ASSISI, Italy ? Spanish rider Joaquin Rodriguez took the overall lead in the Giro d?Italia from Canadian Ryder Hesjedal on Tuesday after winning the hilly 10th stage with a sprint finish.
One of the pre-race favourites, Rodriguez finished the 186-kilometre leg from Civitavecchia to Assisi in four hours, 25 minutes and five seconds for his first Giro stage win. The Katusha rider is 17 seconds ahead overall from Hesjedal, with Paolo Tiralongo of Italy 32 seconds back.
?The goal is the podium and to fight for the Giro victory,? Rodriguez said. ?The last week will be super tough and you?ve got to race intelligently. ... No matter what happens, at least now I?ve worn the only leader?s jersey missing from my collection in the three major races (with the Tour de France and Spanish Vuelta).?
Bartoz Huzarski of Poland was two seconds back in the stage. Italy?s Giovanni Visconti finished third, four seconds behind.
Hesjedal was only six seconds behind in sixth place, but Rodriguez moved ahead of him courtesy of a 20-second time bonus for the stage victory.
Hesjedal, who is from Victoria, was the first Canadian to lead the race.
The stage began at the port of Civitavecchia on Italy?s western coast, then crossed into Tuscany with a difficult finish in the ancient hill town of Assisi.
With four kilometres to go, there was a tough climb to San Damiano with gradients as steep as 15 per cent. Then after a brief downhill section, the stage ended in Assisi?s historical centre.
Boucherville?s Dominique Rollin finished 74th to move up seven spots to 143rd overall.
Christian Meier of Sussex, N.B., was 159th to drop one spot to 147th, while Svein Tuft of Langley, B.C., finished 160th to fall one spot to 164th.
Frank Schleck, another pre-race favourite, struggled and finished 26 seconds behind Rodriguez to drop out of the top 10.
Filippo Pozzato withdrew before the stage after breaking a bone in his right hand in a fall at the end of Stage 9. Pozzato accepted responsibility for causing the crash, which resulted in a multi-rider pileup.
Stage 11 Wednesday is the race?s longest, a 255-kilometre leg from Assisi to Montecatini Terme (8:30 a.m., RDS; 9:30 a.m., RSE).
The race ends May 27 in Milan.
? Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette
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