Stage 7 was a long and difficult one. The course incorporated unpaved roads toward the finish, and the day on which the stage was run happened to have heavy rainfall. This made the course very muddy and treacherous. Cunego stayed with the race's overall favorites for all of the stage. When race leader Vincenzo Nibali crashed and needed a bike change, Alexander Vinokourov, Cadel Evans, Cunego, and others broke away and left him behind. The three quickly distinguished themselves as the winning move. Cunego was the first to try to sprint for the stage win, after a hairpin left-hand turn, but Evans timed his sprint better and won, putting Cunego second on the stage. Cunego rode the Giro's first mountain stage the next day with the race's elite behind a winning breakaway. Cunego climbed Monte Terminillo with Evans, Vinokourov, Ivan Basso, and Stefano Garzelli to sixth place. Petacchi quit the race before this stage began, claiming difficulties with bronchitis and that he was unable to recover sufficiently from one day's racing to the next. Stage 10 into Bitonto featured perhaps the race's first true field sprint finish. Lacking Petacchi, Hondo rode the sprint for himself and finished eighth.