Stage 11

The road

At the start

Sky have two leaders and no answer

Rigoberto Urán won on the Montasio and is third at 2:04; Bradley Wiggins, dropped on the same climb, is fourth at 2:05. Nibali leads Evans by forty-one seconds. John Degenkolb and Ángel Vicioso did not start yesterday. Today goes from Tarvisio over the long, shallow Sella Ciampigotto and finishes on the climb to Vajont.

How it was won

1. 161 km to go

   Gretsch goes on the descent

   The Sella Ciampigotto is long and barely four per cent, and the peloton hands the break another two minutes on it. It is the descent that breaks the truce: Patrick Gretsch attacks off the front of the escape and rides away down the mountain.

2. 225 km to go

   Di Luca's counter, and who it helps

   Danilo Di Luca throws the first punch of the finale, twenty-five kilometres out. Gaps take him longer to close than they once did and the effort costs more than it earns — but it gives Ramūnas Navardauskas and Daniel Oss exactly the springboard they need.

3. 37 km to go

   A dig while the other man drinks

   On the lower slopes of the climb to Vajont, Navardauskas puts in a probing acceleration at the precise moment Oss reaches for his bottle. The Italian gets back on. Both of them now know which one has more left.

4. 4At the line

   Navardauskas at Vajont

   He drops Oss on the climb proper and finishes alone above the dam — the win Garmin-Sharp badly needed, the day after Ryder Hesjedal fell out of the race for the overall.

The result