(ANSA) - Rome, May 27 - Colombia's Esteban Chaves took the
leader's pink jersey after the 19th stage of the Giro d'Italia
Friday with Italy's Vincenzo Nibali, the stage winner, 44"
behind in second with two stages to go.
Former leader Steven Kruijswijk of Netherlands, who fell
just after the Col Agnel, this year's Cima Coppi or highest
point, is third, 1'05" back.
Nibali broke into tears after crossing the line, saying "I
let myself go a bit, after everything I went through".
"I want to keep my feet on the ground, tomorrow's going to
be another very tough stage," he said after dedicating the
victory to Rosario Costa, a protegé who died after being hit by
at car on at training run.
'The Shark', the pre-race favourite, underperformed on
previous climbs and had blood tests to see if anything was
wrong, but they came up clear.
Nibali stromed back to top form Friday on the 162km run
from Pinerolo to Risoul in France that included the 2,744m Col
Agnel.
Spain's Mikel Nieve came second, 47" behind, and Chaves
third, 50" back.
How they finished today:
1. Vincenzo Nibali in 4h 19'54", av. speed 37.398 km/h
2. Mikel Nieve at 51"
3. Esteban Chaves at 53"
4. Diego Ulissi at 1'02"
5. Rafal Majka at 2'14"
6. Alejandro Valverde st
7. Rigoberto Uran Uran st
8. Georg Preidler at 2'43"
9. Nicholas Roche at 2'51"
10. Hubert Dupont st
14. Bob Jungels at 3'45"
15. Andrey Amador at 4'30"
16. Steven Kruijswiijk at 4'54"
19. Michele Scarponi at 6'21"
22. Stefano Pirazzi at 7'26"
24. Domenico Pozzovivo at 7'55"
25. Giovanni Visconti at 7'56"
General classification:
1. Esteban Chaves in 78h 14'20"
2. Vincenzo Nibali at 44"
3. Steven Kruijswijk at 1'05"
4. Alejandro Valverde at a 1'48"
5. Rafal Majka at 3'59"
6. Bob Jungels at a 7'53"
7. Andrey Amador at 9'34"
8. Rigoberto Uran Uran at 12'18"
9. Kostantsin Siutsuo at 13'19"
10. Domenico Pozzovivo at 14'11"
17. Giovanni Visconti at 31'22"
18. Stefano Pirazzi at 33'00"
19. Matteo Montaguti at 35'32"
20. Michele Scarponi at 37'17"
22. Diego Ulissi at 45'36"
24. Valerio Conti at 1h 07'15"
25. Mikel Nieve at 1h 08'38"
Chaves takes pink, Nibali 44" behind (2)
Kruijswijk drops to third after fall