Italian Danilo Di Luca (Team LPR Brakes) finally put his legs where his mouth was by setting off on a dramatic escape 50 km from the finish during the descent of the 3rd to last climb. With the help of his teammate, Il Falco Paolo Savoldelli, the two quickly built a lead of over 2 minutes. There was no panic back in the chase group containing leader Alberto Contador (Astana) and all of the other favorites. Most, including me, thought Di Luca's attack was suicide and too far from the finish.

Contador's teammates Antonio Colom and Andreas Klöden bravely brought him to the final climb before the rest of the action commenced. Contador accelerated but couldn't distance anyone. Finally, Italy's Riccardo Riccò (Saunier Duval-Scott) put in a full forced effort that no one could respond to. Remember, he was only 41 seconds behind at the start of this stage. Di Luca powered on to finish 2nd on this stage after Belarussian Vasili Kiryienka (Tinkoff Credit Systems), who was the lone survivor of an earlier breakaway. Riccò followed shortly after gasping for each breath. Then the countdown began.

Follow up:

Four Seconds!! That was the difference between Contador and Riccò as the Astana rider hung onto to his maglia rosa by the skin of his teeth. Di Luca is only 21 seconds behind as we now turn to another hard stage tomorrow that includes the famous Passo Gavia. (Remember American Andy Hampsten's ride in 1988? Tomorrow is the 20th anniversary of that ride.) It all comes down to who can recover tonight.

Though Contador looked far from stellar, the biggest loser today was old man Gilberto Simoni (Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni). He was distanced briefly on an earlier climb and came back but eventually finished over 8 minutes behind Di Luca.

After the stage, reports stated that Riccò again started to complain. This time it was about missing the maglia rosa by just 4 seconds. He even expressed how good he is in the mountains compared to Contador! The guy needs to relax and put his legs where his mouth is in Milan. He's speaking just a few days too early and might pay for his words. I wonder how his form would be if he was on vacation just a week before the start of the Giro?

So what did we learn today? We learned that Di Luca and Riccò are still strong and Contador can still be put into difficulty. But they still need a good minute in tomorrow's stage to stand a realistic chance of holding off Contador in the final time trial stage into Milan. The favorite is still Contador.

Just a quick note, Levi Leipheimer finished over 25 minutes back. Clearly he never found his form, which is very disappointing. Astana will need him tomorrow if Contador stands a chance of defending his lead. Stay tuned!

Top 10 Results for Stage 19
1 Vasili Kiryienka (Blr) Tinkoff Credit Systems.............................6.37.32
2 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) LPR Brakes..................................................4.36
3 Alexander Efimkin (Rus) Quick Step...........................................4.43
4 Steven Cummings (GBr) Barloworld............................................5.25
5 Riccardo Riccò (Ita) Saunier Duval - Scott..................................5.44
6 Emanuele Sella (Ita) CSF Group Navigare.....................................6.21
7 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas
8 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Silence - Lotto
9 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Lampre
10 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank

See the complete results here.