Kruijswijk crumbles, Nibali wins Giro stage 19

The Colle dell’Agnello, the Giro’s highest mountain pass, lived up to its billing as the Cima Coppi Friday. It offered a springboard for Vincenzo Nibali to redeem himself with a stage win, but also crushed Steven Kruijswijk’s pink jersey dreams. The LottoNL – Jumbo Dutchman crashed early on the descent, while Nibali pushed on with Orica – GreenEdge’s Esteban Chaves. Although the Colombian couldn’t match the Astana leader, who won the 162-kilometer race to Risoul, France, he took the maglia rosa from Kruijswijk with a third-place finish.

“I think it’s the hardest day of the race for me,” Chaves said. “Also it’s the most important — I took the maglia rosa. I’m really, really happy today. The teamwork — unbelievable, all the guys attacking the Angnello. I tried to follow Nibali, but he was stronger today.”

Stage 19, top 10 1. Vincenzo NIBALI, ASTANA PRO TEAM, in 4:19:54 2. Mikel NIEVE ITURALDE, TEAM SKY, at :51 3. Johan Esteban CHAVES RUBIO, ORICA – GreenEDGE, at :53 4. Diego ULISSI, LAMPRE – MERIDA, at 1:02 5. Rafal MAJKA, TINKOFF, at 2:14 6. Alejandro VALVERDE BELMONTE, MOVISTAR TEAM, at 2:14 7. Rigoberto URAN URAN, CANNONDALE PRO CYCLING TEAM, at 2:14 8. Georg PREIDLER, TEAM GIANT – ALPECIN, at 2:43 9. Nicolas ROCHE, TEAM SKY, at 2:51 10. Hubert DUPONT, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at 2:51

Top-three overall 1. Johan Esteban CHAVES RUBIO, ORICA – GreenEDGE, in 78:14:20 2. Vincenzo NIBALI, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :44 3. Steven KRUIJSWIJK, TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at 1:05 4. Alejandro VALVERDE BELMONTE, MOVISTAR TEAM, in +1:48 5. Rafal MAJKA, TINKOFF, at 3:59 6. Bob JUNGELS, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at 7:53 7. Andrey AMADOR BIKKAZAKOVA, MOVISTAR TEAM, at 9:34 8. Rigoberto URAN URAN, CANNONDALE PRO CYCLING TEAM, at 12:18 9. …

continue reading in source velonews.competitor.com