The next day featured the third consecutive summit finish prior to the second rest day, at Gardeccia, near the Fascia Valley. Nieve figured into a high-powered breakaway that formed right as the morning's initial breakaway was caught, after about had been raced. Also in the group were former Grand Tour winners Stefano Garzelli, Danilo Di Luca, and Carlos Sastre, and it was Nieve and Garzelli who formed a chase behind Vacansoleil-DCM's Johnny Hoogerland on the way to the Cima Coppi (the Giro's tallest climb) at the Passo Giau. Garzelli took the climb, and the Passo Fedaia that followed, and maintained first position on the road well into the stage-concluding climb, but Nieve eventually caught and passed him with left to race. Nieve won the stage, and as he approached the finish line he attempted to raise his arms in a gesture of triumph, but he found himself too fatigued to do even that. Nieve's ride had taken nearly seven and a half hours, visiting five grueling high-category climbs along the way. The day was not a good one for Antón. He finished eight minutes back of teammate Nieve, losing between four and six minutes to the race's top overall riders. He fell back to 11th with the day's results, while Nieve entered the top ten at fifth overall.