Euskaltel's reliable duo at it again

Samuel Sánchez and Egoi Martínez both went on the offensive during the weather-shortened stage 15 of the Giro d'Italia on Sunday.

The 144-kilometre ride started out in Cesare Torinese, as planned, but the peloton wasn't able to climb the Galibier over the border in France in its entirety, the appalling weather shortening the final ascent by  some four kilometres.

That didn't stop Egoi Martínez and Samuel Sánchez in trying to make a race of it, though, with both Grand Tour veterans making sorties off the front.

First Martínez jumped clear along with the likes of Robert Gesink and Robert Kiserlovski on the Télégraphe, before team captain 'Samu' made a dash for it inside the last five kilometres of the stage.

Sánchez drew with him Liquigas' Damiano Caruso, but with Giovanni Visconti up the road heading for success and Caruso not in a very cooperative mood it was soon doomed to fail.

They were duly reeled in, and Visconti soloed to a memorable stage win a minute or so ahead of the main general classification contenders. Heading into the second rest day and the last week of the Giro, Sánchez is 17th overall.

Results:

• (1, Giovanni Visconti (Movistar), 4:40:48)
• 16, Samuel Sánchez, 1:06
• 36, Egoi Martínez, 2:58
• 43, Gorka Verdugo, 3:41
• 57, Jorge Azanza, 9:53
• 73, Ricardo Mestre, 14:04
• 99, Robert Vrecer, 21:15
• 126, Ioannis Tamouridis, 27:54
• 136, Miguel Mínguez, s.t.