Cadel Evans slips to third, Vincenzo Nibali tightens grip on Giro d'Italia

VIDEO: Italian Vincenzo Nibali virtually secured his maiden Giro d'Italia win as Cadel Evans slipped to third.

ITALIAN Vincenzo Nibali virtually secured his maiden Giro d'Italia win as Cadel Evans slipped to third.

The Astana team leader emerged from the fog over the line in 5hr 27min 41sec to finish 17sec ahead of a trio of Colombians, one of whom, Rigoberto Uran, deposed Cadel Evans from second place overall.

On a stage that was stripped of three climbs due to severe weather conditions and fears over the safety of riders on slippery descents, Nibali attacked in the final three kilometres of the 7km climb to the summit finish to all but secure victory ahead of Sunday's last, flat stage into Brescia.

Colombian Fabio Duarte (Team Colombia) finished second at 17sec with Uran (Sky) in third at 19 and Carlos Betancur (AG2R) finishing two seconds further adrift.

Giro-stage

Evans, who began the day in second overall at 4:02 behind Nibali, struggled to respond when Nibali's turn of pace prompted Uran and Betancur to follow.

The BMC leader, who entered the race with little real preparation in view of an overall victory, finished over a minute behind to slip to third overall.

Nibali now leads Uran by 4:43 while Evans slipped to 5:52.

The Sicilian's triumph would be his first on the Giro d'Italia, having won the Tour of Spain in 2010 and finished runner-up in his home race in 2011 and third overall at last year's Tour de France.

Nibali not only won in severe conditions but had to ward off off well-wishing supporters up the final ascent.

"I had to push away a few supporters, I thought they would make me crash," said Nibali.

"But finishing the race with a win like this is the cherry on the cake."

Vincenzo-Nibali

Vincenzo-Nibali

A day after the 19th stage was cancelled due to snow and sub-zero temperatures in the Dolomites, the peloton tackled a 20th stage that was re-routed to drop three major climbs.

While Uran's result will allow him to finish runner-up, Betancur's commendable third place finish, after he fought to get back to the group following a mechanical problem, put him into the top five and secured the white jersey for the best young rider.

"I really wanted this jersey, it was my objective since the start," said Betancur, who had been duelling with overnight category leader Rafal Majka of Poland.