Giro 2014 Stage 20 Report: Rogers conquers the Zoncolan

Michael Rogers took his 2nd stage win of this year's Giro, conquering the mighty Zoncolan ahead of his breakaway companions. Colombians Quintana and Uran proved themselves the best climbers from the GC group and kept their placings as top 2. (Slideshow route/profile)

Results 20th stage Giro 2014

1. Michael Rogers (aus)
2. Franco Pellizotti (ita) + 0.38
3. Francesco Bongiorno (ita) + 0.49
4. Nicolas Roche (Ire) + 1.34
5. Brent Bookwalter (USA) +1.37
6. Robinson Chalapud (col) + 1.46
7. Georg Preidler (aus) + 1.52
8. Maxime Monfort (bel) + 2.12
9. Dario Cataldo (ita) + 2.24
10. Simon Geschke (Ger) + 2.37

17. Nairo Quintana (col) + 4.45
18. Rigoberto Uran (col) s.t.

21. Rafal Majka (pol) s.t.
22. Fabio Aru (ita) +5.01
23. Pierre Rolland (fra) + 5.05
23. Pierre Rolland (fra) + 5.05
24. Domenico Pozzovivo (ita) + 5.10
25. Wilco Kelderman (Nld) + 6.25

GC after stage 20
1. Nairo Quintana (col)
2. Rigoberto Uran (col) + 3.07
3. Fabio Aru (ita) + 4.04
4. Pierre Rolland (fra) + 5.46
5. Domenico Pozzovivo (ita) + 6.41
6. Rafal Majka (pol) + 7.13
7. Wilco Kelderman (Nld) + 11.09
8. Cadel Evans (aus) +12.00
9. Ryder Hesjedal (can) + 13.35
10. Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) + 15.49

Race report
The 20 brave men to go up the road today were as follows; Axel Domont (AG2R-La Mondiale, Franco Pellizotti & Jackson Rodriguez ( both Androni Giocattoli), Francesco Bongiorno (Bardiani), Maarten Tjallingii (Belkin), Mattia Cattaneo (Lampre-Merida), Maxime Monfort (Lotto-Belisol), Yonathan Monsalve & Mattio Rabottini (both Neri Sottoli), Yukiya Arashiro (Europcar), Simon Geschke & Georg Preidler (Both Giant-Shimano), Pieter Serry (Omega Pharma-QuickStep), Maxime Belkov (Katusha), Dario Cataldo (Sky), Michael Rogers & Nicolas Roche (both Tinkoff-Saxo) Danilo Hondo & Riccardo Zoidl (Both Trek Factory Racing) and Brent Bookwalter (BMC).

The break split and came back together on numerous occasions during the days climbing until the early slopes of the Zoncolan, the 5th time the feared climb has featured in the Giro since its introduction in 2003. Pelizotti put in a strong dig with 6 kilometres remaining splitting the group to pieces. He was joined by Bongiorno and Rodgers. At this point they had a 6 and half minute advantage on the peloton so a stage win was certainly up for grabs. Peizotti was then promptly dropped as Rogers forced the pace.

Back in the GC group, Igor Anton rode suberbly for Quintana putting pressure on all the field. The pace was high and atacking the pink jersey was not an option.

After an incident in which he ripped a fans glasses from his face, Wout Poels went to the front, immediately drawing Quintana and teammate Uran with him. Anton was officialy done for the day at this point and Poels pushing seperated the GC men with Pozzovivo, Rolland, Aru and Majka left behind.

Up front, Bongiorno was pushed by a fan and almost fell off his bike. Rogers created a gap while Bongiorno almost came to a standstill. Bongiorno would never make it back, a pity that the battle for the stage win ended due to fan interference.

Rogers continued on to an impressive stage win while Pelizotti caught Bongiorno to take 2nd.

Quintana and Uran were the first og the GC contenders to arrive, solidifying their positions as top 2.