2009 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21
Rider Team Time
1 Denis Menchov ( RUS ) Rabobank 70h 06 ' 30
DSQ Danilo Di Luca ( ITA ) LPR Brakes-Farnese Vini + 39
3 Carlos Sastre ( ESP ) Cervélo TestTeam + 2 ' 19
DSQ Franco Pellizotti ( ITA ) Liquigas + 3 ' 08
5 Ivan Basso ( ITA ) Liquigas + 3 ' 19
6 Levi Leipheimer ( USA ) Astana + 3 ' 21
7 Michael Rogers ( AUS ) Team Columbia-High Road + 5 ' 54
8 Stefano Garzelli ( ITA ) Acqua & Sapone-Caffè Mokambo + 8 ' 21
9 David Arroyo ( ESP ) Caisse d'Epargne + 8 ' 39
DSQ Tadej Valjavec ( SLO ) Ag2r-La Mondiale + 8 ' 47
General classification after stage 16
Stage 12 of the 2009 Giro d'Italia took place on 21 May; the race concluded with Stage 21 on 31 May. The second half of the Giro began with a long and challenging individual time trial in Cinque Terre. It was in this time trial that Denis Menchov took the overall lead in the race. This was followed by a flat stage, after which most of the sprinters in the Giro withdrew from the race, as they did not figure to be in contention in the hilly and mountainous stages to follow. The sixteenth stage was considered to be one of two queen stages, most difficult stages, of this Giro, as it contained many high mountain climbs and the Giro's most difficult summit stage finish. After the second rest day came an unusual stage, one that was very short in terms of sheer distance but on par with previous mountain stages in terms of difficulty. These stages were won by Carlos Sastre and Franco Pellizotti, respectively, who fought for the third step on the Giro's podium behind Menchov and previous race leader Danilo Di Luca. Though Sastre went on to win another stage, to Mount Vesuvius, it was Pellizotti who finished the Giro third overall. The Giro concluded, as it had in 2008, with another individual time trial, this time in the city of Rome. Despite a dramatic and much-replayed crash in the stage's final kilometer, Menchov preserved his overall lead through this stage and thus, the conclusion of the Giro, winning his third career Grand Tour.