2010 Giro d'Italia

2010 Giro d'Italia

2010 UCI World Ranking, race 14 of 26
Overview of the stages: route from Amsterdam to Venice covered by the riders on the bicycle (red) and transfers between stages (green).
Race details
Dates	8 – 30 May 2010
Stages	21
Distance	3,485 km (2,165 mi)
Winning time	87h 44' 01"
Results
Winner  Ivan Basso (ITA) (Liquigas–Doimo)   Second  David Arroyo (ESP) (Caisse d'Epargne)   Third  Vincenzo Nibali (ITA) (Liquigas–Doimo) Points  Cadel Evans (AUS) (BMC Racing Team) Mountains  Matthew Lloyd (AUS) (Omega Pharma–Lotto) Youth  Richie Porte (AUS) (Team Saxo Bank)   Sprints  Tom Stamsnijder (NED) (Rabobank)   Combativity  Matthew Lloyd (AUS) (Omega Pharma–Lotto)   Team Liquigas–Doimo   Team points Liquigas–Doimo
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The 2010 Giro d'Italia was the 93rd edition of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The race started off in Amsterdam on 8 May and stayed in the Netherlands for three stages, before leaving the country.^[1] The route included climbs such as Monte Zoncolan, Plan de Corones, the Passo del Mortirolo and the Passo di Gavia before ending in Verona with an individual time trial.^[2]

Principal favorites for overall success in the Giro included Ivan Basso of the Liquigas–Doimo team, Cadel Evans for BMC Racing Team, and Cervélo TestTeam's Carlos Sastre. After three weeks of racing, it was Basso who claimed his second Giro d'Italia title, after also winning in 2006.^[3] David Arroyo from Caisse d'Epargne and Basso's teammate Vincenzo Nibali rounded out the podium. Australian riders won all the lesser jersey awards, with Evans taking the points classification, Omega Pharma–Lotto's Matthew Lloyd the winner of the mountains classification, and Richie Porte of Team Saxo Bank the Giro's best young rider.

The road race stages in the Netherlands were both marred by repeated crashes, which led to some unexpected big time gaps before the transfer to Italy. The overall standings were very turbulent in the first week, with four different riders holding the race leader's pink jersey. The 11th stage greatly re-shaped the overall standings, when several riders, including Sastre, gained almost 13 minutes against the remainder of the field. Porte took the pink jersey after this stage. Two days later, Arroyo took the jersey, and kept it for five days. He eventually lost it to Basso on the first of two very difficult mountain stages to close out the Giro. Success was fairly widespread among the Giro's 22 teams, as 17 of them came away with either a stage win, classification win, or stint in the pink jersey.