mile time trial in stage 12, and Di Luca finished sixth, 1:54 behind. The race Sunday is 8.95 miles, starting and finishing in front of the Colosseum and passing in front of the Vatican.

The stage Saturday began alongside the bay of Naples and hugged the coastline before heading inland to Anagni on the outskirts of Rome.

Eight riders broke away from the main pack 2.5 miles into the stage, but Di Luca’s LPR squad rode on the front of the peloton and never let them gain more than a 3:43 advantage.

The breakaway was caught by the main pack at the 93-mile mark, setting up the mid-race sprint, which was won by Di Luca’s LPR teammate Alessandro Petacchi.

Gilbert, Voeckler and Yaroslav Popovych attacked with slightly more a mile to go, and Popovych fell back to set up the two-man sprint, which was comfortably won by Gilbert.

It was the Belgian’s first victory this year, having also won the Paris-Tours single-day classic last year with a similar late breakaway.

Spanish rider David Lopez Garcia crashed midway through the stage and went a hospital with a deep cut on his left eyebrow.