The 26.8km Stage 19 Mountain Time Trial, which arrived on GPM 1 Cima Grappa (Crespano del Grappa) further separated all GC contenders on Friday. Rigoberto Uran powered to a 3rd place finish (+1'26") behind Nairo Quintana (Movistar), who won the stage with a time of 1:05.37. That time was faster than 2nd place Fabio Aru (Astana) by 17 seconds.
Uran protected his 2nd place in the GC with his performance, while Quintana further strengthened his grip on the Maglia Rosa. He now leads Uran By 3'07", and Aru by 3 minutes and 48 seconds. Other GC contenders lost even more time, giving the top three riders more room to breathe on the podium.
Uran has more than 40 seconds on Aru in the GC, and the Colombian rider will look to the 167km Stage 20 high mountain stage to fight once again for his podium place, and also Quintana for the pink jersey. There are two GPM 1 climbs, including the arrival in Monte Zoncolan. A GPM 2 climb sits between those two ascents.
“I prepared for the time trial very well this morning," Uran said. "The recon certainly helped. I knew the first intermediate point I was 2nd fastest, so it was a good stretch for me. Then in the climb I took my tempo. I gave it everything and I think I did a good performance in this really difficult mountain time trial. Tomorrow, it will be another hard day. The last climb will not make it easy. It is so steep, it will be hard to get a big gap on anyone. So, we will see tomorrow what we can do. We will do our best to keep fighting until the end."
