On the last ascent of the day, the Tre Cime di Lavaredo, Di Luca made up much of the ground he had in deficit to Mazzoleni on the road, conceding a minute and 24 seconds to him at the finish line. Gilberto Simoni, Damiano Cunego, and Andy Schleck finished just behind him. In the front of the race, Riccò attacked as the Lavaredo climb began and quickly got a 15-second gap. The only rider to bridge to him was his teammate Piepoli. Piepoli, having taken the lead outright in the mountains classification, allowed Riccò the stage win. Their team leader Simoni reflected after the stage that he thought their early break was foolhardy, and that he had not followed because he was focused only on the overall and not stages, but that he was happy that the team took the Giro's marquee stage.