Stage 7

The road

At the start

Contador starts with a taped shoulder

Alberto Contador crossed the line in Castiglione and then could not pull the maglia rosa on: his left shoulder is partially dislocated, strapped overnight, and he says he will start. Daniele Colli broke an arm in the same crash, hooked by a spectator's camera lens. Today is 268 kilometres, the longest stage of this Giro, and the last ten of them climb into Fiuggi.

How it was won

1. 1114 km to go

   A note from a jersey pocket

   Bandiera takes the sprint by the Vallelunga motor circuit, eases up, and produces a piece of paper from his pocket to wish his father a happy birthday. On a 268-kilometre day into a headwind, it is most of the afternoon's drama.

2. 2At the line

   Ulissi comes back

   The last kilometre into Fiuggi kicks up at two, then four per cent. Modolo sits up, Diego Ulissi comes through along the barriers, and a rider back from a nine-month salbutamol ban wins the longest stage of the Giro.

The result