 Much as they had in previous stages , race leader Denis Menchov and the man in second place Danilo Di Luca stayed right with one another all through the climb , as Di Luca tried repeatedly to shed Menchov with attacks , but was unable to . Pellizotti , who had also been holding their wheels , took the opportunity with the two of them taking energy out of each other , to come clear and move into third position on the road . Basso , who was up the road , dutifully sat up and waited for his better @-@ placed teammate and paced him to a small gap over Menchov and Di Luca before cracking . It was enough to ensure Pellizotti second on the stage , to keep him third in the overall classification . Di Luca managed to outsprint Menchov to the line and claim 8 bonus seconds to narrow his deficit to 18 seconds , but with only a flat stage and an individual time trial remaining the superior time trialist Menchov had the advantage . 
