Cycling: Uran claims 10th stage victory in Giro

ALTOPIANO DEL MONTASIO, Italy (AFP) –

Rigoberto Uran wins the Olympic road race silver medal in London last July. Uran soloed to victory in the hilly 10th stage of the Giro d’Italia on Tuesday, as his Sky team leader and race favourite Bradley Wiggins lost more time to race leader Vincenzo Nibali.

Olympic silver medallist Rigoberto Uran soloed to victory in the hilly 10th stage of the Giro d’Italia on Tuesday, as his Sky team leader and race favourite Bradley Wiggins lost more time to race leader Vincenzo Nibali.

Uran attacked on his own before the final 4.4km climb to the summit finish of Altopiano del Montasio in what appeared to be a tactic designed to put the pressure on Nibali’s Astana team.

However Nibali and fellow victory contender Cadel Evans of Australia ultimately responded in positive fashion, upping the pace in the final few kilometres to leave Wiggins, the Tour de France champion, trailing by over 30secs.

Neither won the stage but Nibali and Evans came over the finish line of the 167km race, which began in Cordenons in the extreme northeast of Italy, 31secs behind Colombian Uran. Wiggins arrived 37sec later, meaning the Englishman is now fourth overall at 2min 05sec behind Nibali.

Evans, the 2011 Tour de France champion, is second overall only 41secs behind Nibali and must now be considered the Italian’s only real rival in a race which, given Wiggins’ performances in the past week, seems out of reach for the 2012 Tour de France champion.