Piepoli claims second win

Piepoli and Basso rode the final kilometre together after the tough conditions took its toll on the rest of the front runners.

Piepoli crossed the line in a time of three hours and 21 minutes and 26 seconds to claim his second stage victory of this year's Giro - he won stage 13.

Basso, who was on Piepoli's back wheel to the line, was not going to contest the final few metres and was content with second place clocking the same time.

Gutierrez rolled over the line 15 seconds back which assured him keeping second place in the overall standings.

Paolo Savoldelli was dealt a heavy blow after suffering the rhythm towards the end and falling off the pace of the riders out front.

Going into the stage the Discovery rider was holding onto third place in the overall classification with a margin of 17 seconds over his fellow countryman Gilberto Simoni of Suanier Duval.

But the Saunier Duval leader held his nerve to cross the line over 35 seconds ahead of Savoldelli, edging him into fourth overall.

The beginning of the day did not go quite go to plan.

The start of the race was delayed after some of the riders complained about the dangerous weather conditions high in the mountains.

The ride up to Passo Delle Erbe (1,987 metres) at the 96km mark and the awe-inspiring climb to the finish line at the Plan de Corones (2,273 metres), with the last 5km of the ascent carried out off-piste, caused the main concerns due to continuous snowfall.

The race organisers decided, therefore, to bypass the Passo Delle Erbe and shorten the stage arrival at the Plan de Corones - 13km of the course were finally scrapped.

The riders suffered throughout stage tackling driving rains and heavy winds.

Saunier Duval outfit spearheaded the peloton in their chase on Liquigas's Dario David Cioni and Benoit Poilvet of Credit Agricole who broke early on.

And despite the inclement weather conditions the two escapees worked well together and widened the gap to over 2 minutes.

But it was not to last and the group swallowed the two riders up as they made their way to the foot of the one-and-only climb of the day - 15 km from the finish line.

The pack then started to splinter and gaps appeared all the way along the peloton, most of the riders suffering from the cold and driving rains.

Raffaele Illiano of Selle Italia was the first to attack on the climb and was soon joined by T-Mobile's Scott Davis, but their lead quickly melted away as the chasing group of Basso, Piepoli, Simoni, Gutierrez, Damiano Cunego (Lampre) and the impressive Julio Alberto Perez Cuapio (Panaria) turned on the heat.

Franco Pellizoti (Liquigas) and John Gadret (AG2R) proved their worth once again with an absorbing last few kilometres that brought both riders into the fold.

Pellizotti - winner of stage ten - even drew level with the pack to subsequently overtake all to lead the way for a moment, but it was not to last.

Piepoli and Basso found a second wind to propel themselves into the lead for the final kilometre.

Pellizotti finished the day in fourth place 19 seconds off the pace, Cuapio crossed the line fifth 28 seconds back, while Gadret was 37 behind the pace.