For the second straight day, a break stayed ahead of the sprinters. Today, Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha) was the winner. The Tour de Romandie champion surged away from six companions with 24 km left to take Stage 11, a hilly, 153-km ride from Forli to Imola, in 3:55:08. Carlos Betancur (Ag2r-La Mondiale) outsprinted Franco Pellizotti (Androni Giacattoli-Venezuela) for second at 0:53. Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo Bank) remains the maglia rosa.

Rain greeted the riders at the start, but it did not put a damper on their aggression. Early attacks formed a group of 10 escapees. They were Betancur and Matteo Montaguti (both from Ag2r-La Mondiale), Pellizotti, Diego Rosa (Astana), Marek Rutkiewicz (CCC Sprandi-Polowice), Benat Intxausti and Ruben Fernandez (both from Movistar), Ryder Hesjedal (Cannondale-Garmin), Zakarin, and Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo). As was the case yesterday, the bunch kept the break on a short leash, and the escapees’ advantage topped out at 3:48. BMC led the pursuit on behalf of Philippe Gilbert.

The rain caused crashes. Betancur hit the deck but rejoined the break. In the peloton, Luca Paolini (Katusha) went down.

The break dropped Fernandez, Montaguti, and Rutkewicz. With 45 km left, the peloton trailed the fugitives by 0:57.

Fifteen km later, Stefan Kung (BMC) attacked. Orica-GreenEdge chased him. Kung was reeled in, but the peloton got no closer to the break.

On the Category 4 Tre Monti, Zakarin attacked. He forged a 20-second lead on the descent, and he extended it to 0:40 with 15 km left.

The rain became more severe. Uran crashed and cracked his helmet. The Colombian remounted and rejoined the peloton with 11 km to go.

Orica-GreenEdge attempted to make inroads in Zakarin’s advantage, but the Australian squad failed to do so. Tinkoff-Saxo and Astana took over at the front, and on the last ascent of Tre Monti Contador attacked. Fabio Aru (Astana) could not follow. Fortunately for the Italian, other riders did, taking him with them, and Contador was shut down. Ahead, Zakarin had plenty of time to celebrate his victory.

The Russian’s victory overjoyed him, and he benefited from his experience in Stage 8, which Benat Intxausti (Movistar) won. “I started the stage in good heart, and the breakaway riders worked well together,” Zakarin said. “I made one attempt to get away, and at the second try, I made it. I learned a lesson in the stage that Intxausti won because that day I made the mistake of attacking too early. This time, I waited until the last moment. I still can’t believe that I won the Tour de Romandie, and now I’ve won a stage of the Giro. I have many emotions, and I’m very happy.”

Contador said that his attack was unplanned and that he has recovered from the Stage 6 crash that dislocated his left shoulder. “The terrain wasn’t ideal for an attack,” the Tinkoff-Saxo Bank man said, “but sometimes you just go on instinct. It depends on whether you feel good or not. Today was very hard, much harder than yesterday, with 50km less. I’m feeling better each day, and the bruising on my legs is getting better. A thousand things can still happen. It may look easy, but there is still a very long way to go.”

In the overall, Contador leads teammates Aru and Mikel Landa (both from Astana) by 0:03 and 0:46, respectively. Stage 12 will probably not change this state of affairs. The 190-km ride from Imola to Vincenza will feature a lumpy last 50 km, culminating in a Category 4 climb to the finish. Sprinters who can climb, such as Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEdge), Philippe Gilbert (BMC), or Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida) will probably take this one. Which one will it be? Check in at www.roadcycling.com and find out!