The Spainish cyclist Carlos Sastre staged a stunning late charge to win the 16th stage of the Giro d'Italia, while Russia's Denis Menchov stayed top of the overall standings.
Sastre, the 2008 Tour de France winner reeled in Ukrainian Yaroslav Popovych on the final climb to finish the 237km slog in seven hours 11 minutes 54 seconds.
The result sees sastre move up from 5th to 3rd.
Menchov, twice Tour of Spain winner, powered away from his main rival Danilo Di Luca to come home 25 seconds behind the Spaniard and increase his advantage over Italian Di Luca, the 2007 winner, to 39 seconds.
The day's big loser was Astana's Levi Leipheimer who dropped from third to sixth.
Seven-times Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, Leipheimer's compatriot and team mate, is 11:06 behind Menchov in 12th.
The riders have a rest day tonight, followed by a punishing climb from Chieti to Blockhaus in Di Luca's earthquake-hit home region of Abruzzo.
The centenary edition of the race finishes in Rome on Sunday.
