2008 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11
Rider Team Time
1 Gabriele Bosisio ( ITA ) LPR Brakes-Ballan 4h 45 ' 05
2 Vasil Kiryienka ( BLR ) Tinkoff Credit Systems + 46
3 Emanuele Sella ( ITA ) CSF Group-Navigare + 1 ' 02
4 Félix Cárdenas ( COL ) Barloworld + 1 ' 33
5 Danilo Di Luca ( ITA ) LPR Brakes-Ballan + 2 ' 04
6 Riccardo Riccò ( ITA ) Saunier Duval-Scott + 2 ' 04
7 Leonardo Piepoli ( ITA ) Saunier Duval-Scott + 2 ' 07
8 Alberto Contador ( ESP ) Astana + 2 ' 10
9 Davide Rebellin ( ITA ) Gerolsteiner + 2 ' 55
10 Franco Pellizotti ( ITA ) Liquigas + 2 ' 55
Stage 7 result
The 2008 Giro d'Italia began on 10 May, with Stage 11 occurring on 21 May. The first stage, like it had been in 2007, was a team time trial, a stage where each member of the team raced together against the clock. This stage was won by the American team , who had viewed it as their primary goal in the Giro. It allowed their leader Christian Vande Velde to wear the first pink jersey as race leader. Unlike in most cycling Grand Tours, the first road race stage 2008 Giro was not a flat stage decided by sprinters, but rather one over a hilly course that would be won by a breakaway or a strong climber. Though Stages 3 and 4 were both flat and conquered by sprinters, this meant that it was unlikely that a sprinter would get to wear the pink jersey at any point in the race. The first half of the 2008 Giro contained six stages classified as medium-mountain, though many of them contained difficult, selective climbs that broke up the racing peloton. The sixth stage was shortened from its planned length of . This was due to riders speaking with race officials and asking that the finishing circuit be eliminated, as the long transfers between stage finish towns and start towns the next day had afforded them little rest to prepare for such a long stage. In that same stage, a 12-rider breakaway finished sufficiently ahead of the peloton that one of its members, Giovanni Visconti, became the new overall race leader, a lead that he would maintain for more than a week.