Uran wins Giro d'Italia time trial on stage 12

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Rigoberto Urán (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) picked the right time to win his first individual time trial as he rode himself into pink on stage 12 of the Giro d'Italia.

Urán rode the time trial of his life, gradually building up his advantage over the hilly course to finish in a time of 57:34, beating Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida) by 1:17. Race leader Cadel Evans (BMC) finished third.

"It's incredible, I'm really surprised. I didn't think that I would win it. It's a great day for my team and myself," a clearly delighted Urán said after the stage. "With Specialized I've been doing a lot of work of the winter. I was fourth in Romandie, which was a good sign. I am really surprised."

Evans went into the stage with a 57 second advantage over Urán. He was expected to extend that advantage or at least maintain it. However, the Australian had a terrible day in the saddle, as he struggled to negotiate the drying roads. Evans eventually rolled into Barolo 1:34 behind Urán, who now leads him by 37 seconds and becomes the first Colombian to lead the Giro d'Italia.

Rafal Majka (Tinkoff-Saxo) solidified his position in the top 3 with a strong performance. Nairo Quintana (Movistar), who has been suffering with injury and a cold, lost yet more ground on the maglia rosa and is now 3:29 back on his compatriot.

The loser of the day was Ivan Basso (Cannondale) who crashed during the stage and dropped out of the top 10.

How it happened

The 41.9 kilometre time trial marked the halfway point of the Giro d'Italia and one of the key stages of the race. The lumpy course would be the scene setter for the mountainous stages later in the race. As the final rider in the general classification, Svein Tuft (Orica-GreenEdge) was the first down the start ramp.

Rick Flens (Belkin) set the early pace with a time of 1:01.49. He led proceedings for around 30 minutes, before the times began to tumble. Above the riders, however, the weather was beginning to turn. Thunder and lightning filled the air at the finish in Barolo. It was only a matter of time before the heavens opened.

Thomas de Gendt was one of the last riders to complete the course in the dry. The Belgian rider went through the first checkpoint 24 seconds faster than any other rider. By the finish line, that had been cut to four seconds over Patrick Gretsch (AG2R La Mondiale). However, the Belgian made a bike change after he suspected a puncture on the climb.

The rain began to really hammer it down and the riders tentatively picked their way down the technical descent. One man that wasn't taking things easy was Tobias Ludvigsson (Giant-Shimano). The Swedish rider was pushing it down the descent when he ran wide on one of the tight corners and clipped the barriers. Ludvigsson was sent over the top of the barrier and fell several feet before he came to a stop. There were nervous moments as he lay on the ground, but he was later seen sitting up.

Riders struggled to match De Gendt's early time, as the rain continued to fall. Some salvation came when the weather abated and the roads began to dry out. Despite his injured knee Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida) came firing out of the gates. The Italian, who has already won two stage of the Giro d'Italia, came through the first time check 23 seconds ahead of the Omega Pharma-QuickStep rider.

Ulissi lost some time on the wet descent, but found an extra gear in the final section of the course, crossing the line a whopping 50 seconds ahead of the Belgian. It was a tense wait for the Lampre-Merida rider as he watched the leading general classification riders come through.