With just two riders and no climbers on the roster, Orica-GreenEDGE had no hopes to shine in today's Monte Grappa time trial in the Giro d'Italia. It was all about making the time cut and save energy for one final hit-out on the stage to Trieste.

Race leader Nairo Quintana (Movistar) won the mountain time trial on the 19th stage of the Giro d’Italia, gaining valuable time on the general classification ahead of the final mountain stage. The maglia rosa danced up the Monte Grappa to stop the clock at 1:05:37. The time bested Fabio Aru (Astana) by 17” and Rigoberta Uran (Omega Pharma – Quick-Step) by 1’26. Uran retains his hold on second overall now 3’07 behind Quintana as Aru jumps up to third overall at 3’48.

Australian National Time Trial Champion Michael Hepburn was the top finisher for ORICA-GreenEDGE in 117th place, posting a time 11’44 slower than Quintana. The goal for Hepburn and Tuft, the only two of the team’s nine starters left in the race, was to make the time cut and conserve energy for one last objective on the final day of the Grand Tour. 

"The boys had a solid ride today," sports director Matt White said. "They made the time cut easy. Like I’ve said before, these two are not mountain specialists. If it was a flat time trial, maybe it would be a different story – but it wasn’t. They did what they had to do and thought about saving legs for Sunday where they might be able to leave one last imprint on the 2014 Giro d’Italia. "