THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MOUNT VESUVIUS, Italy — Carlos Sastre won the 19th stage of the Giro d’Italia with a solo attack up the slopes of the Mount Vesuvius volcano Friday, and Denis Menchov virtually wrapped up overall victory.
Sastre, who rides for the Canadian-co-owned Cervelo Test Team, clocked four hours 33 minutes 23 seconds over the 164-kilometre leg, which began in Avellino. The Spaniard, who’s the defending Tour de France winner, also won the race’s most gruelling stage up Monte Petrano on Monday.
"It was two nice victories," Sastre said.
Franco Pellizotti of Italy finished second, 21 seconds behind, and Danilo Di Luca was third, 30 seconds back.
Toronto’s Michael Barry, who rides for Team Columbia-Highroad, finished 84th, and is 132nd in the overall standings.
Menchov crossed fourth with the same time as Di Luca and retained an 18-second lead over the Italian in the overall standings. Pellizotti remained third, 1:39 back, while Sastre moved up from fifth to fourth.
Di Luca gained an eight-second bonus for crossing third but needed to gain much more time on Menchov to set up a decent chance of holding off the Russian in the short individual time trial that concludes the race in Rome on Sunday.
"We’re almost there, but tomorrow I’ve got to be attentive," Menchov said. "We’ve got to wait until the final finish line in Rome."
Di Luca could go for another time bonus in Saturday’s mostly flat 203-kilometre leg from Naples to Anagni, which features a short uphill finish.
"I’m going to try to win the stage or be there in the sprint," Di Luca said. "The finish suits my characteristics."
Lance Armstrong fell midway through the stage but appeared to escape serious injury. The seven-time Tour de France winner got right back on his bike and finished a respectable 1:42 behind Sastre.
The serpentine Vesuvius climb measured 13 kilometres at an average gradient of 7.4 per cent. It came at the end of an already undulating stage that took riders along the scenic Amalfi coast, which features a series of hairpin curves.
Vesuvius is best known for its eruption in A.D. 79 that buried the ancient city of Pompeii.
Two riders — Yuriy Krivtsov of Ukraine and Mauro Facci of Italy — attacked 16 kilometres into the stage and gained a lead of seven minutes on the peloton at one point. The duo was caught by the pink jersey group at the base of Vesuvius.
Ivan Basso and Stefano Garzelli were the first highly placed riders to attack on the climb, and Sastre quickly launched an attack of his own and joined Basso in the lead after Garzelli fell back.
Sastre and Basso rode together in front for a couple of kilometres before Sastre accelerated and left Basso behind with about five kilometres to go.
A bit further down the road, Di Luca tried with all his might to leave Menchov behind, but the Russian followed Di Luca like a shadow every time the Italian accelerated.
"I was at my limit and so was Menchov, so we were even," Di Luca said.
Armstrong apparently touched the wheel of the rider in front of him as the main pack went around a tight turn on the Amalfi coast. The Texan hit the pavement on his left side — the opposite side from his crash in March when he broke his collarbone.
He got right back up, changed his rear wheel, and rejoined the main pack.
After the March 23 crash in Spain, a stainless steel plate and 12 screws were inserted into Armstrong’s right collarbone.
Armstrong lost contact with the pink jersey group on the second half of the climb and remained 12th overall, 13:29 behind Menchov.