Giro d'Italia 2015: Riders pay the penalty as climbs take their toll
Team Sky leader Leopold König among 16 riders punished for holding on to motorbikes or cars for too long on the gruelling route
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Alberto Contador maintained his grip on the overall lead in the Giro d’Italia as Sacha Modolo won a bunch sprint at the end of the 17th stage for his second victory in this year’s race.
However, the difficulty of the climbs in Tuesday’s stage was reflected today when Team Sky leader Leopold König was among 16 riders punished by race officials for holding on to motorbikes or cars for too long on the gruelling route that took in the Passo di Mortirolo.
König received a 10-second time penalty on his general classification and five points in the points classification, yet he remains in sixth place overall.
A superb lead-out from Modolo’s Lampre-Merida team helped him to beat Giacomo Nizzolo by a bike length to win the 134-kilometre (83-mile) leg from Tirano to Lugano, Switzerland, which featured just one category three climb. Nizzolo edged out Slovenia’s Luka Mezgec on the line.
There was no change in the overall standings, in which Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) leads Mikel Landa (Astana) by 4min 2sec, with Fabio Aru (Astana) third, 4:52 behind.
Contador said: “Stage 16 was much more wearing than I would have liked, but now I’m one day closer to Milan.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments