Gilbert Takes Giro Stage 20; Menchov and DiLuca Fight for Bonus Seconds

Phillipe Gilbert (Silence-Lotto) saved his team today by taking the win on the 20th stage of the Giro d'Italia. 

Many people have criticized that his Silence-Lotto team has been virtually unnoticed in this race for not animating the finishes or fighting for the overall classification.  Their Tour de France contender, Cadel Evans, is not racing in the Giro, one of the reasons why their team has been under the radar. 

Today's mainly flat stage, ending on a small uphill finish into the city of Anagni, should have been fairly routine on paper.  It is situated one day after the epic finish on Mt. Vesuvius, and one day before the final time-trial in Rome when the race culminates tomorrow.

However, much of the race was not going by the books today.

Normally, with the overall contenders in between such goals, a breakaway would have gained enough ground that the peloton would have let them go and duke it out for the stage win while the GC contenders saved their energy for the time trial.

Runner-up Danilo DiLuca (LPR-Brakes), was looking for every bonus second he could find.  His LPR teammates reeled in the breakaway very early with about 30 kilometers remaining in the race. 

This set him up well at one of the race's intermediary sprint checkpoints.  At this intermediary checkpoint, the winner received six bonus seconds; the second-placed rider, four; and the third-placed rider, two.  DiLuca was looking for these seconds to recover his 18-second deficit in the overall classification.

His LPR teammates led him into the sprint, but race leader Denis Menchov (Rabobank) was right on his wheel.  In a twist of fate, Menchov got a jump on DiLuca and looked like he was about to take the six-second bonus. 

DiLuca was not able to get around him, but DiLuca's sprinting teammate, Alessandro Petacchi, was able to get around Menchov to prevent the Russian leader from getting the full six seconds.

Menchov picked up four seconds and DiLuca picked up two.  Menchov, by winning two more seconds than DiLuca, managed to thwart the Italian and add to his overall lead, stretching it from 18 to 20 seconds overall.

After the checkpoint, a new breakaway formed, featuring Markus Fothen (Milram) and Pavel Brutt (Katusha).  This duo, as well, had little chance of succeeding in outpacing the hungry peloton.

Silence-Lotto then took up the chase with plans to possibly send their leader Gilbert up the road. 

The peloton crossed the finish line in Anagni for the first time with 20 kilometers to go.  Today's stage had them crossing the line once, then doing a 20-kilometer circuit around the city and countryside of Anagni, and then come back to the finish line for the small uphill finish to the line for the final time. 

Fothen and Brutt were caught, and immediately Silverster Szmyd (Liquigas), Bartosz Huzarski (ISD) and Paulo Tiralongo (Lampre) jumped away from the edgy peloton.  They built up a lead of 25 seconds, but a few kilometers form the line, they met their fate as well.

Finally, a breakaway stuck.  Silence-Lotto allowed their captain Phillipe Gilbert to shoot out from the peloton in time for the uphill finish.  He was joined by Thomas Voekler (Bouygues Telecom), but it was the Belgian, Gilbert, who mastered the uphill finish and took the win.

Behind, DiLuca and Menchov finished together in the main peloton, seven seconds adrift of the winner.  They could not fight for any more bonus seconds at the finish because Gilbert, Voekler, and Stefano Garzelli (Acqua e Sapone) placed first, second, and third.

The excitement of the Centennary Giro d'Italia concludes tomorrow with the 14.4-kilometer time trial in Rome after three weeks of racing.  Denis Menchov, the superior time-triallist of the two, looks set to hold off DiLuca to take his first overall win at the Giro, as long as he does not crash tomorrow. 

The Russian has previously won two editions of the three-week long Tour of Spain.