Vini Fantini has been hunting a stage win desperately in the opening part of the Giro d'Italia and today they finally succeeded when Mauro Santambrogio was the only rider able to follow an attack from race leader Vincenzo Nibali on the steep Jafferau climb to the finish. The race leader chose not to contest the sprint and so Santambrogio took a huge win while Nibali was content to see his gap to Cadel Evans (BMC) extended to 1.26.

Mauro Santambrogio has finished 2nd in no less than 6 races this season and been up there with the biggest WorldTour riders in the greatest races all season. He won the GP Industria just prior to the Giro but today he finally took a hugely deserved win in one of the biggest races of the season when he crossed the line first on the Jafferau climb in the first day in the Alps in this year's Giro d'Italia.

On a very wet day where race organizers RCS were forced to alter the route and skip the day's first climb up to Sestriere and where Italian tv production company RAI was unable to produce any live images from all but the final 400m of the race, he was the only one who was able to follow race leader Vincenzo Nibali when the Astana rider put down the hammer with around 1km to go. The duo worked perfectly together and the race leader chose not to contest the sprint and was content to let Santambrogio cross the line in first position while he extended his lead to a struggling Cadel Evans.

Team Sky had been the team to apply the pressure early in the race and as they approached the final climb, only around 30 riders were left in the main group which was in pursuit of the remaining three riders from the day's early break, Luca Paolini (Katusha), Daniele Pietropolli (Lampre) and Sonny Colbrelli (Bardiani). The British team showed that they were very much still in the race despite the abandonment of Bradley Wiggins.

At the bottom of the final climb, the front trio was still 4.05 ahead of the peloton and it was evident that it would be a close race between the two groups in the battle for the stage win. Pietropolli briefly lost contact with his fellow escapees on the lower slopes of the climb but the Italian managed to fight back on while the gap started to come down rapidly.

Sky played their first card with around 4km to go when Sergio Henao went on the attack and Diego Rosa (Androni) was able to join the move by the Colombian. Later Italian champion Franco Pellizotti also closed the gap to form a very strong trio which was only two minutes behind with 3km to go.

Up ahead Pietropolli finally had to give up and let Colbrelli and Paolini go while the pace also picked up in the maglia rosa group and so the chasing trio was caught again by a group that now consisted of less than 15 riders.

Under the flamme rouge Paolini dropped Colbrelli but the real action took place a little further down the road when Nibali accelerated. Only Santambrogio and Betancur were able to respond but a few meters further up the road the Colombian had to let the Italian duo. They quickly swallowed up Paolini and set a hard pace to extend their advantage to the splintering group behind.

Santambrogio was allowed to cross the line in first position while Betancur managed to limit his losses to only 9 seconds. A resurgent Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) crossed the line in 4th position with Rigoberto Uran a little further behind. A fighting Cadel Evans finished in 6th alongside Domenico Pozzovivo (Ag2r) and Robert Kiserlovski (Radioshack) but lost 33 seconds to Nibali and is now 1.26 behind in the overall standings.

The big losers were Michele Scarponi (Lampre) and Robert Gesink (Blanco). The former was once again unable to follow the best and finished in 18th position 1.28 behind Nibali. The latter was escorted to the finish by teammates Juan Manuel Garate, Steven Kruijswijk and Wilco Kelderman more than 4 minutes too late and dropped out of the overall top 10.

Nibali is now in a very good position ahead of the second consecutive stage in the Alps which is scheduled for tomorrow. However, the bad weather is set to continue and different rumours circulate. It is not yeat known what will happen to the stage but if it is held, you will be able to follow all the action on CyclingQuotes.com/live.

A wet start

Just shortly before the start the riders were informed that the climb to Sestriere had been scrapped from the course and that they would have to approach the final Jafferau climb from another direction. Having been informed by the sports directors of any changes that could have had to their pre-race tactics the riders set off on a 180km ride from Cervere - where Mark Cavendish won a stage last year - to Bardonecchia under rainy skies and in cold conditions.

As always there is a chance for a successful breakaway in a mountain stage and so many riders wanted to join the day's early move. Taylor Phinney (BMC) was one of the most active riders in the early going but he missed out when 7 riders finally moved clear after 14km of racing.

Three riders crash out of break

Pieter Weening (Orica-GreenEdge), Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel), Peter Stetina (Garmin-Sharp), Sonny Colbrelli (Bardiani), Luca Paolini (Katusha), Daniele Pietropolli (Lampre) and Matteo Trentin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) set off but unfortunately the three best climber sin the move Weening, Martinez and Stetina all crashed on the wet tarmac and were unable to rejoin their fellow escapees. Colbrelli, Paolini, Pietropolli and Trentin continued their effort and were allowed to build up a gap of almost 10 minutes.

A bad crash happened with around 100km still to go and involved Robinson Chalapud (Colombia), Alessandro Vanotti (Astana) and Enrico Battaglin (Bardiani) and the latter two were forced to abandon with a suspected fractured rib and collarbone respectively. At the same time some team started to take the initiative with Cannondale, Vini Fantini, Colombia and Sky all upping the pace.

Vini Fantini hoped to see Santambrogio take a much-needed stage win for the yellow-clad team while Sky was on a mission to set up Uran for the stage win and bonus seconds that would help close the more than two-minute gap to Nibali. Rafael Andriato, Stefano Garzelli and Xabier Zandio all contributed to the chase but for a long time the gap remained rather stable just below the 10-minute mark.

Sky takes action

However, Sky started to increase the pace as they approached the first rise up towards the start of the Jafferau climb. The slopes took its toll on Trentin who struggled up ahead while the gap now started to come down quickly. With 22km to go it was down to 5.20 and it now seemed highly unlikely that the break would go all the way to the finish.

With 15km to go, Trentin had a puncture and that took him out of the breakaway which continued to speed off in an attempt to deny the favourites the chance to battle for the victory and bonus seconds. He quickly lost ground and with 12km to go he was already more than 1 minute behind.

The bad weather and the fast pace tired the riders' legs and when they started the final climb to Jafferau, only 30 riders were left in the maglia rosa group. Meanwhile, the gap had been reduced to only 4.05 and that signalled the start of the dramatic final that saw Santambrogio win and Nibali comfortably extend his overall lead.

Top 10:

1. Mauro Santambrogio

2. Vincenzo Nibali

3. Carlos Betancur +0.09

4. Samuel Sanchez +0.26

5. Rigoberto Uran +0.30

6. Cadel Evans +0.33

7. Domenico Pozzovivo

8. Robert Kiserlovski

9. Sonny Colbrelli +0.55

10. Damiano Caruso +0.58

General classification:

1. Vincenzo Nibali 57.20.52

2. Cadel Evans +1.26

3. Rigoberto Uran +2.46

4. Mauro Santambrogio +2.47

5. Michele Scarponi +3.53

6. Przemyslaw Niemeic +4.55

7. Domenico Pozzovivo +5.02

8. Rafal Majka +5.32

9. Carlos Betancur +5.39

10. Benat Intxausti +5.41

Points classification:

1. Mark Cavendish 109

2. Cadel Evans 83

3. Mauro Santambrogio 77

4. Elia Viviani 72

5. Rigoberto Uran 65

Mountains classification:

1. Stefano Pirazzi 47

2. Jackson Rodriguez 26

3. Robinson Chalapud 23

4. Mauro Santambrogio 18

5. Maxim Belkov 18

Youth classification:

1. Rafal Majka 57.26.24

2. Carlos Betancur +0.07

3. Wilco Kelderman +7.51

4. Darwin Atapuma +10.53

5. Diego Rosa +24.18