Stage 21

The road

At the start

Thirty kilometres to the Duomo

Contador arrives in Milan with 5:18 on Scarponi and 6:14 on Nibali, and only second place is in doubt: 56 seconds between the two Italians, with a flat time trial to settle it. Local elections mean the race cannot shut the city centre, so the course has been shortened and the start pushed out to the Fiera on the north-western edge, with the finish in front of the Duomo.

How it was won

1. 126 km to go

   Thirteen seconds

   Milan's local elections have shortened the course and moved the start out to the Fiera. In the opening six kilometres Nibali takes thirteen seconds out of Scarponi and, for a few minutes, second place in the Giro is genuinely in play.

2. 2At the line

   The Duomo

   Scarponi is the fresher man and it shows over the rest of it. David Millar wins the stage and Contador takes third to seal the race; Kreuziger takes the white jersey off Rujano on the day. Two years later Contador's name comes off the top of the page, and the 2011 Giro belongs to Scarponi.

The result