Stage 12

The road

At the start

Monte Berico, one kilometre at seven

Alberto Contador attacked in the rain at Imola and said afterwards he could sense Fabio Aru was tired; the gap between them is still three seconds. Today ends on Monte Berico, a kilometre at seven per cent that rears to eleven before the line, with the wall at Crosara and its seventeen-per-cent ramp to soften everyone first. RAI's pundits want Aru to take the bonus and the jersey.

How it was won

1. 155 km to go

   The break drowns

   Fifty-seven kilometres out, the rain coming harder, and the fight for position on wet roads is fierce enough to finish the escape off. Gretsch is the last man reeled in.

2. 227 km to go

   Contador's dig at Crosara

   Intxausti leads over the last categorised climb. A few seconds behind him Contador puts in a small acceleration — half to test Aru, half to be certain he is first onto a descent the rain has made genuinely dangerous.

3. 316 km to go

   Pellizotti goes, and takes the GC with him

   Sixteen kilometres out, Franco Pellizotti attacks the forty-strong lead group. Kruijswijk tries to bridge on the uncategorised rise, Visconti follows him, and the whole pink jersey group is dragged along.

4. 45 km to go

   Kangert joins the fugitive

   Given his freedom, Tanel Kangert clips away on the descent and joins Pellizotti with five kilometres to go. Thirty seconds — and the BMC train starts winding up behind.

5. 5At the line

   Gilbert on Monte Berico

   Kangert surges away from Pellizotti as the ramp steepens, and for a moment it looks enough. But Philippe Gilbert rode this final seventy kilometres in reconnaissance months ago, and with 400 metres left he simply detonates past everyone and keeps accelerating.

The result