Giro d'Italia 2015: Stage 10 Results, Overall Standings and Highlights

Nicola Boem won Tuesday's Stage 10 of the 2015 Giro d'Italia, while Richie Porte lost ground on Alberto Contador in the general standings after the Australian had an issue in the latter part of the race.  

The peloton got its calculations wrong, starting the chase too late as four riders arrived at the finish in Forli ahead of the top sprinters. Boem held off Matteo Busato and Alessandro Malaguti to grab the biggest win of his career.

Here are the results from Stage 10:

Rider (Nationality) Team	Time
1. Nicola Boem (Ita) Bardiani CSF	4:26:16
2. Matteo Busato (Ita) Southeast Pro Cycling	Same Time
3. Alessandro Malaguti (Ita) Nippo - Vini Fantini	0:00:02
4. Alan Marangoni (Ita) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling	Team 0:00:04
5. Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek Factory Racing	0:00:18
6. Sacha Modolo (Ita) Lampre-Merida	Same Time
7. Andre Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal	Same Time
8. Luka Mezgec (Slo) Team Giant-Alpecin	Same Time
9. Nicola Ruffoni (Ita) Bardiani CSF	Same Time
10. Davide Appollonio (Ita) Androni Giocattoli	Same Time

Team Sky shared the profile of Tuesday's stage, anticipating yet another mass sprint:

Fresh off of a rest day and with several mountain stages on the horizon, the peloton decided to take the day off for Stage 10. An all-Italian break of six riders was given a healthy lead early, and Malaguti took most of the points for the red jersey along the way.

As the pace increased slightly, four riders continued to work well together with the peloton chasing them. The pack assumed it could close a three-minute gap in the final 20 kilometers, but Boem, Busato, Malaguti and Alan Marangoni kept rotating at the front of the group and lost far less time than expected.

In the background, Porte suddenly lost minutes on the peloton, likely suffering some kind of mechanical failure, as shared by Team Sky:

The peloton didn't let up, but Team Sky dropped several riders back to help out, sacrificing key helpers for Elia Viviani.

Instead, it was Lotto-Soudal who had to do the dirty work at the front of the pack, and the Belgian team came up just short.

Marangoni tried to win the stage with a late jump, but Boem responded beautifully and overtook his compatriot in the final corner. The win also sees Boem grab the lead for the red jersey, as shared by the Inner Ring:

While the sprinters certainly rank among the biggest losers of the day, Porte's drop in the general classification cannot be ignored, either. The Team Sky man is an excellent time trialist, but he generally survives in the mountains by keeping up with the other favourites, not attacking himself.

Rider (Nationality) Team	Time
1. Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo	42:58:09
2. Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team	0:00:03
3. Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Astana Pro Team	0:00:46
4. Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team	0:01:16
5. Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Tinkoff-Saxo	0:01:46
6. Rigoberto Uran (Col) Etixx - Quick-Step	0:02:10
7. Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar Team	0:02:12
8. Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team	0:02:20
9. Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team	0:02:24

Porte lost almost a minute on the other favourites, but things got even worse for the Team Sky man hours later. It was revealed he suffered a flat inside the final five kilometers, and Simon Clarke, who doesn't ride for Sky, was kind enough to help his friend out and offer his wheel. 

The Giro organisers didn't appreciate the gesture, and to the disbelief of fans and pundits alike, including professional cyclist Chris Horner, both were given a two-minute time penalty:

Contador told reporters he didn't know what cost his competitor to lose so much time, but he expects it won't matter much, per Contador Notebook:

Porte will be forced to make up the lost time somehow, and while Stage 14 will give him the opportunity to do so, it's doubtful he'll be able to make up more than a minute on Contador. As a result, Sky will have to alter their tactics.

For neutral fans, this is the perfect scenario. Rigoberto Uran and Porte will likely wait to find out the results of the time trial, and once the peloton heads for the high mountains, viewers can expect to see plenty of attacks against the wounded Contador and Tinkoff-Saxo.

Wednesday's Stage 11 features plenty of short, steep climbs, but the truly challenging uphill finishes await the peloton after Saturday's time trial. 

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