Despite a flurry of attacks from GC contenders in the final kilometers of the 19.35km Plan di Montecampione summit finish of 225km Giro d'Italia Stage 15 on Sunday, Rigoberto Uran of Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team defended the Maglia Rosa and placed 5th.
Fabio Aru (Astana) won the stage solo after attacking out of the Maglia Rosa group, and eventually distancing everyone with 2.1km to go. Fabio Duarte (Team Colombia) was 2nd, and Nairo Quintana (Movistar) 3rd. Aru gained 42" on Uran in the GC, and Quintana gained 20 seconds. Uran was able to gain some ground in the steep sections of the final kilometer to minimize the gap.
However, all other GC riders lost time to Uran, including Cadel Evans (BMC Racing Team) who was just 32" down on the Colombian overall leader going into the stage.
Uran now holds a lead of 1'03" on Evans in 2nd place, and 1'50" on Rafal Majka (Tinkoff-Saxo) in 3rd.
OPQS helped guide Uran into the climb, with riders such as Gianluca Brambilla and Wout Poels working on the front in support of their leader.
After the hectic two days of high mountains action, the final rest day of the Giro d'Italia is on Monday.
"Every race is different, your legs are your legs and you can't really spare anything in such stages," Uran said. "You need to have a regular pace, but you cannot spare yourself. But today, I was happier than yesterday. Sunday is not a working day for everyone else. Well today I had to work but it was a pleasure to do it in this pink jersey at the Giro d'Italia. Also, it's fun to go to work when I have this great team around me. Just look at the work of a guy like Gianluca Brambilla today. It makes me happy to defend the Maglia Rosa for Omega Pharma - Quick-Step, knowing I have this kind of support. I'm also full of pride because I am representing Colombia every day as the race leader. Cycling is a sport that grew a lot there in the last years. We have a great generation of riders and we have riders able to do well in all the disciplines. It means a lot for our country. All of the people watch us on the television. It's great and I love that I can represent an entire nation. As for Aru, he showed how strong he was last year. He's a strong climber and he has a bright future ahead of him. He deserved the win today, he is a good rider. Now we look forward to the rest day. There is still one week and every day will be important. We will see how it goes."
