Stage 12 of the 2010 Giro d'Italia took place on 20 May in Città Sant'Angelo, and the race concluded with stage 21 in Verona on 30 May. Seven of the last ten stages in the race contained mountain climbs, including the uphill individual time trial to Plan de Corones four days before the end of the race. The last eight stages were clustered in northeast Italy, with six summit finishes among them.
One of the highlights of the second half of the Giro was Monte Zoncolan; although its peak is not as high as other climbs in the race, its gradients are extremely difficult, averaging at 12% with maximum stretches of 22%. Ivan Basso won this stage, and in so doing positioned himself well for the conclusion of the race.
As the second half of the Giro began, young Australian Richie Porte held the race leadership by way of having been in a fortunate 50-rider strong breakaway in stage 11. The first two stages of the Giro's second half were flat and did not alter the overall standings in any significant way. A mountain climb to Monte Grappa in stage 14 transferred the race leader's pink jersey to David Arroyo of the team. Arroyo, a skilled descender, tried to hold off Ivan Basso and the team in the Giro's final stages, but on a relatively easy climb to Aprica in stage 19, Basso took the pink jersey for the first time en route to his second career Giro crown.
LegendJerseys appearing in the table on the left of the page indicate those worn by the cyclist during the particular stage, while those appearing in the table on the right of the page indicate those awarded to the cyclist after the stage. Denotes the leader of the General classification Denotes the leader of the Mountains classification Denotes the leader of the Points classification Denotes the leader of the Young rider classification s.t. indicates that the rider crossed the finish line in the same group as the one receiving the time above him, and was therefore credited with the same finishing time.
Stage 12 20 May 2010 — Città Sant'Angelo to Porto Recanati,
There were two small categorized climbs toward the end of the stage, the first of which marked the race's entrance into the province of Macerata, on roads often visited by Tirreno–Adriatico. The riders saw the finish line in Porto Recanati twice, taking a finishing circuit in the town.
's Rick Flens attacked into the stage, to form the day's principal breakaway. He rode alone for a time, but later, Yuriy Krivtsov and Olivier Kaisen made the bridge to join him. The peloton was mindful not to give them an enormous time gap like the breakaway in stage 11 had gotten. , working for the Giro's only double stage winner Tyler Farrar, took the pace, and kept the time gap manageable. The trio had 9'37" at one point, but as the circuit in Porto Recanati began, their advantage was just 1'10". With left to race, the three-rider breakaway was brought back into the peloton.
At that point, counterattacks began. Francesco Faili and four others briefly came clear, but they were not able to stay away for the stage win either. When their group was brought back, a ten-rider group containing several overall contenders, including Damiano Cunego, Michele Scarponi, Stefano Garzelli, Ivan Basso, Vincenzo Nibali, and Alexander Vinokourov got free on the third-category climb preceding the finish. Their advantage never extended beyond a few seconds, but they stayed away and finished 10 seconds ahead of the rest of the peloton. Filippo Pozzato, the strongest sprinter in the group and the rider with the least overall chances, won the stage. Pozzato was the first Italian rider to win a stage in this Giro, and it was his first career Giro stage win.
Behind them, in the peloton, Cadel Evans was the most notable rider to miss the selection. He tried to force the pace to bring the break back, but clashed with Daniele Righi at the front of the peloton. Righi was trying to ride a much slower pace to allow his teammate Cunego the chance to stay away for victory. Evans and Righi nearly came to blows after the stage. They were both later fined by the UCI, though they shook hands and made up before the next stage. The top ten to the overall standings were unchanged by the day's results.
Stage 12 result RiderTeamTime 1 2 s.t. 3 s.t. 4 s.t. 5 s.t. 6 s.t. 7 s.t. 8 s.t. 9 s.t. 10 s.t.General classification after stage 12 RiderTeamTime 1 2 + 1' 42" 3 + 1' 56" 4 + 3' 54" 5 + 4' 41" 6 + 5' 16" 7 + 5' 34" 8 + 7' 09" 9 + 7' 24" 10 + 8' 14"
Stage 13 21 May 2010 — Porto Recanati to Cesenatico,
The first two-thirds of the course was mainly flat, following the Adriatic coast. The route then cut inland for two climbs, including one with a maximum gradient of 18%. The stage finished with of descending or flat racing. The arrival town of Cesenatico was the hometown of Marco Pantani, and the stage commemorated him.
Seventeen riders from 16 teams formed the day's breakaway, coming together as a cohesive group after of racing. was the only team with two riders in the move; they were Joan Horrach and Sergei Klimov. Iban Mayoz in 26th overall was the highest-placed man in the group, over 16 minutes behind race leader Richie Porte, so the peloton had little interest in chasing this escape group. Their maximum advantage over the main field was eight and a half minutes. On the Perticara climb, the first of the day, Vladimir Karpets, who had been in 19th overall and represented a much bigger overall threat than anyone in the escape, attacked and came clear of the peloton. He eventually found Horrach, who paced him as far as he could before hitting the wall. tried to mount a chase to bring back Karpets, but he stayed away and gained two minutes against the peloton. He also moved up five places in the overall standings, passing both Ivan Basso and Vincenzo Nibali to be 14th overall at day's end.
On the descent of the Perticara, various riders in the slightly depleted leading group attacked, but none succeeded in escaping. Kalle Kriit, Mayoz, Tom Stamsnijder, Mauro Facci, and Cameron Meyer eventually took a lead over the others for a few kilometers, though most of the breakaway group again came together as the finish line neared. Craig Lewis tried to solo for the stage win with an attack from out. He seemed poised for victory for a few moments, but the group caught him from the end of the stage. Manuel Belletti from the small team outsprinted Greg Henderson to win the stage. Belletti is from the area where the stage ended. He recalled after the stage that in his youth his father would take him to see Pantani ride, and he dedicated the victory to both of them. The peloton finished 7'28" back on the stage, but other than for Karpets' attack there was no major change to the overall standings.
Stage 13 result RiderTeamTime 1 2 s.t. 3 s.t. 4 s.t. 5 s.t. 6 s.t. 7 s.t. 8 s.t. 9 s.t. 10 + 5"General classification after stage 13 RiderTeamTime 1 2 + 1' 42" 3 + 1' 56" 4 + 3' 54" 5 + 4' 41" 6 + 5' 16" 7 + 5' 34" 8 + 7' 09" 9 + 7' 24" 10 + 8' 14"
Stage 14 22 May 2010 — Ferrara to Asolo (Monte Grappa),
Monte Grappa, which used to feature frequently in the Giro, was the first of several major climbs in the Giro's final week. It was the only categorized climb in this stage, and reached with just over remaining. The race took the hardest route up the climb, which averages 8% gradients with maximum gradients of 14%.
The pace was high in the peloton as the stage began. This was one of the few stages in the Giro to this point run in nice weather. After were covered, and nearly an hour spent racing, Markus Eibegger instigated the day's breakaway, being followed in his attack by four others. The peloton let them get an advantage of over eight minutes by the mark. The time gap hovered there until the Grappa began, at which point and led a coordinated chase. Bradley Wiggins attacked out of the group of favorites and found his teammate Steven Cummings, a member of the original breakaway, up the road. While Cummings paced him to a gap before cracking, Wiggins was unable to stay away for very long. Vincenzo Nibali was the next on the attack, drawing with him Michele Scarponi. Cadel Evans and Ivan Basso made the bridge, and the four of them absorbed the remnants of the morning escape, quickly becoming the leading group on the road. The climb went above the tree line, meaning there was wind and rain facing the riders at the top of the Grappa. Basso was first over the line for the mountain sprint, but it was Nibali who took aggressive lines on the descent, soloing to the finish 23 seconds ahead of the other three. Basso did not work in the chase, protecting the interests of his teammate up the road, but took the sprint for second place and the 12 bonus seconds it afforded. The race lead transferred as a result of the day's racing; overnight leader Richie Porte finished over four minutes behind Nibali and lost the jersey to David Arroyo. Arroyo also lost time on the stage, but did not lose as much. Having also been in the important breakaway in stage 11, Arroyo was in position to take the pink jersey.
Stage 14 result RiderTeamTime 1 2 + 23" 3 + 23" 4 + 23" 5 + 1' 34" 6 + 2' 25" 7 + 2' 25" 8 + 2' 25" 9 + 2' 25" 10 + 2' 25"General classification after stage 14 RiderTeamTime 1 2 + 39" 3 + 2' 12" 4 + 2' 35" 5 + 3' 52" 6 + 5' 27" 7 + 6' 32" 8 + 6' 51" 9 + 7' 15" 10 + 7' 26"
Stage 15 23 May 2010 — Mestre to Zoncolan,
The first of this stage were flat, preceding some heavy climbing. The finish was on the long Monte Zoncolan, with an average gradient of 12%, and stretches of up to 22%. It was preceded on the course by three other climbs. This was the third passage of the Giro over the Zoncolan; Gilberto Simoni won each of the first two, in 2003 and 2007.
In the flat section of the course, six riders opened up a substantial lead on the peloton. These were Ludovic Turpin, Jackson Rodríguez, Guillaume Le Floch, Nico Sijmens, Jérôme Pineau, and Francesco Reda. The peloton gave them 14 minutes, but with the massive Zoncolan climb ahead, there was little chance that they would stay away. , one of the few squads that still had all nine riders in the Giro, drove a very hard pace in the main field when the climbing began. The time gap fell slowly on the day's first climb, the Sella Chianzutanis, but the second, the Passo Duron, was far steeper and took its toll on the leaders. There were five left out front with just over three minutes' advantage on a depleted peloton of about 25 riders able to keep 's pace.
The Zoncolan climb completely broke the race open. Very few riders climbed the mountain together, and the overall favorites quickly absorbed the remnants of the morning breakaway. An attack from Michele Scarponi opened things up in the favorites' group, and Ivan Basso was the first to respond. Basso drew with him Marco Pinotti and Cadel Evans, as Alexander Vinokourov, Carlos Sastre, and Bradley Wiggins all fell off the pace. Wiggins cracked badly as the Zoncolan climb wore on, and lost more than 25 minutes, to fall conclusively out of any overall contention. Race leader David Arroyo was also dropped on the climb.
Basso put in repeated attacks in the front of the race. He succeeded in dropping Pinotti and Scarponi, but Evans held the pace for a while. Finally, with left to race, Basso was able to drop the Australian, and soloed through the hardest parts of the climb for victory by over a minute. This gap was the largest among the contenders, as from Evans in second to Arroyo in 11th only two and a half minutes passed. Arroyo kept the pink jersey, but Basso's deficit in the overall standings was greatly reduced, as he leapt from 11th to third in the general classification with the day's results.
Stage 15 result RiderTeamTime 1 2 + 1' 19" 3 + 1' 30" 4 + 1' 58" 5 + 2' 26" 6 + 2' 44" 7 + 3' 07" 8 + 3' 20" 9 + 3' 31" 10 + 3' 46"General classification after stage 15