Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team rider Gianluca Brambilla, after protecting GC lead Rigoberto Uran in the 249km medium mountain Giro d'Italia Stage 11 on Wednesday, finished 5th in the stage.
Michael Rogers (Tinkoff-Saxo) won the stage solo after attacking on the descent of a GPM 2 climb with about 20km to go. An original 14 rider breakaway was brought back earlier, as was Julian Arredondo (Trek Factory Racing) after he attacked out of the peloton, eventually passing those riders and losing contact with those who tried to stick to his wheel.
Simon Geschke (Giant-Shimano) was 2nd, and Enrico Battaglin (Bardiani-CSF) was 3rd.
Uran kept himself present near the front with the help of his teammates in the final kilometers of a long stage, and finished 17th in the stage. He remains 2nd in the GC (+57") behind Cadel Evans (BMC Racing Team) going into what will likely be the crucial 41.9km ITT on Thursday.
"Today was the hardest day of the Giro so far," Uran said. " The speed was incredible since the beginning. We flew over the first part of the parcours. But the guys were super for me again. They kept me out of trouble all day and brought me into great position at the foot of the Naso Di Gatto. We had a bad crash of Vermote and Serry but they fought until the end. I hope they can recover fast."
Watch the video for Uran's comments after March 2014 Recon of the Giro d'Italia Stage 12 ITT Parcours
"Tomorrow we have the time trial," Uran continued. "I like the parcours. We came here on the 5th of March to perform reconnaissance. The parcours is not easy. For the GC guys this will be an important test, as we then hit the mountains over the weekend. "
Pieter Serry, Julien Vermote UPDATE
OPQS riders Pieter Serry and Julien Vermote suffered a crash after 70 kilometers, on a downhill.
Vermote, as consequence of the crash, has wounds in the area of the left tibia that requires a few stitches. He also has wounds on both the right knee, elbow, and hip. He has also a thorax contusion on the right side. The team will monitor closely how he passes through the night, but normally he will be able to start.
Serry has muscular pain to the cervical area due to the impact on the road, and a contusion on the right quadricep. Serry also underwent X-rays at the finish that excluded any fracture. Serry will be at the start tomorrow.
"A guy went down in front of me," Vermote said of the crash. "I don't know what happened if he was descending too fast or what, but he went down two positions in front of me and I couldn't avoid him. So, I really went down badly. I hit the ground on the left side and I finished my crash on the right side of the road. We will see tomorrow what will happen. I will try this evening to have a good night, recover, and tomorrow morning I will see what is going on. But, normally, I will be at the start."
"It was a long day after the crash, but Julien and I made it to the finish," Serry said. "I am happy that nothing is broken. I am quite optimistic for tomorrow. It will be hard of course because I also have pain and my neck will be stiff. But, fortunately, this is a time trial and I can take it easy and try for the rest of the day to recover and try to be as ok as fit as possible on Friday morning."
