2010 Giro d'Italia Femminile, Classification leadership
In addition to this, there was a mountains classification, which awarded a green jersey. Points were allocated for the first few riders over selected mountain passes on the route, with more difficult passes paying more points, and the jersey would be received by the rider with the most overall points to their name.


2010 Giro d'Italia Femminile, Classification leadership
Fourth, there was the jersey for the Best Young Rider, which was granted to the highest-placed rider on the General classification aged 23 or under. This rider would receive a white jersey.


2010 Giro d'Italia Femminile, Classification leadership
Finally, there was the jersey for Best Italian Rider, awarded to the Italian rider placed highest in the general classification. This rider would receive a blue jersey.


2010 Giro d'Italia Femminile, Classification leadership
In addition to the jerseys, an award was given for Best Team. This result was determined by adding the total times of each team's top three riders at the finish of each stage.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11
The 2010 Giro d'Italia began on 8 May, and stage 11 occurred on 19 May. The race began in Amsterdam in the Netherlands with an individual time trial and two flat stages before transferring to Italy. The transfer made an uncommonly early rest day in a Grand Tour, coming just three days into the three-week race. Many crashes occurred in the stages in the Netherlands, leading to some unexpected big time gaps before the transfer to Italy. Three different riders led the race after the three days in the Netherlands.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11
The first stage in Italy was a team time trial, the fifth successive year the discipline has featured in the Giro. This stage transferred the race lead to a fourth rider in as many stages, Vincenzo Nibali. Though many of the stages in the first half of the Giro were flat or undulating, and theoretically fairly straightforward, there were repeated large time gaps from day to day. The first mountain stage was stage 8, which concluded with a long climb to Monte Terminillo.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11
Stage 11 was the longest in the race, and featured another surprise, a 50-strong breakaway which greatly shook up the overall standings before the more mountainous second half of the Giro. Alexander Vinokourov had held the race lead prior to that stage, but lost it to Richie Porte, who figured into the winning break.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 1
8 May 2010 — Amsterdam (Netherlands), 8.4 km (5.2 mi) (individual time trial)


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 1
The Giro opened with a short, flat time trial in Amsterdam, the ninth time that the Giro has begun outside Italy. There were a number of tight turns in the course, which began at the Museumplein and ended at the Olympic Stadium, making for a stage that favored time trial specialists.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 1
Intermittent rain made the time trial difficult for various riders throughout the day. Astana's Andriy Hryvko, the five-time defending Ukrainian national time trial champion, set the first real time to beat early on the day, clocking in at 10'31". Hryvko was the 14th man to leave the starthouse, and his time held up until the 60th man, Team Saxo Bank's Gustav Larsson, time trial silver medalist from the most recent world championships and Olympics, was six seconds better at 10'25".


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 1
An hour and a half later, the day's biggest surprise came when Brent Bookwalter from Cadel Evans' BMC Racing Team, riding in his first Grand Tour, put up 10'20" as the day's new best time. The only man to do better on the day was Team Sky captain and time trial specialist Bradley Wiggins, stopping the clock in 10'18" to earn the first pink jersey. Of the Giro's overall favorites, Evans finished best-placed, on the same time as Bookwalter for third place.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 2
9 May 2010 — Amsterdam (Netherlands) to Utrecht (Netherlands), 209 km (130 mi)


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 2
The first road race of the 2010 Giro was flat, starting in Amsterdam and ending in Utrecht. Two very small climbs occurred shortly before the midpoint of the stage, to decide the first wearer of the green jersey. The roads leading into the finish in Utrecht twist and turn repeatedly.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 2
There were a large number of crashes during the stage, which commentators and team managers alike described as unprecedented. The course was noted to have a lot of street furniture on it, which compounded with riders' nerves as the number of crashes mounted higher and higher to make the day of racing more perilous.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 2
The day's breakaway numbered four – Paul Voss, Rick Flens, Stefano Pirazzi, and Mauro Facci. Team Sky, at the head of the peloton, allowed them a little over 5 minutes' advantage before they set to making the chase. One of the day's massive crashes occurred with 40 km (25 mi) for the peloton, bringing down around 30 riders, including race leader Bradley Wiggins. Around this time, Flens tried to solo from the leading group, but the peloton caught him with 24 km (15 mi) left to race.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 2
Another huge crash took place 7.2 km (4.5 mi) from the finish line, depleting the leading group to only 58 riders and leaving Wiggins and Carlos Sastre, among others, 37 seconds back at the finish. The stage ended in a sprint finish, as expected, which was won by Tyler Farrar. Cadel Evans took over the leaders jersey.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 3
10 May 2010 — Amsterdam (Netherlands) to Middelburg (Netherlands), 224 km (139 mi)


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 3
Starting again from Amsterdam, stage 3 included portions dipping below sea level. The route headed south from Amsterdam along the North Sea, crossing through the islands of Zeeland before ending in Middelburg on Walcheren.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 3
Crosswinds blowing from the coast fractured the peloton early on. The day's breakaway, comprising Olivier Kaisen, Jérôme Pineau, and Tom Stamsnijder was caught well before the end of the stage. It appeared for much of the day that Damiano Cunego would lose over a minute to the race's overall favorites after he missed a selection early on and rode much of the stage behind them. His group also contained André Greipel and Greg Henderson, however, and their teams made an effective chase to catch back up to race leader Cadel Evans' group.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 3
With 30 km (19 mi) left to race, a major crash occurred, taking down most of Team Sky, including Henderson and former race leader Bradley Wiggins. The crash also brought down Christian Vande Velde, who was forced to retire. It made for a crucial selection, as 29 riders at the head of the peloton were able to avoid it and finished 46 seconds better than Evans' group. Greipel was present in the leading group for the sprint finish, but he was unable to respond to the sprint kick from Quick-Step's Wouter Weylandt, who easily took the stage win. The best-placed rider in the general classification in the leading group was Alexander Vinokourov, who became the third rider in as many days to pull on the pink jersey.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 3
Despite the course's extremely flat profile, large time gaps resulted from the stage. Alessandro Petacchi and darkhorse overall contender Domenico Pozzovivo missed an early selection and never recovered, finishing eight minutes back along with riders like Marzio Bruseghin, Filippo Pozzato, and Gilberto Simoni. Five Team Sky riders including Wiggins lost four minutes, and the last group on the road lost nearly 15 minutes.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 4
12 May 2010 — Savigliano to Cuneo, 32.5 km (20.2 mi) (team time trial)


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 4
After the transfer to Italy, which took the riders to Savigliano in the Piedmont, the first stage on Italian soil was, as it had been since 2006, a team time trial. The route was on a slight uphill for its duration, which was atypical for a team time trial. The course headed south on mainly straight roads from Savigliano to Cuneo, with intermediate time checks in Genola and Centallo.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 4
The fourth team to leave the starthouse, Cadel Evans' BMC Racing Team, set the early time to beat, bettering the teams before them by nearly a minute. Their time of 37'58" stood for close to an hour, with the teams that followed them failing to beat provisional second place team Footon–Servetto–Fuji's time of 38'40". The first team faster than BMC was Team Katusha, with Mikhail Ignatiev pulling his teammates to a time of 37'04", eventually fourth at the end of the day.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 4
Stage favorites Team Sky took the course just after the Russian team and brought five riders home in 36'50" to take over the top spot. After Omega Pharma–Lotto and Cervélo TestTeam both turned in solid rides, at 37'23" and 37'15" respectively, another favorite in Garmin–Transitions was next on the road. The team rode without one of its captains, Christian Vande Velde, who had been forced to retire from the Giro in the last stage in the Netherlands after crashing. His remaining teammates had wanted to dedicate their prospective victory to him, but Vandevelde's presence proved sorely missed as the team managed only 37'26" and eighth on the day.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 4
The last four teams to start were Liquigas–Doimo, Team HTC–Columbia, Team Saxo Bank, and Astana, with the pink jersey hanging in the balance as the four teams had riders tightly bunched in the overall standings from the previous stage. Liquigas-Doimo had all nine riders together as they entered Cuneo, while other teams lost riders early and often in the stage. Six crossed the finish line together in 36'37", supplanting Team Sky for best on the day.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 4
Team HTC-Columbia and Team Saxo Bank both failed to top Liquigas-Doimo in their rides, meaning Vincenzo Nibali stood to be the fourth new race leader in a row pending current race leader Alexander Vinokourov and team Astana's ride. The Kazakh team lost Alexsandr Dyachenko, Valentin Iglinskiy, and Enrico Gasparotto early in their ride, having only six riders together for most of the stage. Roman Kireyev fell off with 3 kilometers left, and Gorazd Štangelj also lost the pace well before the finish line.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 4
Štangelj rode back to his teammates the first time he came off the back, but he lost the pace again in the final kilometer. A visibly upset Vinokourov had to sit up and wait for him, costing the team the seconds they needed to keep Vinokourov in the pink jersey. Nibali became the new race leader.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 5
13 May 2010 — Novara to Novi Ligure, 168 km (104 mi)


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 5
After another transfer, the fifth stage was flat, entering Liguria, with two short climbs occurring about two-thirds of the way into the stage. The stage paid tribute to Fausto Coppi, passing through his hometown of Castellania and ending in Novi Ligure, where he lived later in his life. Novi Ligure was also the hometown of Costante Girardengo, also honored in this stage. The riders saw the finish line in Novi Ligure twice, taking a finishing circuit in the town.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 5
A four-man breakaway distinguished themselves after 25 km (16 mi). The group consisted of Yukiya Arashiro, Jérôme Pineau, Julien Fouchard, and mountains classification leader Paul Voss, after a move instigated by Arashiro. Voss sat up after the second small climb on the course, having taken first-place points on both. The group's maximum time gap was four minutes, at the Passo Coppi in Castellania. Lampre–Farnese Vini set to making the chase, but for a while they were the only team chasing, meaning the time gap did not fall very fast – it was still 2'50" by the 30 km (19 mi) to go mark.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 5
The teams of the race's other premier sprinters joined the chase in the finishing circuit in Novi Ligure. With 5 km (3.1 mi) to go, Arashiro, Pineau, and Fouchard held a tenuous lead of under one minute. The chase continued into the final kilometer, and the three managed to stay away by a margin of 4 seconds over the hard-charging sprinters at the head of the peloton. Pineau was the winner, over Fouchard in second.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 5
Reactions to the failure to catch the breakaway varied, from finger-pointing to complaints over the Giro directors' descriptions of the finishing circuit to simply crediting the leading trio for their combativity. With the win, Pineau took over the lead in the points classification, earning the red jersey for stage six. There was no significant change to the race's overall standings.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 6
14 May 2010 — Fidenza to Marina di Carrara, 166 km (103 mi)


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 6
Another transfer took the riders to the Fidenza in the region of Emilia-Romagna. Stage 6 was categorized intermediate, going over the Passo del Brattello after 78 km (48 mi) and the Spolverina and the Bedizzano climbs shortly before the finish.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 6
After 45 km (28 mi) of racing, Matthew Lloyd and Rubens Bertogliati became the day's signature break. Since they posed no threat to the overall standings, with Lloyd at 11'13" back of race leader Vincenzo Nibali the better-placed of the two, the peloton was content to allow them a big lead. Their maximum advantage was six minutes, before the ascent of the day's second climb, when a five-man chase group formed. The five cut into the leaders' advantage very quickly at first, but they were unable to make the bridge, being eventually swept back up by the peloton.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 6
On the ascent of the Bedizzano, 11 km (6.8 mi) from the finish line, Lloyd shed Bertogliati and rode the rest of the way to the stage win on his own. He was first over all three of the day's climbs, and so took the green jersey as mountains classification leader. Bertogliati was very nearly absorbed by the peloton in the stage's final kilometer, staying out in front of them by only 9 seconds to hold on to second place. Danilo Hondo led the peloton across the line and momentarily thought he had won the stage, lifting his arms as he crossed the line.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 6
Paolo Tiralongo, who had been in tenth overall and was considered a key support rider for Alexander Vinokourov, crashed at the 76 km (47 mi) mark. He was taken off the road in an ambulance, but was not seriously hurt. Ag2r–La Mondiale squad leader Guillaume Bonnafond crashed at the same time and suffered a gash near his right eye. Both riders retired from the Giro.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 7
15 May 2010 — Carrara to Montalcino, 215 km (134 mi)


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 7
Stage 7 was also an intermediate stage, beginning in the same city as the last one ended. It was flat for the first 100 km (62 mi) before a jagged second half. The race entered Tuscany in this stage, visiting the Passo del Rospatoio and the Poggio Civitella before the finish. The finish came on unpaved roads that are used yearly by the Italian semi-classic Montepaschi Strade Bianche.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 7
The beginning of the stage was ridden at a very high pace, keeping any breakaway attempts in check. After 60 km (37 mi), Nicki Sørensen and Rick Flens escaped. The flat first half of the stage let them get an advantage of over nine minutes at one point, but the hilly second half combined with the day's heavy rain took its toll on them. At the 60 km (37 mi) to go mark, a selection occurred in the pink jersey group, and those left behind were never able to regain the pace.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 7
The race's main overall contenders were in the first group, including Alexander Vinokourov, Cadel Evans, Damiano Cunego, Stefano Garzelli, and the Liquigas–Doimo duo of Ivan Basso and race leader Vincenzo Nibali. Notably left behind were riders who had previously been considered contenders, like Bradley Wiggins and Carlos Sastre, who finished the day 4'30" and 5'20" respectively back of the stage winner.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 7
The leaders brought back Sørensen and Flens with 41 km (25 mi) remaining in the stage. The first section of unpaved dirt roads (strada bianche is Italian for "white roads," referring to such areas) took its toll on Nibali, when one of his teammates crashed and subsequently brought him down with him. Nibali needed a bike change, and by the time he got one, Evans, Vinokourov, Cunego, and others had gotten away and were a minute and a half ahead.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 7
The move had been instigated by Vinokourov, and he stood to gain the most from it being the highest placed in the overall standings. The rain continued throughout the stage and made the dirt roads muddy. The cold and wet weather combined with the poor road surface caused Vinokourov to question after the stage whether such roads should be used in a stage race at all.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 7
Vinokourov, Cunego, and Evans finished together and contested a sprint for the stage win. Cunego went first, after a hairpin left-hand turn, but Evans had the better timing and crossed the line 2 seconds ahead of his companions. Vinokourov re-assumed the pink jersey.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 8
16 May 2010 — Chianciano to Monte Terminillo, 189 km (117 mi)


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 8
This was the Giro's first mountain stage, concluding with a climb to Monte Terminillo. Prior to the Terminillo, the course undulated roughly, visiting two other categorized climbs and other rises in elevation. The Terminillo climb took 16.1 km (10.0 mi), gaining 1,172 m (3,845 ft) of vertical elevation for an average gradient of 7.3%. The steepest stretches of the climb reach 12%.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 8
The day began with sprint great Alessandro Petacchi and 2009 youth classification runner-up Francesco Masciarelli both abandoning the race. Petacchi had been suffering from bronchitis and had not been adequately recovering from one day to the next.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 8
There were a few breakaway attempts before Monte Nibbio, the first categorized climb of the day, but none got away as the peloton hit the ascent of that climb together. As the summit neared, mountains classification leader Matthew Lloyd attacked and was first to the line to pad his lead in that classification. Several other riders followed him, leading to a split in the peloton. A short while later, with over 100 km (62 mi) left to race, 17 riders from 15 teams formed the day's defining breakaway. Lampre–Farnese Vini and Astana handled the pacemaking at the front of the first large group, keeping the breakaway's time advantage to under three minutes. When Acqua & Sapone and BMC Racing Team joined the chase, the gap fell precipitously.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 8
At the front of the race, with 14 km (8.7 mi) to go, Chris Anker Sørensen tried to leave his breakaway companions and solo to victory. He was easily covered by Simone Stortoni, and the two rode the next eight kilometers together ahead of the main field. The pink jersey group had absorbed the other riders from the 17-strong break, and a few riders from the pink jersey group who did not pose overall threats were able to break free and finish ahead of them. Among them was Cervélo TestTeam's Xavier Tondó, who had stayed with his team leader Carlos Sastre on previous days but had been specifically released by Sastre to ride his own race at this point, as Sastre continued to struggle.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 8
Though Sørensen seemed to be in physical distress for most of the final 14 km (8.7 mi), he was able to shed Stortoni rather easily with 6 km (3.7 mi) and stayed out front for the stage win. The overall standings were reshuffled somewhat, as David Millar, Linus Gerdemann, and Thomas Rohregger, who had all been in the top ten overnight, were dropped on the climb and lost time. This made for the odd result of Richie Porte and Marco Pinotti also being dropped and losing time, but actually moving up overall, since they did not lose as much time.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 9
17 May 2010 — Frosinone to Cava de' Tirreni, 188 km (117 mi)


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 9
This stage was flat, without any climbs giving points for the mountains classification. The Giro reached its southernmost point in this stage, Cava de' Tirreni in Campania.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 9
After 9 km (5.6 mi) had been covered, Giampaolo Cheula, Tom Stamsnijder, and Michael Barry slipped away from the peloton along with breakaway specialist Mikhail Ignatiev. Team HTC–Columbia, eager to set up their leader André Greipel for a prospective mass sprint, paced the main field for most of the stage and kept the leaders' maximum advantage at around three minutes for most of the stage. The rain on the day was heavy, leaving standing puddles that sprayed riders in the peloton in the face as their bicycles rode through it.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 9
Garmin–Transitions also came forward later in the day, and by 30 km (19 mi) to go, a split occurred in the peloton because of the pace Garmin forced in efforts to catch the break. Cadel Evans and Carlos Sastre were both initially left behind – Evans made his way back to the leading group and did not lose any time, but Sastre again lost out and led the second group across the line 1'49" back of the stage winner.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 9
Greipel himself was nearly cracked by the pace in the stage's final kilometers. While he did finish with the leading group, he was just 19th on the day, not contesting the sprint. Race leader Alexander Vinokourov was unexpectedly the first rider to try to sprint to the finish line, hoping for one of the time bonuses available to the first three finishers. Second-place man Evans marked this move and the two were briefly away in the stage's final kilometer, but they were overhauled by the sprint trains which came up behind them. Team HTC–Columbia's Matthew Goss was trying to lead Greipel out for the sprint, but when he saw that the German was not at the front of the field with 400 m (1,300 ft) to go, he decided to race for the line himself, and won the stage.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 10
18 May 2010 — Avellino to Bitonto, 220 km (140 mi)


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 10
This stage was also categorized flat, though it had a few short hills, including the categorized Valico dell'Imbandima after 94 km (58 mi). It headed east into Apulia in preparation for a northward run to the Dolomites later in the race.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 10
This was a largely straightforward day of racing. A three-rider breakaway, comprising Hubert Dupont, Charly Wegelius, and Dario Cataldo, formed early on in the stage. They attained a maximum advantage of seven minutes, as the peloton took a relaxed approach to the first few hours of racing, at last enjoying nice weather. When Team Sky and Team HTC–Columbia came forward to make the chase, the time gap fell precipitously.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 10
The roads into Bitonto were very long and straight, meaning the peloton could see the breakaway ahead of them at times when they still had a deficit of over a minute to them. With 16.7 km (10.4 mi) left to race, Dupont, Wegelius, and Cataldo were brought back. Team Sky's top sprinter Greg Henderson crashed and took several kilometers to get back to the leading group, leaving their sprint train disorganized. It fell to Garmin–Transitions and Liquigas–Doimo to organize the sprint, and their top sprinters were first on the day, with points classification leader Tyler Farrar from Garmin the victor.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 10
After the stage, Farrar praised the leadout he had received from Julian Dean, as it not only gave him the perfect acceleration on the slight uphill finish, it also split the field, as only seven other riders finished with the same time. There was no significant change to the overall standings with the day's results.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 11
19 May 2010 — Lucera to L'Aquila, 256 km (159 mi)


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 11
This was the longest stage of the 2010 Giro. It was categorized intermediate, with a hilly profile including three categorized climbs. It was the first north-bound stage of the Giro, going to L'Aquila in the region of Abruzzo, visiting some of the area damaged by the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 11
A breakaway formed starting at the 20 km (12 mi) mark of the stage. Little by little, more and more riders came clear into the leading group. There were more than 50 riders in it at one point; the only team absent from the leading group was Astana, and most teams had three or more riders present. This group took a maximum advantage on the pink jersey of over 20 minutes.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 11
The overall favorites left in the pink jersey group either didn't know who was in the leading group or miscalculated how much advantage to give them, because sixth-place man and best young rider Richie Porte was among those in the escape, as were squad leaders Carlos Sastre and Bradley Wiggins, who had fallen out of contention days before but now suddenly stood to be right back in it.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 11
The leading group worked cohesively for much of the stage. Cervélo TestTeam, Caisse d'Epargne, Team Sky, and Team Saxo Bank rode a hard tempo in the group since they stood to have riders high-placed in the overall standings should they gain significant time on the day. Some riders, in particular teammates of Stefano Garzelli, Michele Scarponi and Cadel Evans, were called back to the pink jersey group to try to help make the pace.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 11
Astana and BMC Racing Team were both decimated by riders abandoning the race at this point, as only five riders remained for both squads at the end of the day. This made it difficult for them to organize the chase effort. For a while, Astana, Acqua & Sapone, BMC Racing Team, and Liquigas–Doimo all mounted a coordinated chase, and the time gap to the leaders fell from 20 minutes to 13 by the summit of the Capo di Valle, the day's last climb.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 11
While this was still ample time to allow the stage winner to come from the front group, it figured to be whittled down to 7 or 8 minutes by the finish since the remaining terrain in the stage was mostly flat. However, right at the summit of the climb, Liquigas–Doimo stopped sending riders to the front of the pink jersey group, essentially giving up on the chase. This caused the other three teams to abandon the chase as well, and the time gap stayed right at 13 minutes to the end of the stage.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 11
The leading group fragmented a little as riders attacked for the stage win. Team Katusha's Evgeni Petrov secured his first victory in seven years with a well-timed attack in the stage's final kilometer. He came home 5 seconds ahead of Dario Cataldo and Sastre, and 7 seconds over a group of other riders from the break. Forty riders finished scattered ahead of the pink jersey group.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 11
Scarponi, Garzelli, Vincenzo Nibali, and Damiano Cunego gained three seconds against overnight race leader Alexander Vinokourov, but they all lost the better part of 13 minutes to the leading group, and all fell from the top ten in the overall standings. Porte became the new race leader, adding the pink jersey to the white he had previously been holding.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 11
Astana and Liquigas–Doimo blamed each other for the pink jersey group's errors on the day. Vinokourov felt that since his team was depleted and that Nibali and Ivan Basso stood a better chance to win the Giro than he did anyway that Liquigas–Doimo should have taken up the chase. The Italian team, for their part, felt that since Astana had held the pink jersey at the time that it was on them to organize the chase.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 11
A 51-rider group, including most of the Giro's remaining sprinters, finished 46'31" back on the day. This put them at risk of being removed from the race, since they were outside the time limit based on the stage winner's time. Race organizers chose not to eliminate such a large group of riders, but they assessed each of them a 25-point penalty in the points classification. This affected Tyler Farrar, who had a 32-point lead in the classification reduced to just seven, opening up the competition.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21
Stage 12 of the 2010 Giro d'Italia took place on 20 May in Città Sant'Angelo, and the race concluded with stage 21 in Verona on 30 May. Seven of the last ten stages in the race contained mountain climbs, including the uphill individual time trial to Plan de Corones four days before the end of the race. The last eight stages were clustered in northeast Italy, with six summit finishes among them.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21
One of the highlights of the second half of the Giro was Monte Zoncolan; although its peak is not as high as other climbs in the race, its gradients are extremely difficult, averaging at 12% with maximum stretches of 22%. Ivan Basso won this stage, and in so doing positioned himself well for the conclusion of the race.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21
As the second half of the Giro began, young Australian Richie Porte held the race leadership by way of having been in a fortunate 50-rider strong breakaway in stage 11. The first two stages of the Giro's second half were flat and did not alter the overall standings in any significant way. A mountain climb to Monte Grappa in stage 14 transferred the race leader's pink jersey to David Arroyo of the Caisse d'Epargne team. Arroyo, a skilled descender, tried to hold off Ivan Basso and the Liquigas–Doimo team in the Giro's final stages, but on a relatively easy climb to Aprica in stage 19, Basso took the pink jersey for the first time en route to his second career Giro crown.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 12
20 May 2010 — Città Sant'Angelo to Porto Recanati, 191 km (119 mi)


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 12
There were two small categorized climbs toward the end of the stage, the first of which marked the race's entrance into the province of Macerata, on roads often visited by Tirreno–Adriatico. The riders saw the finish line in Porto Recanati twice, taking a finishing circuit in the town.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 12
Rabobank's Rick Flens attacked 9 km (5.6 mi) into the stage, to form the day's principal breakaway. He rode alone for a time, but 32 km (20 mi) later, Yuriy Krivtsov and Olivier Kaisen made the bridge to join him. The peloton was mindful not to give them an enormous time gap like the breakaway in stage 11 had gotten. Garmin–Transitions, working for the Giro's only double stage winner Tyler Farrar, took the pace, and kept the time gap manageable. The trio had 9'37" at one point, but as the circuit in Porto Recanati began, their advantage was just 1'10". With 14 km (8.7 mi) left to race, the three-rider breakaway was brought back into the peloton.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 12
At that point, counterattacks began. Francesco Faili and four others briefly came clear, but they were not able to stay away for the stage win either. When their group was brought back, a ten-rider group containing several overall contenders, including Damiano Cunego, Michele Scarponi, Stefano Garzelli, Ivan Basso, Vincenzo Nibali, and Alexander Vinokourov got free on the third-category climb preceding the finish. Their advantage never extended beyond a few seconds, but they stayed away and finished 10 seconds ahead of the rest of the peloton. Filippo Pozzato, the strongest sprinter in the group and the rider with the least overall chances, won the stage. Pozzato was the first Italian rider to win a stage in this Giro, and it was his first career Giro stage win.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 12
Behind them, in the peloton, Cadel Evans was the most notable rider to miss the selection. He tried to force the pace to bring the break back, but clashed with Daniele Righi at the front of the peloton. Righi was trying to ride a much slower pace to allow his teammate Cunego the chance to stay away for victory. Evans and Righi nearly came to blows after the stage. They were both later fined by the UCI, though they shook hands and made up before the next stage. The top ten to the overall standings were unchanged by the day's results.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 13
21 May 2010 — Porto Recanati to Cesenatico, 222 km (138 mi)


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 13
The first two-thirds of the course was mainly flat, following the Adriatic coast. The route then cut inland for two climbs, including one with a maximum gradient of 18%. The stage finished with 40 km (25 mi) of descending or flat racing. The arrival town of Cesenatico was the hometown of Marco Pantani, and the stage commemorated him.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 13
Seventeen riders from 16 teams formed the day's breakaway, coming together as a cohesive group after 62 km (39 mi) of racing. Team Katusha was the only team with two riders in the move; they were Joan Horrach and Sergei Klimov. Iban Mayoz in 26th overall was the highest-placed man in the group, over 16 minutes behind race leader Richie Porte, so the peloton had little interest in chasing this escape group. Their maximum advantage over the main field was eight and a half minutes.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 13
On the Perticara climb, the first of the day, Vladimir Karpets, who had been in 19th overall and represented a much bigger overall threat than anyone in the escape, attacked and came clear of the peloton. He eventually found Horrach, who paced him as far as he could before hitting the wall. Liquigas–Doimo tried to mount a chase to bring back Karpets, but he stayed away and gained two minutes against the peloton. He also moved up five places in the overall standings, passing both Ivan Basso and Vincenzo Nibali to be 14th overall at day's end.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 13
On the descent of the Perticara, various riders in the slightly depleted leading group attacked, but none succeeded in escaping. Kalle Kriit, Mayoz, Tom Stamsnijder, Mauro Facci, and Cameron Meyer eventually took a lead over the others for a few kilometers, though most of the breakaway group again came together as the finish line neared. Craig Lewis tried to solo for the stage win with an attack from 1,500 m (4,900 ft) out. He seemed poised for victory for a few moments, but the group caught him 100 m (330 ft) from the end of the stage.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 13
Manuel Belletti from the small Colnago–CSF Inox team outsprinted Greg Henderson to win the stage. Belletti is from the area where the stage ended. He recalled after the stage that in his youth his father would take him to see Pantani ride, and he dedicated the victory to both of them. The peloton finished 7'28" back on the stage, but other than for Karpets' attack there was no major change to the overall standings.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 14
22 May 2010 — Ferrara to Asolo (Monte Grappa), 201 km (125 mi)


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 14
Monte Grappa, which used to feature frequently in the Giro, was the first of several major climbs in the Giro's final week. It was the only categorized climb in this stage, and reached with just over 40 km (25 mi) remaining. The race took the hardest route up the climb, which averages 8% gradients with maximum gradients of 14%.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 14
The pace was high in the peloton as the stage began. This was one of the few stages in the Giro to this point run in nice weather. After 35 km (22 mi) were covered, and nearly an hour spent racing, Markus Eibegger instigated the day's breakaway, being followed in his attack by four others. The peloton let them get an advantage of over eight minutes by the 60 km (37 mi) mark. The time gap hovered there until the Grappa began, at which point Lampre–Farnese Vini and Androni Giocattoli led a coordinated chase.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 14
Bradley Wiggins attacked out of the group of favorites and found his teammate Steven Cummings, a member of the original breakaway, up the road. While Cummings paced him to a gap before cracking, Wiggins was unable to stay away for very long. Vincenzo Nibali was the next on the attack, drawing with him Michele Scarponi. Cadel Evans and Ivan Basso made the bridge, and the four of them absorbed the remnants of the morning escape, quickly becoming the leading group on the road.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 14
The climb went above the tree line, meaning there was wind and rain facing the riders at the top of the Grappa. Basso was first over the line for the mountain sprint, but it was Nibali who took aggressive lines on the descent, soloing to the finish 23 seconds ahead of the other three. Basso did not work in the chase, protecting the interests of his teammate up the road, but took the sprint for second place and the 12 bonus seconds it afforded.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 14
The race lead transferred as a result of the day's racing; overnight leader Richie Porte finished over four minutes behind Nibali and lost the jersey to David Arroyo. Arroyo also lost time on the stage, but did not lose as much. Having also been in the important breakaway in stage 11, Arroyo was in position to take the pink jersey.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 15
23 May 2010 — Mestre to Zoncolan, 218 km (135 mi)


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 15
The first 70 km (43 mi) of this stage were flat, preceding some heavy climbing. The finish was on the 10.1 km (6.3 mi) long Monte Zoncolan, with an average gradient of 12%, and stretches of up to 22%. It was preceded on the course by three other climbs. This was the third passage of the Giro over the Zoncolan; Gilberto Simoni won each of the first two, in 2003 and 2007.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 15
In the flat section of the course, six riders opened up a substantial lead on the peloton. These were Ludovic Turpin, Jackson Rodriguez, Guillaume Le Floch, Nico Sijmens, Jérôme Pineau, and Francesco Reda. The peloton gave them 14 minutes, but with the massive Zoncolan climb ahead, there was little chance that they would stay away. Liquigas–Doimo, one of the few squads that still had all nine riders in the Giro, drove a very hard pace in the main field when the climbing began.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 15
The time gap fell slowly on the day's first climb, the Sella Chianzutanis, but the second, the Passo Duron, was far steeper and took its toll on the leaders. There were five left out front with just over three minutes' advantage on a depleted peloton of about 25 riders able to keep Liquigas–Doimo's pace.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 15
The Zoncolan climb completely broke the race open. Very few riders climbed the mountain together, and the overall favorites quickly absorbed the remnants of the morning breakaway. An attack from Michele Scarponi opened things up in the favorites' group, and Ivan Basso was the first to respond. Basso drew with him Marco Pinotti and Cadel Evans, as Alexander Vinokourov, Carlos Sastre, and Bradley Wiggins all fell off the pace. Wiggins cracked badly as the Zoncolan climb wore on, and lost more than 25 minutes, to fall conclusively out of any overall contention. Race leader David Arroyo was also dropped on the climb.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 15
Basso put in repeated attacks in the front of the race. He succeeded in dropping Pinotti and Scarponi, but Evans held the pace for a while. Finally, with 3.7 km (2.3 mi) left to race, Basso was able to drop the Australian, and soloed through the hardest parts of the climb for victory by over a minute. This gap was the largest among the contenders, as from Evans in second to Arroyo in 11th only two and a half minutes passed. Arroyo kept the pink jersey, but Basso's deficit in the overall standings was greatly reduced, as he leapt from 11th to third in the general classification with the day's results.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 16
25 May 2010 — Mareo to Plan de Corones, 12.9 km (8.0 mi) (individual time trial)


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 16
After the second rest day, in Friuli, the peloton faced the Giro's third race against the clock, and second individual race. It consisted of the climb to Plan de Corones, visited for the second time in the Giro's history. With 1,080 m (3,540 ft) of vertical gain in 12.9 km (8.0 mi), the climb had an average gradient of 8.5%. Its steepest stretches, in the final kilometer, were on a 24% grade, and the final 5.2 km of the course is on a dirt road.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 16
Riders were staggered into three groups of approximately 50, with a 90-minute break in between the groups. This was necessary because there was not enough room at the top of the Plan de Corones to hold the entire Giro peloton and caravan; during the breaks, the riders who had just ridden the climb descended the same way they came up. The course was run on a narrow access road to a ski resort.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 16
The best time through the first two groups came from Caisse d'Epargne's Rigoberto Urán, who stopped the clock in 43' 04". Early in the third group came former Giro champion Stefano Garzelli, who was over 90 seconds better than Urán to claim the top spot. Garzelli's ride held up to the end of the day as the stage winning time, Garzelli's first Giro stage win since 2007. He expressed surprise at his win when asked after the stage, and said it was one of his "nicest" wins of his career. The biggest surprise of the day was Ag2r–La Mondiale's John Gadret turning in a third place ride, the only rider other than Evans within a minute of Garzelli's winning time.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 16
Later on came the Giro's overall favorites. Among them, Cadel Evans turned in the best ride, second on the day 42 seconds the lesser of Garzelli despite having the best time at the intermediate time check. Carlos Sastre lost more time, with a 19th place ride dropping two minutes. Liquigas–Doimo's two leaders Ivan Basso and Vincenzo Nibali both had top-ten rides to solidify their positions in the standings, though Evans closed his deficit to Basso considerably with his ride and leapfrogged Sastre in the standings. Race leader David Arroyo was 16th, over two minutes back on the day, but still had enough time in hand to retain the pink jersey.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 17
26 May 2010 — Bruneck to Pejo Terme, 173 km (107 mi)


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 17
This was categorized as an intermediate stage. It included a summit stage finish, though a higher pass, the Passo delle Palade, occurs earlier in the stage.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 17
This was described as the Giro's most controlled stage. After a morning breakaway of 19 riders took from 48 km (30 mi) into the stage, Caisse d'Epargne and Liquigas–Doimo rode a tempo at the front of the peloton to protect their general classification leaders, affording the stage win to one from the leading group.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 17
Seventeen teams were represented in the break; Lampre–Farnese Vini and Colnago–CSF Inox each had two riders in the group. Their time gap was a little over nine minutes for almost all of the stage. Mikhail Ignatiev set off on a solo bid for victory 28 km (17 mi) from the line, but he faded quickly and finished the stage with the peloton. At 20 km (12 mi) to go, Nicki Sørensen put in an attack that broke the race open. The leaders no longer rode as a cohesive unit, and finished scattered ahead of the peloton.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 17
Sørensen's move was not destined for success, as he faded and finished the stage 11th. Daniel Moreno then rode at the front of the race for a few kilometers before the chasing group of Danilo Hondo, Steven Kruijswijk, and Damien Monier passed him up. The three of them rode together for a while before Monier took off on the Pejo Terme climb, soloing to victory half a minute ahead of Kruijswijk and Hondo. The stage win was Monier's first professional victory.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 17
It was the sprinter Hondo who climbed to second on the stage, saying afterward that he had had "good legs" despite the stage profile not favoring him. The race's overall favorites finished 9'53" back on the stage, with Michele Scarponi gaining one second on the rest of his group at the finish line. Richie Porte, Carlos Sastre, Damiano Cunego, and Robert Kišerlovski all lost a few seconds, but the composition of the top ten in the overall classification remained the same as the day before.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 18
27 May 2010 — Levico Terme to Brescia, 151 km (94 mi)


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 18
This stage was short and flat, with no categorized climbs. It headed south from Levico Terme to Brescia in Lombardy.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 18
After missing out on the bunch finishes earlier in the Giro, Team HTC–Columbia sprinter André Greipel, the season's most prolific winner, made a point of continuing through the mountain stages earlier in the Giro's last week with victory in this stage in mind. Olivier Kaisen and Alan Marangoni were the day's principal breakaway, but Team HTC–Columbia rode a tempo at the front of the peloton that kept them from getting any more than three minutes' advantage. They timed the catch ideally, reeling in Kaisen with 3 km (1.9 mi) remaining in the stage and Marangoni a kilometer later.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 18
Marcel Sieberg and František Raboň rode on either side of Greipel to keep him protected and keep any other sprinter from holding his wheel. Greipel accelerated inside the final few hundred meters of the stage and took the victory ahead of Julian Dean and Tiziano Dall'Antonia. There was no change to the overall standings with the day's results.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 19
28 May 2010 — Brescia to Aprica, 195 km (121 mi)


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 19
This stage contained four categorized climbs, visiting the summit finish in Aprica once before the actual conclusion of the stage. 32 km (20 mi) from the finish of the stage was the Passo del Mortirolo, which was only marginally less steep than the Zoncolan, and was 2.7 km (1.7 mi) longer. After the descent from the Mortirolo, a 15 km (9.3 mi) long ramp back to Aprica was the finish.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 19
The first few kilometers of this stage were flat, and during this time the peloton stayed together. After an hour of racing, nine riders – Jan Bakelants, Francesco Faili, Branislau Samoilau, Luca Mazzanti, Yuriy Krivtsov, Jackson Rodriguez, William Bonnet, Xavier Tondó, and Leonardo Duque – established a gap over the main field. They had an advantage of 8'27" at the stage's feed zone. It was at this point that the day's climbing began, with the first visit to Aprica.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 19
On this climb, Stefano Garzelli attacked out of the peloton and came clear, bridging up to his teammate Faili who had intentionally fallen off the pace of the leaders to work for Garzelli. In the peloton, the Liquigas–Doimo team of Ivan Basso and Vincenzo Nibali, one of the few squads that still had all nine riders, was riding a very hard tempo to try to isolate the competition while protecting their leaders. Through the first ascent of Aprica and the first-category Trivigno climb, this was how the race was, with the remnants of the morning breakaway out in the front of the race, Garzelli about a minute behind, and then the rapidly depleting group of overall favorites behind him.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 19
Damiano Cunego was the first overall contender dropped by Liquigas–Doimo's pace, as Sylwester Szmyd drove the group up the Mortirolo. In short order, everyone from the morning breakaway was reabsorbed, leaving only Garzelli out front. As one by one Liquigas–Doimo's support riders rode increasingly harder and harder paces before bonking and falling off, many overall contenders followed Cunego out the back of what had been the pink jersey group. Carlos Sastre was the next to lose contact, followed by Alexander Vinokourov. Cadel Evans fell off numerous times and fought back before being dropped for good near the summit. Race leader David Arroyo rode the climb behind Evans and was immediately at risk of losing the pink jersey, as the lead group contained only Basso, Nibali, and Michele Scarponi, who crested the Mortirolo more than two minutes ahead of him.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 19
Basso rode a conservative descent of the Mortirolo, and Nibali and Scarponi had to wait for him several times. Arroyo, a rider recognized as a skilled descender, rode very aggressively, catching and passing Sastre and John Gadret, then Evans, then Vinokourov and came within 30 seconds of reaching the leading Italian trio. Garzelli, for his part, had also ridden an aggressive descent of the Mortirolo, but he crashed and would abandon the race the next day due to his injuries.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 19
Facing the second ascent of Aprica, which was also the stage finish, Basso, Nibali, and Scarponi held an advantage of under a minute over Arroyo, Sastre, Gadret, Vinokourov, and Evans, who had come together into a single chase group. Although the Aprica was a much easier climb than the Mortirolo, the leading trio put time into the Arroyo group for the entirety of the climb. Basso and Nibali, being teammates, worked together to drive the group to get as big a time gap as possible to put Basso in the pink jersey and potentially Nibali onto the Giro's podium.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 19
Scarponi did very little work in the group, and as such was the freshest in the sprint for the stage win. Nibali allowed Basso second place to get him the bigger time bonus. With 2'27" in hand to Basso coming into the day, and a 12-second bonus already lost, Arroyo had to finish the stage no more than 2'15" slower than the stage winner to keep the pink jersey. The Arroyo group was not nearly as fresh as the leaders during the climb and did not come close to that time, finishing over three minutes back. Basso took the pink jersey for the first time since winning the race overall in 2006, but noted after the stage that while the team had worked well on this day, there was another very difficult day ahead of them before the time trial in Verona.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 20
29 May 2010 — Bormio to Passo del Tonale, 178 km (111 mi)


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 20
The Passo di Gavia, at 2,618 m (8,589 ft) in elevation, was the Cima Coppi, the highest point in the Giro. It was the penultimate climb on the course, before the finish at the Passo del Tonale. The course briefly entered Switzerland for the Forcola di Livigno climb, which features almost 2,000 m (6,600 ft) of vertical gain. This stage contained the most climbing of any in this Giro, going up 6,320 m (20,730 ft) among five mountains.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 20
For weeks leading up to this stage, there had been speculation that the route would have to be altered due to the amount of snow that had accumulated on the Gavia. An alternative route, involving a different ascent of the Passo del Mortirolo than was used in stage 19, was proposed. It was ultimately deemed unnecessary to alter the route, as the roads on the Gavia were cleared and there was no snowfall the day the stage was run. The roads were lined with banks of piled up snow as the riders contested the stage.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 20
Several inconsequential breakaway attempts occurred in the first two hours of racing, with no group getting more than about a minute on the pink jersey group at any time. Finally, over the Passo di Eira and the Passo di Foscagno, the day's second and third of five climbs, Johan Tschopp and Gilberto Simoni established themselves as the day's signature breakaway. Carlos Sastre and Alexander Vinokourov were in a chase group between the leading duo and the pink jersey group.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 20
Much as they had in the previous day, Liquigas–Doimo rode a hard tempo that effectively isolated members of the other teams while protecting race leader Ivan Basso and squad co-captain Vincenzo Nibali. Sastre and Vinokourov's group was not ahead of the race leader for long, and they were brought back during the ascent of the Gavia.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 20
In the front of the race, Tschopp and Simoni approached the summit of the Gavia together. Tschopp easily outkicked the veteran Italian to claim the prize that went along with winning the Cima Coppi and Simoni never caught back up to him, finishing 6'50" back on the stage, in 32nd. The pink jersey group was next to the summit. Once over the top, previous race leader David Arroyo faced the decision of whether to ride a hard descent as he had on the Mortirolo the day before. He stayed with Basso for the descent, seemingly content to keep his second place in the overall standings.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 20
As the Giro was the final event of Simoni's career and this was the Giro's final road race stage, Simoni was approached by a journalist on a motorbike for an interview as he climbed the Passo del Tonale. Tschopp rode the Tonale alone and stayed out front to the conclusion of the race, getting the first Giro stage win for a Swiss rider since Alex Zülle in 1998.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 20
The pink jersey group ascended the Tonale just behind Tschopp. Michele Scarponi put in an attack about a kilometer from the finish of the stage that succeeded in getting him, Basso, and Cadel Evans clear while leaving Nibali, Vinokourov, Arroyo, and others behind. A few hundred meters from the finish, Evans put in a finishing kick that gained him a further 9 seconds over the other two. The day's results put Scarponi a single second behind Nibali for the podium, but with Nibali recognized as the far superior time trialist of the two, there stood to be little changed by the Verona time trial that closed out the race.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 21
30 May 2010 — Verona, 15.3 km (9.5 mi) (individual time trial)


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 21
For the third consecutive year, the Giro concluded with an individual time trial. There were several sharp turns in the course and a categorized climb in the middle of it. The finish line was just outside the Arena di Verona. After crossing it, the riders rode into the stadium where a very large crowd had assembled to see the final podium presentations.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 21
Much as it had in the time trial which closed out the 2009 Giro, the winning time came relatively early in this stage. Team Saxo Bank's Gustav Larsson stopped the clock in 20'19" as the 80th man to the leave the starthouse, out of the 139 riders who finished the Giro. He was confident in his time, and was worried about only two rivals among the nearly 60 riders who were to follow him – stage one winner Bradley Wiggins and Italian national time trial champion Marco Pinotti.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 21
Wiggins was 12 seconds off Larsson's pace at the intermediate time check, which Larsson took to mean he could not beat his time at the finish line since Larsson is the better of the two in the downhills. He was nervous in watching Pinotti take the course near the end of the day, and the Italian champion posted a better time than Larsson at the intermediate time check, but he faded as the course went on and was two seconds slower than Larsson at the finish line.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 21
Little was to be decided with regards to the overall standings. Race leader Ivan Basso and second place man David Arroyo were recognized as roughly equal against the clock, and even if Arroyo were considerably better it would be difficult to make up 1'15" in such a short course. Michele Scarponi trailed Vincenzo Nibali by a single second for the last step on the podium, but was a poorer time trialist and did not make up the deficit. Arroyo and Scarponi both conceded time, but remained in their previous overall positions of second and fourth, respectively.


2010 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 21
Giro champion Basso was 15th on the day, 42 seconds back of Larsson. He named this Giro win as much sweeter than his first, in 2006, as he had to fight for it in the race's difficult final week after sustaining a crash in Tuscany and mistakenly ceding a great deal of time to Arroyo in L'Aquila. The Liquigas–Doimo team proved dominant in the race's final results, having Basso and Nibali on the podium and winning both the Trofeo Fast Team and Trofeo Super Team classifications. The other jersey awards were all won by Australian riders – Cadel Evans won the points classification, Matthew Lloyd the mountains classification, and Richie Porte the youth classification.


2010 Giro del Trentino
The 2010 Giro del Trentino was the 34th edition of the Tour of the Alps cycle race and was held on 20 April to 23 April 2010. The race started in Riva del Garda and finished in Arco. The race was won by Alexander Vinokourov.


2010 Giro dell'Emilia
The 2010 Giro dell'Emilia was the 93rd edition of this single day road bicycle racing. The number 1 jersey was worn by Robert Gesink who won the previous edition.


2010 Giro dell'Emilia, Teams
Twenty four teams were invited to the 2010 Giro dell'Emilia.


2010 Giro dell'Emilia, Results
This cycling race article related to Italian cycling is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .


2010 Giro di Lombardia
The 2010 Giro di Lombardia was the 104th edition of this single-day classic cycling race, colloquially known as the "Race of the Falling Leaves". The event took place 16 October 2010. It was the final event of the 2010 UCI World Ranking and the final major event of the 2010 road racing season. The race was 260 kilometres (160 mi) long from its start in Milano to its finish in Como.


2010 Giro di Lombardia
Notable features of this race include that it runs around picturesque Lake Como in Northern Italy and includes the Madonna del Ghisallo climb (511 m of elevation gain). At the top of this climb sits the shrine of Madonna del Ghisallo (the patron saint of cyclists) that contains a large amount of cycling memorabilia. After the Madonna del Ghisallo, a new climb, the Colma di Sormano (1124 m altitude) is included in the route, replacing the Civiglio climb.


2010 Global Champions Tour
The 2010 Global Champions Tour was the 5th edition of the Global Champions Tour (GCT), an important international show jumping competition series. The series was held mainly in Europe, one competition was held outside of Europe. All competitions were endowed at least 285000 €. All GCT events was held as CSI 5*.


2010 Global Champions Tour
The competitions was held between May 7, 2010 and August 29, 2010. There was no final. At the end of the season the best 18 riders in the final overall standings has got a bonus prize money, in total 1,000,000 €


2010 Global Champions Tour, Competitions
All competitions are held as competition over two rounds against the clock with one jump-off against the clock.


2010 Global Champions Tour, Competitions, 1st Competition: Global Champions Tour of Spain
May 7, 2010 to May 9, 2010 – Museo de las Ciencias Príncipe Felipe, Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències, Valencia,  SpainCompetition: Saturday, May 8, 2010 – Start: 4:00 pm, prize money: 285000 €


2010 Global Champions Tour, Competitions, 2nd Competition: Global Champions Tour of Germany
May 13, 2010 to May 16, 2010 – Hamburg (German show jumping and dressage derby),  GermanyCompetition: Saturday, May 15, 2010 – Start: 2:00 pm, prize money: 285000 €


2010 Global Champions Tour, Competitions, 3rd Competition: Global Champions Tour of Italy
May 20, 2010 to May 23, 2010 – La Mandria near Turino,  ItalyCompetition: Saturday, May 22, 2010 – Start: 2:00 pm, prize money: 300000 €


2010 Global Champions Tour, Competitions, 4th Competition: France I
June 10, 2010 to June 12, 2010 – Cannes,  FranceCompetition: Saturday, June 12, 2010 – Start: 6:00 pm, prize money: 285000 €


2010 Global Champions Tour, Competitions, 5th Competition: Global Champions Tour of Monaco
June 24, 2010 to June 26, 2010 – shore at the marina „Port Hercule“, Monte Carlo,  MonacoCompetition: Saturday, June 26, 2010 – Start: 6:00 pm, prize money: 285000 €


2010 Global Champions Tour, Competitions, 6th Competition: Global Champions Tour of Portugal
July 1, 2010 to July 3, 2010 – Hipódromo Manuel Possolo, Cascais near Estoril,  PortugalCompetition: Saturday, July 3, 2010 – Start: 7:00 pm, prize money: 325000 € (show jumping grand prix with the second-highest prize money in Europe)


2010 Global Champions Tour, Competitions, 7th Competition: France II
July 23, 2010 to July 25, 2010 – Chantilly Racecourse, Chantilly,  FranceCompetition: Saturday, July 24, 2010 – Start: 3:30 pm, prize money: 285000 €


2010 Global Champions Tour, Competitions, 8th Competition: Global Champions Tour of the Netherlands
August 13, 2010 to August 15, 2010 – Valkenswaard,  NetherlandsCompetition: Saturday, August 14, 2010 – Start: 1:45 pm, prize money: 285000 €


2010 Global Champions Tour, Competitions, 9th Competition: Global Champions Tour of Brasil
August 26, 2010 to August 28, 2010 – equestrian facility of the Sociedade Hípica Brasileira, Rio de Janeiro (Athina Onassis International Horse Show),  BrazilCompetition: Saturday, August 28, 2010 – Start: 4:30 pm, prize money: 300000 €


2010 Gloucester City Council election
The 2010 Gloucester City Council election took place on 5 May 2010 to elect members of Gloucester City Council in England. No party gained overall control of the council and still no overall control.


2010 Goiás gubernatorial election
The 2010 Goiás gubernatorial election was held on October 3, as part of the general election in Brazil. In this election, four million citizens from the state of Goiás were eligible to vote to determine the successor to incumbent Governor Alcides Rodrigues, from the center-right Progressive Party (PP).


2010 Goiás gubernatorial election
Because of term limits, Rodrigues was constitutionally forbidden to run once he finished Marconi Perillo's term, which he assumed in 2006 when Perillo left the office to run for the Senate. During his administration, Rodrigues parted ways with his predecessor, and went on to support the candidacy of Vanderlan Cardoso, the former mayor of Senador Canedo, from the Republic Party (PR). Despite the Governor's support for Cardoso, the leading candidates were former Governors Iris Rezende of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), and Marconi Perillo of the Brazilian Social Democratic Party (PSDB). Other candidates included Washington Fraga from the Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL) and Marta Jane from the Brazilian Communist Party (PCB).


2010 Goiás gubernatorial election
As none of the candidates received more than half of the valid votes, a run-off was held on October 31, 2010.


2010 Goiás gubernatorial election
On October 3, citizens from Goiás voted for their representatives in both Federal (Chamber of Deputies and Senate) and local level (Legislative Assembly) legislatures, in addition to the next President of Brazil.


2010 Gold Coast Titans season
The 2010 Gold Coast Titans season was the 4th in the club's history and they competed in the NRL's 2010 Telstra Premiership. They were coached by John Cartwright and captain by Scott Prince. Gold Coast finishing the regular season 4th (out of 16) and fell just one game short of the Grand Final losing to the Sydney Roosters in the Preliminary Final.


2010 Gold Coast Titans season, Season summary
The Gold Coast Titans began the season with a come-from-behind 24–18 victory against the New Zealand Warriors at home. A golden point win over Souths followed, in what was a long match that didn't finish until around 11:30pm Queensland time (10:30pm Sydney time; as the match kicked off at 8:30pm). A 24–4 win over the Canberra Raiders at home followed before the Titans lost its first match of the season against the North Queensland Cowboys in Townsville.


2010 Gold Coast Titans season, Season summary
The Titans bounced back a week later to beat the Melbourne Storm at home before stumbling against the St. George Illawarra Dragons in round six. The Titans then had a three-match winning streak before stumbling against rivals Brisbane in round ten, the Sydney Roosters in round 12 and the Canberra Raiders in round 13. The Titans got back on track with a 28–14 win over the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles at home, which was backed up with a win over the Bulldogs in round 15 before an unexpected defeat against the Newcastle Knights at home the following round.


2010 Gold Coast Titans season, Season summary
This trigged the Titans' second three-match losing streak in the season, however the Titans would emerge from their form slump and the dreaded State of Origin period with a golden point 11–10 victory over the Dragons at Kogarah where neither of the Gold Coast franchises had never won. They would lose only one more game for the rest of the regular season, against battlers Cronulla in Cronulla in the penultimate round of the season in what was also Greg Bird's return to the Shire since the Sharks sacked him in 2008.


2010 Gold Coast Titans season, Season summary
Finishing fourth at the end of the season (a place lower than their 3rd finish in 2009), the Titans, as the only Queensland representation in the finals, entered the finals series with high expectations. They defeated the New Zealand Warriors easily 28–16 and as a result earned a week off (two of the top three teams lost on the weekend) and a home preliminary final at Suncorp Stadium. Unfortunately, the Titans saved their worst for last, losing 32–6 against the Sydney Roosters who progressed to the Grand Final a season after finishing last.


2010 Gold Coast Titans season, Players, Paul Broughton Medal
After playing the Titans last few matches of the 2010 NRL season with a broken thumb, Luke Bailey was awarded his second Paul Broughton Medal for the club's player of the year.


2010 Gold Coast Titans season, Ladder
1 Melbourne were deducted eight premiership points and barred from receiving premiership points for the rest of the season due to gross long-term salary cap breaches.


2010 Gold Coast Titans season, Representative honours
The following players have played a representative match during the 2010 NRL Season.


2010 Golden Awards
The 2010 Golden Awards was an awards ceremony held in Malaysia. It is the inaugural ceremony and was held at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre in Putrajaya. The list of nominees was published in July and the ceremony took place in September. The show was hosted by 988 FM radio DJ Cheryl Lee and Singaporean host and actor Bryan Wong. A special episode called "Golden Awards Prelude" featuring the nominees from each category was aired on ntv7 during the weeks leading up to the ceremony.


2010 Golden Awards
Guest presenters and performers include Quan Yi Fong, Wu Jiahui, Nicholas Teo, Fish Leong, Jamii Szmadzinski, Sam Lee, Aarif Rahman and Godfrey Gao.


2010 Golden Spin of Zagreb
The 2010 Golden Spin of Zagreb (Croatian: Zlatna pirueta Zagreba) was the 43rd edition of an annual senior-level figure skating competition held in Zagreb, Croatia. It was held at the Dom Sportova between December 9 and 11, 2010 as part of the 2010–11 season. Skaters competed in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing.


2010 Gomelsky Cup
The 2010 Gomelsky Cup is a European basketball competition that occurred between October 1 and October 3.


2010 Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500
The 2010 Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia was the sixth race of the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. It was scheduled to start at 1 p.m. EDT on March 28, 2010, but due to rain it ran on March 29, 2010 at 12 noon EDT. The 2010 Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500 was televised on Fox and was broadcast on MRN radio. This race was the first race that the spoiler replaced the wing on the Car of Tomorrow. The race had eight leaders, 26 lead changes, and 13 cautions.


2010 Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500, Race report, Practices and qualifying
During the first practice on March 26, 2010 the fastest were Ryan Newman, Mark Martin, Marcos Ambrose, Jeff Gordon, and Denny Hamlin. There was no major contact during first practice except for between Tony Stewart and Travis Kvapil. Qualifying for the Martinsville race was canceled because of rain showers in the area which caused them to line-up by points. The pole-sitter was Kevin Harvick, and Casey Mears, Terry Cook, and Johnny Sauter did not qualify.


2010 Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500, Race report, Practices and qualifying
During the second practice on March 27, 2010 the fastest were Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, Brian Vickers, Juan Pablo Montoya, and Jeff Gordon; there was no major contact in the practice. The faster cars in Happy Hour (the final practice) on March 27, 2010 were Jamie McMurray, Jeff Burton, Clint Bowyer, Jeff Gordon, and Denny Hamlin.


2010 Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500, Race report, Race summary
The race was scheduled to start on Sunday, March 28, 2010, but rain delayed the event until noon EDT on Monday, March 29. The pre-race ceremonies began with Joey McNeil from Fort Trail Baptist Church saying the invocation. The Martinsville High School Jazz Band played the US national anthem, and Henry County administrator Benny Summerlin gave the command "Gentleman Start Your Engines'". Robby Gordon was sent to the back of the starting grid because he changed engines after Happy Hour. NASCAR announced before the race that there would be a competition caution  on lap 50.


2010 Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500, Race report, Race summary
At 12:16 p.m., the green flag waved with Kevin Harvick the leader. Kevin Harvick stayed the leader until lap 41 when the first caution stopped the field because of a tire going down on Joe Nemechek's car. Since this caution came out near NASCAR's schedule competition caution on Lap 50, NASCAR canceled the competition caution. On lap 46, Kevin Harvick led to the green flag with Kurt Busch second. After a ten lap run, Jeff Gordon passed Kevin for the lead. Then on lap 63, David Stremme spun in turn four to bring out the second caution.


2010 Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500, Race report, Race summary
Jeff Gordon, who stayed out of pit road, was still the leading when the green flag waved. Afterwards, on lap 75, David Reutimann spun in turn one to cause the third caution of the race. Jeff Gordon was still leading the race when race resumed, but a lap later Kurt Busch edged Jeff to lead lap 82. Then Jeff passed Kurt to lead again on lap 89.


2010 Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500, Race report, Race summary
After the lead change, the race experienced a run of 46 laps. During the laps, Kevin Harvick took his Chevrolet to the garage because of brake issues, and on lap 125 Juan Pablo Montoya collided into the wall; he went to the garage with major damage. The run ended because Robby Gordon, who  blew a tire, caused the fourth caution to be waved. After all of the lead lap cars pitted the leader was Jeff Gordon. On lap 140, Kurt Busch passed Jeff for the lead, but on lap 149 Jeff Burton passed Jeff and Kurt to get the lead.


2010 Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500, Race report, Race summary
Thirteen laps later the fifth caution was given because Greg Biffle spun after having contact with Marcos Ambrose. During pit stops, Mark Martin stayed out to lead the field to the green flag on lap 168. On lap 170, the sixth caution was given because Elliott Sadler spun in turn four after contact with David Stremme. On the restart the leader was Mark Martin. A lap later, Mark Martin was passed by Kurt Busch on the backstretch. After leading eight more laps, Kurt Busch was passed by Mark Martin for the lead. On lap 199, Kurt Busch was falling back while Jeff Burton passed Mark for the lead.


2010 Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500, Race report, Race summary
After the lead change on lap 199, most of the passing was from the back, but on lap 230 Denny Hamlin passed Jeff Burton for the lead. Four laps later the seventh yellow flag was given because Regan Smith and Robby Gordon couldn't get to pit road after getting in to the wall. On the restart, Denny Hamlin took the field to the green flag. Soon after, Jeff Burton passed Hamlin to lead again. On lap 264, Burton was leading by seven-tenths of a second. By lap 277, Burton was passed by Hamlin again.


2010 Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500, Race report, Race summary
On lap 303, the eighth caution came out as a result of Elliott Sadler spinning in turn two. Jeff Burton led them to the next green flag on lap 310. After five laps under green, the ninth caution came out because Marcos Ambrose had a tire deflating on his car. On lap 319, the green flag waved with Burton the leader. Jeff Burton battled Denny Hamlin for several laps until Hamlin passed for the lead on lap 358. Six laps later, the tenth caution came out because David Stremme spun in turn one. Denny Hamlin kept the lead after pit stops for the leaders were finished. Hamlin led 18 laps until Burton passed him back on lap 390. He kept the lead until Hamlin passed him on lap 405.


2010 Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500, Race report, Race summary
The eleventh caution was given because Kevin Conway got into the turn four wall. All of the lead lap cars pitted; Hamlin returned to the track as the leader. The green flag came out on lap 426 with the rest of the top-five being Jeff Burton, Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer, and Matt Kenseth. On lap 429, Jamie McMurray received a black flag because the rear panel of his car coming loose. There was a long run of sixty-six laps after the eleventh caution, but the run ended because Jeff Burton's tire deflated causing the twelfth caution of the day.


2010 Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500, Race report, Race summary
Under the caution, second place Kyle Busch and leader Hamlin went to pit road which gave Jeff Gordon the lead. The green flag was given on lap 498, but with a little more than one lap to go the thirteenth caution came out because Kyle Busch got sideways as a result of racing side by side with Paul Menard and Marcos Ambrose, causing a green-white-checker. After the caution the race extended passed the scheduled distance with the green flag on lap 506. On the restart, Denny Hamlin passed Ryan Newman while he was also passing Jeff Gordon. Then Matt Kenseth, who was the leader, was passed by Hamlin after being bumped by Jeff Gordon and overdriving the corner. On the checkered flag Denny Hamlin got his third win at Martinsville and his first of the year.


2010 Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500, Race results
In conclusion, the race had 8 leaders, 26 lead changes, and 13 cautions for 79 laps. Denny Hamlin led the most laps by leading 171 of the 508 laps.


2010 Gosport Borough Council election
Elections to Gosport Council in Hampshire, England were held on 6 May 2010. Half of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control. The Conservatives made six gains, including in some wards that they had lost in the previous election, despite having a reduced vote share. The Liberal Democrats and Labour Party lost 5 and 1 seats respectively, with Labour seeing a large increase of the total vote share.


2010 Governor General's Awards
The shortlisted nominees for the 2010 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were announced on October 13, and winning titles were announced on November 16. Each winner will receive a cheque for $25,000 and a leatherbound copy of their book.


2010 Grand National
The 2010 Grand National (officially known as the John Smith's Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 163rd renewal of the world-famous Grand National horse race that took place at the Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England, on 10 April 2010.


2010 Grand National
The main race was held at 16:15 BST and was won by Don't Push It, ridden by Tony McCoy, five lengths ahead of Black Apalachi in second, and twenty ahead of State of Play in third.


2010 Grand National
It was McCoy's first win in the Grand National at his fifteenth attempt. Don't Push It started the race as 10–1 joint-favourite, having been backed down from 20–1 in the hours prior to the race. In the process of winning, McCoy avoided equalling the record for most rides in the National without winning, held by Jeff King.


2010 Grand National
The main race was seen by the largest attendance at Aintree since 2005, with a crowd of 70,341 on the day, and a total of 150,426 attending over the course of the three-day meeting.


2010 Grand National, Race card
Originally, Cerium and Royal Rosa were reserves, but were run because of the withdrawals of Mr. Pointment and Abbeybraney. Silver Birch was originally due to be the first reserve, but was drawn-out so that he could run in the Topham Chase instead.


2010 Grand National, Trivia
For the first time since 2005, there were no equine fatalities in the main race. In each of the previous four years there was one casualty.


2010 Grand National, Trivia
Plaisir d'Estruval and Prudent Honour both died instantly after jumping Valentine's, the 13th fence in the Topham Chase on 9 April, a handicap over two miles and 51⁄2 furlongs. Both horses broke their necks. Earlier the same day, in the grade one Melling Chase over standard chase fences on the Mildmay track, Schindlers Hunt was put down after fracturing a leg in a fall at the third fence. Schindlers Hunt's jockey Paddy Flood broke his collarbone in the fall; the other jockeys were unhurt.


2010 Grand National, Trivia
Coral bookmakers took the decision to refund bets placed on race-day for King John's Castle. The horse was bidding to become the first grey to win the National since 1961, but refused to run when the race started. Although under betting rules customers bets should have been classified as losers, Coral took the decision to make a goodwill refund gesture to their customers.


2010 Grand National, Jockeys and quotes
Selected quotes from the jockeys including winner at the fifteenth attempt, Tony McCoy, 17-year-old Sam Twiston-Davies who was aiming to become the second-youngest winning jockey ever, and Nina Carberry attempting to be first female rider to win the race:


2010 Grand National, Jockeys and quotes
Tony McCoy lined up as the most experienced rider in the race for the fourth consecutive year, having taken over as senior rider from Carl Llewellyn after the 2006 National. It had also been an honour he had shared for a time with Mick Fitzgerald and Paul Carberry. 2010 also marked McCoy's fifteenth ride in the National, a feat previously achieved by only nine other riders, however, defeat this year would have seen McCoy become only the second rider to take fifteen rides in the race without ever winning. His ultimate victory saw this dubious honour remain solely Jeff King's.


2010 Grand National, Jockeys and quotes
At the opposite extreme, nine riders made their Grand National debut, though only one, Sam Twiston-Davies managed to complete the course, finishing fifth. Danny Cook's first National ended at the second fence while Ritchie McLernon, Brian Hughes, Roger Loughran, Tom Siddall, Harry Skelton and Tom Molloy were also taking part for the first time.


2010 Grand National, Broadcasting
As the Grand National was accorded the status as an event of national interest within the United Kingdom and was listed on the Ofcom Code on Sports and Other Listed and Designated Events, the event had to be shown on free-to-air terrestrial television in the UK. As with previous years the rights to broadcast the race were held by the BBC and the race, along with several others were shown on BBC One. It was also the first horse race in the UK to be broadcast in high definition on the BBC HD channel. The BBC's coverage was produced by Sunset + Vine who, with the aid of the SiS outside broadcast unit, provided coverage of fifteen races throughout the three-day meeting.


2010 Grand National, Broadcasting
BBC commentator Jim McGrath describes the climax of the 2010 Grand National


2010 Grand National, Broadcasting
Clare Balding served as anchor presenter for the fifth consecutive year with Rishi Persad providing interviews from the jockey's room as well as taking a closer look at the horses in the paddock with Richard Dunwoody. Mick Fitzgerald guided viewers through the course as well as providing post-race analysis from all the build-up races. Richard Pitman provided nostalgia with interviews with several famous names from the history of the race, including an interview with his ex-wife Jenny Pitman while Lizzie Greenwood-Hughes interviewed spectators in the stands for unusual and interesting stories. John Parrott and Gary Wiltshire completed the team with news from the betting ring.


2010 Grand National, Broadcasting
The commentary team for the 2010 Grand National consisted of Ian Bartlett, Darren Owen and Jim McGrath, who called the winner home for the thirteenth consecutive year. This was the first time for six years that the team had been reduced from four to three with Tony O'Hehir being dropped in what the BBC called a cost-cutting exercise. As is tradition, anchor presenter Balding conducted the interviews with the winning connections while Bartlett, Dunwoody and Fitzgerald then took the viewers through a detailed rerun of the race.


2010 Grand National, Broadcasting
BBC radio also covered the race live for the seventy-ninth time as part of its wider Five Live Sports broadcast. Mark Pougatch presented the programme live from Aintree with race commentary called by Cornelius Lysaght and John Hunt. The race was also covered by Racing UK into bookmakers' offices throughout the UK and Ireland using alternative camera shots from the BBC with their own commentary team.


2010 Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal
The 2010 Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal was the first edition of the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal, one-day professional bicycle road race held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was held on September 12, 2010, as the final event in the 2010 UCI ProTour. With the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec held two days earlier on September 10, 2010, the 2010 edition was the last of only two stops in North America for the 2010 UCI ProTour. It is part of the UCI World Ranking.


2010 Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal, Course
The course consists of three climbs each circuit and is well-suited for climbers. The climbs consist of:


2010 Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal, Teams
Twenty One teams were invited to the 2010 Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal.


2010 Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec
The 2010 Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec was the first edition of the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec, one-day professional bicycle road race held in Québec City, Quebec, Canada. It was held on September 10 as the penultimate event in the 2010 UCI ProTour. With the 2010 Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal held two days later on September 12, 2010, the 2010 edition was one of only two stops in North America for the 2010 UCI ProTour. It is part of the UCI World Ranking.


2010 Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec, Course
The course consisted of 15 laps a 12 km circuit. During the International Cycling Union's visit in 2009, they ranked the course as "demanding" from a technical point of view as Québec City is very hilly, and "exceptional" for the beauty of its setting.


2010 Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec, Course
This circuit was well-suited for climbers and those who are used to steep descents. The finish was on an uphill climb.


2010 Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec, Teams
Twenty One teams had been invited to the 2010 Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec


2010 Grand Prix Hassan II
The 2010 Grand Prix Hassan II was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 26th edition of the Grand Prix Hassan II, and an ATP Tour World 250 event on the 2010 ATP World Tour. It was the 26th edition of the tournament and took place at the Complexe Al Amal in Casablanca, Morocco, from 5 April through 11 April 2010. ` First-seeded Stan Wawrinka won the singles title.


2010 Grand Prix Hassan II, Finals, Doubles
Robert Lindstedt /  Horia Tecău defeated  Rohan Bopanna /  Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, 6–2, 3–6, [10–7]


2010 Grand Prix Hassan II – Doubles
Łukasz Kubot and Oliver Marach were the defenders of championship title; however, they were defeated by Polish unseeded pair Tomasz Bednarek and Mateusz Kowalczyk in the first round (6–1, 0–6, [10–12]). Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecău won in the final 6–2, 3–6, [10–7], against Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi.


2010 Grand Prix Hassan II – Singles
Juan Carlos Ferrero was the defender of championship title; however, he chose to not participate this year. Stanislas Wawrinka defeated Victor Hănescu in the final 6–2, 6–3.


2010 Grand Prix Hassan II – Singles, Seeds
The top four seeds receive a bye into the second round.


2010 Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem
The 2010 Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem was a women's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 10th edition of the tournament, and was on the International category of the 2010 WTA Tour. It took place in Fes, Morocco, from 26 April until 1 May 2010. Seventh-seeded Iveta Benešová won the singles title.


2010 Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem, Finals, Doubles
Iveta Benešová /  Anabel Medina Garrigues defeated  Lucie Hradecká /  Renata Voráčová, 6–3, 6–1


2010 Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem – Doubles
Alisa Kleybanova and Ekaterina Makarova were the defending champions, however they chose not to compete this year. Iveta Benešová and Anabel Medina Garrigues won in the final 6–3, 6–1, against Lucie Hradecká and Renata Voráčová.


2010 Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem – Singles
Anabel Medina Garrigues, although the defending champion, lost to Laura Pous Tió in the second round.


2010 Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem – Singles
Iveta Benešová defeated Simona Halep in the final 6-4, 6-2.


2010 Grand Prix de Denain
The 2010 Grand Prix de Denain was the 52nd edition of the Grand Prix de Denain cycle race and was held on 15 April 2010. The race started and finished in Denain. The race was won by Denis Flahaut.


2010 Grand Prix de Futsal
The 2010 Grand Prix de Futsal was the sixth edition of the international futsal competition of the same kind as the FIFA Futsal World Cup but with invited nations and held annually in Brazil. It was first held in 2005.


2010 Grand Prix de Futsal
This was the first and so far the only edition of the Grand Prix de Futsal not won by Brazil.


2010 Grand Prix de Futsal, Squads
Each nation submitted a squad of 15 players, including three goalkeepers.


2010 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
The 2010 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 62nd F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season. The season consisted out of 18 races for the MotoGP class and 17 for the 125cc and Moto2 classes, beginning with the Qatar motorcycle Grand Prix on 11 April 2010 and ending with the Valencian Community motorcycle Grand Prix on 7 November. It was the first season for the new Moto2 class.


2010 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, Preseason, Moto2 introduction
The Moto2 class replaced the 250cc class for 2010. The original intention was for Moto2 bikes to run alongside the existing 250cc machinery, however the entry list consisted of Moto2 machines only. The new class aimed to be economical, with measures such as limiting electronics (which will be supplied only by FIM sanctioned producers), the ban of carbon-ceramic brakes and the use of steel brakes only; however, there are no chassis limitations. All Moto2 bikes use a mandatory 600cc (36.6 cu in) Honda engine based on the Honda CBR600RR, which are prepared by Honda's European specialized tuner Ten Kate, and produces power of about 150 bhp. Control tyres for the new series were provided by Dunlop only, despite early intentions of leaving tyre specifications free.


2010 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, Season review, MotoGP class
Jorge Lorenzo was crowned MotoGP World Champion for the first time, after he finished third in the Malaysian Grand Prix on 10 October. Finishing on the podium in 16 of the 18 races – including nine victories – to be held during the season, Lorenzo amassed a record points total for the premier class, achieving a total of 383 points, ten more than the previous best score achieved by Valentino Rossi in 2008. Second in the championship was Dani Pedrosa, 138 points behind Lorenzo, recording four race victories over the course of the season.


2010 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, Season review, MotoGP class
He and third-placed Rossi both missed at least three races due to injuries suffered during race weekends; Pedrosa suffered a fractured collarbone at Motegi, while Rossi suffered a broken leg at Mugello, resulting in the first missed races of his entire Grand Prix career. The only other rider to win races during the season was Casey Stoner, who finished fourth in the championship. Stoner won three races in the latter half of the season, winning the inaugural race in Aragón, as well as the races at Motegi and his home race at Phillip Island.


2010 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, Season review, Moto2 class
Nine different riders won races in the secondary Moto2 championship, and former MotoGP rider Toni Elías claimed the inaugural championship title, with three events to spare as his seven victories had taken him out of reach of his rivals. Second place went to Julián Simón, who despite not winning a race, finished on the podium eight times. Third place in the championship went to Andrea Iannone, who achieved three victories but lost out on runner-up in the championship to Simón by just two points.


2010 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, Season review, Moto2 class
The season was also tinged with tragedy as the inaugural race winner in the class, Shoya Tomizawa, died of injuries suffered in an accident at Misano; the first on-track fatality at Grand Prix level since Daijiro Kato was killed in the senior class at Suzuka in 2003. Other riders to win races were Jules Cluzel, Yuki Takahashi, Roberto Rolfo, Alex de Angelis, Stefan Bradl and Karel Abraham.


2010 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, Season review, 125cc class
Spanish riders once again dominated the 125cc championship, with a 26-race winning streak for Spanish riders only being broken by Bradley Smith at the final race of the season in Valencia. The top three championship placings went to Spanish riders as Marc Márquez won the championship ahead of Nicolás Terol and Pol Espargaró. With ten victories, Márquez became the second youngest World Champion ever at the age of 17 years, 263 days, with only Loris Capirossi's 1990 triumph coming at a younger age.


2010 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, 2010 Grand Prix season calendar
The following Grands Prix were scheduled to take place in 2010:


2010 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, 2010 Grand Prix season calendar
The provisional calendar was announced on 10 November 2009. In case a circuit was not able to hold a scheduled Grand Prix, a reserve race would take place on the same day at the MotorLand Aragón circuit. This was updated six days later, with a date change for the Czech round, moving one week forward. It was announced on 18 March 2010 that Aragón would be included on the calendar, at the expense of the Balatonring, due to the fact that construction work on the latter circuit could not be completed on time. On 19 April 2010, it was announced that the Japanese Grand Prix would be moved from 25 April to 3 October, due to the disruption to air travel after the second eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland.


2010 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, Regulation changes
The following changes are made to the regulation for the 2010 season:


2010 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, Regulation changes, Technical regulations
These rules were additionally added on the 15th of August 2010:


2010 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, Regulation changes, Technical regulations
In addition, each rider can use one set of tyres (one front and one rear) that they have retained from their assignment for the following race. These tyres be either new or used (used tyres still have to be mounted on wheels from the last race), and the team has to inform the tyre supplier which set of tyres (one front and one rear), if any, they wish to keep for the test within two hours of the last race finish.


2010 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, Standings, MotoGP riders' standings
Points are awarded to the top fifteen finishers. Rider has to finish the race to earn points.


2010 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, Standings, Moto2 riders' standings
Points are awarded to the top fifteen finishers. Rider has to finish the race to earn points.


2010 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, Standings, 125cc riders' standings
Points are awarded to the top fifteen finishers. Rider has to finish the race to earn points.


2010 Grand Prix of Mosport
The 2010 Grand Prix of Mosport presented by Mobil 1 was the penultimate round of the 2010 American Le Mans Series season. It took place at Mosport International Raceway on August 29, 2010. The race marked the 100th ALMS race that David Brabham has competed in. As a result, the Patrón Highcroft team changed the car's number to No. 100 from No. 1 to mark the occasion.


2010 Grand Prix of Mosport, Qualifying, Qualifying result
Pole position winners in each class are marked in bold.


2010 Grand Prix of Mosport, Race
The race was scheduled for two hours and 45 minutes; however, the race was stopped early after a major crash involving the #8 Drayson LMP and #48 Orbit GTC about two hours into the race. Following a lengthy red flag period, race officials decided to end the event early due to repairs to the track barriers projected to take nearly three hours. The race was resumed under caution for a single lap before the checkered flag was shown. For its part in the incident, the #8 Drayson entry was demoted to the last car on their lap, demoting them two places. (The two cars ahead of the Drayson entry were LMPC cars, so the LMP standings were unaffected.)


2010 Grand Prix of Mosport, Race, Race result
Class winners in bold. Cars failing to complete 70% of their class winner's distance are marked as Not Classified (NC).


2010 Grand Slam of Darts
The 2010 Daily Mirror Grand Slam of Darts was the fourth staging of the darts tournament, the Grand Slam of Darts organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. The event took place from 13–21 November 2010 at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall, Wolverhampton, England. Television coverage of the tournament was covered by ITV Sport, with live coverage on ITV4.


2010 Grand Slam of Darts
Although 8–0 down at one stage, Scott Waites made a remarkable comeback to defeat James Wade 16–12 in the final, becoming the first and only member of the British Darts Organisation to win this event.


2010 Grand Slam of Darts, Qualifying
There were numerous tournaments that provided qualifying opportunities to players. Most tournaments offering a qualifying position for the winner and runner-up of the tournament, however the World Championships and the Grand Slams offers a place in the tournament to all semi-finalists. There were also various other ways of qualifying for overseas players, including those from Europe and the United States, as well as a wildcard qualifying event open to any darts player.


2010 Grand Slam of Darts, Qualifying, Qualifying tournaments, BDO
The PDC decided to no longer invite Martin Adams to the Grand Slam due to his decision to turn down three consecutive invitations in 2007, 2008 and 2009.


2010 Grand Slam of Darts, Draw, Group stages
all matches first-to-5/best of 9.NB in Brackets: Number = Seeds; BDO = BDO Darts player; RQ = Ranking Qualifier; Q = QualifierNB: P = Played; W = Won; L = Lost; LF = Legs For; LA = Legs Against; +/- = Plus/Minus Record, in relation to legs; Average – 3-dart average; Pts = Points


2010 Great Barrier Reef oil spill
The 2010 Great Barrier Reef oil spill occurred on 3 April 2010, when the Chinese bulk coal carrier, MV Shen Neng 1 ran aground east of Rockhampton in Central Queensland, Australia. The vessel is owned by Shenzhen Energy Transport Co. Ltd.