OROPA, Italy: Enrico Battaglin won the 14th stage of the Giro d’Italia yesterday while overall leader Rigoberto Uran had a tough day in the mountains.
Battaglin pipped fellow Italian Dario Cataldo at the end of a 164-km hilly trek from Aglie after being initially dropped by his breakaway companions.
“I am not used to winning that kind of stages. At the beginning I did not think our breakaway could go all the way,” Battaglin told BeIN Sport.
Four kilometres from the finish, in the final category-one ascent, Italian climber Domenico Pozzovivo attacked and among the top contenders, only Colombian Nairo Quintana could follow.
Pozzovivo, however, struggled to maintain the pace and only gained less than 30 seconds on Uran, second-placed Cadel Evans and third-placed Rafal Majka.
Uran, who cracked in the final metres, leads Evans by 32 seconds and Majka by 1:35, while Pozzovivo sits 2:11 off the pace.
“It was a very tough day. There are a lot of other mountain stages and the only standings that will matter are the final standings,” said Uran.
Quintana, who with Pozzovivo looks the strongest in the mountains, is 3:04 behind Uran and in sixth place with five stages in the mountains left.
Today’s 15th stage takes the peloton over 225 km from Valdengo and Plan Di Montecampione.
